PRETORIA – Patriotic Front interim President Given Lubinda delivered an emotionally charged eulogy at the memorial service of the late former Zambian president Edgar Lungu on Tuesday in Pretoria, South Africa.
Lubinda questioned the silence and perceived neglect that surrounded President Lungu’s passing especially the repeated denial of medical attention at a facility President Lungu himself helped establish during his time in office.
“Denied access three times to a facility you built, Lord why?” Lubinda cried.
“Why was he not allowed to seek critical attention? Why?”
Lubinda condemned the delays and lack of official communication from the government regarding President Lungu’s death.
He pointed out that, unlike previous presidents whose deaths were announced promptly and officially, news of President Lungu’s passing was initially left to his daughter, Tasila Lungu-Mwansa, to confirm.
“We waited from 9 until 15:30 for the rumor to be confirmed. And it wasn’t by the incumbent president. It wasn’t by a senior government official. It was by his daughter. Why?” he asked.
Lubinda also drew attention to President Lungu’s treatment after leaving office, recalling how his home was once surrounded by police, and his gate broken down by officers who once saluted him as Head of State.
“Everything was done to him. He did not fight back. That man! God, thank you for giving us him,” he said.
“If we cannot learn from a man like President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, we run the risk of learning from lesser people.”
The acting PF leader made an emotional appeal to the nation and its leadership to honor President Lungu’s final wishes and uphold the dignity he was denied in life and, now, in death.
“Please, I beg you give him the dignity he asked for. He does not deserve to be denied even in death.”
Lubinda’s eulogy, marked by questions of justice, dignity, and reconciliation, ended with a call for national unity in honoring a man he described as resilient, humble, and devoted to Zambia.
“Those who loved him in life honor him by loving one another. And those who failed him, let this be a moment of reflection. He ran his race, and he ran it well.”
The Zambian diaspora expressed solidarity, with many agreeing that President Lungu’s legacy must be respected and his memory preserved with dignity and fairness.
President Lungu served as Zambia’s sixth president from 2015 to 2021. His contributions to infrastructure, health, and regional diplomacy remain a significant part of Zambia’s recent history.
- Patriotic Front
