A Hostile Zambia Is No Place for Edgar Lungu’s Farewell- Thandiwe Ketiš Ngoma

A Hostile Zambia Is No Place for Edgar Lungu’s Farewell

By Thandiwe Ketiš Ngoma

When I was a child, we mourned for strangers.
We could be playing netball in the dusty schoolyard, but when we saw a convoy carrying the dead, the game stopped. We stood still, silent, and watched it pass. We didn’t ask who the person was or what party they belonged to. Death in our Zambia was sacred. We felt sadness in our chests, even for those we had never met. We respected the final journey because it was not just theirs; it was ours too. That Zambia, the Zambia that held death with both hands and treated it with tenderness, is disappearing before our eyes.

Edgar Chagwa Lungu served this country with unwavering dedication. He handed over power without hesitation, a rare act in African politics. He left behind a legacy of roads, hospitals, schools, and public infrastructure that improved the lives of countless Zambians. He connected communities, gave children access to education, and provided care for the sick. His tenure was defined by service, by tangible contributions that will outlast political disputes.

Yet, like all human beings, Lungu was not perfect. He made decisions that could be debated and policies that may have fallen short. But imperfection does not erase service. It does not justify disrespect. To mock him in death is profoundly un-Zambian. It violates our cultural norms, our spiritual traditions, and the very principles of humanity.

The Zambia he led is no more. Today, we face a nation fractured socially, politically, and spiritually. Our cultural compass has faltered. We are witnessing elders, the very keepers of wisdom, mock the grieving family on camera. Respect for the dead, once sacred, has been discarded. We have lost itambi, the moral and spiritual regard for life, death, and ancestry.

We have also lost Ubuntu, the African philosophy that reminds us, “I am because we are.” Ubuntu teaches empathy, compassion, and communal respect. It calls on us to honor one another, to grieve together, to care for each other’s dignity. Today, that spirit has been abandoned. People openly call a dead body akatumbi, some question the reality of death itself, and self-proclaimed men of the cloth exploit mourning for political theater.

The disrespect extends even to the highest offices. Statements from Vice President Madam Mutale Nalumango, Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Jack Mwiimbu, and other senior figures have fueled public ridicule of Edgar Lungu. Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha went so far as to suggest that the former president’s body should be inspected and authenticated, raising the chilling question: why, and by whom?

At the heart of this climate is the President himself. President Hakainde Hichilema has refused to honour the late president’s explicit wish that he not come near his remains or preside over his funeral. His insistence on inserting himself into the funeral proceedings, despite being told otherwise, has sparked an unsettling perception among many that there is something beyond politics at play. This refusal to respect boundaries has given a free pass for UPND political cadres, party officials, rogue media pages, and sponsored bloggers to go on a full-scale campaign of discrediting, insulting, and ridiculing both Edgar Lungu and his grieving family.

If President Hichilema did not approve of this hostility, a stop would have been put to it. But no, the attacks have only grown louder. They have even gone as far as creating a YouTube channel, Muzungu Wamukomboni, where AI-generated videos are being used to tarnish Lungu’s image and humiliate his family. What a shame. What a departure from who we used to be.

When I was growing up in primary school, respect for the dead was instinctive. If a convoy of vehicles carried a body to the grave, we would stand still in silence, feeling a shared sadness even if we did not know the deceased. The funeral procession itself commanded reflection, reverence, and empathy. Today, that shared humanity is being eroded, replaced by cynicism, mockery, and political point-scoring.

This is not just political; it is a moral, social, and cultural crisis. We have become a people who weaponize grief, mock death, and twist faith into spectacle. We have forgotten the values that hold us together as a nation.

My beloved Zambia, we must look in the mirror. How did we become a society that so easily abandons dignity? How did we lose Ubuntu, the philosophy that binds us in mutual respect? Edgar Lungu gave his life to this country. Even in death, he deserves reverence.

Let this be our reckoning. Let it remind us that dignity must triumph over politics, respect over hostility, and humanity over partisanship. When Edgar Lungu is finally laid to rest in Zambian soil someday, let it not be under a cloud of mockery, but under the light of gratitude and unity. Let us stand still, as we once did in our childhoods, to honour the passing of one of our own. Let us feel again that deep, shared sadness, for in mourning him, we reclaim not just our respect for the dead, but the very soul of our nation.