By Amb Emmanuel Mwamba
Can His Majesty Mwine Lubemba, Chitimukulu Kanyanta Manga II, Attend King Mphezeni’s Funeral?
DON’TS
●Our kingship does not come into contact with death. No Bemba king will go to a funeral house where the body of the deceased is present or has been placed.
●No Bemba king goes to a funeral church service where the body of the deceased is present.
●No Bemba king goes into a graveyard for any reason whatsoever.
●No Bemba king looks at or touches a dead body under any circumstance.
●No funeral is held at a palace of a Bemba king.
DOS
●In an event that a king of another ethnic group dies, a Bemba king may go to mourn sometimes after burial, not before or during burial. This mourning is not done at a place that housed the deceased person’s remains but another designated mourning place.
●For a family bereavement, a Bemba king goes to mourn but he must stay at another house, not the funeral house (if the body of the deceased is housed there).
●For commoners, a Bemba king (after the funeral has been announced to him in the appropriate manner, not by phone!) may send a goat and other supplies to the funeral house. He doesn’t go there himself.
Due to the above, it is highly unlikely that there will be any Bemba king at imfumu Mupeseni’s funeral before and during burial. We expect a delegation of Bemba kings to go and mourn the Mupeseni a week or two after burial.