KK’s Body To Be Taken To All Ten Provinces Before State Funeral

The body of the late President Kenneth Kaunda is to be toured around all ten of Zambia’s provinces before a state funeral at the Heroes Stadium in Lusaka. He will eventually be laid to rest at the Presidential Burial Site on Wednesday 7th July, capping off a 21-day period of mourning. 

According to a press statement from Vice President Inonge Wina, it is the wish of KK’s family that his body be toured around the country to each of Zambia’s provinces, starting in Choma, Southern Province on Wednesday 253rd June and finishing in Lusaka on Monday 5th July.  

Vice President Wina has stipulated that this process will be carried out in accordance with national Covid-19 protocols and as such no physical public viewings of the body will take place. Instead the entire procession and church service will be broadcast live on television, in order to allow Zambians to “follow the proceedings and have a closer view of the late President”. 

However, mourners will be allowed to line the streets to see the procession carrying the founding president’s body go past. These events will be managed by the military to ensure that the anticipated crowds comply with Covid-19 guidelines. 

During the procession, there will be a short church ceremony at each of the provincial capitals, conducted by the military in conjunction with the United Church of Zambia, of which Dr Kaunda was a congregant. Physical attendance to these ceremonies will also be extremely limited and instead broadcast via television, radio and social media.

A shortened state funeral will then be held on Friday 2nd July at the Heroes Stadium and will be attended by international dignitaries. The government insists that Covid-19 regulations will be strictly enforced at this event, including social distancing. Visiting heads of state will only be allowed to be accompanied by one designated official. 

Finally, Dr Kaunda will be laid to rest at the Presidential Burial Site in Embassy Park, Lusaka. This ceremony will only be physically attended by Dr Kaunda’s family and selected guests, however it will also be broadcast publicly. 

In her statement, Vice President Wina has emphasised that, in accordance with Dr Kaunda’s legacy of ‘One Zambia, One Nation”, political regalia or party symbols of any kind are strictly prohibited at any of the mourning events. This includes party-branded face masks. 

On Saturday, Dr Kaunda’s family thanked UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema for temporarily suspending his party’s campaign activities to pay respect to the late president. 

By contrast, University of Zambia lecturer and political commentator Sishuwa Sishuwa has accused the Patriotic Front government of coopting Dr Kaunda’s funeral for its own political gain. 

Writing on Twitter, Dr Sishuwa claims it is “not the wish of Kaunda’s family to take his coffin to #Zambia’s 10 provinces” and that rather President Lungu’s government is seeking to “manipulate the funeral for political gain”. 

He calls on the president to “stop this cynical election strategy!’