The government of Zambia has confirmed that it has taken custody of the body of former president Edgar Lungu after a long-running dispute with his family over his burial arrangements, marking a major development in a case that has stretched across months and involved court battles in South Africa.
Authorities said the move was taken despite objections from Lungu’s family, who have insisted on a private burial. The disagreement has deepened tensions between the family and the administration of President Hakainde Hichilema over where the former head of state should be laid to rest.
Edgar Lungu died in South Africa 10 months ago after an undisclosed illness at a clinic in Pretoria. He served as Zambia’s president from 2015 until 2021, when he lost the election by a wide margin to Hakainde Hichilema.
The Zambian government has maintained that Lungu should be buried with full state honours at the designated presidential burial site in Lusaka, alongside other former heads of state. Officials argue this is the appropriate national protocol for someone who once held the country’s highest office.
However, the family has rejected a state funeral, insisting on a private burial. They said discussions with the government collapsed after disagreements over funeral arrangements.
Last August, a South African court ruled that the Zambian government could repatriate the body and proceed with a state funeral. The family challenged the ruling, but the latest development follows what the Zambian Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha described as their “inability to proceed with their case” at the appeals court.
Family spokesperson Makebi Zulu, speaking on a Zambian YouTube news channel on Wednesday evening, disputed that position, saying the appeal process had not lapsed and that proper legal procedures had been followed.
The family’s legal team has now filed an urgent application at the high court in South Africa seeking the return of the body to the funeral home where it had originally been kept, pending further legal direction.
The dispute has been shaped by long-standing political tensions between Lungu’s family and the current administration. The family has also maintained that the former president did not want Hakainde Hichilema to attend his funeral.
Zambia continues to insist that Lungu, as a former head of state, deserves a state funeral with full honours, while the legal process in South Africa remains central to how the final burial arrangements will be determined.
Comments
Sign in with Google to comment, reply, and like comments.
Continue with Google