ECL, family were unfairly mistreated – Lubinda

By BARNABAS ZULU

…says former President Lungu deserved to be honoured in life, not posthumously, believes that is an act of dishonesty and immorality for government to exhibit desperation to send him a bouquet to his grave 

GOVERNMENT should show remorse and take responsibility for the ill-treatment and untold harassment late former President Edgar Lungu, his family have suffered for the last four years and allow them to put to rest the former head of State in a dignified manner, Given Lubinda has said.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mr Lubinda said Government should not claim of a disagreement with the judgement of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, insisting that its conduct throughout the matter had subjected the Lungu family to unnecessary pain and suffering.

Mr Lubinda said the UPND government refused to honour late former President Lungu while he was alive and wondered the desperation of attempting to honour him in his death.

“This is the reason many say give me one rose flower now while I am alive instead of sending a bouquet to my grave. They denied ECL a single rose but they want to deliver and honour him with a bouquet in his death,” Mr Lubinda said.

He accused Government of hypocrisy for claiming to want to honour Mr Lungu after his death when, according to him, it had failed to do so during his lifetime.

"As a man who belonged to the party he led, I strongly believe it is an act of immorality and total dishonesty of the highest order to claim the desire to honour in their death a person whom you mistreated, a person whose life you brought to an untimely end by denying him access to medical services," he said.

Mr Lubinda argued that honour should be shown to people while they are alive rather than after they have passed away.

"President Edgar Chagwa Lungu deserved to be honoured in his life and not for his mortal remains to be honoured. That is an act of dishonesty and an act of immorality," he said.

He disputed suggestions that the Lungu family had always intended to bury the former president in South Africa.

"It is an act of inhumanity to begrudgingly claim that the family has always desired to bury ECL in South Africa when all and sundry are aware that the reason he was not buried in Lusaka in June 2025 was not because the family wanted him buried in South Africa," Mr Lubinda said.

He maintained that the family had initially agreed with Government for the former head of State to be buried in Zambia but changed course after Government allegedly altered agreed funeral arrangements.

"The family had agreed with the government to bury the remains in Zambia. They only refused after they realised that the Government had decided to change the programme," he said.

Mr Lubinda said the most responsible course of action for Government now was to acknowledge its mistakes and seek reconciliation with the bereaved family.

Ends.