Faith Nyasuguta
In a last-minute legal move, the Zambian government has filed an urgent court case in South Africa to halt the planned burial of former President Edgar Lungu, igniting fresh controversy over where the late leader should be laid to rest.
The state’s action, announced by Zambian state broadcaster ZNBC, comes just days after Lungu’s family opted to bury him in South Africa in a private ceremony, bypassing the government’s plan for an official state funeral in Zambia. The burial is scheduled for Wednesday, but the attorney general, Mulilo D Kabesha, is asking the South African court to delay it until the ongoing dispute is resolved.
Tensions between the government and Lungu’s family have steadily escalated since his death. The family insists they have not received any court papers and plan to proceed with the burial. Sources close to the family maintain that they are simply honouring Lungu’s wishes for a private send-off without the presence of President Hakainde Hichilema, with whom Lungu had a long-standing political rivalry.
Lungu’s will reportedly included a clause stating that President Hichilema should not attend his funeral. During his presidency, Lungu had Hichilema imprisoned for over 100 days on controversial treason charges in 2017. That bitter legacy appears to have carried over even after his passing.
Initially, the government and family appeared to have reached an agreement for a state funeral. However, relations broke down over the specifics of the arrangements, prompting the family to take matters into their own hands and plan the burial abroad.
President Hichilema has since insisted that Lungu, as a former head of state, “belongs to the nation” and should be buried in Zambia with full honours. In court documents, the attorney general argues that Lungu’s stature as a national figure makes a state burial not just appropriate but mandatory. He cited the precedent of founding President Kenneth Kaunda, whose burial in 2021 went against his family’s wishes and took place at a government-designated site in Lusaka.
The government’s suit names Lungu’s widow, Esther Lungu, his four children, family lawyer Makebi Zulu and the South African funeral home where the body is currently held.
This unfolding legal and political drama reveals how deeply rooted tensions between Zambia’s past and present leadership continue to shape national affairs – even after death.
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