GOVERNMENT says the family of former president Edgar Lungu can now go ahead and bury the former head of state as the funeral is now a private matter, following today’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment.
This morning, the SCA overturned the Pretoria High Court’s judgment, which had allowed the Zambian government to repatriate Lungu’s body to Zambia for a state funeral and burial.
The family had appealed to the court to have the judgment overturned, arguing that it was the wish of the deceased to be buried in a foreign country.
In a statement, Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha said although government disagrees with today’s judgment, it will not take the matter to the Constitutional Court.
“We will not be exercising our right to appeal to the Constitutional Court of South Africa,” said Kabesha.
“In line with today’s judgment, this is now a private matter for the Lungu family to proceed with their desired burial in the Republic of South Africa.”
The Attorney General explained that government’s purpose throughout the last 12 months had been to honour Lungu in line with the precedent established for previous presidents.
He stated that a clear set of national customs and traditions had been established with the first president to pass away in office, President Levy Mwanawasa, who was buried at Embassy Park under the leadership of Acting President Rupiah Banda of the MMD in September 2008.
“In his Last Will and Testament, President Mwanawasa had indicated a desire to be buried at his farm in Palabana. The then government, however, resolved that it was right for him to be laid to rest at Embassy Park, thereby enabling the Zambian people to honour him at the time and in the future at the most suitable and accessible resting place. The then government, acting in the national interest, thereby established a precedent,” he said.
Kabesha noted that the second president, Frederick Chiluba, was buried at Embassy Park in June 2011, again under the leadership of President Rupiah Banda of the MMD, while the fifth president, Michael Sata, was buried at Embassy Park in November 2014 under the leadership of Acting President Guy Scott of the PF.
“Our First Republican President, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, was buried at Embassy Park in July 2021 under the leadership of President Edgar Lungu of the PF. On that occasion, members of the Kaunda family went to court seeking that he be buried next to his late wife, in keeping with what they believed to be his wish. The courts declined that application and upheld burial at Embassy Park, and President Kaunda was laid to rest there with full honours in the national interest.
“The Fourth President, Rupiah Banda, was buried at Embassy Park in March 2022 under the leadership of President Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND. All of these former presidents were buried at Embassy Park with full military honours, in line with the dignity of the office they held, regardless of the issues at hand. They were all buried according to national culture and practice,” explained Kabesha.
He said government believed it would honour Lungu as it had honoured all other former presidents and thereby give the millions of Zambians he led an opportunity to mourn him in their own country.
“Unfortunately, this is not to be, as the family has decided to bury him in South Africa. Our nation has always understood the profound importance of a final resting place among one’s own people. As a compassionate and sovereign nation, Zambia has consistently facilitated the repatriation of those who passed away on our soil so that they may return home to their families and communities.
“Only recently, we supported and worked alongside the Government of the Republic of South Africa to return its liberation heroes and other nationals who had died in exile here in Lusaka so that they could at last be laid to rest in their homeland. It was in that same spirit, and out of that same conviction, that we wished to bring our Sixth President home to Zambia,” he explained.
“Having said that, we maintain our message of condolences to the Lungu family, as we have done since the Sixth President’s death.”
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, June 23, 2026
