THERE is now a strong public perception that President Hakainde Hichilema has insisted on personally presiding over the state funeral of former president Edgar Lungu. Some people have gone beyond ordinary political suspicion and created conspiracy theories around the matter. Others have even started pushing superstitious claims that President Hichilema wants access to Mr Lungu’s body for ritual purposes. Whether fair or not, that perception has taken root. It has grown legs. It has spread across compounds, churches, bars, buses, markets and social media timelines. And as often happens in Zambia, once a false narrative finds a home in public imagination, it becomes very difficult to uproot. As absurd and senseless as such allegations may sound, we would be deceiving...