Makebi Zulu says no widow should plead for dignity

Makebi Zulu says no widow should plead for dignity

Former Eastern Province Minister and Malambo Member of Parliament, Hon. Makebi Zulu, has accused the Zambian government of demeaning the dignity of the late President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and his family, alleging political interference, propaganda, and state-sponsored humiliation in the ongoing dispute over the former Head of State’s burial.

Speaking during a nationally streamed interview hosted by veteran broadcaster Emmanuel Mwamba (EMV) on the Hosting Makebi Zulu programme, Zulu gave an unflinching account of what he called “a systematic effort to strip a grieving family of honour and peace.” His remarks have since triggered widespread public reaction, coming on Independence week as the nation mourns its sixth president.

“This is not the Zambia we were meant to be,” Zulu said, his voice firm but emotional. “No family should be dragged through courtrooms while grieving. No widow should plead for dignity. No orphan should wait for justice to bury their father. Let us start over  not just rebuilding our institutions, but rebuilding our hearts.”

Zulu revealed that the Lungu family had initially reached an understanding with government to conduct the funeral through a mediated settlement, where both sides would appoint neutral mediators to ensure a dignified process. The family selected Archbishop Alick Banda of the Catholic Church, while the State was to appoint its own counterpart. “That arrangement was supposed to guarantee transparency and mutual respect,” Zulu explained. “But the spirit of that agreement was broken almost immediately.”

He alleged that the State later began to alter the funeral programme unilaterally, introducing new protocols that neither the family nor the mediators had approved. “There were clandestine activities meant to take away the solemnity of the funeral,” he said. “Suddenly there was talk of a private church ceremony at the airport, invitations being issued without consulting the family, and even deliberate exclusion of relatives from key stages of the process.”

Zulu described one of the most painful moments as the airport reception of the late president’s body, where family members who had been listed to receive the casket were reportedly denied access. “The family had said clearly that the body was to be received by relatives, but that was ignored,” he said. “People who should have been there — his own kin — were left outside the cordon while cameras rolled inside.”

He accused senior government officials of turning a state funeral into “a display of political control rather than compassion.” “It would have been magnanimous for the Head of State to say, ‘If my presence will distress the family, I will delegate the Vice President to represent government,’” Zulu said. “That is what humility looks like. But ego has replaced empathy.”

The former minister also recounted distressing scenes at the mortuary, where access to the body reportedly became a point of contention. He said family representatives were initially told that public health regulations restricted viewing, only for government officials to later permit unrelated delegations to enter. “The family was made to feel like intruders at their own funeral,” Zulu said. “Imagine the pain of being told you cannot see your husband or father one last time, while others with no emotional connection are allowed to stand over the body for photographs.”

Zulu added that despite these provocations, the family had consistently chosen restraint. “They gave in on almost every issue,” he said. “They allowed the body to be taken to the Copperbelt, to the village, to Lusaka everywhere the State proposed. The only thing they asked was that their wishes on the funeral programme be respected. Even that became a battle.”

He accused the State of engaging in a campaign of misinformation designed to portray the family as unreasonable. “The propaganda machinery has been turned against the mourners,” he said. “They have been insulted on radio and online, accused of obstructing a national funeral when all they wanted was decency.”

Zulu cited a particularly disturbing incident in Pretoria, South Africa, where a group calling itself the Progressive Movement reportedly staged a picket outside the Zambian High Commission, alleging that the Lungu family was politicising the late president’s death. “Those protestors were not acting independently,” Zulu alleged. “We discovered that the permit allowing them to demonstrate was obtained in the name of the Government of the Republic of Zambia. That means our own government authorised a protest against a grieving family.”

He said the act represented “the lowest point of moral decay” in the country’s recent history. “What kind of state humiliates its own former president’s widow while she mourns?” he asked. “That permit should never have existed. It is proof that compassion has been replaced by cruelty in our politics.”

The former minister also criticised the role of a Zambian non-governmental organisation allegedly linked to the Progressive Movement, which he said was “funded by state structures” to file false police complaints in Lusaka and Pretoria. “They wanted to create an impression that the Zambian public opposed the family’s position, when in reality the public sympathised with them,” he said. “These were not civil-society actions; they were political operations disguised as activism.”

Zulu said the family had continued to pursue a mediated resolution despite what he called “a campaign of intimidation.” “We were told the mediation process would proceed under the guidance of Archbishop Alick Banda, but as soon as his name was announced, government proxies began attacking his credibility,” he said. “When you start vilifying a man of God for agreeing to help a family find peace, you have lost the moral plot.”

He added that the government’s delay in finalising the funeral arrangements had compounded the family’s pain. “The family has been in mourning for months. The former First Lady has been fasting and praying for closure. She only seeks to honour her husband in death as she did in life,” he said.

Asked by host Emmanuel Mwamba whether he was considering running for the presidency given the moral authority his voice has carried in recent weeks, Zulu paused briefly before replying: “This is not about ambition; it is about responsibility. When a nation is in distress, someone must stand up. The people have called, and I am listening. Leadership is not something you chase  it is something you answer when duty calls.”

The response, subtle yet unmistakable, was widely interpreted as Zulu’s first public hint that he may contest the presidency in the next election.

Mwamba described Zulu’s remarks as “a moral charge to the conscience of the nation.” The host, himself a former diplomat, said the interview had drawn one of the largest live audiences on record for the programme. “Zambians are not just listening; they are yearning for a moral centre again,” Mwamba said.

Zulu closed the broadcast with a message that struck both spiritual and civic chords. “Let the death of President Lungu remind us that we are each other’s keeper,” he said. “Love is not weakness; it is our greatest strength. True leadership begins with compassion. We only have one Zambia. Let us raise her high, not with slogans but with service.”

As the programme ended, thousands of viewers flooded social platforms with messages of support, describing Zulu’s words as “the most honest voice in Zambian politics in years.”

Political analysts say the interview has positioned him as one of the most credible opposition figures in the country  a man bridging law, faith, and political conviction.

But for Zulu, his message was not about political ambition. “We must restore our humanity before we talk about power,” he said earlier in the broadcast. “If this can happen to a former president’s family, what chance does the ordinary citizen have? The law must be a refuge, not a weapon. We must bring back compassion to public service.”

In a country still struggling to come to terms with the death of a leader and the divisions that followed, his words landed with unusual moral clarity. It was less a political statement than an indictment of the nation’s conscience  a plea for a government that feels again.