The Editor Zambia
Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu have publicly announced their political game plan – to use Edgar Lungu’s body as their main campaign material.
This explains why Mundubile has been speaking loudly but with zero political substance. The NRPUP presidential candidate has presented the country with rhetoric that does not offer any solutions for the Zambian people. 
Political analysts are now warning Zambians to be extra careful with Mundubile’s lack of political substance.
At a campaign rally in Chinsali, Mundubile declared that the late former sixth Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu will only be buried if he and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, win the August 13 general elections.
Mundubile told the people of Chinsali that should he be elected president after the 13 August elections, he will ensure that Lungu is put to rest.
Mundubile’s statement raises a profoundly troubling question. If Mundubile genuinely believes that a dignified burial can only take place after his party forms government, what does that reveal about the true intentions behind the prolonged burial impasse?
The unavoidable implication is that there was never any genuine urgency to lay the former Head of State to rest. Instead, the continued delay was intended for election political campaigns.
It has now become politically convenient for Mundubile and Makebi Zulu to reveal their schemed ulterior motive to use Lungu’s body as campaign manifesto.
It has now become clear to all peace loving Zambians that the late President’s remains have been turned into a campaign asset for Mundubile and Makebi Zulu rather than a solemn national responsibility.
Throughout history, civilised societies have understood that the dead deserve dignity irrespective of political differences. Funeral arrangements should never become campaign material, nor should the remains of a former national leader be transformed into an election strategy.
If the intention had always been to bury President Lungu with honour, every reasonable effort would have been directed towards achieving that objective at the earliest opportune time. Instead, the nation has witnessed prolonged political drama, legal disputes, emotional public exchanges, and repeated attempts to assign blame against the government and President Hakainde Hichilema.
Mundubile’s own words now invite citizens to reconsider the entire sequence of events. Why would a presidential candidate publicly promise to bury the body of a man who should already have been laid to rest months ago, only if he wins elections? Could this be for a ritualistic purpose in order to win elections?
Political commentators are perplexed as to why Mundubile and Makebi Zulu are linking a funeral to the outcome of a general election?
Why suggest that dignity for the deceased depends upon the dual occupying State House?
These are legitimate questions that deserve equally legitimate answers.
President Hichilema consistently maintained that former President Lungu should receive the honour and respect befitting a former Head of State.
The government repeatedly indicated its willingness to facilitate a State funeral in accordance with established national practice. If that position remained unchanged, then where exactly did the obstacle lie?
Mundubile’s remarks in Chinsali strengthen the argument that the burial dispute ceased to be about respect for the deceased and instead evolved into a political instrument designed to generate public sympathy and sustain campaign momentum.
Such politics carries significant moral risks. A nation cannot afford to normalise the use of bereavement as an electoral strategy. The passing of a former president should unite citizens in mourning rather than divide them into political camps.
Leadership is measured not merely by speeches delivered from campaign platforms but by judgment, compassion, and respect for national institutions. Linking the burial of a former president to the outcome of an election falls far short of that standard.
Ultimately, Zambians will decide whether Mundubile’s latest pronouncements reflect responsible leadership or reveal a political strategy that places electoral calculations ahead of bringing closure to a grieving family and an entire nation.
Mundubile’s statement may well become one of the most revealing moments of this campaign, not because of what it promised, but because of what it inadvertently exposed.
