By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Zambia’s former President’s sister broke down in tears on Friday protesting a ruling by a South African court that the body of Edgar Lungu who ruled the country from 2015 to 2021 be “immediately” sent home for burial, siding with the government that had insisted that he is buried at his home country.
Lungu’s family said the late leader did not want the current President, Hakainde Hichilema a longstanding political rival and his successor anywhere around his funeral sight.
Lungu died in South Africa on June 5 while receiving medical treatment. A court halted plans for Lungu family to have him buried in Johannesburg on June 25, just hours before a private ceremony was due to start.
Lungu’s burial has been a subject of bitter dispute between the family and Zambia’s government, which claims it had planned a state funeral for the former leader in Lusaka.
“A former president’s personal wishes or the wishes of his family cannot outweigh the right of the state to honour that individual with a state funeral,” the court said, causing Bertha Lungu to weep in the open court.
Zambia’s Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha, who was at the court, but hailed the ruling of the judge.
But the rivalry in death is yet to be over as Lungu’s Patriotic Front party said the family had “filed an appeal against the judgement”.
Since Lungu left office, his wife and children have been charged with corruption and possession of suspected proceeds of crime, in what the family has claimed is part of a political vendetta.
Background
Lungu lost the 2021 election by close to a million votes with Hichilema tapping into widespread dissatisfaction among the electorate.
He said he was retiring in the aftermath of the defeat, but returned to frontline politics in 2023 as his successor’s popularity waned.
“I am ready to fight from the front, not from the rear, in defence of democracy. Those who are ready for this fight, please come along with me, I am ready for anything,” Mr Lungu told supporters at the time.
Lungu was a lawyer by training but enjoyed a meteoric rise in politics after winning a seat in parliament as a PF MP in 2011.
In May last year, he warned that there could be a change of government before 2026. Following political rhetoric, the police cautioned him against engaging in activities that could jeopardize public peace.
His wife, Esther Lungu was also tried in Lusaka over alleged theft of three vehicles and title deed of a house as well as $400,000.
