THE President of Zambia’s relentless legal crusade to force the burial of former President Edgar Lungu in Zambia represents nothing short of a reckless and disgraceful waste of millions in public funds. This costly court action in South Africa is not merely an egregious abuse of state power – it is a calculated assault on the dignity and fundamental rights of a deceased individual and his grieving family.
The family of the late Edgar Lungu possesses the sole and indisputable right to decide where their loved one should be laid to rest. Their decision to honour his final wishes and bury him in Johannesburg must be respected, not trampled upon by courts manipulated through political machinations. This transcends questions of burial location – it strikes at the very heart of human dignity and respect for familial autonomy that civilised societies hold sacred.
What renders this legal crusade particularly reprehensible is the systematic campaign of humiliation that President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration has already waged against Lungu. The stripping of his benefits as a former head of state was not merely administrative – it was a deliberate erasure of his legacy and a casting aside of his contributions to Zambian governance. The refusal to grant him access to medical treatment in South Africa compounded this cruelty, denying him basic healthcare privileges during his final years.
The Height of Hypocrisy
Now, in death, comes the ultimate insult: insisting that Lungu must be buried at Embassy Park in Lusaka – the designated resting place for former heads of state – after systematically stripping away every honour and privilege associated with that very office. This forced burial location is not about respecting state institutions or honouring tradition. It is a cruel farce, a bitter exercise in posthumous control that reveals the government’s true motivations.
The irony is staggering. How can an administration proclaim reverence for the dignity of former presidents while simultaneously disowning the individual who once held that highest office? This is not governance – it is political theatre of the most vindictive kind, played out with taxpayer money while Zambian families struggle with basic needs.
The court battle has already resulted in multiple delays and cancellations of funeral arrangements, creating unnecessary anguish for a family in mourning. Despite the South African High Court ultimately ruling in favour of the Zambian government’s right to repatriate Lungu’s body, the damage has been done. Millions of kwacha that could have been invested in healthcare, education, or infrastructure have instead been squandered on legal fees in a foreign jurisdiction.
This expensive legal gambit serves no legitimate state interest. It is purely an exercise in power projection – President Hichilema’s determined effort to impose his will posthumously and claim the final word in his rivalry with his predecessor. The family’s assertion that it was Lungu’s final wish that Hichilema should not participate in his burial speaks volumes about the toxic nature of this political vendetta.
True leadership is measured not by one’s ability to humiliate political opponents, even in death, but by the grace and dignity with which power is exercised. President Hichilema’s stubborn insistence on prevailing at all costs – even over a man’s final resting place – exposes a dangerous fixation on personal triumph over principled governance.
The weaponisation of state machinery to attack a predecessor’s memory and disrespect a grieving family’s wishes represents everything that is wrong with authoritarian tendencies. This is not how a democratic leader behaves. This is how petty dictators operate – using state resources to settle personal scores and impose their will on the powerless.
A Call for Dignity
Zambia’s people deserve better than a leader who prioritises vindictive legal battles over national development. They deserve a president who understands that respect for human rights – whether for the living or the deceased – is not negotiable. They deserve governance that builds bridges rather than burning them, even posthumously.
Recent reports suggest mediated talks may finally be underway, but the damage to Zambia’s reputation and treasury has already been inflicted. President Hichilema must immediately end this wasteful legal charade, respect the family’s rights, and restore dignity to a nation long burdened by political discord.
The legacy of leadership is not determined by who claims the last word in petty rivalries. It is measured by the compassion shown to those who came before, the respect accorded to grieving families, and the wisdom to know when personal vendettas must yield to human decency. In this test of character, President Hichilema has failed spectacularly, and Zambia is poorer for it.
