JUST hours after the Zambian government said it had taken possession of ex-President Edgar Lungu’s body, a court in South Africa – where Lungu died – has ordered the body to be returned.
It is the latest twist in a 10-month saga over what should happen to his remains following a long-standing feud between Lungu and his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema.
The government has long maintained that, as a former head of state, Lungu should be honoured in the country and buried alongside his predecessors in the special presidential burial ground in the capital, Lusaka.
But Lungu’s family wanted a private burial after negotiations with the government over the funeral arrangements broke down.
Last August, the South African high court in Pretoria ruled that Zambia’s government could repatriate the body and give him a state funeral – an outcome that left Lungu’s relatives visibly distraught in the courtroom.
The family appealed against the decision but, in a surprise announcement late on Wednesday night, Zambia’s government said Lungu’s remains had been “formally transferred” to the state by the South African court.
According to the statement, the transfer occurred after Lungu’s family were unable to “proceed with their case” at the appeals court.
But just a few hours later, the same South African court ordered the Zambian government to return the body until the matter goes back to court on 21 May.
To complicate matters further, Two Mountains Burial Services, the funeral home where Lungu’s remains were originally being kept, has reportedly said it will no longer accept the body and has asked the Lungu family to find an alternative.
Interviewed on a Zambian YouTube news channel, Lungu family spokesman Makebi Zulu disputed that the appeals process had lapsed, saying that the correct procedure had been followed.
The former president died of an undisclosed illness aged 68 at a clinic in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. Chaos ensued following his death, with mourners receiving conflicting information from the government and Lungu’s political party, the Patriotic Front (PF).
Two separate mourning periods were announced and at one point there were competing condolence books.
Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 until 2021, had numerous rows with Hichilema, who was the opposition leader for many years before finally unseating his bitter rival.
After Lungu’s death, his family said the ex-president did not want Hichilema to be at his funeral or “anywhere near” his body.