A Nation Without Closure — The Tragedy of an Unburied President
By: Lumba Kalumba, Concerned Citizen of Zambia.
When a human life ends, we do not simply record the date and move on. We bury the body, not only to honour the departed, but also to restore the moral and cultural order among the living. Across Zambia’s 73 ethnic groups — Bemba, Tonga, Lozi, Ngoni, Kaonde, Nsenga, Chewa and all others — burial is a sacred act, one that reflects respect for ancestors, family, and the community. What we are witnessing today with the failure to bury our former Head of State, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, is not merely a public disagreement — it is a deep cultural rupture.
Mr Lungu passed away in June 2025. Yet, 6 months later, his body remains unburied. The public has heard many reasons: disputes over protocol, debates about state versus family authority, and legalistic arguments about precedence and prestige. But in the wake of these explanations, the common citizen is left confused, grieving, and deeply unsettled.
In Zambian cultures, the family — especially the spouse and children — holds the primary custodianship of burial rites. They are not placeholders for the nation; they are the ones entrusted with sending their loved one to rest. Burial is not an administrative event or a spectacle of national ceremony. It is an intimate, sacred responsibility that only the family can fulfil.
Contrast this with the state’s response, which has been heavily bureaucratic. Government statements emphasize protocol and the honour due to a former president. Yet the very attempt to subsume the family’s cultural role under state control undermines the communal logic of death rites deeply embedded in our traditions.
Across every Zambian community, burial signals reintegration: the deceased re-joins the ancestors; the household is freed from limbo; society regains its moral rhythm. When burial is delayed, the soul of the deceased lingers unsettled, and the living remain in a state of collective limbo — a place of unfinished mourning and cultural discomfort.
It is little wonder, then, that many Zambians feel the situation has gone beyond political disagreement. We feel the pain of cultural violation. We sense that something sacred has been overlooked. This is why the ongoing impasse is not just tragic — it is damaging to our national psyche.
The apology offered by some officials rings hollow when the body of our former leader still lies unburied. Our traditions do not pit family against the nation; they assume that the nation recognises the legitimacy of family authority in burial.
Respect for the deceased does not come from a calendar date or a stage; it comes from honouring our cultural imperatives.
This is not about opposition or support for a political legacy. This is about a nation regaining its cultural dignity. We do not merely need announcements. .
We need closure. We need to fulfil one of the oldest human obligations: to lay our dead to rest.
In the name of family, culture, and national unity, I urge all parties — especially those in positions of authority — to step back from confrontation and step forward in empathy and compassion.
Let us bury the late Edgar Chagwa Lungu, not as a political symbol, but as a human being whose passing calls for respect and resolution.
For the sake of Zambia’s soul, let us allow closure to come.
While I acknowledge your concerns and desire for closure, I disagree with the idea of speaking for me. I don’t need closure because the person has gone into hiding, and his family and friends are working hard to conceal him. I have no sympathy for such misfits.
You also claim that, “This is why the ongoing impasse is not just tragic — it is damaging to our national psych,” which is a ridiculous assertion! The panga family’s already moved on: see their infighting for power, as Edigar stays in hiding! Mr./Miss author, keep your crocodile tears to yourself and seek therapy for yourself.