The Politics of a Frozen Body

 EDITOR’S NOTE | The Politics of a Frozen Body

Harry Kalaba has entered the 2026 race with a dramatic pledge. Speaking on the KennyT One on One podcast, he vowed to “personally bury Edgar Lungu” if the funeral standoff continues into next year. He framed his promise as an act of cultural honour and spiritual duty, arguing that Lungu has suffered “unimaginable humiliation” under the UPND government.

“If Lungu will not be buried before elections, me myself, I will put this matter to rest when I win next year,” Kalaba declared. He said Lungu “deserves honour for the seven years he ruled this country,” and urged the government to have compassion “softened by the Holy Spirit.”

It is a compelling soundbite. It is also a political message dressed in funeral cloth. Zambia is now five months into a burial crisis that has moved from a family dispute to a High Court battle in South Africa, and from diplomatic tension to campaign talking points. Kalaba has seized the moment, just as Makebi Zulu has done for months. The body of Edgar Lungu has quietly become political capital.

But a simple question remains. If these men care deeply about Lungu’s dignity, why has his body stayed in a foreign morgue for almost half a year? Why has the opposition, the family and the State failed to produce even one joint meeting? Why must a former president rest only when it suits someone’s manifesto?

Kalaba insists he is filling a moral vacuum, saying he came out “number three” in 2021, that Lungu was “number two,” and that by “political arithmetic” he now moves up the ladder. He even claimed Hichilema’s “shoe is big” but “needs me because that is my foot size.” The confidence is theatrical. The logic is thin.

Burial is not policy. It will not electrify a new grid. It will not process copper. It will not reduce mealie meal prices. It will not stabilise the kwacha. It will not create a job for a single Zambian. If anything, the fact that Lungu’s body has remained in cold storage from June to November is evidence that the political class, across all factions, has failed to rise above personal ambition.

If Kalaba becomes president, yes, he will have the legal authority to organise a state funeral. But what if Hichilema wins again? Does Lungu remain in a freezer until 2031? And if Makebi Zulu wins the PF presidency and loses the national election, will he still be blamed for a burial he has no power to execute?

The truth is that this matter never required elections. It required maturity. It required the family, the State and responsible intermediaries to sit down and resolve a constitutional and cultural dispute with dignity. It required the same leaders who now shout on podcasts to show up in quiet rooms when it mattered.

Instead, a former president’s remains have become a campaign banner. A solemn issue has become a stage prop. Zambia deserves better.

If the opposition wants to be taken seriously, they must present citizens with a plan for economic governance, food security, energy investment and constitutional clarity. Not a promise to bury a man who should have been buried months ago.

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