THERE IS NO LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR STATE FUNERALS IN ZAMBIA
My attention has been drawn to remarks by former Vice President Dr Nevers Sekwila Mumba suggesting that a state funeral must be presided over by the President as a constitutional requirement.
That statement is misleading and must be viewed as an unfortunate abuse of the proximity granted to him by President Hakainde Hichilema. The President must be cautious of advisers who advance legally incorrect narratives on matters of constitutional interpretation.
Let us be clear: this claim has no basis in the Constitution of Zambia or in any statute.
There is no provision in the Constitution that requires the President to personally preside over a state funeral. In fact, the Constitution recognizes the principle of delegated executive authority.
Article 91(2) clearly provides that:
“The executive authority of the State vests in the President and, subject to this Constitution, shall be exercised directly by the President or through public officers or other persons appointed by the President.”
The meaning of this provision is straightforward: the President may exercise executive authority personally or through designated officials.
Even more importantly, state funerals themselves are not provided for in the Constitution or in any specific statute in Zambia. They exist primarily as a matter of state practice, protocol, and executive discretion, rather than as a legally enforceable entitlement.
In practice, the declaration of a state funeral is simply a national honour extended by the State to individuals who have rendered distinguished service to the nation. It is typically accompanied by measures such as national mourning, flags flying at half-mast, and military ceremonial honours.
However, these arrangements arise from government practice, not from constitutional compulsion.
This is precisely why legal commentators have repeatedly called for the enactment of a State Funerals Act to remove the current legal vacuum and clearly define:
• Who qualifies for a state funeral
• The role of the State and the family
• Funeral protocols and procedures
• Burial arrangements for national leaders
Until such legislation exists, it is important that public figures avoid misleading the nation on constitutional matters.
I therefore urge the President and the Government of the Republic of Zambia to respect the wishes of the family of the late Sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, particularly with regard to the President’s attendance at the state funeral. In this regard, the President may simply delegate representation, as clearly permitted under the Constitution.
Zambians deserve closure, and the family must be allowed the dignity to conclude the funeral of their loved one.
Let us approach this solemn moment with respect, constitutional honesty, and national unity.
Celestin Mukandila, Esq.
Deputy Secretary General – Administration
Patriotic Front
This has been ventilated in the south African courts. What this learned lawyer is saying we’re the same reasons advanced by Makebi Zulu and others and they lost.
On appeal again lost and they have appealed again. So why are you misleading the masses?
Former vice president had put up a very persuasive argument but all you have done is bring up same argument that failed.
Where is it written in the law that family preferences take precedent over a former commander in chief? I asked last time, when a priest dies, family does not have a say because that is established tradition in the church. They can’t go to court and say there is no law and they want their person.
It is the same with a chief!
No wonder you keep losing cases with this kind of law thinking
If you can prove before a court of law that HH eats or consumes corpses to enhance witchcraft or any other type of powers, then and only then, can a presidential representative be selected to preside over the funeral and burial of late ECL. This poorly disguised and blatant attack on the Office of the President of the RepublicofZambia will not succeed. Zambia is bigger than a gang of thieves who looted the national treasury.
Fred Membe has this wonderful opportunity to prove this allegation before a court of law. On behalf of the career criminals who think they are entitled to loot the Zambian treasury at will. Trying to twist the narrative that HH is the one delaying or blocking the burial is just noise. This one thing, proving before a court of law that HH is a wizard who wants to use a corpse for his wizardry powers, is what will settle this case once and for all.
Do these lawyers succeed in court? Whoever you are, sir, you are attempting to undermine the office of the president. You refuse to acknowledge HH as the head of state because he defeated you in the 2021 elections and prevented you from looting or profiting from public resources. This is not a valid reason to assert that HH should not attend the funeral. The choices made by the Lungu family and the pf are evidently rooted in animosity, and the Zambian people will not accept or tolerate this absurdity. No individual possesses the legal or moral authority to exclude a sitting President from a State funeral; such actions are not only unconstitutional but also diminish national decorum and the dignity associated with public office. Consequently, access and protocol at such an event are governed by State procedures. If I recall correctly, you are the same group that opposed KK’s family regarding his burial. Now, it seems you wish to reverse your stance. Such behavior is quite foolish, what a lawyer. The government should not permit itself to be undermined by these self-serving individuals.
HAAMUSONDA, you are a shockingly dull man. You are void of independent reasoning, and just follow whatever your Herdman says. You are still living at your mother’s house, it is obvious. How sad.
REJECT TRIBALISM, CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN AUGUST.
MUNYAULE DEALER WA GOLD.
Get out of here Congo/Tanzanian Idiot.You are a very dull and a fool.What have you invested in Zambia if we may ask you apart from eating free Zambian money. You really think we are all in Lusaka/Zambia!We come for holidays and we have Invested home unlike you Congolese/Tanzanian on the run
Lawyers at times have also a problem, they fail to interpret certain clauses of the law, hence confusing people more. Certain things do not need a constitution, they just have to be done that way. You can even use common sense if necessary. For example when night falls, unless there is a very valid reason, we have to go to bed and sleep and we don’t need a constitution to do that. We are also at liberty to sleep at at time we feel like. So the funeral of the former head of State is not only Constitutional but also routine and procedural. These things are peer to peer and the only peer of the former president is the current president and not any other person. The the delegation is only done when the president is busy and should purely come out of his own decision. So it’s very strange and queer to conduct a funeral of the former head of state without his only peer, it has never happened anywhere in the world. In America, we recently lost Jimmy Carter, all his surviving peers (Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barrack Obama, Joe Biden) attend the state funeral presided by the current president, that’s the procedure and you don’t need a Constitution for that.