TONSE Alliance spokesperson Sean Tembo says late Tonse Alliance chairperson Edgar Lungu had no powers to appoint anyone as his successor while away and therefore, those saying he left them on the seat are just dreamers.
Tembo explained that the Tonse Alliance Constitution does not grant the chairperson authority to appoint anyone to act in their place and that succession within the alliance is handled through laid out constitutional provisions, not personal preference.
He noted that when Lungu left the country for South Africa on January 21, vice chairperson of the alliance, Professor Danny Pule automatically assumed the role of acting chairperson, as outlined in the alliance’s governing document.
Tembo said this shift in leadership was not contested, as it followed protocol.
“A person cannot come to you and say I was appointed by Mr Lungu as chairman, the Tonse constitution does not give any power to the chairman to appoint the acting chairman or any other position. Positions are appointed by consensus and resolutions of the council of leaders,” he stated.
Tembo stressed that internal party members, especially from the PF, should be cautious about misinterpreting the Tonse rules of engagement, as not all informal provisions were adopted into the final constitution.
As such, he said, any claims of appointments based on private arrangements or verbal endorsements lack legitimacy.
He further pointed out that when Pule later travelled to India for medical reasons in late February this year, leaving both the chairperson and vice chairperson out of jurisdiction, the council of leaders took over as mandated.
Tembo said in such cases, the constitution allows the council to elect a temporary chair for that specific meeting and not a permanent acting chair.
“When our chairman Mr Edgar Chapwa Lungu left the jurisdiction on 21 January, to go to South Africa. He left the vice chairman as acting chairman acccording to the constitution. No one questioned professor Danny Pule when he chaired those meetings. Sometime in February, professor Danny Pule had to travel to India for medical attention.”
“Both the chairman and the vice chairman were out of jurisdiction. When the chairman and Vice are not there, article 3 of the Tonse constitution says if the chairman and the vice are both unavailable, the council of leaders will choose among them to chair a particular meeting,” he said.
According to Tembo, it was during these moments that PF faction leader Given Lubinda chaired several meetings, not because he had been appointed by Lungu, but simply because he was elected unopposed by the council, as no other member expressed interest at the time.
Tembo cautioned that anyone claiming to have been appointed by Lungu should be able to reference the exact constitutional clause that empowered such an appointment.
He stated that, such declarations should be treated as political fiction.
“So anyone who comes to you and says I was appointed by that one, you should ask them to say what provision of the constitution has the person who appointed you in power used. Before you are appointed and come out to say I have been appointed to this position, the person appointing you should have that power, isn’t it?”
“When we had a meeting when both the chair and the Vice were out of jurisdiction, honourable Given Lubinda offered to chair the meeting and he went unopposed because there was no one else who was interested in chairing the meeting. And then [in] another meeting he went unopposed, I think we went about three meetings where he went unopposed,” Tembo said during a recent television interview.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, July 31, 2025
