Africa-Press – Malawi. You have let your sixth Republican President — a man who led you, represented you, and bled for your flag — be buried in foreign land like a political orphan. And for what? Pride? Petty politics? Personal vengeance?
This is not just political immaturity. It is national disgrace.
Edgar Chagwa Lungu was your president. Whether you loved him or loathed him, whether he jailed your hero or failed your hopes, he still ruled Zambia. He signed your laws. He led your soldiers. He addressed your parliaments. He met your presidents. He walked your national stage. And now, instead of resting in the soil he served, he’s being buried in South Africa like an exile — like a man whose own country was too divided, too vindictive, too damn small to give him a grave.
No. This is not right.
Let’s be honest. Lungu’s dying wish — that President Hakainde Hichilema not attend his funeral — was not a commandment from God. It was a broken man’s last act of bitterness. But leaders don’t honour death wishes that divide nations. They rise above. They lead. They choose the high road.
President Hichilema failed. Yes, he declared 16 days of mourning, but when it mattered most, when grace was required, he folded. He washed his hands like Pilate and canceled the mourning. He apologized to South Africa. Then walked away.
That’s not leadership. That’s cowardice cloaked in protocol.
And the Lungu family? You, too, have failed Zambia. Yes, you were hurt. Yes, you feared hypocrisy at the funeral. But this man wasn’t just your father, your husband, your brother. He was Zambia’s former Head of State. He belonged to history. And history is never private.
This was not your moment to protect grudges. It was your duty to protect legacy.
Now what do we have? A president buried in foreign soil. A country humiliated before the world. And a people so blinded by political tribalism that they can no longer even honour their own dead.
Zambians, is this who you are now? A people so small-minded, so bitter, so emotionally numb, that you let your own leader be interred in exile while you squabble over who should stand at the funeral?
Even South Africa — not his home, not his nation — showed more dignity than Zambia did. That is what should make every Zambian hang their head in shame.
You say you are a democratic people? Then show it. Because democracy is not just elections. It is decency. It is honour. It is burying your leaders — even your flawed ones — with national respect.
You don’t spit on your past just because it offends your present. You don’t let political vengeance dig graves in foreign lands. You don’t outsource your national soul.
You bring Lungu home. Not because he was perfect. Not because he was popular. But because he was yours.
And burying him in Zambia should never have been a debate. It should have been a duty.
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