MMD leader and pastor, Nevers Mumba says President Hakainde Hichilema has no personal obsession with late former president Edgar Lungu’s body.
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Dr. Mumba said he personally knew President Hichilema as a devoted Seventh Day Adventist who is not a man of hidden rituals or superstition.
“President Hakainde Hichilema has no personal obsession with the body of Edgar Lungu. I say this not from speculation, but from experience. I know the man personally. I know his character. I know his convictions.
He is not a man of hidden rituals. He is not a practitioner of superstition,” he narrated on his Facebook page.
“He is a humble Seventh-day Adventist Christian, a devoted husband and father, a quiet, disciplined man from Bweengwa with the eye of an accountant, the mind of a lawyer, and the instinct of a farmer.”
Dr. Mumba said what drove the Head of State to have Lungu buried in Zambia was not obsession but a deep sense of duty which needs to be upheld by every President.
“And so it is this sense of duty and not a hunger for spiritual power that compels him to do what he is doing now, something that every Head of State before him has done,” he stated.
He criticised claims that burying Lungu Embassy Park could be used for spiritual or political gain, calling such fears unfounded.
“If the remains of our former leaders held any spiritual power that could somehow be summoned for political advantage, then Edgar Lungu himself would never have lost the 2021 election,” Dr Mumba argued, noting that the graves of Kenneth Kaunda, Frederick Chiluba, Levy Mwanawasa, Rupiah Banda and Michael Sata are all at Embassy Park.
Dr. Mumba described recent emotional outbursts from the Lungu family, particularly from Lungu’s elder sister Bertha, in a Pretoria courtroom, as signs of deep mourning rather than deliberate defiance.
He suggested that the family may need spiritual support more than continued political or legal battles.
“Accusing President Hichilema of dark rituals will not bring any healing to the family, the PF or the nation,” he said.
“Only the blood of Jesus can reach the highest mountain, even the drakensburg mountain or flow to the lowest valley, even the Luangwa Valley. There is no place where late President Lungu can be buried where he cannot be protected by his faith in Jesus Christ.”
He also cautioned the Patriotic Front (PF) against prolonging the matter through court action, warning that it would only drain their resources and weaken their political relevance.
“To the Lungu family, I say: come home. President Hakainde Hichilema will do you no harm. He is fulfilling his oath to this country. Let President Edgar Lungu come home. Let Zambia heal,” urged Dr. Mumba.
Drawing on examples from past leaders’ burials, Dr. Mumba pointed out that the families of Frederick Chiluba and Kenneth Kaunda, despite having their own wishes, eventually allowed the State to accord the leaders official burials.
He said it is now time for the Lungu family to show the same understanding.
“Let us rise to the higher road, the one that builds the nation, honours the dead, and refuses to be led by superstition and slander. Zambia belongs to God. Let us act like it,” he stated.
The former vice president’s remarks come amid an unprecedented standoff between government and the Lungu family over the late president’s burial, following a Pretoria High Court ruling that cleared the way for his repatriation to Zambia.
“If President Lungu placed his trust in Christ while alive, then he is already safe. And no evil force can touch him now. Not in Zambia. Not in South Africa. Not even in Zimbabwe or anywhere,” said Dr. Mumba.
He also offered to give spiritual guidance to the family, not as a politician but a pastor of 44 years.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, August 12, 2025
