THE CURIOUS CASE OF EDGAR LUNGU’S REMAINS – A POLITICAL TRAGEDY ENGINEERED BY MAKEBI ZULU
By Chilufya Kasonde
For months, the nation has waited in confusion. Why is the body of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu being kept in a South African mortuary instead of being brought home for a dignified burial?
The silence from the family’s lawyer and spokesperson, Makebi Zulu, is deafening. What began as a dispute over who should attend the funeral has now morphed into a bizarre political theatre that punishes the late statesman in death.
Let us rewind. The Lungu family, through Mr. Zulu, made a pointed demand: President Hakainde Hichilema should not attend Mr. Lungu’s burial. It was a hardball political move designed to embarrass the sitting President. To the surprise of many, President Hichilema gracefully accepted the demand, stepping aside to avoid conflict.
The impasse should have ended there. The path was clear for the remains to return to Zambian soil for a peaceful burial. Yet, inexplicably, the body remains in South Africa.
The question every Zambian should be asking is: Why?
Sources close to the family say that Makebi Zulu, a lawyer and self-appointed spokesman for the Lungu family, has deliberately stalled the repatriation. The goal, it appears, is no longer about respecting the dead. It is about using Mr. Lungu’s corpse as a political cudgel to beat the UPND government.
Mr. Zulu hopes to stretch this tragedy until August 2026. He is banking on the frustration of the deceased President’s supporters to fuel his own political ambitions. Recently unveiled as the running mate to Brian Mundubile for the 2026 General Election, Mr. Zulu desperately needs a national issue to campaign on. What better issue than a manufactured “burial impasse” where he is both the architect and the victim?
He lied to Mrs. Esther Lungu, former First Lady and the children, Tasila and the rest, assuring them he had the situation under control. But the evidence suggests otherwise. Mr. Zulu is a man who sought to file his own nomination for Presidency at the Electoral Commission of Zambia but failed to file. To avoid that humiliation, he settled for the running mate slot.
This is a dangerous man. A trickster who loves money and power more than loyalty.
Consider the company he keeps. His own brother, Constable Zulu of the Zambia Police Service, is infamously accused of killing an innocent man, Guntila Muleya, the former Director-General of the Independent Broadcasting Authority. That life was snuffed out, according to reports, for the love of money. It seems duplicity and greed run in the blood.
Makebi Zulu cannot be trusted to bury a dog, let alone a former President. He is using Edgar Lungu’s remains as a political prop, hoping that Zambians will forget his failures and his family’s dark history. He thinks we will reward him with the Vice Presidency for turning a funeral into a circus.
Zambians see the truth. While President Hichilema has respected the family’s wishes of staying away, it is Makebi Zulu who keeps the body in a foreign land. He is punishing Edgar Lungu in death to save his own sinking political career.
It is time for the Lungu family to take back control from this charlatan. Bring our former President home. Let the man rest. And let Makebi Zulu answer for his grotesque manipulation of a nation’s grief.