By Burnett Munthali
The question of where former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu should be laid to rest has taken a dramatic twist.
Former First Lady Esther Nyawa Lungu has authorised Patriotic Front (PF) family lawyer Makebi Zulu to proceed with the cremation of the former leader if South African courts continue to rule that his burial must take place in Zambia.
In this arrangement, only the ashes of the late head of state would be handed over to the Zambian government for an official burial in Lusaka.
The move follows weeks of legal battles in South Africa, where authorities have argued that Lungu, as a former president, should be buried in his home country.
Esther Lungu and sections of the PF have opposed this position, reportedly preferring that he be laid to rest in South Africa, a decision that has baffled many citizens both at home and abroad.
Critics have questioned the motives behind this preference, asking why a leader who once held Zambia’s highest office should not be interred on Zambian soil in the first place.
Some analysts believe the push for a South African burial reflects lingering political tensions between the PF and the current government, raising suspicions that the choice is as much about politics as it is about family wishes.
Others point to possible legal and financial disputes surrounding Lungu’s estate, suggesting that the battle over his final resting place may be tied to deeper struggles within the PF family and its allies.
Cremation has now emerged as a compromise solution, avoiding further confrontation with the courts while still allowing the PF and Lungu’s immediate family to honour their wishes in part.
By agreeing to send his ashes to Lusaka, Esther Lungu and Makebi Zulu are ensuring that the state can carry out an official burial, while sidestepping the strict requirement that his body be repatriated.
The development has sparked heated public debate, with many Zambians divided on whether cremation is an appropriate and dignified way to honour a leader who once commanded the nation.
For the ruling party, the outcome also carries political undertones, as the government will ultimately preside over the symbolic burial of Lungu’s ashes in Lusaka.
Observers warn that the controversy could deepen partisan divides, with some viewing it as a reflection of how far Zambia’s politics remain polarised even in matters of death and national mourning.
Edgar Lungu’s political career and legacy
Edgar Chagwa Lungu rose to national prominence through the Patriotic Front, where he built his career as a lawyer-turned-politician.
He first served in key ministerial roles, including as Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Defence, under President Michael Sata.
Following Sata’s death in 2014, Lungu emerged as the PF’s preferred successor and won the 2015 presidential by-election.
He was re-elected in 2016, securing a full five-year mandate as Zambia’s sixth president.
During his tenure, Lungu pursued infrastructure development projects, expanded road networks, and oversaw power generation initiatives aimed at tackling Zambia’s electricity shortages.
However, his presidency was also marked by growing criticism over governance, corruption allegations, and increasing authoritarian tendencies.
Opponents accused him of shrinking democratic space, weakening institutions, and using state power to suppress dissent.
His government faced economic challenges, including rising public debt, currency depreciation, and high unemployment, issues that eroded public confidence in his leadership.
Lungu’s loss to Hakainde Hichilema in the 2021 election marked the end of his presidency and ushered in Zambia’s third peaceful democratic transfer of power.
Despite stepping down, his influence within the PF remained significant, and he continued to be a polarising figure in Zambian politics.
For his supporters, Lungu represented a man of resilience who rose against the odds to lead Zambia, while critics saw him as a symbol of governance failures that burdened the nation.
Cultural and regional tensions over cremation
The decision to cremate Edgar Lungu rather than bury him has touched a sensitive nerve in Zambia.
Traditionally, Zambian culture places strong emphasis on burial in ancestral land, often near family gravesites, as a way of keeping the deceased spiritually connected to their roots.
Cremation, by contrast, remains rare and is sometimes viewed with suspicion, as it departs from long-held customs of honouring the body through traditional burial rites.
For many Zambians, especially in rural areas, burial is not only a family matter but also a community event that allows people to mourn collectively and uphold traditions of respect for the dead.
Cremation, therefore, is seen by some as stripping away these customs, making it harder for communities to perform the rituals that give closure to death.
This cultural backdrop helps explain why the announcement has generated strong emotions, with some seeing it as an affront to tradition and others viewing it as a necessary compromise to settle legal disputes.
The regional element also plays a role, as many believe that burying a former president outside Zambia diminishes his legacy and symbolically distances him from the nation he once served.
In Zambian political culture, burial sites of former leaders are often visited as national monuments, and cremation complicates this tradition by removing the physical presence of the grave.
As a result, the debate over Lungu’s cremation is not just about personal or family choice, but about national identity, cultural heritage, and the symbolism of leadership in Zambia.
How other former presidents were buried
The burial of Edgar Lungu stands out sharply when compared to how Zambia’s other former heads of state were honoured.
Founding President Kenneth Kaunda was buried at the Embassy Park Presidential Burial Site in Lusaka in 2021, following a state funeral that was attended by dignitaries from across Africa.
Frederick Chiluba, who led Zambia after Kaunda, was also buried in Lusaka in 2011, with full honours despite controversy surrounding his leadership.
Levy Mwanawasa, remembered for his anti-corruption stance, was buried at Embassy Park in 2008 after a massive outpouring of grief across the country.
Rupiah Banda, who served briefly after Mwanawasa’s death, was laid to rest in Lusaka in 2022, again at Embassy Park, where his tomb now stands alongside other national leaders.
Michael Sata, under whom Edgar Lungu rose to prominence, was also interred at Embassy Park in 2014 after a funeral that drew huge crowds of mourners.
In each of these cases, the burial was conducted on Zambian soil, symbolising unity, continuity, and national pride.
The fact that Lungu’s family is pushing for cremation in South Africa before handing over his ashes to the state represents a dramatic departure from this tradition.
This unusual choice is what makes Lungu’s case both controversial and politically significant, as it breaks with the precedent that has bound Zambia’s presidential legacy together for decades.
Reactions from PF supporters versus government voices
Within the Patriotic Front, many supporters have defended Esther Lungu’s decision, arguing that the family has the ultimate right to decide how the former president should be laid to rest.
Some PF loyalists view the cremation plan as a way of protecting Lungu’s dignity from what they perceive as hostile manoeuvres by the current government.
Others insist that Lungu’s legacy should not be defined by state protocol but by the wishes of those who stood by him throughout his life.
Government voices, on the other hand, have expressed concern that cremation could undermine Zambia’s tradition of honouring presidents through state funerals and burials on national soil.
Officials close to the administration argue that as a former head of state, Lungu belongs not just to his family but to the nation as a whole.
They point out that cremation risks setting a precedent that could weaken the symbolic value of Embassy Park as Zambia’s national shrine for leaders.
The political split has therefore intensified the controversy, with PF supporters framing it as a matter of family autonomy while the government stresses national heritage and unity.
For ordinary Zambians, caught between these competing narratives, the cremation decision reflects deeper tensions over how politics continues to shape even the most intimate aspects of death and remembrance.
In the end, the cremation debate underscores the delicate intersection of law, tradition, politics, and family choice when it comes to the final rites of a national figure.
The final chapter of Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s story is therefore not just about where he is buried, but also about how his legacy continues to shape Zambia’s political discourse long after his passing.
