KABESHA ACCUSED OF NARRATIVE CONTROL IN LUNGU BURIAL DISPUTE INTERVIEW
By Brian Matambo – Reporting from Sandton, South Africa
Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha appeared on ZNBC’s Sunday Interview this week to address the ongoing dispute between the government and the family of the late former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu over his burial. But the exchange, combined with certain caller interventions, has drawn criticism for what some view as an attempt to steer public perception in favour of the state’s position.
A caller, identifying himself as “Kerry,” made an inflammatory and unverified allegation that the Lungu family had committed crimes and had included dropping such charges among their demands for the funeral arrangements. Kabesha did not correct the record or challenge the claim, allowing the suggestion to stand unrefuted before a national audience.
More striking to critics was Kabesha’s repeated insistence that the government does not know why the Lungu family has objected to President Hakainde Hichilema attending the funeral. “They have not shared [the reasons] with anyone,” he claimed, urging the family to “open up” about their position.
Yet the family’s stance has been clear since June: the late president’s remains should not be received or overseen by Hichilema, and the head of state should not be near the casket during the funeral. This position stems from what both the family and many Zambians recall as a deeply strained relationship between the two leaders, one marked by political hostility, public insults, and, according to court records, restrictions placed on Lungu’s access to medical care during retirement. Government lawyers, including those under Kabesha’s office, previously acknowledged such restrictions in legal proceedings.
By framing the family’s objections as mysterious or unjustified, Kabesha sidestepped this history, a move that, analysts argue, risks distorting the context in which the dispute has unfolded. “It is this tone that makes fruitful dialogue between the government and the Lungu family even harder to achieve,” one political observer noted.
Throughout the interview, Kabesha defended the government’s legal action in South Africa to halt the planned burial in Johannesburg and compel repatriation to Zambia. He maintained that state funerals are a matter of national pride and protocol, insisting that the presidency is “not a private position” and that all former heads of state should be buried at the official site, Embassy Park.
The Attorney General also rejected the idea that the dispute should have been resolved entirely through negotiation, asserting that court involvement was necessary after the family changed its plans in mid-June. Still, he acknowledged that the South African court had no jurisdiction to bar a sitting president from attending a funeral, making it clear that the government would not voluntarily accept such a restriction.
With the family now seeking leave to appeal the Pretoria High Court’s decision, Kabesha said the government remains “ready to discuss” but gave no indication that it would meet the central demand to exclude Hichilema from the funeral.
The case continues to evoke strong emotions across Zambia, with the burial of the country’s sixth president delayed for more than two months. For now, the dispute remains a test of both the government’s political sensitivity and its willingness to address the underlying grievances that have kept the two sides apart.