If the Dead Would Speak: The Voice of Edgar Chagwa Lungu from Tshwane State Forensic Services
By Thandiwe Ketiš Ngoma
If the dead could speak, the halls of the Tshwane State Forensic Services would be echoing with a cry for justice that the living have been too intimidated to utter. For ten months, the body of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has been at the center of a political tug-of-war so grotesque it defies both law and tradition. But the events of April 22 and 23, 2026, have crossed a line from political rivalry into the realm of criminal desecration.
Imagine the voice of the late President speaking from that cold Pretoria morgue:
“They Stole Me in the Dark”
On the evening of 22 April, while my family was absent and my children were in prayer, the state machinery I once led arrived at Two Mountains Funeral Services in Johannesburg. They did not come with flowers; they came with the South African police and Zambian diplomats. Under the guise of a court order for repatriation, they pressured the morgue to release me. I was not being “repatriated” to my homeland; I was being abducted.
By 18:30, I was entered into the Tshwane State Forensic Services under entry number 0632/26. There, a Sergeant Ngwenya and an unnamed diplomat surrendered my remains to open Postmortem Docket FPS 002/SAP 180. To facilitate this, a lie was told: Sgt. Ngwenya claimed I died of “suspected poisoning” reported by a family member. No such report exists. No doctor’s report accompanied the docket. The foundation of this entire operation was a fabrication.
“Defiance of the High Court”
My family’s lawyers did not sleep. By 11:00 PM that same night, the High Court in Pretoria issued an urgent order mandating my immediate return to the family’s chosen funeral home. The order was served, and the Zambian Government was notified.
Yet, in a brazen act of international contempt, the direction from Lusaka was clear: ignore the court. From 08:30 to 14:00 on 23 April, while my widow waited for my return, Dr. Shirley Jena-Stuart conducted an unauthorized postmortem on my body. The court order of 25 August 2025 allowed for repatriation steps—it never authorized the invasion of my physical remains. I was withheld until 20:40 that night, only being released after senior police officials intervened.
Five Questions for the Living
If the former President could demand an accounting, he would point to these five unforgivable irregularities:
The Bait and Switch: The state claimed the body was taken for “repatriation” to Zambia. Why was the first stop a forensic table for an unauthorized procedure?
The Exclusion of Kin: How does a “dignified state funeral” begin with the removal of a body from a morgue without a single family member present?
The Nameless Diplomat: Who was the “Zambian diplomat” who stood in place of family during the handover? Who authorized them to act as next of kin?
The Poison Lie: Why was “suspected poisoning” used as the legal trigger for the postmortem when no supporting medical evidence exists? Who is the “family member” allegedly cited?
The Lawless Knife: Under what authority did Dr. Jena-Stuart perform a postmortem when no court in South Africa or Zambia had granted permission
Conclusion: A Mission Completed
This is why the current administration is now “willing to stay away” from the funeral. They do not need to be present at the burial because they got what they wanted in the laboratory. They fought for ten months not to honor a predecessor, but to gain physical access to his remains.
President Hichilema can claim he wants a “dignified burial,” but the records of Tshwane State Forensic Services tell a different story. They tell of a body removed, a court order ignored, and a widow’s rights allegedly trampled. Zambians are not gullible. When a leader appears more interested in a dead man’s anatomy than his legacy, the motives demand scrutiny.
The ICC and the African Union must not look away. If a former President can be treated in such a manner in defiance of High Court orders, then no citizen is safe.