ECL WOULD’T HAVE DIED

ECL WOULD’T HAVE DIED

…had govt not blocked him from travelling to South Africa until it was too late – family

• The family has warned any maneuvers by the State to take over the transfer of Lungu’s remains will not be accepted
• They have said even when Lungu offered to use his own resources to seek treatment in South Africa, that, too, was rejected
• Family is shocked that now that the former president has died, the UPND government and Hichilema, in particular, want to take over the funeral.

By George Zulu

FORMER president Edgar Lungu will return to Zambia as a private citizen the same way he travelled to South Africa for treatment, his family has announced.

And yesterday, the nation heard with shock how the United Party for National Development (UPND) regime consistently denied Lungu permission to travel to South Africa for critical medicals even when he offered to use his own resources until the last minute.

Lungu died at the age of 68 in South Africa on Thursday where he was receiving treatment.

His family warned yesterday that any maneuvers by the State to take over the transfer of Lungu’s remains will not be accepted.

Family spokesperson Makebi Zulu announced the position yesterday when he addressed the nation in the company of other family members, including Lungu’s children.

Zulu said representatives of the UPND government had travelled to South Africa to impose on the family the way the remains of the late former president should be repatriated and buried back home in Zambia.

He said Lungu’s family had rejected government’s decision to hijack the repatriation, which had lead to a stalemate.

“It is for this reason that the family has reached a stalemate with the State. The State desires to impose its will on how the mortal remains of the former president will be dealt with. For this reason, the family has resolved that they will handle the processes on their own. And those that are willing to mourn him will mourn him in the name of the desires of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu himself and the family,” Zulu said.

He urged Zambians to mourn the late former president in unity and sobriety while taking a deep introspection and reflection [on the circumstances of his death].

“The government has come with a position of imposing themselves on the ceremonial issues that relate to President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. The family has given a view as to how they desire the processes to be, who the celebrant of the funeral should be, where the funeral should be held in agreement with the government. The desires of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu will not be taken up,” he said.

Zulu said issues relating to his faith should not be taken up, and the State should not impose faith or anything else against the desires of the late former head of state.

He said Lungu wanted the people of Zambia to bury him, adding that the former president had complained that President Hakainde Hichilema and his government had not treated him well as a former president and a human being.

He gave some insights into how while in South Africa Lungu had complained about the ill-treatment he had suffered back home at the hands of Hichilema and the UPND administration even at his most vulnerable and weakest moment in his long illness.

Zulu said sometime in 2022, Lungu requested to travel for medicals in South Africa, but  his request was rejected by Hichilema’s government without any genuine reasons.

At some point, he said, Lungu offered to use his own resources to seek treatment in South Africa, but that, too, was rejected by the UPND government.

Zulu said it was shocking why, now that the former president had died, the UPND government and Hichilema, in particular, wanted to take over his funeral.

“The State rejected that request. That request was re-emphasised in 2023. The State responded by stating that it had no resources. In his response to the State, he stated that he would use his own resources. The State responded in a letter dated the 7th of September, 2023, stating that his request was denied,” he said. “Notwithstanding that the said travel was not for leisure or business, but for his health to be attended to. It should be known that at any given time, the State was aware of the ailment of President Lungu. Having served in State House, and thereafter being former president, they knew what his condition was. Despite all that knowledge that they had, they still refused to allow him to travel,” he said.

Zulu reminded the nation that the UPND government had denied Lungu his entitlements even when he was not into active politics.

Meanwhile, Secretary to Cabinet Patrick Kangwa yesterday announced that Lungu’s remains will be repatriated to Zambia on Wednesday, and that Hichilema has declared a seven-day State funeral for the former president beginning today.