Zambia is a nation under judgment: Comment on the Ruling of the Court of Appeal in South Africa

By Dr. Saviour Chishimba President United Progressive People (UPP)

The New Dealers insistence on the state funeral is a dark ruse for something deeper than meets the eye. As I have submitted before, the dead cannot see the gesture or any display of love. It’s also impossible to encourage the dead and to show them love. A colourful state funeral is of no benefit to President Edgar Chagwa Lungu Z”L. If we never did thumbs up and showed him love as a former of head of state, it’s meaningless to show “angelic” gestures in his death.

Instead of facilitating a speedy burial by sticking to the mutually agreed to funeral arrangements, the state has solely been responsible for the delay by using taxpayers money (our money) to launch the battle over the body in a foreign jurisdiction. Unlike Zambia, South Africa has a homegrown Constitution. The justice system is transparent and above body. A sitting President in South Africa can be taken to court. The Court of Appeals’ granting of the right to appeal to the Lungu family was expected.

State sponsored body viewing and gun salutes will not help ECL’e soul to ascend. The state disrespected ECL when he was alive and they have continued to do so in his death.

Whereas, ECL was a Christian, the state can learn something from Jews and Moslems who bury their dead within 24 hours. I don’t know much about Islam, but for Jews it’s a Biblical commandment to speedily accompany (levaya) the dead to their resting places. The body is NEVER left alone. It’s sanctified with water (washed according to the Biblical laws) immediately after passing and there is always a fellow Jew by the side of the body reciting Tehillim (Psalms) until burial. This is done by the Chevra Kadisha (the Jewish burial society). This system of guarding the body is also deeply rooted in the ancient African culture.

Mrs Esther Lungu and family are on firm ground to protect the “body” of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu Z”L (if truly he is dead). They also have the right not to permit the useless body viewing. There is nothing strange about this and government cannot weirdly insist on private ceremonies away from the main public one. Why would a private ceremony be held in a dark corner to the exclusion of the primary protectors (the family) of the body? Why would a sane government take a grieving family to court in a foreign jurisdiction over a body?

The New Dealer Government is the most spiritually dark and wicked since 1964. Zambia is like a book which is open before Heaven. It’s a nation under judgment.

To be sure, a dead body can be used for dark spiritual purposes. King Shaul (Saul) disguised himself and went to a medium and requested to bring prophet Shmuel (Samuel) from the dead so that he could ritually consult. A witch (medium) managed to use occultist divinations to bring Shmuel. Shmuel (called to appear from the grave) was furious and he judged King Shaul and Shaul died in battle within a short period of time (Read 1 Samuel Chapter 28). If an already buried body could be conjured, how about the one which is not yet buried? Those who have ears let them hear; those who have eyes, let them see!

The UPP-led Government will pass a law to grant unequivocal powers to the immediate family to decide how and where they want to bury a deceased President. We don’t need a Presidential Burial Site. Instead, government can honour past presidents through Presidential Libraries to preserve materials related to their rulerships for future learning.

Mama Esther Lungu granted Appeal to Supreme Court over remains of Zambia’s late President

.. court finds merit in her application against the order of the Gauteng High Court which ruled that she should surrender to Government to repatriate the mortal remains of the late President…

By Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba

The Supreme Court of South Africa has granted an appeal by the family of the late Zambia’s Sixth President Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu to challenge the decision of the Gauteng High Court to repatriate to Zambia the mortal remains of the deceased.

Earlier the High Court had ruled that the family surrender the body of President Lungu to the Government of the Republic for funeral and burial in Lusaka, Zambia as he was entitled to an official ceremony and state honours.

But the family has always argued that the matter of the funeral and the body was entirely upto the family to decide.

The permission to appeal was granted in an order signed by Acting Chief Registrat of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) of South Africa, Z. V. D. Ntaka.