Family of Edgar Lungu trying to prevent repatriation of his body for state funeral presided over by his successor
A furious row is raging over whether the Zambian president, Hakainde Hichilema, will preside over the funeral of his predecessor, Edgar Lungu, as the former president’s family wage a legal battle in South Africa to try to prevent his body from being repatriated.
The legal fight marks the latest twist in a feud between the two men that goes back at least a decade and has now outlasted the former president, who died in South Africa in June aged 68 while being treated for an undisclosed illness.
Mourners had already arrived for a funeral in Johannesburg in June when it was halted by a high court judge after an 11th-hour request by Zambia’s attorney general, Mulilo Kabesha. Lungu’s family said he had specifically requested that Hichilema not attend his funeral.
On 8 August, the Pretoria high court ruled that Lungu’s body could be sent back to Zambia for a state funeral. Lungu’s older sister Bertha broke down, shouting across the courtroom at Kabesha as she was restrained by other relatives.
