Zambia calls for an end to debate on president Lungu’s origin

The Zambian government on Wednesday called for an end to a debate on the origins of President Edgar Lungu, saying the debate has become unproductive.

Mike Mulongoti, an opposition leader who has repeatedly accused the Zambian leader of being a foreigner, has written to the Office of the Public Protector for an inquiry into Lungu’s identity.

Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya said the Zambian leader has stood for elections twice without anyone raising the issue of his identity.

“We believe that the debate on the president’s origin has to come to an end. We believe that it is unproductive,”
she told reporters in her office.

On Sunday, a group of traditional leaders from eastern Zambia that Lungu hails from dispelled assertions that he
was a foreigner from Malawi.

Lungu is not the first Zambian leader to have his origin questioned as this happened to late former president
Frederick Chiluba.