I’ll attend friend Lungu’s burial in SA – M’membe
By George Zulu
FORMER president Edgar Lungu should be buried in South Africa by his friends and family, and those who have been banned must stay away from his burial, Socialist Party (SP) president Dr Fred M’membe has said.
And Dr M’membe says Lungu will be buried in exile in South Africa because the United Party for National Development (UPND) and its leadership have lost the values and principles of humanity.
Speaking to journalists at the Lusaka High Court after his case was adjourned to September 22, Dr M’membe said he would attend the funeral and burial of Lungu in South Africa because he was his friend and he had been at peace with him after the reconciliation in 2023.
He said he did not want to fail to attend the funeral on the basis of failure to reconcile and make peace with Lungu while he was still alive.
“I also don’t want to fail to attend your funeral because I don’t know how your relatives, your friends will receive me. We made peace with each other. We reconciled the differences we had and it would have been unfortunate for me to fail to attend his funeral, something that we set up as important from the very beginning. I’m going to attend the funeral. I’m leaving this afternoon [Yesterday] and it’s good,” he said.
Dr M’membe said he had known Lungu since 1978, and it was just fair that the court moved his case to allow him mourn his friend.
“On that encounter, after a long time, I told President Lungu that something horrible went wrong between us and that needs to be addressed before we talk about anything else. I told him that it would be unfortunate if tomorrow I died and he was not able to attend my funeral. He said, ‘no mwana, you are not dying anytime soon’. I said, ‘we are not immortal. You can die tomorrow’. The court recognises the fact that it’s inhuman to stop someone from attending his funeral, of his friend or his relative. Nobody chooses when to die. It’s not something we planned for,” he said.
“So, I think the court has done the right thing. To have acted otherwise would have been to do the wrong thing. So, we are going, as we are required biblically to bury the dead,” Dr M’membe said.
He said people should be mourned by their friends and relatives.
Dr M’membe said those who were not Lungu’s friends should not go to South Africa and be part of the mourners.
“He was our friend. Those who are not his friends have no obligation to go there. If they want to be human, they can find ways to mourn [him]. If someone says, ‘don’t come to my funeral, don’t come, stay away’. And I’m glad the South African courts, the South African law and leaders recognise that. You can’t grab somebody’s funeral and make it yours,” Dr M’membe said.
Dr M’membe said the other option for those banned from attending Lungu’s burial was to stick to television as the funeral was not their business.
“What is not your business, leave it alone. So, I ask all those who feel sorry, who feel sad by the demise of Edgar to join in mourning him, to glue themselves to the television screens tomorrow [today],” he said.
