By Laura Miti
After President Lungu died, and surprise was expressed that the drama around his burial was being fronted by his relatively young daughter and his lawyer, the family produced his sister.
It seems she has disappeared again. We are back to the troubling situation in which a family seems to totally lack older members who, in Zambian culture, lead both somber and celebratory events.
So, now, every so often, Mr Makebi Zulu sends us a video recording announcing the family’s new position.
He does so saying off-colour stuff that a relation or older friend, who was suffering the overwhelming pain grief causes, would never utter.
This seems to be becoming more of just his day job to Mr Zulu.
In his last announcement, he talked about bringing the body – tomorrow if President Hichilema says he won’t be at the funeral – as though the body were an exhibit in a court case.
It sounds like the body has lost its solemnity, for the family lawyer.
Like one who has moved on, he finds it possible to be talking about the body one minute and announcing his presidential ambitions, the next.
Maybe, the Lungu family needs to dig deep, again, and find an elderly member to speak for them in a manner that still maintains a measure of decorum.
Kalemba October 27, 2025
