The Zambian government has taken custody of the body of former President Edgar Lungu from his family, intensifying a protracted dispute over his final resting place almost a year after his death in South Africa.
Zambia’s attorney general confirmed on Wednesday that the government now holds Lungu’s remains. This development follows a South African court order mandating the release of the body to Zambian authorities, with the body subsequently transferred from a funeral home in Pretoria to an alternative facility.
However, Lungu’s family asserts that a separate, urgent court ruling dictates the body should be returned to the original funeral home. It had been held there since his passing in June last year, as the macabre disagreement over control of his burial and interment location unfolded through the South African legal system.
Details of the two apparently conflicting court orders were not immediately available.
The battle revolves around Lungu’s relationship with current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. The two were bitter political rivals.
Hichilema’s government has said Lungu should have a state funeral at home and be buried at a cemetery set aside for Zambian leaders. Lungu’s family claims that one of his last wishes was that Hichilema should not go anywhere near his body and not preside over his funeral.
In June last year, the Zambian government succeeded in getting a court order to stop his funeral service in South Africa as it was taking place, forcing family members to leave the church ceremony and travel to a courthouse
Zambia’s government said at the time that it had already prepared a grave for Lungu at a cemetery where all presidents are traditionally buried. It added that any personal wishes must give way to the national interest.
Lungu’s family had decided against repatriating his body and arranged their own funeral service and a private burial. Top members of Lungu’s political party travelled to South Africa for the funeral.
A state funeral for him in Zambia was cancelled twice because of disagreements over the details..
Lungu, who was Zambia’s leader from 2015 to 2021, died of an undisclosed illness in a South African hospital on June 5. He was 68.
When Lungu was president in 2017, Hichilema was arrested, charged with treason and detained for four months, only to be released and the charge dropped after international condemnation.
Lungu lost to Hichilema in a 2021 election, and claimed years later that his movements were being restricted by Zambian police and that he had been effectively placed under house arrest by authorities to prevent any political comeback. Hichilema’s government denied the allegations.
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