Former National Guidance and Religious Affairs Minister Dr Sumaili has rejected claims suggesting that no one from the Patriotic Front had seen the body of former president Edgar Lungu, stating that she personally travelled to South Africa and viewed the remains shortly after his death.
Dr Sumaili said she travelled to South Africa a day after the former head of state died and had the opportunity to see his body. She described assertions that no one had seen the remains as false.
“I travelled to South Africa a day after the president died and I can say with all my heart, truthfully, that I’ve had the opportunity to see the body,” she said. “So it is a total lie. It is inhuman to even think that maybe somebody is telling lies.”
Her remarks follow ongoing public discussion surrounding the delayed burial of the former president, who has reportedly remained in a morgue for nine months.
Dr Sumaili said the former president had been lying in the morgue for that period, calling the situation unfortunate. She questioned how the country had come to accept the prolonged delay in burying a former head of state.
“Our former president is gone and he has been lying in the morgue for nine months. It is so unfortunate,” she said. “I don’t know who we have become, even as a people. How we, the people of Zambia, have been able to accept such a situation.”
She said the matter carried broader implications, particularly given the stature of the deceased as a former president who had governed the country for seven years.
“Keeping a person unburied, what does it mean? And especially one who had the key to the nation, who ruled the nation for seven years, who did so much in the nation,” she said.
The former minister’s remarks come amid heightened political tension surrounding the circumstances of the burial arrangements. Disagreements over logistics and responsibility have fuelled competing narratives, with various actors offering differing accounts of what has transpired since the former president’s death.
Dr Sumaili did not outline specific details regarding the arrangements but maintained that her visit to South Africa and her viewing of the body were factual. She framed her intervention as a response to claims that no one within the Patriotic Front had confirmed seeing the remains.
Her comments add another layer to an already sensitive national issue, as the delayed burial of a former head of state continues to attract public attention.
The burial of former presidents in Zambia has traditionally followed state protocols, reflecting their status and years of service. The continued absence of a final resting arrangement for the late Edgar Lungu has therefore remained a matter of public concern.
Dr Sumaili said the situation required reflection from citizens, urging consideration of what it means for a nation when a former leader remains unburied for such an extended period.
The former president’s remains, she said, had been in the morgue for nine months following his death in South Africa.
But why have not spoken before that you body viewed
She is not even obliged to do that, so this is just a favour she is doing to us. We are better off thanking her than quizzing her.
Who is this random never-elected woman anyway
Liar liar pants on fire! When did you view lungus body when even his closest relatives have not.
Without her being political and not taking sides between Lungu’s family and the Zambian people who the late president had opportunity to lead, I give Reverend Sumaili a thumbs up for her counsel! The stand off is not essentially between the individuals running affairs for the people of Zambia with the Zambian people but a creation by the “unZambian charactered” Lungu family being bitter at the Zambian people who gave Lungu the privilege of occupying State House and being fed for the whole time he stayed there! Let family just surrender his remains to government to give honor to his services rendered to the Zambian people! On a lighter note Revered Sumaili vouches she saw the body and it has been “LYING” in the morgue all this while! Who is being lied to?
What date and time did she see it and where are the evidences of travel corresponding to those dates? Next we will be told God is the witness and no more questions because the family is too impontanti for answering questions
One would have thought the death of ECL would have actually brought reconciliation between the Lungu family and the government of the day but instead hell broke loose. One day the living will realize that one in either camps should have just compromised to give a befitting rest to the son of the soil. His services though not perfect were exemplary and deserve that recognition.