Tasila Lungu loses MP seat while family’s burial dispute keeps Zambia's ex-president unburied

Zambia Parliament declares Tasila Lungu’s seat vacant after prolonged absence.

By Rachael Mutabasi
Saturday, November 29, 2025

Pressure on Tasila’s parliamentary seat first came from the ruling United Party for National Development, after Zambezi East MP Brian Kambita questioned in July whether she was still eligible to hold office given her prolonged absence.

Former Zambian president Edgar Lungu’s daughter, Tasila Lungu, has lost her parliamentary seat after the National Assembly declared it vacant over her prolonged absence, a development unfolding as her family remains locked in a legal dispute that has delayed the burial of her late father.

Tasila, who represented Chawama constituency, stopped attending parliamentary sittings after the death of former president Lungu on June 5, 2025, in South Africa, where he had been undergoing medical treatment. The vacancy was announced after Tasila failed to return to Parliament within the 14 days of compassionate leave initially granted by Speaker Nelly Mutti.

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Pressure on Tasila’s parliamentary seat first came from the ruling United Party for National Development, after Zambezi East MP Brian Kambita questioned in July whether she was still eligible to hold office given her prolonged absence.

Speaker Mutti granted her a compassionate 14-day window to mourn her father and return to Parliament when it resumed in September. However, she did not return within the given time frame. Instead, she remained in South Africa, where she and other family members are involved in an extended court battle over the repatriation and handling of the former president’s remains. Reports indicate that Lungu has still not been buried as the legal dispute continues.

Parliament later wrote to her again, but instead of resuming her duties, she requested additional time until the court case over her father’s burial was resolved. She also applied to be allowed to attend parliamentary sessions virtually.

The matter was subsequently referred to the Committee on Privileges and Absences, which invited her to appear on November 18 — a meeting she did not attend.

The committee later recommended allowing her to represent the Chawama constituency online until her father’s burial arrangements were finalised. But Speaker Mutti rejected the proposal, insisting that virtual attendance could not substitute for physical representation.

“While I accept that the Committee on Privileges and Absences conducted a thorough examination of the matter, I do not agree with its recommendation to allow Ms Lungu to attend sittings of the House virtually,” Mutti ruled.

During Friday’s November 28 session, Speaker Mutti informed the House that Mwansa had not complied with a directive issued at the start of the Fifth Session of the Thirteenth National Assembly, which required her to appear in person within 14 days.

Citing Standing Orders 215 and 243, Mutti moved a motion asking whether Article 72(8) of the Constitution, which allows for the removal of an MP who is absent without permission for an entire session, should be applied.

“I now put the question,” Mutti said. The House responded with a clear majority in favour, authorising the Speaker to formally notify the Electoral Commission of Zambia that the seat had fallen vacant.

The dispute centres on whether the late former president should receive a state funeral in Zambia. President Hakainde Hichilema’s government successfully argued in a Pretoria court that, as head of state, he must be allowed to attend the burial. However, the Lungu family insists the former leader left explicit instructions that Hichilema “should not be anywhere near” his body.

The Pretoria court initially sided with the government in an August ruling, prompting the family to mount a fresh legal challenge that Edgar Lungu’s widow and children have been pursuing in South Africa.

With the Chawama seat now vacant, the Electoral Commission is expected to set a date for a by-election in the coming weeks. In a message to her constituents, Lungu hinted that she may challenge the decision, saying, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

She maintained that she had continued to represent Chawama virtually during what she described as a deeply painful mourning period and highlighted ongoing development projects carried out by her team in her absence.