Kenya's Honour in Death, Zambia's Lesson in Leadership
Four months after former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu's death in South Africa, his body still awaits burial. The delay has become a national symbol of mistrust and political arrogance a reminder of what happens when authority forgets empathy.
The deadlock between the State and the Lungu family has stretched the country's patience. What began as a protocol question where to bury a former Head of State has mutated into a contest of egos. Bishop Joshua Banda, appointed by government to mediate, and Archbishop Alec Banda, chosen by the family, were expected to find common ground. Instead, the process has become mired in accusations of insincerity. Each side claims the other is acting in bad faith.
Meanwhile, ordinary Zambians are left to wonder why the country that once set a continental standard for peaceful transitions is now paralysed by its own pettiness. The contrast with Kenya could not be clearer. There, the passing of Raila Odinga a man who spent decades in opposition was met with honour from the same State he often criticised. President William Ruto personally directed the repatriation of Odinga's body from India and respected the family's request for a private burial within 72 hours.
No contraversial committee was needed to decide what was humane. No press conference was called to justify compassion. Kenya understood that death belongs to family, not politics.
Zambia chose another path. Statements from State House and party officials turned mourning into messaging. Every gesture was interpreted through the lens of power. When government figures spoke of protocol and precedent, citizens heard coldness. When family representatives spoke of love and memory, they were labelled obstructionists. A dialogue that should have been private became a public contest.
This is where leadership matters. Had President Hakainde Hichilema stepped back and allowed the family's wish to prevail, he would have emerged stronger. In African politics, magnanimity is not weakness; it is power refined by humility. Ruto proved it by honouring his rival Odinga. Hichilema could have done the same for Lungu.
Instead, the burial has become a mirror reflecting everything Zambia claims to reject division, stubbornness, and political vindictiveness. The State has lost the moral high ground. The family has lost its peace. And the nation has lost its patience.
October 18, the Day of Prayer, Fasting and Reconciliation, will arrive with its founder still above ground. That is a symbol too painful to ignore. How can a country speak of reconciliation when it cannot reconcile with its own dead?
Beyond the emotion, this is a moment to re-examine the ethics of power. Leadership is not about being right; it is about doing right. A government that cannot forgive even in death risks appearing haunted by its insecurities. The people are watching, and their judgment is quiet but enduring.
Kenya offered a manual on grace. Senator Oburu Odinga's confirmation that his brother would rest beside their parents summed up a nation's resolve to respect family first. Ruto's eulogy captured what statesmanship sounds like: "He carried himself with courage and grace ... His legacy is written in the sands of time." Those words would fit any leader who once served his country if only spoken with conviction.
Zambia's leaders can still recover dignity from this crisis. It requires no law, no committee, and no directive just an act of humility. Let the family bury their own. Let the government provide honours without conditions. Let the nation grieve without sides.
When that day comes, the story of Lungu's burial will cease to be a cautionary tale and become a testimony to maturity. Until then, Zambia remains suspended between protocol and peace a country still searching for its better self.