MORNING WIRE | LUNGU BODY CASE ERUPTS INTO A NATIONAL FIRESTORM
The battle over the remains of former President Edgar Lungu has reached a fever pitch. The Zambian government, through its South African legal team, has now formally requested the Lungu family to allow the identification and authentication of Mr. Lungu’s body, which remains at a Pretoria funeral parlour.
In a strongly worded letter dated July 29, 2025, VFV Attorneys proposed that the process be conducted on any day between now and Friday, August 1, at a time agreeable to all parties. They called the step “necessary, dignified and crucial” to restoring clarity to a matter now engulfed in conspiracy and mistrust.
The government lawyers warned that if consent is denied, they will be left with “no alternative but to return to court for appropriate relief.”
Let us go back to the memory lane to understand the context:
✅ Mr. Lungu’s family announced his death on June 5, 2025, days before the government broke its silence.
✅ A memorial service was held in South Africa on June 10, but no coffin was displayed and no images of the body have been released.
✅ The family planned a tightly controlled burial in South Africa on June 25, with invitation-only attendance and severe restrictions on cameras and body viewing.
✅ That burial was abruptly halted when the Zambian government filed an urgent case in the Pretoria High Court the night before.
✅ The family has since barred open access to viewing the body, citing Mr. Lungu’s explicit wish that even President Hakainde Hichilema must not attend his funeral or come near his remains.
The Lungu family is also seeking a punitive cost order, saying the government’s eleventh-hour intervention caused immense emotional trauma and forced them to abandon burial arrangements already paid for.
The government’s demand to authenticate the body has ignited fury among Patriotic Front loyalists and online influencers. Former diplomat Emmanuel Mwamba and political analyst Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa have openly accused the government of seeking to perform “rituals” on the remains. The accusations, though unsubstantiated, have added a dangerous layer of paranoia to an already toxic debate.
Netizens are deeply divided. Some argue that public certainty demands the body be identified, ending weeks of swirling conspiracy theories. Others warn the state is violating the family’s dignity and turning a solemn matter into political theatre.
As the burial dispute deepens, the Tonse Alliance is cracking. Last night on Diamond TV, spokesperson Sean Tembo dismissed claims by Raphael Nakacinda and Miles Sampa that the PF will decide who chairs the Alliance post-Lungu. Tembo, still remembered for his emotional collapse on a Facebook live when announcing Lungu’s death, accused PF of “misleading their rank and file” as 2026 edges closer.
The Tonse Alliance has no agreed successor, no clear roadmap, and, for now, no coherent message. The vacuum only amplifies the chaos.
Meanwhile, Chipata City Airport’s newly completed rehabilitation continues to draw attention as a rare unifying development story. Yet PF campaigns in the Mfuwe by-election remain sluggish, with images online showing low citizen engagement.
This is a moment of significant political volatility. The government’s next move could either calm or further inflame a nation already split down the middle.
Filed by Ollus R. Ndomu for The People’s Brief. Gathering by Mwape Nthegwa.
Which late president’s body have we not viewed as citizens? Why the secrecy with ECL’s body?
Let the family allow the body to be cremated and bring ashes to Zambia.
The attorney of Zambia has done the right thing if anything it’s long overdue.How can the people of Zambia have interest in ECL’ body but fail to access it in a way of viewing and checking the status after staying without burial for so long in a foreign land.Here in Zambia it has happened before where some families have mistakenly buried a different body thinking they got the body of their beloved ones yet not.When the other family comes only to find no.We have to be serious with some issues.Dont just talk from without.
Mafias at play. Show us the body and we prove it is him who is dead. What are you scared of. There are romours of him having multiple identies.You people are crooks. This family is rogue. HH, I blame you for this. You handled this crocks with golden glove. This is not a good precedent of handling high level criminals.
Confirmation of death by presentation of the Corpse as verification is Paramount, especially in this case of former head of State ECL.
Too much hanky-panky is going and surrounding this death by the family of ECL and PF party.
Major questions are this,
1, What if ECL is alive and well but just a gimmick of running away from the long arm of the Law.
2, What if its a strategy to tarnish the current Government for the up coming elections in 2026, their plan B as they said it.
3, What if ECL is really dead but was murdered to hid the huge stash of Monies in foreign Countries.
There are just too many “ifs” that the Government of Zambia and the People of Zambia need to know the truth and have answers.
One Zambia One Nation
Zambia a Christian Nation
Mr Hakainde Hichilema is self destructing in real Time.
No amount of Propaganda will redeem him in any way. The missteps are just too much.
The submissions have been made by both parties in the South African Court, and the Court is sitting on 4th August,2025. But here he is, demanding to see the body… when he is aware of the Court Order.
And the sponsored degenerates are at again, The Last Kicks of the Mingalatoons.
There’s nothing which will compel the family to show Mr Hakainde Hichilema the body of their deceased Husband, Father and Grandfather. There’s no law to compel the family to show Mr Hakainde Hichilema the body..Such desperation is so embarrassing.
A very wise decision, you can’t trust PF anymore. These guys can do anything. They are simply dishonest . If there’s nothing to hide this shouldn’t be a problem at all. Transperancy !!