…Lungu Burial Saga: When Grief Becomes a Political Campaign…
The Editor Zambia
Tonse Alliance leaders Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu have allegedly been told by witchdoctors that if the late former sixth Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is buried before the elections, they will lose, but if he is buried after the elections, they will win. 
It is for this reason that Mundubile announced at a public rally in Chinsali that Edgar Lungu would only be buried after he and his running mate Makebi Zulu win the August 13 elections.
How on earth can learned people like Mundubile and Makebi Zulu believe in such outrageous evil practices, honestly? Initially, the Patriotic Front (PF) aligned Tonse Alliance senior members were told that President Hakainde Hichilema would die if he didn’t view Lungu’s body within seven days. When this did not happen, the sangoma issued another verdict to the effect that President Hichilema would run mad if Lungu was not buried within 14 days! Mandevu UPND parliamentary candidate Christopher Shakafuswa is witness to these revelations.
What is clear to many Zambians who have followed Makebi Zulu’s ascension to political visibility is his connection to a dead man, Edgar Lungu. Zambians would remember that despite starting as a family spokesman, Makebi Zulu has shamelessly used Lungu’s body for political aggrandisement, even earning himself a macabre name of malukula (mortuary attendant).
The prolonged dispute surrounding the burial of the former Head of State has ceased to be a matter of mourning and has instead become one of Zambia’s most troubling examples of political opportunism.
Now, Mundubile and Zulu are using Lungu’s body for cheap political mileage, almost at all rallies they are holding around the country.
What should have been a solemn national occasion has evolved into a prolonged political spectacle, leaving many citizens wondering whether the interests of the deceased, his family, and the nation have been overshadowed by partisan calculations.
Death has traditionally united Zambians across political and ideological divides. Regardless of one’s political affiliation, the passing of a former Head of State should have inspired dignity, restraint, and statesmanship.
Instead, the country has witnessed an unending stream of political press conferences, legal arguments, public accusations, and competing narratives by Mundubile and Makebi Zulu that have shocked the nation.
This is a dangerous precedent. If national mourning becomes another instrument of political mobilisation, then future generations will inherit politics stripped of compassion and respect.
Ordinary Zambians have watched with growing frustration as what should have been a respectful farewell has become an endless cycle of campaign prop by Mundubile and Makebi Zulu.
History will not remember who delivered the sharpest press conference or issued the strongest political statement. It will remember whether leaders rose above partisan interests at a moment when the country required maturity.
Mundubile and Makebi Zulu should know that politics is measured not by how fiercely one fights political opponents but by knowing when the national interest demands restraint.
The two political leaders should recognise that the reputation of the country is also at stake because Zambia has long been admired for its peaceful democratic traditions and ability to resolve difficult moments without descending into prolonged instability.
The burial of a former president should reinforce those traditions—not undermine them as is the case now because of two desperate politicians garnering for power at all cost.
The lesson from this unfortunate episode is clear. Politics has its place, elections have their place, and national mourning has its place.
Mundubile and Makebi Zulu should make this distinction at the rallies they are holding because when those boundaries are erased, everybody loses.
Citizens become cynical, institutions come under unnecessary strain, and the memory of the deceased risks being overshadowed by endless political controversy.
The time has come to close this painful chapter with dignity and not to engage witchdoctors to use Lungu’s body as campaign material.
Leaders across the political divide should lower the political temperature, abandon inflammatory rhetoric, and place the interests of the nation above partisan calculations.
Former President Edgar Lungu deserves a respectful burial. His family deserves peace. Most importantly, Zambia deserves closure.
The country has mourned long enough. It is now time for leadership—not political theatre.
