LAWYERS AND THE PRESIDENCY. A HANDBOOK?

Imagine I told you of a lawyer that became president of his nation not once but twice, focused on the development of infrastructure and road construction, was accused of grand corruption and failed in his bid for a third term and is now constantly hounded by the law which he once freely disregarded. Who comes to mind? No, not him. Take another bite at it. Nope, wrong again.

Our international man of mystery ladies and gentlemen is none other than disgraced former 6th president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa. In office from 2005 – 2015. Not to be mistaken with his African counterpart, Edgar ‘’Only two shots Mr. Speaker’’ Lungu, the former president of Zambia. Easy to mix up the two leaders due to the hilariously similar manner in which their respective nations were looted during their tenures. The rise and spectacular manner in which they both came crashing back down to the depressing ghetto the rest of us reside in called reality.

Rajapaksa starts off pretty great, he becomes a lawyer while serving as the youngest Member of Parliament at 24, he later loses his seat but bounces back as Minister. Loses that too, leaves government and becomes Leader of the Opposition and subsequently Prime Minister. He stands as president and barely comes out on top with 50.03% of the vote.

Meanwhile in the land of work and joy, Lungu, a fine lawyer in his own right, joins the Patriotic Front and after their presidential win in 2011 gradually rises through the ranks in both party and state structures. Peaking at Party Secretary General and holding the offices of Defence and Justice Minister. He was also appointed Acting President in the absence of the Head of State.

Tragedy, or fortune, depends on which side you’re on really, then strikes as this time the president returns from one of his trips in a casket. Riding off the gullibility of the Zambians, he stands and wins the presidential elections off the premise of being humble and politely finishing off the last 18 months of his predecessors tenure. All credit to him, he told the world he had no vision, but it was the Zambians that lacked foresight.

Rajapaksa on the other hand is now settled into his cozy office. He won his bid for a second term and put the losing opposition candidate in jail for two years. He then embarked on ambitious infrastructure and road development projects. Sound familiar?

Which are of course initially welcomed by the masses until complaints of corruption and inflated costs begin to get increasingly louder. Rather than rein in this reckless expenditure that threatened to ruin the country, the silly old goose turned to those pesky little Chinese loans which tripled Sri Lanka’s foreign debt to 119% of its GDP and inevitably crippled the economy.

My primary school teacher would always say, ‘’don’t copy, lest you end up copying wrong things.’’ Not these two, you’d think they were exchanging notes or reading from the same playbook of how to ruin an economy because what does Lungu do? You guessed it, infrastructure and road development at inflated costs.

Like Rajapaksa before him, he too is unable to repress the pilfering of the treasury. With barely any money left for the national budget, he looks east and turns to the global neighbourhood shylock, China. Who are more than willing to gladly accept these recurring requests for a ka small something with the debt-to-GDP ratio eventually nearing 120%.

Over in Sri Lanka, our man is fighting claims that both his election victories were fraudulent. Accusations of bribery, manipulation and use of state resources to campaign are rife. Rajapaksa, being the forward thinking Bond villain, is already planning ahead so he sets out to do what any reputable thieving leader would do, he looks to abolish term limits.

Which he successfully does after seizing control of a compromised parliament. To solidify this he appoints his legal advisor as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, therefore cementing his eligibility for a third term. Chess, not checkers. He's basically Kasparov in political garb with that move. After a campaign heavily sponsored by Chinese funds with the money going mostly towards bribes and vote buying, Rajapaksa faced the blow of a lifetime when he lost the election much to his chagrin.

Not one to be outdone, Lungu put his favoured bottle of Jameson Whiskey aside long enough and attempted to pull a fast one over the now alert Zambians by claiming his second term was technically his first as the first time he was in office he was only completing the late president’s term. What’s 18 months amongst friends anyway?

In an argument of constitutional law, legal jargon, semantics and tomato tomato, he comes out on top and stands for reelection. Which he lost, badly. It was the political equivalent of Liverpool putting 7 past United or prime Tyson knocking out Savarese in 38 seconds. More on him later. Lungu, not Tyson. Obviously.

Reluctant to concede defeat easily and go out with a whimper, Rajapaksa boldly attempted a coup after the results but both his Army Chief and Attorney General stood firm and did not obey the treacherous orders. Speaking as witness before an Investigation Department, the AG corroborated the coup but the army and new government did not.

Cleared of those accusations, he made a return as MP including a failed comeback as Prime Minister in 2019. However in a shock twist of events that reads like a badly written telenovela, his younger brother wins the presidential elections and appoints him as PM. 2 years on, the country is in severe turmoil as protests against shortages of essential products turn violent, Rajapaksa resigns and flees with his family.

While Rajapaksa made for the mountains, Lungu, bless his soul, opted for a more dignified exit. He handed over power ‘’willingly’’ as he’s always quick to remind the Zambians. Which well, he was already legally mandated to so I’m inclined to believe the word he was looking for was ‘’begrudgingly’’ as the poor and now highly indebted African nation had faced no trouble during power transitions in the past.

Well and today? Where are our two soft life loving legal luminaries? Rajapaksa’s family is accused of holding $18 billion in assets in foreign countries and are facing sanctions for human rights violations while Lungu and his family have been visited by the law for the umpteenth time over their inexplicable wealth. Their story continues to unfold but with the man legally immune from prosecution barring tedious court proceedings, it's his inner circle that will see the inside of a cell, if at all. It appears both nations are attempting to rebuild under fresh leadership with Zambia faring slightly better but it promises to be a long road ahead.