Africa-Press – Zambia. RESPECTING the wishes of late sixth president Edgar Lungu is the simplest decision President Hakainde Hichilema can make, Mulenga Kapwepwe, daughter of late former vice president Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe has said.
Kapwepwe said her father died while being persecuted and late Kenneth Kaunda did not impose himself on or dictate the funeral.
She said after the death of her father, government only asked what it could help with during the funeral and not to impose any decisions.
“The government only came to ask us as family members ‘how can we help? I didn’t come to impose decisions on the family’,” Kapwepwe said.
Speaking when she featured on KBN TV, she said the family only accepted that the government help carry the body to Chinsali for burial.
Kapwepwe said when it came to allowing Kaunda to attend the funeral, the family made various considerations.
“So, when it came time to bury, the coffin that was bought by government was smashed. Most people think we smashed it because it came from the government. No. But we could not bury my father in that coffin because of royal lines,” she said.
Kapwepwe said the family opted to do so in fulfillment of their father’s instructions and it was nothing to do with politics.
He said Kaunda was instructed not to give any speech at the funeral and he obliged even when he had already stood.
Kapwepwe credited Kaunda for listening to the wishes of the family.
“Credit to Kaunda. He turned around and he went and sat down. It must have been not pleasant for him. But he did it. As far as we were concerned, he honoured our wishes,” she said.
Kapwepwe said despite the family agreeing that his father’s funeral be turned into a state funeral, the government was not allowed to dictate.
“Kaunda’s stepping back from Kapwepwe’s funeral brought a lot of healing to the family. When you are in the position of power, you are the one who has the power to make things come right for everyone,” she said.
Kapwepwe said government cannot say they have done enough when they have taken the Lungu family to court.
She said there is no law in this country that says Lungu must be buried at the roundabout and his body given to the State.
“But the law right now merely says the government, in the Presidential Benefits Act, will help with the funeral expenses. It doesn’t say the government will own the body, or the government will dictate the terms,” Kapwepwe said.
She said Hichilema should respect the wishes of the Lungu family. Failure to do so, the two would never agreed.
“I personally think it was a simple matter because of my own experience. Because once Hichilema respects the other side in the same way that Kaunda respected what we wanted, I think there’s room for that respect,” Kapwepwe said.
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