Africa-Press – Zambia. Is Edgar Lungu Really Dead?*
By Farai Ruvanyathi
Yes, that question, once whispered in hushed tones, is now growing louder:
Is Edgar Chagwa Lungu really dead?
If so, who has actually seen his body?
Where is the photographic or eyewitness evidence?
Why has no one, not a single official or member of the public, testified to having viewed his remains?
In South Africa, it’s customary for families and even funeral homes to allow early viewing of the body.Yet not one account, credible or otherwise, has emerged confirming that Lungu’s body was seen before its reported repatriation.
Even the highly anticipated memorial service, attended by dozens of Lungu’s close allies and eulogists, conspicuously lacked what most consider fundamental: a viewing of the body. Why?
Then comes the claim, confirmed by highly placed sources, that the South African National Defence Force personnel dispatched to escort the body from the mortuary were denied access. Let that sink in: a state military escort refused a ceremonial duty because they were not allowed to verify the cargo.
Why?
Why would Lungu’s family explicitly bar President Hichilema from getting anywhere near the casket? Would the presence of the Head of State have triggered additional security protocols, including possibly verifying the contents of the coffin?
More questions follow. Why the insistence on taking the body to Lungu’s private residence, under the watch of his personal physician and former Aide-de-Camp? Why were these individuals so strategically placed around the casket, if not to guard a secret?
And then there’s the shadow of scandal:
President Lungu’s alleged association with James Ndambo, himself entangled in several mysteries.
The unexplained disappearance of a Congolese-registered aircraft, with a passenger manifest that no one seems able to confirm.
And perhaps most damning: the Lungu family’s refusal to allow the Zambian Air Force’s Hercules aircraft to repatriate the body. Why turn down a state aircraft, unless one feared what a thorough inspection might uncover?
Was it because the Air Force, in line with standard procedure, would have been obligated to verify the cargo?
Would they have found something unexpected, a dummy, a closed casket with no body… or a clone?
Is this a funeral? Or is it theatre?
Until these questions are answered, one can’t help but wonder:
What exactly lies in that casket, and what truth lies buried with it?- ZWD
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