A year after his passing, the family of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu has secured a significant legal victory, with South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that his body can be buried in South Africa. This decision overturns an earlier High Court judgement that had permitted the Zambian government to repatriate Lungu's remains for burial in his home country.
The protracted legal battle highlights a deep-seated feud between Lungu's family and the current Zambian administration, led by President Hakainde Hichilema. The Zambian government had consistently argued that as a former head of state, Lungu deserved to be honoured with a state funeral and interred alongside his predecessors at the presidential burial ground in Lusaka, the capital.
However, Lungu's family desired a private burial, asserting that negotiations with the government over funeral arrangements had collapsed. Justice Raylene May Keightley, delivering the Supreme Court of Appeal's judgement, noted that the ritual intended for closure had instead created a bitter legal dispute between the family and the state, far from their homeland.
The court's decision referenced clear indications that the former president felt he was 'persona non grata' in Zambia and believed he would not receive a dignified send-off if his successor, President Hichilema, were present. This sentiment underscores the personal animosity that characterised the relationship between Lungu, who governed Zambia from 2015 to 2021, and Hichilema, who was a long-standing opposition leader before unseating his rival.
Following Lungu's death in Pretoria at the age of 68 from an undisclosed illness, chaos reportedly ensued, with conflicting information regarding mourning periods and condolence books issued by the government and Lungu's political party, the Patriotic Front (PF). The family's stance has consistently been that the former president did not wish for President Hichilema to be involved in his funeral arrangements.
Despite expressing disagreement with the latest ruling, the Zambian government has confirmed it will not pursue the matter further, effectively bringing an end to the year-long dispute over the former president's final resting place.