{"id":27866,"date":"2026-03-06T10:48:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=27866"},"modified":"2026-03-06T10:48:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:48:47","slug":"zambian-politician-urges-leaders-not-to-politicise-former-presidents-burial-delay","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/zambian-politician-urges-leaders-not-to-politicise-former-presidents-burial-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambian politician urges leaders not to politicise former President&#8217;s burial delay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The leader of Zambia\u2019s Democratic Party, Judith Kabemba, has called on political actors to stop politicising the delayed burial of former President Edgar Lungu.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in a video released to the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, Kabemba said the ongoing public debate surrounding Lungu\u2019s burial risked deepening political divisions in the country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>She stressed that the current head of state, Hakainde Hichilema, should not be blamed for the delay, urging citizens and political leaders alike to approach the matter with respect and sensitivity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kabemba further appealed for calm, noting that the burial of a former national leader should be treated as a moment of unity rather than political contestation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, remains a significant figure in the country\u2019s political landscape, with developments around his funeral arrangements drawing strong public and political interest.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21604,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-27866","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Zambia\u2019s Democratic Party, Judith Kabemba, has called on political actors to stop politicising the delayed burial of former President Edgar Lungu","published_date":"2026-03-06 10:27:05","news_description":"Zambia\u2019s Democratic Party, Judith Kabemba, has called on political actors to stop politicising the delayed burial of former President Edgar Lungu","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27867,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27866\/revisions\/27867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=27866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}