WHEN HUMANITY DIES BEFORE THE PERSON — A NATION’S SHAME
By Nachilima Cleopatra Chisala
7th April 2025…
Edith Zewelani Nawakwi is no more. And with her passing, the State has finally found its peace — for she will now, indeed, never “bother” them again.
Here was a 66-year-old mother, economist, and veteran politician — dragged through court corridors in her twilight years over a bailable offence. She was incarcerated for 8 days on a sedition charge, all for expressing her political opinions in a so-called democratic space.
Twice she was rushed to UTH in critical condition. Her lawyers pleaded with the court that she was ill — not to avoid justice, but because her body was failing. Even then, they followed her to her home, desperate to prove her a liar, as if her sickness was some tactic.
Now that her voice is silent, the State is finally satisfied. They have confirmation that she was not faking. And yes, she will never challenge them again.
This is not just a death — it is a loud indictment on a system that has long lost the sense of Ubuntu, the basic human decency that says, “I am because you are.”
When politics erases compassion… when power tramples on the frail and elderly… when we treat dissent as treason, and illness as a tactic — then we have not only failed as a government, we have failed as a people.
The death of Edith Nawakwi should haunt the conscience of this nation — not because of who she was politically, but because of how we treated her as a human being.
What is left of our humanity when political rivalry becomes more important than compassion?
What kind of justice system doubts sickness — until death makes it undeniable?
She may be gone, but the shame remains. And unless we change, more will die with justice denied — and humanity forgotten.