Body of Former Zambian President Edgar Lungu caught in Legal and political battle
The Zambian government has taken custody of former president Edgar Lungu’s remains, defying the wishes of his family and reigniting a bitter feud between Lungu’s relatives and the administration of his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema.
Lungu died 10 months ago at a clinic in Pretoria, South Africa, at the age of 68. The cause of his death has never been publicly disclosed. Since then, his body has remained in South Africa amid a protracted dispute over funeral arrangements.
The government insists that Lungu, as a former head of state, is entitled to full state honors and burial alongside his predecessors in the designated presidential burial ground in Lusaka, the capital.
But his family has rejected that plan, seeking a private burial after negotiations with the government broke down.
The family has also indicated that Lungu himself did not want Hichilema to attend his funeral—a reflection of the deep animosity between the two political figures.
A Ruling in South Africa
Last August, a South African court ruled in favor of the Zambian government, authorizing the repatriation of Lungu’s body and a state funeral.
The family appealed, but according to Zambia’s Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha, the transfer proceeded after the family showed an “inability to proceed with their case” at the appeals court.
However, Lungu family spokesman Makebi Zulu rejected that account in an interview Wednesday evening on a Zambian YouTube news channel. Zulu insisted that the appeals process had not lapsed and that proper procedures were followed.
The family’s lawyers have now filed an urgent application with South Africa’s High Court, seeking the return of the former president’s remains to the funeral home where they had originally been kept.
A Long-standing political feud
Lungu led Zambia from 2015 until 2021, when he suffered a landslide electoral defeat to Hichilema. Their rivalry has been marked by mutual hostility, and the fight over Lungu’s final resting place has become the latest chapter in that fraught relationship.
While the government speaks of honoring a former leader, the family sees a political power play. For now, Lungu’s body remains in state custody—and the legal battle is far from over.
