Maravi

Chiluba’s family agree to stop postmortem

Chiluba’s family agree to stop postmortem
By Staff Reporters
Fri 24 June 2011, 08:30 CAT

FREDERICK Chiluba’s children have been cowed into submission following threats by elderly family members that they would be cursed and run mad should they insist for a postmortem to be conducted on their late father's body.

And the government says its position on the issue of conducting a postmortem on Chiluba is in line with the family members’ resolve for the operation not to be carried out. Meanwhile Mike Mulongoti says it is Rupiah Banda’s government and the MMD who have politicised late Frederick Chiluba’s funeral.

But other Chiluba family members have questioned President Banda’s government if it had to wait for family consent to conduct a postmortem on a person of Chiluba’s stature.

Chiluba family sources said the programme to move the late former head of state’s body from St. Anne’s Funeral Parlour to Mulungushi International Conference Centre, where it is supposed to lie in state for a number of days, had been delayed by the divisions in the family over the postmortem issue.

“The family is still divided over the same issue,” the source said.
“On Tuesday a heated family meeting was held over the same and the children insisted that they needed to have a postmortem so that all suspicions could be laid to rest.

There was a vocal man, the late President’s cousin Mr Royce Argan Bright who spoke with the elders on behalf of the children although the children were also present during the discussion. They said even former US president Abraham Lincoln was a great president but he was assassinated.”

The source said it was the children’s argument that even in their father’s case, although they were not implying that he had been assassinated, it was possible that he equally had enemies.

“So they asked for a postmortem, and the meeting really got heated up, and attracted several curious people at the funeral to move closer and listen in,” the source said. “The children said the fact that he died at home, it’s homicide and it only followed that a postmortem should be conducted.”

The source said Ben Mwila, who is the family spokesperson and is opposed to the idea of a postmortem being conducted on Chiluba, firmly stood his ground.

“BY was really firm and stood his ground and even threatened the children that they would be cursed if they went ahead to ignore Lunda culture and tradition,” the source said. “BY said in some families, children have gone mad because of defying positions held by elders and this unsettled the children.”

The source said the ambience during the family meeting was heated.
“ It was very clear that the children got scared because of such strong statements,” said the source.

The source said Mwila, an MP in Luapula’s Nchelenge
Constituency, resolved that they were going to hold a press briefing so that they state the position on the postmortem.

“But two of Chiluba's children are the only ones that have been swayed over. That is Miko and Kaindu,” the source said.

The source said the government called for another meeting on Wednesday at Cabinet Office aimed at discussing the general programme of the funeral.

“During that same meeting which was attended by eight family members from the Chiluba family led by BY, he, on behalf of the family, informed the government representatives that they would not conduct the postmortem,” the source said.

“So government said since there was a consent that was already signed by the children, there was going to be need for the family members to sign that they were withdrawing that consent for a postmortem.”

The source said that request was received with mixed feelings as there were some family members that did not know that they had been called to Cabinet Office to discuss the postmortem issue.

“Two family members walked out of the meeting at Cabinet Office in protest, but the other six appended their signatures. Miko was also part of the ones that appended their signatures,” the source said.

“They are asking the government that for a man of Chiluba’s stature, does it need to take the consent of the family for the government to establish what could have led to his passing?” the source said. “They said those are serious issues that need to be answered.”

Meanwhile, the minister tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the Chiluba state funeral, Dr Kalombo Mwansa, is in Kawambwa for matters concerned with the funeral.

When asked during a phone interview yesterday how the programme of moving Chiluba's body from the funeral parlour to Mulungushi Conference Centre for public viewing would proceed, Dr Mwansa referred all querries to Secretary to the Cabinet, Dr Joshua Kanganja.

“I am in Kawambwa but you call Secretary to the Cabinet he will give all the information,” said Dr Mwansa. “I am far away from Lusaka right now.”
Dr Kanganja said in an interview yesterday that he would not comment on the assertions made by a senior medical practitioner who said the Coroner must insist that the postmortem be conducted considering that Chiluba was a former head of state.

This was after Dr Kanganja was asked what the official government position on the family’s postmortem split was in view of the fact that Chiluba died at home and was a BID (Brought In Dead) case.

“I will not comment because I don't know what information he senior medical practitioner has,” Dr Kanganja said. “The family agreed that there will be no postmortem. That is what the family decided.”

Dr Kanganja said the public viewing of Chiluba’s body would take place on Saturday and Sunday from morning to evening.

President Banda was by yesterday afternoon expected at the Show Grounds to visit the other mourners that had gathered there, according to a programme released by the government.

A team of government workers were by 12:40 hours yesterday spotted ferrying seats to the grandstand in the Show Ground’s main arena in anticipation of the Presidential visit.

Chiluba died from unknown causes at his Kabulonga home in the early hours of Saturday morning and will be buried at Lusaka’s Embassy Park on Monday.

And commenting on the stories being carried in the state-owned and government-controlled media organisations blaming PF leader Michael Sata, the PF and individuals like himself, Sylvia Masebo and Dr Mbita Chitala for not attending Chiluba’s funeral, Mulongoti, who is former works and supply minister, said no one had attacked Chiluba after his death.

He said it was sad to see the state-owned and government-controlled Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia being used as fish nets to see who they could apportion blame on issues surrounding Chiluba’s death.

Mulongoti said he was amazed at the desperation from the MMD.
“The desperation is growing. It is increasing by the day because now it’s going into panic. That is why they can even take advantage of the funerals and think they are going to make themselves popular by being seen at the funeral all the time. We shall mourn in our own way,” he said.

Mulongoti challenged President Banda to match his words with actions, saying the people who were threatening to beat others were members of his own political party, but he had not publicly come out to condemn their actions.

“So the buck stops with him. So it’s not enough to say ‘let us mourn in dignity and peace’ and at the end of the day you allow people who you are supposed to control do wrong things,” he said.

Mulongoti said it was not the opposition who had threatened to beat up some people if they went to the funeral but MMD cadres.

He said Lusaka Province MMD chairperson William Banda’s statement that the cadres were engaged in violent activities out of their own discretion could not be believed because they could not just do so on their own without anyone influencing them.

Mulongoti said if what William said were the case then it means there was no control or political leadership in the MMD.

He said the MMD was just trying to gain political capital fromChiluba’s funeral, saying they had even gone to the extent of using scavengers like Edwin Lifwekelo and group to paint other people black.

Mulongoti said such scavengers always visited his office when he served as minister to beg because that was their lifestyle.

“When you don’t give them, you know how scavengers behave, they will go to another source. And they are taking advantage of the MMD’s desperation and MMD being desperate is busy using these scavengers. We have been told we can’t go there because we are not in good standing with people who are enjoying the services being provided by the state at the funeral,” Mulongoti said.

“They don’t want us to go anywhere near them. They have four square meals and drinks at the expense of the state. So they don’t want us to go anywhere near them.”

Labels: FREDERICK CHILUBA, FUNERALS, MIKE MULONGOTI

posted by MrK @ 4:57 PM