Africa-Press – Zambia. Many have asked me to speak on the painful and deeply troubling developments surrounding the funeral of our late Sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu.
I have hesitated… because this issue has become extremely divisive.
What we are witnessing as a nation is not just a disagreement. It is something far more painful.
We are watching a farewell turn into a battlefield.
We are watching a grieving family stand in the middle of noise, tension, and public spectacle.
We are watching a man who once led this country being spoken about, joked about, and reduced in ways that strip away the very dignity we all hope to have when our time comes.
And it hurts.
It hurts because behind the title “former President” was a human being—a father, a husband, a friend. Someone who was loved. Someone who laughed, who struggled, who lived.
Death should remind us of our shared humanity.
Instead, it is exposing how divided we have become.
There are those who are laughing. They are poking fun and making jokes. It’s horrifying to read some comments.
There are those who are crying.
And there are many who are simply silent—shocked at what we have become.
How did we get here?
How did we reach a point where a funeral becomes content for social media jokes, where grief becomes a debate… where dignity becomes optional?
This is not just about politics.
This is about who we are as a people.
Because if we cannot come together in death… then when will we ever come together?
But we must also speak honestly about leadership in moments like this.
Government must remember: power is not just about authority—it is about responsibility.
Power, when exercised without restraint, without wisdom, without empathy, can deepen wounds instead of healing them.
There are moments when the law must be firm—but there are also moments when humanity must lead.
This is one of those moments.
A grieving family cannot be handled like an ordinary dispute.
A funeral cannot be reduced to a process to be managed through force or rigid positions.
Because when authority is used without sensitivity, it stops being leadership—it begins to feel like domination.
And when people feel unheard in their grief, pain turns into anger, and anger turns into division.
Leadership must rise above that.
Leadership must calm, must listen, must unify.
This moment is slipping away from us.
And if we are not careful, it will leave behind a stain we cannot erase.
So today, this is not a political statement.
This is a human plea.
To the family… to the government… to everyone involved:
Please… let this not continue like this.
Stop the fighting.
Stop the court processes.
Step away from positions and pride.
Choose dialogue. Choose compassion. Choose peace.
Let wise and neutral voices help find a path forward.
Let this man be laid to rest with dignity.
Let his family mourn in peace.
Let Zambia breathe again.
Because one day, it will be us. One day, it will be someone we love lying still, unable to defend themselves, unable to speak.
And on that day, we will pray for dignity. We will pray for respect. We will pray that the world is kind.
Let us give that kindness now.
Let us not lose our humanity completely.
Let us remember who we are.
We are Zambia
Antonio Mourinho Mwanza
DPP President
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