SOUTH AFRICA’S TOP COURT REFUSES LUNGU FAMILY DIRECT APPEAL OVER BURIAL DISPUTE

By Brian Matambo – Lusaka, Zambia

SOUTH AFRICA’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT has rejected an urgent application by the family of former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu to appeal directly against a Pretoria High Court order requiring the surrender and repatriation of his remains to Lusaka for a state funeral. The ruling is the latest twist in a legal and political battle that has exposed deep tensions between the Lungu family and President Hakainde Hichilema’s government.

In a decision dated *26 AUGUST 2025*, the CONSTITUTIONAL COURT held that “no case has been made out for a direct appeal,” formally refusing the family’s request to bypass the Supreme Court of Appeal. The order, signed by Acting Registrar Dunisani Mathiba, means the matter will not be heard immediately by South Africa’s highest court.

THE ROOT OF THE DISPUTE
The family of the late president has consistently maintained that they were willing to repatriate his body to Zambia on the condition that President Hichilema would not attend the funeral. They argued that this was in line with Mr. Lungu’s personal wishes, citing his deep estrangement from his successor.

When the Zambian government refused to guarantee that condition, the family announced that the burial would proceed privately in Johannesburg, where Mr. Lungu died. But on the very day of the planned funeral, the government launched urgent proceedings in the Gauteng High Court, demanding that the widow, Esther Lungu, surrender the body for state repatriation. The High Court ruled in favor of the state, setting off the appeal process.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DRAWS A LINE
South African law places a high bar on direct access to the Constitutional Court. Appeals are expected to follow the established route from the High Court to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), before ultimately reaching the apex court. Direct appeals are granted only in cases that present urgent constitutional questions of public importance and where it is in the interests of justice to bypass the intermediate stage.

By refusing the Lungu family’s application, the court reaffirmed its longstanding position that contested matters involving both factual and constitutional elements should first be ventilated in the SCA.

NEXT STEPS FOR THE FAMILY
The refusal does not end the family’s legal battle. They now have the option of approaching the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. If successful, the case could later return to the Constitutional Court. For now, however, the High Court’s ruling in favor of repatriation technically stands.

The dispute underscores both the personal grief of a family and the political symbolism attached to the burial of a former head of state. For the Lungu family, the matter centers on dignity, safety, and respect for the late president’s wishes. For the Zambian government, it is about state protocol and national honor.

A DISPUTE THAT RESONATES BEYOND THE COURTROOM
The controversy has resonated far beyond South Africa’s courts. Mr. Lungu, who served as Zambia’s sixth president from 2015 to 2021, remains a polarizing figure. His death and contested funeral arrangements have reignited debates about political rivalry, national unity, and the treatment of former leaders.

As the case advances through South Africa’s appellate system, the question of where and how Edgar Lungu will finally be laid to rest remains unresolved. What began as a private family decision has become a test of law, diplomacy, and political culture in both South Africa and Zambia.

KWACHA MP BLAMES PAID INDIVIDUALS FOR CHURCH SERVICE COMMOTION AND REMAINS CONFIDENT OF RE-ADOPTION IN 2026

By Joseph Kaputula

Kwacha Constituency Member of Parliament Charles Mulenga says some unknown elements paid a few individuals to cause commotion during a church service where President Hakainde Hichilema was in attendance.

Mr. Mulenga endured an awkward moment on Sunday when congregants at the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) Kwacha East congregation jeered at him during President Hakainde Hichilema’s visit, with some worshippers sarcastically denying that they knew him.

Mr. Mulenga has told Phoenix News that despite the incident, he is confident that the UPND will readopt him for the 2026 general elections, citing his achievements in the constituency, including clinics, market shelters, and classroom blocks, as evidence of his effectiveness.

He believes that it is unfair to conclude that he is unpopular based on one incident, noting that many churches in the constituency recognize him.

PHOENIX NEWS

BOOED KWACHA MP CHARLES MULENGA SHOULD JUST HAVE SHUT UP

It is now even more embarrassing that Charles Mulenga, apparently unpopular member of parliament, booed by some members of a church congregation thinks the act was stage managed.

With his kind of thinking, it is no wonder he got that reaction during a church service attended by Presisent Hakainde Hichilema in the constituency recently.

Here is why his claim is woeful, hare-brained. That episode of booing could only have been stage-managed if Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo was part of the scheme. For it was he who thought of the idea of introducing other leaders who accompanied President Hichilema.

The question is why would Matambo cooked up such a thing to embarrassing an MP, who was, is and probably will remain anonymous after 2021, who owes his election to the President and the UPND, than his own personality or achievements?

After Mulenga’s lame claim that the booing was stage-managed, the leadership of the UPND must have taken note and are now more convinced they should find a replacement to contest for that seat in 2021.

Silence could have won MP Mulenga some sympathy. His puny fight-back has just exposed him to more attention and greater scrutiny.

Bye bye!
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PF ROUSES ITS PROVINCIAL STRUCTURES, SETS EARLY CONFERENCE DATE TO BE READY FOR 2026 POLLS

Despite still mourning late President Edgar Lungu, the main opposition Patriotic Front (PF) has set a timetable for elections in all its structures, leading up to the crucial conference to elect its new leader.

The PF has also delivered a scathing review of the state of the nation after fours years of the United Party for National Development (UPND) in power with President Hakainde Hichilema.

PF Secretary General Raphael Nakachinda has told a press briefing that a circular has already been sent for elections in all its sections to begin, with each structure instructed to beef up their strength from the current 24, to 72 members.

Following the expediting of this process in the structures countrywide, the Secretary General will attend to elections of provincial executives, in order to renew the mandates of these structures.

These activities will pave way for the conference that will elections a new Central Committee, and thr new President of the party.

He dispelled news that the conference would be held in April, saying the current Central Committee is actually set to meet in September, and the collective wisdom of the highest policy making organ will set the date for the conference shortly after that.

Nakachinda appealed to other opposition parties not to aid the UPND government in destroying the PF, by not involving themselves in its internal affairs.

“The destruction of the PF will not benefit anyone in opposition. All the opposition formation will benefit from the survival of the PF ” Nakachinda said.

Speaking earlier, leader of PF leader of the opposition in parliament, whom the Speaker of the National Assembly has refused to recognise, Miles Sampa delivered a critical review of the UPND four years in government.

He said the state of the nation, economically, was such that all  key aspects of the cost of living have worsened, as President Hichilema has failed to fulfil specific benefits he promised in 2021.

He said fuel prices are currently still double what they were when the PF left power, and now the country is experiencing a shortage of diesel despite the hype that Open Access System on utilisation of Tazama pipeline would bring both stability of supply and competitive and lower pricing of the commodity.

Sampa also reminded the nation that the promise by Hichilema to bring mealie meal prices down to K50 per 25 kilogramme bag have not materialised, despite government intervention in the market through Zambia National Service (ZNS).

“Even the fact of bumper harvest of maize has failed to bring down the prices of the staple because the government was more interested in exporting maize and mealie meal to neighbouring countries,” Sampa said.

Load shedding was another flaring failure of the UPND four years. Even under drought conditions, the PF government was able to ensure load shedding did not go beyond eight hours daily. But under the UPND, load shedding schedules now are giving residential customers only five hours of electricity daily.

“In fact I came across a saying in one district in Eastern Province that the one hour of actual electricity supply they are getting, after midnight daily is called view once, because it just flashes once and is gone.”

Sampa also highlighted rampant abuse of state institutions by the UPND government, citing parliament,  the judiciary and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), and others.

He noted the issue of interference by the government, through parliament, in the choice of leader of the opposition by the PF, which has been ignored.

The PF never interfered with UPND choice of its leaders while in opposition in parliament. Even the cases involving PF, which are in courts, and need only a ruling, are stuck. The ECZ is also preventing the PF from participating in by-elections, thus denying citizens their right to choose representatives.

He said political parties in Zambia are recognised as constitutional institutions, therefore, cooperating partners must take keen interest in the breaches of hindering the free participation of the PF in the democratic process by ECZ Chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis.

Before ending his address, Sampa joked that events of the past week had proved that even public complaints on this issue are indeed “the voice of the people, being the voice of God”.

He said there must be some explanation for what has happened to one Zaloumis.

John 8:32 “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

PROCHARTER FLIGHT MAKES SAFE BELLY LANDING AT KKIA

The Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL) says all passengers aboard a ProCharter flight that experienced a landing gear malfunction while approaching Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) are safe. 

The incident occurred at 11:30 hours on 25th August 2025, when the aircraft, originating from Jeki Landing Strip in Lower Zambezi, executed a belly landing and came to a controlled stop on the runway. 

In a statement, ZACL noted that emergency response teams were immediately deployed and swiftly contained the situation. 

All passengers and crew disembarked safely, with no injuries reported. 

As a precautionary measure, and in line with standard aviation practice, a limited number of flights were temporarily rerouted while the aircraft was secured and safely moved. 

ZACL confirmed that full operations at KKIA resumed within the stipulated recovery period.

PF LEADERSHIP ADVISED TO INFORM FORMER FIRST LADY ESTHER LUNGU ON THE NEED TO ELECT NEW PRESIDENT WITHOUT WAITING FOR ECL BURIAL

By: Sun FM TV Reporter

Patriotic Front (PF) member Chanoda Ngwira has called on acting party president Given Lubinda and secretary general Raphael Nakachinda to inform former first lady Esther Lungu that the party intends to hold a convention to elect its leader without waiting for the burial of late former president Edgar Lungu.

Mr. Ngwira warned that delaying the election of a new leader until the burial, whose date remains uncertain due to ongoing legal matters in court, risks further weakening the PF.

Speaking in an interview with Sun FM TV News, Mr. Ngwira said the continued wait will be a window of disorganization not only within the PF but also in the Tonse Alliance.

He further advised Mr. Lubinda to refrain from issuing statements that do not contribute to unity, stressing the importance of distinguishing a party from an alliance.

Mr. Ngwira maintained that within an alliance, no law mandates a partner to resign from their party and join another in order to become president.
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UCZ BISHOPS AND REVERENDS MUST BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES

By Prof Proud Moonga, PhD, Lecturer, University of Michigan, United States of America

The Church in Zambia was once a fearless moral compass, boldly condemning injustice, corruption, and oppression. But today, as the country reels from unprecedented suffering, the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) leadership has shamefully abandoned this sacred responsibility.

Zambia is in crisis. Poverty and unemployment are skyrocketing, inflation is devouring families’ meager earnings, and basic services like healthcare and education are crumbling. Corruption and maladministration have become the norm, bleeding the nation dry while the voices of ordinary citizens are silenced by an ever-shrinking democratic space. The rule of law is eroding, political intimidation is rampant, and ethnic divisions threaten to tear communities apart. To make matters worse, the country is plagued by crippling loadshedding that disrupts daily life, businesses, and essential services, deepening the economic misery for millions.

In this dark moment, when the Church should roar against injustice and stand shoulder to shoulder with the suffering, UCZ bishops and reverends have chosen silence and worse, complicity. On August 25, 2025, President Hakainde Hichilema donated K1.3 million to UCZ. That’s nearly 25 times his own monthly salary of K53,000. The money was split between Kwacha East UCZ, Mindolo UCZ, and the church choir. While millions of Zambians go hungry, struggle with power outages, and grapple with deteriorating public services, the UCZ leadership accepted this donation without hesitation, raising serious questions about whose side they are really on.

Contrast this with the Catholic Diocese of Mansa in Luapula Province, which boldly rejected a K800,000 donation from the President and other politicians, refusing to compromise their moral integrity. Across the border, the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi in Kenya also turned down financial gifts from President William Ruto, making it clear that the Church must remain a neutral guardian of justice, not a political pawn.

Remember your sacred legacy and the crucial role the Church played in Zambia’s democratic transformations, in 1991, 2011, and 2021. Each of these milestones was shaped by the Church’s fearless stand against oppression and injustice. The prophetic voice of the Church inspired hope, empowered citizens, and demanded accountability from those in power.

Today, as Zambia faces its darkest hour, the Church’s voice must rise again with the same courage and conviction. Your members and the entire nation need leaders who will stand boldly with the people, not silence themselves in the face of corruption and suffering.

UCZ bishops and reverends: you must ask yourselves, are you shepherds of your flock, or puppets of political power? Your congregants are drowning in poverty, betrayed by bad governance, and desperate for leadership that speaks truth. Instead, you have chosen to line your pockets and stay silent.

Zambia’s democracy is gasping for breath. Its people cry out for justice, dignity, and hope. The Church’s prophetic voice is not just needed, it is urgent. If the UCZ leadership continues down this path of silence and complicity, they risk becoming irrelevant, and worse, accomplices in the nation’s decline.

END///

EMV TONIGHT: ERNEST MWANSA CALLS FOR INSTITUTIONAL POLITICS AND OPPOSITION UNITY

On Monday evening’s edition of Emmanuel Mwamba Verified, Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba hosted constitutional lawyer and former Chifunabuli MP, Hon. Ernest Mwansa, now interim leader of the Zambia We Want (ZWW) party. The discussion probed the role of the opposition ahead of Zambia’s 2026 elections, the credibility of national institutions, and the urgent need to build politics around ideas rather than personalities.

FROM MOVEMENT TO PARTY
Mwansa traced ZWW’s origins from civil society activism into a registered political party. Its central philosophy, he said, is institutional politics: building parties around manifestos, systems, and teamwork rather than the cult of a single leader. “Every government since the MMD has personalized politics. We want to return to the idea that it is the manifesto—not an individual—that must define a party,” Mwansa said.

He outlined ZWW’s proposals for a devolved system of government, stronger accountability mechanisms, and a culture of open internal criticism within political organizations. “A person who criticizes you is a friend. An enemy will never criticize you,” Mwansa noted, emphasizing that the party’s leadership structure is deliberately collective.

ECONOMIC FAULT LINES
Turning to economic issues, Mwansa lamented Zambia’s continued export of raw copper, the neglect of value addition, and the marginalization of small-scale miners in favor of foreign corporations. Agriculture, he argued, remains dangerously mono-crop, while energy insecurity cripples industry despite the country’s abundant potential.

“This is the only country where even making bricks must be in foreign hands. We can’t even produce a toothpick,” Mwansa charged. He called for investment in silos, renewable and nuclear energy, and industrial policy that prioritizes Zambian ownership and skills.

DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING AND THE ECZ
Both Mwansa and Mwamba raised sharp concerns about the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s independence. Listeners phoned in to accuse the ECZ of partisanship and exclusionary practices, citing blocked PF candidates, questionable voter ID processes, and the perception that the chairperson is aligned to the ruling UPND.

“If people don’t trust the process before elections happen, how will they trust the outcome?” Mwansa warned. He suggested that, if independence cannot be guaranteed, the ECZ leadership should consider resigning. Mwamba added that democracy itself is at risk if institutions tilt toward one side.

CALLS FOR UNITY AND A SECOND INDEPENDENCE
Callers pressed Mwansa on whether opposition parties can unite behind a single leader and a common platform. He admitted that “at the top we may have difficulties,” but urged citizens to build unity from the grassroots up, just as Zambians did in 1991.

In closing, Mwansa argued that Zambia is at a crossroads, what one caller described as “a second independence.” The future president, he suggested, must embody the best traits of past leaders: Kaunda’s patriotism, Chiluba’s communication skills, Mwanawasa’s accountability, Banda’s humility, Sata’s delivery, and Lungu’s groundedness.

“This country needs a revolutionary approach to development,” Mwansa said. “Politics must not be about me. It must be about service to the nation.”