ACT WITH MATURITY AND COMPASSION, MONDE TELLS GOVERNMENT ON LUNGU FUNERAL DISPUTE
Lusaka… Monday August 11, 2025 – Former Fisheries and Livestock Minister, Greyford Monde, has criticised the Government’s handling of the funeral dispute concerning the late President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, saying the situation reflects poorly on the country’s leadership and values.
Mr. Monde said it was unfortunate that the Government had chosen Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha to be at the forefront of such a sensitive matter, as though there were no other capable and level-headed individuals to handle the issue.
He stated that the latest statement from Mr. Kabesha over the funeral had confirmed why, in his view, Zambia was performing poorly in every sector.
He argued that if the Government could not resolve a funeral matter, it was questionable whether it could competently manage national policies, international agreements, export benefits, rebates, and diplomatic relations.
According to him, Zambia currently lacked true friends both in the region and internationally.
The former minister said that by now the nation should have been preparing for the third-month memorial of the late President, but due to poor handling and unnecessary arrogance, the process had been delayed.
Mr. Monde advised that if the Government truly meant well, it should form a new negotiation team made up of wise, elderly, and non-partisan individuals to restart talks with the Lungu family.
He further suggested that President Hakainde Hichilema should keep Mr. Kabesha away from microphones, as he believed the Attorney General had shown poor communication skills and an inability to manage sensitive debates.
He urged the President to stop his officials from issuing derogatory statements about the Lungu family and to refrain from attending the funeral himself, as this remained the most contentious issue between the family and the Head of State.
Mr. Monde said the family had already dropped several demands, including allowing no landing in Ndola and no services in either Ndola or Petauke, to demonstrate their willingness to have the burial in Zambia.
He added that there could be no claim of giving the late President a dignified funeral in the absence of his family, noting that only unclaimed bodies were buried without their loved ones present.
Meanwhile, Mr. Monde called on the Government to act with maturity, humility, and compassion, stressing that the matter was not only about Edgar Chagwa Lungu, but about the values the nation held and the respect shown to departed leaders.
The government did what you are talking about, Monde. It is shameless people like you who are misleading Lingu’s family.
How much does this Monde man expect Zambians to accomodate the Lungu family? Seriously. The man left us destitutes after he treat the office like his personal kantemba. For one month people held their breath waiting for his body to be repatriated. Now you want us to die from holding our breath when no one can confirm they have even seen Lungu’s body and all we see are the tantrum of adults behaving like children? One has to ask what kind of paroting is this Monde man trying to suggest? His ask is nothing short of being absurd.
Am never interested in reading when topics are a miss match,
You are just an Idiot Monde.No one has the legal or moral right to chase away a sitting President from a State funeral is not only unconstitutional but undermines national decorum and the dignity of public office.Any funeral of a former Republican President, is a State function, not a private family affair.National unity should never be compromised by narrow political interests or misinformation.Stop misleading this poor family.As Africans,we don’t chase people away at funerals. Dont undermine the Head of state please.You are some of the people which should be jailed.We need unity not division