CAN YOU SEND A REPRESENTATIVE TO A FUNERAL YOU ARE BARRED FROM ATTENDING?

By Lawrence Musunte

CAN YOU SEND A REPRESENTATIVE TO A FUNERAL YOU ARE BARRED FROM ATTENDING?

Let’s dig into the politics surrounding the burial of the late President Edgar Lungu, whose remains are still a subject of contestation in the South African courts.

My post today is about the misuse of the word “represent.”

I went to school in Zambia, and I don’t think our education system fails when it comes to English.

What we truly lack are three things;

1. Critical thinking skills.
2. Individual reasoning. We ( Zambians ) are communal thinkers; we don’t ask questions, we simply copy and paste whatever narrative is communally favoured.
3. Emotional objectivity.

We are often blinded by hatred. If a narrative is against a person we communally despise, it doesn’t need to be questioned. But if it’s against someone we communally love, suddenly we demand logic and fairness.

Now, since President Edgar Lungu’s death four months ago, the Lungu family through their lawyer has made it clear that President Hakainde Hichilema should not attend the funeral.

The lawyer argues it’s because ECL was mistreated and his benefits withdrawn (although we all heard ECL’s own speech when he announced his return to active politics, in which he practically threw away the privileges of a former President).

To make matters worse, the late President’s sister went on a public outburst using unpalatable insults in the Pretoria High Court, and used the language of superstition, accusing HH of wanting to use ECL’s body for rituals.

Okay, that’s the background. Let’s return to the word “represent.”

President Hakainde Hichilema has been barred from attending the funeral of Edgar Lungu. He is clearly an undesirable guest at a funeral that, ironically, is elevated to the status of a State Funeral, an event that would attract foreign dignitaries.

And now, some learned lawyers are suggesting that President Hichilema should send Vice President Her Honour W.K Mutale Nalumango to represent him.

This is where the misuse of the word “represent” becomes fundamentally fraudulent.

Let’s illustrate this point, I am a preacher bear with me;

Imagine Matthew is getting married to Petruder, but they don’t want Lawrence at their wedding. Can Lawrence send a representative to a wedding he’s not invited to? Should Lawrence find someone to crash the wedding and deliver his message to the bride and groom? That’s absurd. Because Lawrence wasn’t invited he has no wedding invitation to give a representative.

So, let’s educate ourselves while free speech is still legal.

If President Hakainde Hichilema is barred, not invited, and deemed undesirable at President Edgar Lungu’s funeral, then Vice President Madam Mutale Nalumango cannot truly represent him in any official capacity.

Representation implies permission or acceptance by the host.

You don’t ask a President to “send a representative.” You simply invite the President, and it is the Presidency that decides whether he will attend personally or send someone on his behalf.

In fact, most people who receive a representative instead of the President do so with a pinch of salt because having the President himself attend your event is a great honour.

Now, this is what many “ignorantly loudly learned” people fail to understand;

If the Lungu family has explicitly stated that the President is not welcome, then for HH to send a representative would be a disrespect to that decision.

To “Represent” only makes sense if the attendance is accepted or allowed. If attendance is barred like in this case of ECL, “represent” becomes inappropriate because it implies legitimacy that doesn’t exist.

And here’s another simple lesson: When a funeral is declared a State Funeral, it automatically becomes a function hosted by the State.

The President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, becomes the official host on behalf of the nation.

Even though the family of the deceased has input or ceremonial influence, the overall framework, funding, and protocol all come from the State.

So yes, once a funeral is elevated to a State Funeral, it’s no longer a private family event.

The detractors of the President and his government want a dignified State Funeral with military honours and gun salutes but they don’t want the Head of State, who is the host, to attend.

That makes absolutely no sense, not even to the uneducated.