Sinkamba Peter
LET’S MOURN ECL IN PEACE, LET’S HONOUR HIS LEGACY
ECL was a humble person, naturally. He was a peaceful person, naturally. Thus, his presidency was a humble one. And his presidency was a peaceful one. Peace is his legacy.
Save for some overzealous characters- the so called commanders- who took advantage of his humbleness to reign terror in isolated scenarios. Nonetheless, the list of such characters is nothing to write home about at macro level.
Because he was a man of peace, it goes without saying that let’s mourn him in peace. There is no need for extremism on both sides- government and family.
From press and social media postings, the sticky issue, which may degenerate into chaos is on the role of government involvement in the funeral programme. From reports sighted, family wants to take a leading role in the funeral programme. And I see no problem with that.
To demonstrate my point, let me unpack this myth called “funeral programme” for our beloved late President.
He died in South Africa. His remain are still in South Africa. Essentially, the family has this far handled all issues concerning persevation of the remains. There is no evidence to show that government has played a part on this sub-component of the funeral programme. There is also no evidence to show that government is paying for the upkeep expenses of the widow. There is also no evidence to show that government is paying for the expenses of the mourners grieving with the widow in South Africa. Therefore, it goes without saying that the family is taking a lead and meeting the expenses of this sub-component of the funeral programme.
Second sub-component is repatriation of the remains. Government has offered to transport the remains back home. The family also offered to do so. I am not clear the final decision on this issue.
However, I think that this issue is a simple. If the South African government is requested to do so, I do not think that they would decline to help in this regard. I also do not think that such a gesture by the South African government would be contentious. I think that both the family and government would welcome it.
The question is: who will approach the South African government to do so? Mind you, the South African government is alive to the acrimonious relationship between the Lungu family and the Zambian government. So, in line with the Vienna Convention, the South African government will watch from the terraces unless and until directly requested to do so by the Zambian government. Due to the mistrust existing between the Zambia government and the Lungu family, it only makes sense that a neutral person of entity repatriates the remains back home.
The next sub-component of the funeral programme is arrival of the remains. As former CiC of the armed forces, naturally the defence forces are obliged to receive the remains of their former Commander. I have not seen or heard any statement from the family that excludes defence and security personel from being involved in the funeral programme. Thus, this sub-component of the programme does not appear to me to be contentious. The defence and security personnel will therefore perform their welcoming rituals per their military tradition without any hullabaloo.
The next sub-component is storage of the body. Will it be taken to a mortuary or lie in state at his residence? As indicated above, there is mistrust between government and family. Therefore, the family may choose to keep the body at his residence or other neutral venue in agreement with the family. I presume that the embalming of the body in South Africa was top class. So keeping it at home or other non-refridgerated place, for a day or two, ought not be an issue.
The next sub-component is burial day. The defence and security personnel may take up this sub-component, to deliver the remains from his home or whatever mutually agreed upon venue, for church service. Traditionally, church service for former presidents is held at Anglican Cathedral. This is so because the Anglican Cathedral was from the 1960s the largest and most central church in Lusaka. So most government related church programmes have been held there. But Anglican Cathedral is no longer the largest church premise in Lusaka . Several other churches@, even bigger, have since been constructed and are operational. Therefore, any big church of choice by the family can serve the purpose. After all, there is no law that prescribes the Anglican Cathedral as the sole venue for such programmes.
The next sub-component is directing the church programme. Since this is a quasi-military funeral, the defence and security personnel can sit down with the family to agree on the church programme. After all, no church programme for any funeral in Zambia is drawn without consultation or in agreement with the family.
The last component of the funeral is burial. Again, this is quasi-military funeral. So from whatever church, the military takes over up to Embassy Memorial Park where the military rituals will take place.
Personally, I dont think that there is a problem. There is no need for hotheading. Let’s follow the steps outlined above. And we will bury our beloved 6th President peacefully, in honour of his peace legacy.