THE Patriotic Front (PF) will never change in its deed and character.
The PF will forever remain a confused group of demagougues.
It really sad listening to the PF faction deputy secretary general Brenda Nyirenda lying through her staccato teeth that President Hakainde Hichilema has failed bury late sixth Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. Yet it is the PF, under the leadership of Given Lubinda who vehemently prevented President Hichilema and his government from having anything to do with Lungu’s funeral. 
Because they are demagougues who thrive in organised chaos and anarchy, Nyirenda had no shame to accuse the President of having failed to bury his predecessor.
Has Nyirenda forgotten that she and her goons hosted own funeral at their secretariat and Given Lubinda declared several days of mourning? Has Nyirenda forgotten that President Hichilema was told to stay away from Lungu’s funeral?
Contrary to her claims, President Hichilema has not refused to bury Lungu. Instead, the president has repeatedly requested the Lungu family to allow government give the former head of State a dignified burial.
It is the PF who are misleading the bereaved family not release the body of the late former President to the government. They are using Lungu’s body for political mobilisation.
The PF must have shame to even turn around and accuse an innocent soul.
There is no denying that the President has consistently upheld his constitutional mandate to grant his predecessor a State funeral, as required under Zambian law.
However, at the centre of the current impasse is a growing political interest in which the PF is using Lungu’s body to drive their political campaign.
However, it would appear the PF has realised that their plan is and will not work. Instead, their continued delaying tactics to bury Lungu is beginning to work against them. It is clear that legal precedent, constitutional guidelines, and government actions suggest that new dawn government has acted well and within the existing government powers.
The PF’s accusations are part of a broader attempt to politicise a national tragedy.
What justification does the PF have to demand that President Hichilema should be nowhere Lungu’s body?
The legal and constitutional context
under Zambia’s former Presidents’ benefits Act, states that all former heads of State are entitled to State funeral.
This provision is not a discretionary privilege but a statutory right, reflecting the office’s importance to the nation’s history and unity.
The Act mandates the sitting president and government to facilitate the burial of any deceased former head of State with national honours and public respect.
Following President Lungu’s passing, President Hichilema’s administration declared a period of national mourning and officially granted him a State funeral.
The government also made arrangements for the repatriation of the body from South Africa to Zambia, in accordance with national tradition and protocol.
However, complications arose when the Lungu family expressed a desire for a private burial in South Africa, excluding official State participation.
This position led to a legal standoff, culminating in a South African court ruling in favour of the Zambian government.
The court affirmed that State funerals, particularly for former presidents, fall within the realm of public interest, and that the government’s duty to the nation takes precedence over private family preferences.
The ruling strengthened the government’s position that the late president’s funeral should take place in Zambia under official State guidance, in accordance with both constitutional principles and historical precedent.
PF’s Political Turnaround
Despite the clarity of the legal framework, the PF has now shifted its stance, accusing President Hichilema’s administration of failing to bury Lungu five months after his death.
Brenda Nyirenda is expressing her frustration over the delayed burial wrongly.
Actually it is shameful and undignified for her to attribute the delayed burial to President.
Nyirenda accused the government of “hiding behind bureaucracy” and urged President Hichilema to “show humility and maturity” by resolving the matter directly with the family.
Is Nyirenda the ‘jew’ who does not know that the government has on many occasions sought to engage the family. But each, it is their family spokesperson Makebi Zulu who comes up with updates to refuse any such engagements. Unsuspectingly and probably unknowingly, the Lungu family are being mislead by these political vultures.
However, critics and legal observers have noted that it was the PF itself — along with sections of the Lungu family — that initially resisted the State funeral arrangements and sought to bury the former president privately.
The government, on the other hand, has maintained that it stands ready to facilitate the burial once the family and the former ruling party cease their resistance to official procedures.
“The record is clear. The President has never refused to bury his predecessor. What has delayed the process is the continuous shifting of positions by the family and PF leadership, who appear to be using the situation to gain political leverage,” one senior official at Cabinet Office said.
The Role of the State in National Funerals
Zambia’s political tradition since independence has been to treat the funerals of presidents and vice presidents as national events, symbolising continuity and unity.
The government’s role is not only administrative but ceremonial and symbolic. It ensures that the burial honours the deceased’s public service while maintaining the dignity of the presidency itself.
In this context, President Hichilema’s insistence on a State funeral for Lungu is both lawful and culturally appropriate.
His administration has emphasised that a State funeral for Lungu is not about politics, but about preserving national honour and collective memory.
Political analyst and governance expert Mwelwa Mwape notes that the confusion stems largely from “a failure to separate private emotion from public responsibility.
“The office of the president belongs to the nation, not the individual or their family.
“When a former head of State dies, the government has a duty to take charge of the funeral because it is a national institution, not a private event,” he said.
Mulenga Kapwepwe’s Controversial Comparison
Adding to the public debate, Mulenga Kapwepwe, daughter of Zambia’s former Vice President Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe, recently weighed in, urging President Hichilema to “respect the wishes” of the Lungu family.
She cited her own experience during her late father’s funeral in 1980, when she said the government under President Kenneth Kaunda allowed the family to make its own arrangements.
However, historians and political commentators have described Kapwepwe’s comparison as misguided.
In reality, President Kaunda was humiliated at Kapwepwe’s funeral by mourners and family members, who accused him of persecuting the late nationalist.
Initially family had rejected the coffin provided by State. The coffin was later smashed, choosing instead to bury the patriarch in a traditional woven mat.
The incident, widely documented in Zambia’s post-independence history, reflected deep-seated political bitterness rather than a cooperative arrangement.
To many, invoking that painful episode now risks reopening old wounds and misrepresenting the facts.
It is historically inaccurate for Ms. Kapwepwe to claim that Kaunda respected the family’s wishes voluntarily when the truth is that he was actually humiliated and forced to leave the funeral. It had to take traditional rulers to reason with the family to at least allow Dr. Kaunda to pay his last respects to his fallen comrade.
Comparing that to President Hichilema’s lawful handling of Lungu’s burial is disingenuous.
A Question of National Dignity
At its core, the controversy raises broader questions about how Zambia should handle the funerals of its national leaders. Should families retain full control, or should the State assert its authority to ensure consistency, dignity, and historical continuity?
In most democracies, the State assumes primary responsibility for the burial of former heads of government. This approach ensures that the event is not politicised or used to divide the public.
President Hichilema’s stance is consistent with that principle.
Analysts warn that allowing the PF or any political grouping to dictate funeral arrangements could set a dangerous precedent, which would undermining national protocol and turning solemn occasions into partisan spectacles.
Zambians should be made to understand that this is not just about Edgar Lungu, but about the office he held and the respect due to that office.
The PF’s continued politicisation of this matter diminishes both the dignity of their late leader and the unity of the nation.
Conclusion
As the dispute drags on, one thing remains clear. President Hichilema has not refused to bury Edgar Lungu. He has followed the law, honoured the constitution, and sought to preserve Zambia’s tradition of national respect for its leaders.
The PF’s shifting narrative, from initially rejecting a State funeral to now blaming government for delay, reveals a political motive rather than a genuine concern for the former president’s legacy.
Zambia deserves closure grounded in truth and respect. The late Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who once served as head of State, deserves a dignified farewell that unites rather than divides the nation.
It is time for PF to rise above partisanship and allow the burial to proceed in a manner befitting a former president, with honour, peace, and national dignity.
