A High Court in Pretoria has ordered that the remains of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu be repatriated to Lusaka for a state funeral, rejecting his family’s bid to bury him privately in South Africa.
Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba ruled that the Zambian state is entitled to take custody of Lungu’s body and inter him at Embassy Park, the official burial site for national leaders. He said that under Zambian law and public policy, a former president’s wishes—or those of his family—cannot override the state’s right to honor a head of state with an official funeral.
Lungu, 68, died on June 5 while receiving specialized medical care in South Africa. His family had opposed repatriation, citing political tensions with President Hakainde Hichilema and Lungu’s stated preference that Hichilema not attend his funeral. The Zambian government filed an urgent application in late June to block a family-arranged private burial in Johannesburg.
Lungu’s widow wept in court after the ruling.
A lawyer by profession, Lungu served as Zambia’s sixth president from 2015 to 2021, losing re-election to Hichilema. He was the country’s sole surviving former head of state at the time of his death.
