A long-running political and personal dispute between Zambia’s current and former leadership has spilled over into a bitter conflict over the final resting place of ex-president Edgar Lungu, with the Zambian government confirming it has taken custody of Lungu’s remains 10 months after his death in South Africa — a move directly opposed by Lungu’s family. Lungu, who led the southern African nation from 2015 to 2021 before suffering a heavy electoral defeat to current President Hakainde Hichilema, passed away at age 68 last June while receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness at a Pretoria, South Africa clinic. Tensions between the two politicians have persisted long after Lungu left office, creating a bitter backdrop for negotiations over funeral arrangements that ultimately collapsed.
Zambian authorities have argued that as a former head of state, Lungu is entitled to official state honors and burial at the capital Lusaka’s dedicated presidential cemetery alongside all previous Zambian heads of state. Lungu’s family, however, has pushed back against a state-led ceremony, stating the former president never wanted Hichilema to attend his funeral and has insisted on a small, private burial. The deadlock between the two sides has moved through South Africa’s judicial system for months: in August 2024, a South African court ruled in favor of the Zambian government’s bid to repatriate the body for a state funeral. The family immediately launched an appeal against the ruling, but the transfer of Lungu’s remains to Zambia moved forward after Zambia’s Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha released a statement claiming the family had failed to advance their appeal at the appellate court, making the initial ruling enforceable.
The family has pushed back strongly against the government’s narrative. In an interview with a Zambian YouTube news channel on Wednesday, Lungu family spokesperson Makebi Zulu rejected claims that the appeal had lapsed, insisting the family had followed all required judicial protocols correctly. Legal representatives for the family have now filed an urgent application with South Africa’s High Court, demanding Lungu’s body be returned to the Pretoria funeral home where it was initially held. The high-stakes conflict over Lungu’s remains has amplified long-simmering political divisions in Zambia, turning a posthumous diplomatic and legal dispute into a major public issue that tests the balance of state protocol and family wishes in the southern African country.