LEWANIKA CRITICIZES MUNDUBILE OVER EDGAR LUNGU BURIAL COMMENTS
By Elesani Phiri
Veteran politician Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika has condemned Tonse Pamodzi Alliance presidential candidate Brian Mundubile for politicizing the burial of former President Edgar Lungu, describing the remarks as “shameless politics.”
During a political rally in Mpika on Monday, Mr. Mundubile said he and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, who is also Lungu family spokesperson, would only give the late president a dignified burial if voted into office in August.
But Mr. Lewanika says the matter was already settled in court and should not be exploited for political gain and has accused Mr. Mundubile of using the late head of state to score political mileage instead of showing genuine concern.
Mr. Lewanika said the sentiments were politically motivated and aimed at winning sympathetic votes, rather than support based on campaign manifestos.
He has since urged the Tonse Alliance to allow the Lungu family to make the final decision on when and where the former president’s remains should be buried, instead of using the matter as a political tool.
PHOENIX NEWS
Is Mr. Lewanika not a member of Council of Elders supporting Mundubile and Tonse Alliance? What has gone wrong with your “boy”?
You are now talking like an elder from the Council of Elders and not from the council of cadres. The dead should be respected, it’s inhuman and unafrican to use the dead for gaining political mileage. It’s the first case of it’s kind in Africa if not in the whole world. In the Muslim world, burials take place within 24 hours after one’s death, but someone or some people here in Zambia decided to keep Lungu’s body for more than a year purely for political reasons, shame. But the plan will not work out anyway. It’s already a big flop as we saw on his Memorial Day, what we saw is not what these ill planners expected. Equally, on 13th August, Lungu’s body will not win them an election, it’s a project in futility.