Africa-Press – Zambia. FAMILY spokesperson for the late former president Edgar Lungu says that President Hakainde Hichilema should not be part of the funeral according to the family.
Makebi Zulu said the family of the late president does not want President Hichilema and Government to be in charge of the funeral in Zambia but let the family take the lead.
“The family is against President Hichilema taking a lead, because the funeral is not a Presidential funeral, it’s a state funeral and the President is not the state, the very insisting that he is doing goes against the wish of the family, and for that being the position there will be no compromise,” he said.
Speaking when he featured on SABC news, Face the Nation programme in South Africa, Zulu said the family of the deceased are not against burying the remains of Lungu in Zambia but are against the government taking charge in putting him to rest.
He added that the family’s only wish is giving a dignified send off of Lungu who died on June 5, 2025 in South Africa but is yet to be buried due to the impasse between the Lungus and Government.
Zulu said the position undertaken by the family to bury in south Africa is because the government failed to honour the agreement made with the family.
“The duty of the State is to ask the family how they want to mourn and what role [government ] they can play in the whole thing, the government has come with a view that they are entitled with the body of the president.”
“The family is not fighting with the government but the government is the one fighting with the family because they have gotten the issue as one to be propaganda, wanting to avoid embarrassment and not to look at the interest of the family,” Zulu said.
Zulu said it was possible for the body to buried in Zambia but the family nol onger trusts the government after they broke the promise they agreed on.
“After President Edgar Lungu died, we engaged into negotiations with the Government of Zambia, most of the things we could agree [but] government would sometimes change their mind especially on issues that were a concern to the family and the deceased before he died.”
“And just when we thought we had reached middle ground then there was a part of government having changed its position,” he said.
Zulu added that the family is expecting no guarantees from the state for Lungu to be buried in Zambia especially that the national mourning which was supposed to end on June 23, was cancelled on June 18.
According to Zulu, when President Hichilema said it could be an embarrassment to bury the body in South Africa, it brought a picture that they don’t care about the family.
“It is the government wanting to look good, not embarrassing themselves in this particular negotiations,” Zulu said.
Furthermore, Zulu said there was no need for President Hichilema to attend the funeral because it is not a presidential funeral but a State funeral
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