NO LAW GAZETTING EMBASSY PARK AS PRESIDENTIAL BURIAL SITE
…..ECL died as ordinary citizen, Claims Tonse Alliance Youth Chair
Lusaka… Friday August 15, 2025 – Tonse Alliance National Youth Chairman Celestine Mambula Mukandila says there is no law in Zambia enacted to gazette Embassy Park in Lusaka as a Presidential site.
Mr Mukandila said this is just government policy to bury the former Heads of State at Embassy Park.
He has emphasized that former President Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu died in South Africa as an ordinary citizen following the withdraw of his rights and privileges by the UPND government.
He indicated that the government has not informed the citizens as to whether they decided to reinstall his privileges and rights in his death.
Mr. Mukandila, who is also a Lusaka based lawyer, was speaking this morning when he featured on Radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk programme.
“You remember this government decided to withdraw the rights and privileges of the former Head of State, we had written an opinion to the Attorney General indicating that the title of a president or former president is earned, you cannot take away that from an individual. We must be able to interpret the law to an extent that it does not affect certain privileges especially those that have to protect the office of the former President,” he said.
“Our colleagues indicated that NO he (ECL) has gone back to active politics and everything is withdrawn. The creation of the office of the Sixth Republican President was halted. Now, then we had an individual who wanted to seek medical services in a foreign country called South Africa and he travelled to that country as an ordinary citizen. Remember we have a Zambian government that informed all the Zambian missions abroad that this person should not be accorded diplomatic etiquette as he travels into any receiving state.”
Meanwhile, Mr Mukandila has accused the UPND Government of abandoning its earlier promise of ruling the country based on the rule of law.
“This government, in 2021 they told the people of Zambia that they will improve governance system and they shall rule by the rule of law. Are they doing that? Zero! I am on record advising this government to drop the constitution Amendment Bid but they have come up with a bill which is called Bill 7 of 2025, which does not sit well with the aspirations of the people. There were no consultations with the people. We told them to say drop it, because it doesn’t have wider consultations in coming up with the bill,” he added.
“This government decided not to adhere to the many advises from the various key stakeholders including Law Association of Zambia (LAZ), Church mother bodies, CSOs and many others, until it had to take us to force them, us going to court. Bill 7 is dead today because we had to force them not because of their own intensions.”
You are misled, my dear. Wait until the secrets of his death come out. In the meantime, just cool down.
These are lawyers we trust
National unity should never be compromised by narrow political interests or misinformation. Same old story every day. We now going in circles from where we started from? As a lawyer what does the constitution say?You go back to politics as a former head of state your benefits are revoked.You retire, your benefits are reinstated. But these thieves without shame are taking us for granted as if we don’t understand basic law just to cause confusion. You are not contributing on resolving this matter but your position is very divisive
When real brains are discussing the issue and drawing to the end of the table, the scatter brains are throwing spanners in moving spokes.
As Zambians, despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the delayed burial of our late former Sixth President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and the confusion that ensued, we believe that a peaceful resolution will be found. All will be well, and the events of the past will soon fade from memory, allowing the Lungu family to heal.
We have learned valuable lessons through difficult experiences, and we hope that the passing of our leaders will serve to unite rather than divide our nation. It is crucial that politicians refrain from exploiting death to incite hatred; instead, they should promote peace and unity. Those who provoke the Lungu family by reminding them of the government’s past mistreatment of ECL and suggesting they should stay away from his burial are only adding to the suffering the family is enduring.
Silence can often be more powerful than loud expressions. Some matters are best left in the hands of God Almighty rather than engaging in human conflicts, as we are all accountable to Him. God Almighty is the ultimate judge of humanity, and nothing, whether good or bad, can remain concealed from His sight.
Celestine Mambula Mukandila the zealot…..all this in aid of what?
You will one day turn into a good person Hamulenga.All the venom in you will turn into blessings,believe me you!
A tribalist who believes that anyone who is not supporting his thieving nature is a Tonga.Keep dreaming thieves you are not coming back anytime soon. Hatred will take you to an early grave.HH beat you in 2021 and stopped you from looting or benefiting from public resources, the reason you hate him.
Youth Chairman, you’re wrong. Like RB and FTJ, ECL died as ‘former president.’ Are you suggesting that we rewrite the history books, and pretend that Zambia never had a sixth president? ECL travelled on a diplomatic passport and still had his immunity, how then was he an ordinary citizen? If he was at the time of his death, then I can also apply for a diplomatic passport and use ECL as an example of an ordinary citizen who had one. Stop making a fool of yourself, youth chairman.
Well said Mr. Infidels Baghdad Zulu, we can’t have laws on every issue in the world. Even traditionally, if a person dies wherever he has died from, the funeral gathering is always at his home. In case of Lungu who died outside the country, his home is here in Zambia and that is where the funeral gathering and burial should be. Mr. Mikandila should be a Bemba and Bembas and indeed all other tribes don’t bury their chiefs at ordinary grace yards, they have their own burial sites for Royals, for example, Chitimukulu is buried at Shimwalule, it’s tradition and we don’t need a law for that. Paramount Chief Monze of Tonga people is buried at Gonde Royal burial site. So please, stop playing politics, let the government, the Lungu family and indeed the Zambians at large give Lungu a dignified send off befitting the former president, that’s the right thing to do. It is sad that some of you Lawyers are turning Lungu’s death into a money making venture.