By Angela Moonga
Former Ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita has called on Zambians to use late president Edgar Lungu’s birthday which falls on the November 11, to give him the gift of burial but not for pomp or politics.
And Mukwita stated that Lungu resented tribalism and wanted unity, but now, in death, he was being denied the very peace he preached.
Mukwita also said Zambia had no law on burying dead presidents and Lungu’s pain should birth policy.
In a write-up yesterday, Mukwita stated that on November 11, Lungu would have turned 68.
“But instead of hymns, flowers, and tea, Zambia will mark his birthday with silence and frost,” he stated. “Frozen in time since 5 June, the sixth president of Zambia lies unburied, caught in a diplomatic and legal rut that mocks the humility he lived by and the dignity he died with.”
He noted that the government insisted on full state honours they denied him in life and asked why all of the sudden they wanted to embrace a man they once pulled off planes, barred from travel, and humiliated in public.
Mukwita asked why the government wanted the body in death which they despised in life saying it was a mystery.
He stated that president Lungu’s plight was not without precedent.
“In Africa, a Ghanain President was caught in political wrangling with politics. In medieval Europe, the excommunication of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV led to his burial being denied in consecrated ground, his body left in limbo until political tides shifted. These examples remind us: death does not always bring peace when politics intervene,” Mukwita stated. “Let this 11th November be a turning point. Let Zambia give Edgar Lungu the gift of burial. Not for pomp. Not for politics.”
Mukwita stated that president Lungu founded the National Day of Prayer and cried for starving people.
“He resented tribalism. He wanted unity. And now, in death, he is denied the very peace he preached,” he stated. “What sin did he commit to remain frozen? Was it humility? Was it love?”
Mukwita stated that president Lungu’s frozen fate must be the last of its kind.
“Zambia has no law on burying dead presidents. Let his pain birth policy. Let his death unite Zambia, not divide it,” Mukwita stated. Everything is funny until it happens to you. Today, it has happened to Zambia—and to Madam Esther Lungu. Yet even in grief, we remember the man behind the title,” Mukwita stated.
He stated that after leaving office, president Lungu was denied the simple joys of retirement.
Mukwita stated that Lungu was barred from attending Church, funerals, and even walking in markets he helped build according to his lawyers.
He stated that late president was pulled from planes, denied exit to seek medical treatment abroad and was humiliated.
” And now, in death, he is denied burial. Frozen in a fridge in SA.
His confidantes—Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu, and others—ask the same question: Why? Why must a man who gave so much be denied the peace of the grave? Mukwita asked. “Let us be clear: Edgar Lungu was not a perfect man. But he was a man of grace, of grit, of generosity. He was a man who believed in Zambia.
He was a man who cried over starving children and prayed for unity. He was a man who said, “Family above duty,” and lived it.”
Mukwita stated that he did not just say this as a diplomat, but as a son of the soil.
‘Bury Edgar Lungu. Let his spirit rest. Let Zambia heal. Let love win.
Let this be our birthday gift to him. Frozen at 68. Finally buried. Finally free,” stated Mukwita.
