Nine months have now passed since the death of Zambia’s sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu. What should have been a solemn national farewell long ago has instead turned into one of the most uncomfortable and painful episodes in the country’s political life.
Zambia is a country where funerals are handled with urgency, dignity and closure. Communities gather quickly. Families mourn. The deceased are laid to rest. Life then moves forward with memories preserved in respect. That cultural rhythm has been broken in a way few imagined possible.
Today, nearly a year later, say 9 months, the body of a former head of state still lies in a mortuary. This is not simply a political issue. It is a moral one.
Across the country many people quietly ask the same question: how did Zambia reach a point where a former president remains unburied for nine months?
The uncomfortable answer is that many actors carry responsibility. Political mistrust, hardened positions and public accusations have all contributed to the stalemate. Yet speaking plainly, the largest weight still falls on the government because the State assumed the central role the moment the former president died.
Leadership in moments like this requires restraint and emotional intelligence. It requires an ability to step back and recognise that grief cannot be managed through authority. Instead, the process escalated into legal confrontations and political friction that deepened mistrust rather than resolving it.
At the centre of the dispute is the relationship between the State and the Lungu family. Before Edgar Lungu became president, he was a son, a husband and a father. The presidency did not erase those relationships. The office elevated his national stature but it did not convert his life into state property.
That distinction matters deeply in this situation. Government representatives have repeatedly stated that a former president is a national figure whose burial must involve the State. During an interview with journalist Frank Mutubila, Mulilo Kabesha explained that government initially began preparations to bring the body to Zambia for burial because it had been communicated that this was the late president’s wish.
Kabesha also said the government later moved to court in South Africa to stop burial arrangements there while discussions continued, arguing that the State had a responsibility to ensure that a former president receives what he described as an honourable burial.
That explanation, however, leaves out a critical part of the story that shaped the current mistrust. The Lungu family did not simply wake up and decide to bury their relative in South Africa. The shift came after the initial understanding between the family and government reportedly changed during the preparation process. When the agreed procedures were altered, confidence collapsed.
At the same time, the family had made one clear condition known early in the process: that President Hakainde Hichilema should not play a role in the funeral proceedings.
Whether one agrees with that position or not, it became one of the defining fault lines in the negotiations. Once mistrust took hold, the dispute moved beyond quiet diplomacy and entered the courts, turning what should have been a family and national moment into a prolonged legal contest.
Criticism from the opposition has only intensified the political dimension of the dispute. Fred M’membe has been among those questioning how a nation can reach nine months without burying a former president. His remarks capture the emotional frustration felt by many citizens who see the continued delay as unnecessary and deeply unsettling.
Beyond politics lies the human reality. For nine months the Lungu family has lived in suspended mourning. Funerals exist to close a chapter and allow families to begin healing. Without burial, grief remains unresolved and the emotional burden continues indefinitely.
At the same time, the country has already moved forward. National mourning ended long ago. Political campaigns are underway. Government activity continues as usual. Yet the former president’s burial remains unfinished.
This contradiction has become impossible to ignore. Resolving this impasse now requires practical leadership rather than continued argument. The most effective path forward would be for President Hichilema to step away from any direct role in the funeral arrangements and delegate the responsibility to senior government representatives.
Such a step would remove the most sensitive point of contention without stripping the State of its rightful role in honouring a former head of state. The government could still provide full state participation, ceremonial recognition and logistical support befitting the office Lungu once held.
What would change is the tone. By delegating and allowing the family to proceed in the manner they consider respectful, the government would demonstrate that dignity and national unity matter more than protocol or political pride.
At the same time, the Lungu family must also recognise the broader historical dimension of this moment. While there is no law compelling the burial of a former president at Embassy Park, that site has become a place of national remembrance for Zambia’s leaders.
If the central point of contention is removed and the President himself stays away from the proceedings, it would become difficult to justify refusing burial at Embassy Park. Under those circumstances, turning away from a national resting place would appear unnecessary and even self-defeating.
Nine months is already far too long. Zambia deserves closure. The Lungu family deserves peace. The legacy of every past president deserves protection from prolonged political conflict.
A simple act of humility and compromise from both sides would end this painful chapter immediately. Let the family bury their loved one. Let the government honour the office he held. And let Zambia finally lay Edgar Lungu to rest with the dignity that both the man and the nation deserve.
Buloshi
Imwe ba LT. That picture of Lungu with the baby is too moving! Knowing UPND, you will soon be charged with using cyber to incite the nation to cry before the actual funeral.
Or to incite serious emotions in the voting public via provocative cyber communication
You can not have a state funeral with foreign heads of state invited and the head of state barred from attending………
What nonsense is that ????
The lungu family are not a royal family, that are nothing special, to hold the country at ransom……….
Even KK was buried at embassy park against his wish………he wanted to be buried next to his wife , but because Zambia is bigger than any person or family, protocol was followed………
Who are the lungu family to want to change state protocols and precedent, enough of this rubbish ?????
FWD2041
There have been many state funerals across the world without a head of state attending. The ignorance in Africa is just way out of this world. The head of state is not a demi god. There is ABSOLUTELY no constitution requirement for him to attend all state funerals of state functions. Stop misleading and embarrassing yourself if you are not well vested with the law. Have you ever heard of delegation of authority, it encompasses all facets of governance without exception
KK was burried at Embassy park against his will. And just for your education, there is no law requiring burrying our former Presidents at Embassy park. If you cite the clause in the constitution, i will drop my argument. In any case, the Lungu family has never refused burrying ECL at Embassy park, so again stop deliberately misleading yourself. You can do better
There was no protocol in KKs case. KKs family went to court to stop his burial at Embassy park, but the court case was never concluded because his family was divided. The Lungu family are very focused on what is required – a dignified send off as prescribed by ECLs family and the instructions left by ECL himself, which gives nobody else to take authority of his burial. We are better off fighting with economics especially that ECL left breakfast mealie meal at K130 and Roller meal at K90. That is where the focus ought to be
Parson
Show us a full state funeral for a former head of state where the current head was not invited , mention the country
You won’t because there is none
Lesident
Can you state the law which says the family has powers over the corpse of a former head of state over government ????
You won’t because There is no such law
In the intrest and security of the nation , the government has ultimate responsibility for a copse……..
Clement
ECL lead the worst corrupt and tribal GRZ ever, institutions were being run by PF cader violence……..
You say ECL left meal prizes at 130 ? How much did MMD leave the same maize meal prizes ? K50 ?? ECL also left unsustainable debt and depleted foreign reserves apart from leaving meal prizes at K130 after finding them at K50
I dont care at what price MMD left the prices, I am stating indisputable facts here that PF left mealie at K130 and K90 roller meal, if you have figures different from these, bring them out here and uzaonekela. Regarding being told which state functions or funeral has had no head of state attending, there are many, but I cant be doing a research for you. Be proactive and find out on your own. There is no law in Zambia requiring a head of state to attend a state funeral even with foreign heads of state coming. This is easy, just cite the clause, period
Lesident
Incase you don’t know , there is a phenomenon called inflation……..
Apparently this phenomenon is experienced by every country in the world, some more than others , so………..
Price raises are not something new to Zambia, just like how PF found lower prices that rose since they were in power , same situation with UPND………..
manje uwonekele…….where did I dispute that prices have not risen under UPND ???
Badala , it can’t be a state funeral without the head of state, it has never happened in the world , no leader , elected or not , can accept that rubbish……..
No family is bigger than the country or state procedures and protocols
FWD2041
Who tells you any foreign heads of state would want to turn up at a bizarre funeral such as this? To bury someone who died years ago?
Which leaders want to be identified with such occult stuff. Keep your witchcraft to yourselves, they will tell you.
This is a strange country, the state was never talking to ECL when he was alive, then he dies and the state must decide to want to burry him and his family should agree? Smh. It never works that way.
No that makes no sense. Alive, you are my enemy, Dead, you are my friend. Great friend.
Did the state cause this rift and debacle or 2 individuals ???
Two individuals. They are the two elephants wanting us, the grass, to suffer.
Don’t cheat yourselves there is absolutely no law requiring a head of state to be at all state functions.
And which law states the family has powers overiding GRZ over a body. ???
For you arguing here, any funeral, the family is the authority
You are 100% correct! Until ECL set a precedent in the KK burial.
Had he let the KK family adhere to his wishes, we would not be here today in the christian nation(love thy neighbor….; do unto others….)of Zambia.
But wait a minute, Lungu or his family have never refused that he be burried at Embassy park, unless you have not followed the sequence of events
Which law states that the family has authority ????
We have a new chief Justice with a tendency to change laws.
Imwe ba LT. That picture of Lungu with the baby(is that his grandchild?)is too moving! Knowing UPND, you will soon be charged with using cyber to incite the nation to cry before the actual funeral.
Or to incite serious emotions in the voting public via provocative cyber communication
In 2018, when senator John McCain died, he was granted a STATE FUNERAL because of the enormous stature he had reached in American society. And yet McCain had made it clear that he did not want the sitting president of the United States, Donald Trump, anywhere near his funeral. And Donald Trump did not attend the STATE FUNERAL
And even with foreign heads of state at Senator McCains funeral, Trump as President then did not even attend and had no issues with it
Macain was just a senator granted a state funeral out of respect for, not because there had to be a state funeral
FWD2041
Mc Cains funeral was attended by heads of state – FACT
Melody……ati “ Mc Cains funeral was attended by heads of state – FACT”
No foreign head of state attended the mc cains funeral
BTW why the need to use multiple names ?
Are such a coward ???
Just sort out the economy, busy with other peoples funerals, the owner already gave guidance before he died, why do you want to defy his instructions
Witchcraft Ahede witchcraft. Even staying outside state house is because of witchcraft
Let someone credible see the body first otherwise its all speculation.
Some Zambians have seen him in Dubai. Some saw him cheering Fashion Sakala in the EPL. Is he in Mzansi? I doubt.
Malilo ni nkhani yabanja, si nkhani ya boma, simple and straight forward issue
Ne iti lamulo iyo ???
Some body very dall is asking which law gives the family authority, now I cant answer this, because these are now alarming levels of dallness. Just because he was challenged to produce the law which gives the state authority and the chap has no answer, he decides to rephrase the question
You must sleep in a pit latrine………
You are claiming the family has authority over GRZ for the body……..under which
law ???
And this is the same coward idi..0t using multiple names on this thread…….
You are a very du11 inadequate man for using multiple aliases , I think your wife has told you that
Hypocrite Spaka calling others coward yet he blogs under a pseudonym. Typical Zambian politician
Kachaka
There can ever be only one Spaka who creates and leads the narrative …..
We are here
FWD2041
Wait !! future president will choose a similar action now of a family burial
Same with State House Why not have your own property developed at tax payers money,
times are a changing