THE UNSPOKEN APOLOGY…Bo Inonge Wina missed an opportunity to step up the podium, look the Scott family in the eyes and apologise

THE UNSPOKEN APOLOGY
….Bo Inonge Wina missed an opportunity to step up the podium, look the Scott family in the eyes and apologise

By DAVID KANDUZA
THE atmosphere inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on July 20, 2026 was heavy with incense and unspoken truths.

As the choir’s harmony bounced off the high vaulted ceilings, senior citizen Maliti Peter Ngeve sat on his retirement sofa in Kabwe, Central Province, glued to a live broadcast the solemn State Funeral of the late former Vice President Guy Scott on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, his eyes fixed on the set.

The camera panned and there sat a familiar though aging face of Inonge Mutukwa-Wina, the highest-ranking former Vice President of the Patriotic Front (PF) in attendance.

To Mr Ngeve, Ms Wina’s presence was not just a formality; it was a missed opportunity of historic proportions.

Guy Scott’s body, the co-founder of the PF alongside Michael Sata, lay at the sanctuary the centre of the church service.

Yet, the history of his final years hung over the congregation like a dark cloud.

Mr Ngeve watched Ms Wina closely, wishing she would step up to the podium, look the Scott family in the eyes and deliver the earnest apology the nation deserved.

While the choir sang ‘Tutemwane bane’ to honour the man who co-founded the PF alongside Michael Sata, a deep, simmering rage occupied the pews.

The bitterness ran deep.

After Mr Sata’s death, the internal power struggles within the PF saw Dr Scott systematically isolated, humiliated and stripped of his influence by the very party he built.

For many onlookers, the behaviour of president Edgar Lungu’s inner circle and the PF leadership toward the former acting president was nothing short of inhuman.

“How does a normal person comprehend it?” a whisper circulated through the back pews.

To ice out a founding father in his twilight years spoke of a weird, vindictive brand of politics that left a permanent stain on the party’s legacy.

As the Requiem Mass concluded, the opportunity vanished into the afternoon air.

Ms Wina remained silent on the matter, choosing the safety of protocol over the bravery of reconciliation.

Stepping out to join the long queue for the body viewing, as the highest-ranking former PF Vice President present, Ms Wina bore the moral weight of a party structure that many citizens felt had behaved like a vindictive machine.

Her decision to remain silent at the podium was a profound failure.

She had the platform, the audience and the unique historical positioning to deliver a public, earnest apology to the Scott family and the people of Zambia—but she chose the safety of diplomatic protocol instead.

For commentators like Mr Ngeve and many others the funeral was a theater of immense political hypocrisy.

Making a formal contribution statement for an article titled ‘Guy Scott’s family breaks silence after years of political spite’ by this author, he wrote: “During the Requiem Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Inonge Mutukwa-Wina, being the highest ranking former vice president of PF present during the service, should have taken the opportunity to earnestly apologize to the Scott family and the people of Zämbîá for the ill-treatment Guy Scott suffered at the hands of the leaders of the party, PF, he co-founded with Sata.
“It’s very difficult for a normal person to comprehend the inhuman behavior of both the weird Lungu family and PF leadership.”

Mukuma Chikwata wrote: “ECL was evil. His hate for Dr Guy Lindasay Scott was terrible. I remember how he was persecuted because Edgar Lungu wanted to be President at all costs. He felt he was Zambian than Dr Scott whom he called a foreigner.
“Dr Scott has been decently buried with dignity and respect where Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s body is kept as an exhibit for 2026 Presidential Campaigns.
“God in heaven is not  sleeping. Come August 13, we will decide without blinking our eyes. Ala!”

Maimbolwa Kamanga wrote: “The way Inonge Wina treated Guy Scott when she was National Women’s chairperson of PF, the woman should be ashamed of herself, greed is what destroyed the Patriotic Front no wonder when it’s despotic leader departed it fell to pieces.”

Mushomane Sitali added his thought: “Guy Scott and Michael Sata were the real PF but ‘Hynas’ came to loot and destroy the party and they made sure they mistreated and sidelined Guy Scott from the same party he helped to build with Mr Sata,”

Emeldah Mwelwa also wrote: “He was surely mistreated from the time Mr Micheal Sata died and it pained most of us. This could have been the reason the opposition leaders from NRUPUP even failed to attend the service. We’re grateful to President Hichilems for giving Dr Scott a decent funeral.”

David Mungole wrote: “I hope the ECL family and supporters can learn from Dr Guy Scott’s funeral. It’s a time the nation come together to remember and put to rest the departed hero. It’s a shame to PF fans that ECL is still in the fridge in South Africa after the judgement was passed in the family’s favour.”

The Scott family walked out into the sunlight, out of the Cathedral comforted by the citizens of Zambia, but denied the political closure that only a genuine PF apology could have provided.

The widow, her children, family members, friends and mourners proceeded to gathered at Leopards Hill Memorial Park.

There, they laid the late former Vice-President and acting president, Dr Scott, to rest

It is here where the family broke its silence regarding the political isolation and disrespect the former Vice President suffered under the previous administration, revealing that he was once denied access to the VIP facility at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone.

Family representative Emmanuel Chenda thanked President Hakainde Hichilema for stepping in to restore the dignity and respect that had been stripped away from the national icon.

The revelation highlighted the turbulent political fallout that followed the death of fifth Republican President Michael Sata in 2014.

After Dr Scott successfully managed a highly volatile three-month transition as acting President, subsequent political regimes effectively sidelined him.

The family disclosed a stinging incident in Livingstone—the very town where Dr Scott was born—where airport authorities barred the former Head of State from using the designated VIP lounges.

This act of political small-mindedness stood in stark contrast to his monumental service to the nation.

The narrative changed when President Hichilema took office.

The Head of State not only re-engaged Dr Scott for wise counsel but also institutionalised the care and retirement benefits of former Vice Presidents.

The family highly commended Mr Hichilema for choosing to accord Dr Scott a full State Funeral, capped off with a 17-gun salute by the Zambia Army.

The dignified burial process effectively reversed years of State-sponsored neglect, bringing together multi-partisan mourners under the banner of  ‘One Zambia, One Nation’.

Beyond the presidency, the Scott family extended heartfelt appreciation to the individuals who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to manage the logistics of the five-day national mourning period.

In a deeply moving moment during the ceremony, Bradford Machila the Principal Private Secretary at State House was formally invited to lay a wreath on behalf of President Hichilema by the family as a special friend who stood by the late Dr Scott throughout his life and political journey.

Their collective efforts ensured that the late leader, who died on July 15, 2026, at the age of 82, was interred with absolute decorum.