An Open Letter to President Hakainde Hichilema
Why Have You Insisted on Presiding Over the Funeral of Your Predecessor, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, Despite Being Told Otherwise?
Dear President Hakainde Hichilema,
The passing of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu was a moment that should have united our nation in solemnity, respect, and collective mourning. Yet what we have witnessed instead is controversy, division, and hurt, pain caused by your insistence on presiding over the funeral proceedings despite clear, repeated requests from the deceased’s family that you not be present.
Why, Mr. President? Why would you, as the sitting Head of State, disregard the final wishes of your predecessor and the heartfelt appeals of a grieving family?
This question demands urgent and honest answers.
President Lungu’s dying wish was clear and unequivocal, as conveyed through his family and official spokesperson: you should stay away from the funeral. This was no petty political dispute. It was a deeply personal and solemn request grounded in respect for the deceased and compassion for the family left behind.
Yet you have pressed on, choosing to override that request. This is not merely about protocol or politics. It is a breach of basic decency and respect. It risks turning a sacred moment of mourning into a spectacle of political posturing.
Some will say that as Head of State, you have a duty to be present at the funeral of a former president. While that is true, leadership also demands sensitivity and humility, especially when asked to honor the wishes of the departed and the grieving family. The real question is not whether you should attend, but whether you should insist on presiding when you have been expressly told you are not welcome.
What drives this stubborn insistence? Is it a desire to assert political dominance? An attempt to control the narrative and public perception? Or something more complex, a struggle for legitimacy, a symbolic show of power, or even a deeper cultural or spiritual conflict?
Whatever your reasons, this choice has caused needless pain to a grieving family and distracted the nation from what truly matters: honoring the legacy of a former leader. It has also exposed the fragile state of political civility in Zambia, where respect for the dead and their families can be sacrificed on the altar of ambition.
Your decision to force your presence into this private and sacred space speaks volumes about the current political climate. It signals a troubling disregard for the voices of those most affected and a dangerous prioritization of image over integrity.
Mr. President, it is time to listen, not only to your political advisors or party loyalists, but to the people, the grieving family, and the spirit of respect and dignity that should govern moments like this.
To honor a predecessor is not merely to attend their funeral. It is to respect their final wishes, to offer solace to those left behind, and to demonstrate the maturity and humility that true leadership requires.
The nation deserves answers. The family deserves peace. And you must ask yourself: does presiding over this funeral against clear wishes serve the country or simply your own ambitions?
Until you provide clarity, this question will continue to linger: Why have you insisted on presiding over Edgar Lungu’s funeral despite being told you should stay away?
Zambia deserves the truth.
Respectfully,
Thandiwe Ketiš Ngoma
The counter question to the writer is why did the late former president ECL also discard the wishes of KK to be buried near his wife?
The answer to your question is that ECL was not into rituals and witchcraft. He did not wish to touch KK’s body. Oh, and he was a Christian, not a Freemason.
“He who digs holes for others, shall himself be buried into one of them”. -Edith Nawakwi.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
This concubine of ECL is very dull indeed. which former president has not been buried with a sitting president presiding over the funeral in Zambia?
Amahule yakwa Lungu like this bitch have taken the freedom they are enjoying for granted. Let them bury their thief in SA if that is really what they want. Why should HH step aside from presiding over a national event like the burial of the thief. His widow and children have many cases in courts of law and now they are busy disturbing the whole nation as if it is saint that has died. This is total foolishness and madness.
Always, open letter. How many, unnecessary?
Does this person ever write anything sensible? Always writing long articles with no substance in them. Please spare us from your useless articles, if you have no respect for HH as a person, at least you should respect his office. He was elected by the majority Zambians and the same majority Zambians are happy with his governance. The president should be given the respect he deserves, you can’t just stand up and start writing rubbish to the President, that is lacking manners. Disrespecting HH and his Office is disrespecting the majority Zambians who elected him. So leave the President alone
Woman are you that foolish to know that Lungu was also the Chief of the Armed forces? These prostitutes got used eating free money now they are a problem. The current Chief of the Armed Forces is HH and protocol should be followed at the burial of the former Chief of the Armed forces. A Civilian like you won’t get it. Ask the Military how it works.