UNITY CANNOT BE BUILT ON DISRESPECT: A DIRECT RESPONSE TO DR. NEVERS MUMBA

UNITY CANNOT BE BUILT ON DISRESPECT: A DIRECT RESPONSE TO DR. NEVERS MUMBA

By Thandiwe Ketiš Ngoma

Dr. Nevers Mumba, with respect, your statement is eloquent in language but fundamentally dishonest in where it places responsibility.

You speak at length about lack of trust, unity, empathy, and dignity, yet you carefully avoid the one truth that matters most in this painful matter: the expressed wishes of the deceased and the clear, consistent position of his family.

President Edgar Chagwa Lungu was not a ward of the state at the time of his death. He was a husband, a father, and a private citizen. His family holds both the moral and legal authority over his remains. To ignore this reality and instead frame the delay as a vague problem of “national mistrust” is not innocent—it is a deliberate attempt to blur responsibility and deflect accountability.

If unity truly matters, then it must begin with respect: respect for the dead, respect for the grieving family, and respect for the rule of law. Anything short of this is hypocrisy dressed up as moral concern.

You say that someone must rise above politics and make the first move. That “someone” is not the grieving family. It is President Hakainde Hichilema and his government.

Why have you not asked President HH to do the following?

1. Respect the wishes of the deceased.
2. Respect the position of the Lungu family.
3. Stop using state power to override private grief.
4. Stop turning a funeral into a political contest.

You speak of empathy, yet where is the empathy in attempting to force a burial against family consent?

You speak of dignity, yet where is the dignity in intimidation and coercion by the state?

You speak of unity, yet unity cannot be built on disrespect and force.

Let us be absolutely clear.

There is no unity in violating the wishes of the dead.
There is no peace in bullying a mourning family.
There is no morality in weaponising state power against private citizens.

If President Lungu’s remains are not home, it is not because of “tribalism” or “social media hatred.” It is because the government has refused to honour boundaries it has no right to cross.

So, Dr. Mumba, if your appeal is genuine, redirect it where it belongs.
Ask President Hakainde Hichilema to respect the wishes of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and his family. Ask the state to step back. Ask for humility from power. Only then can President Lungu truly rest.
Only then can the nation begin to heal. Anything else is empty rhetoric.