Lusaka — 24th June 2025
The scheduled burial of Zambia’s sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, in South Africa has been thrown into uncertainty following a dramatic legal intervention by Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha.
Kabesha has filed an urgent application in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria, seeking an interim interdict to prevent the burial of the late President, which was set for Wednesday, 25th June 2025.
The Attorney General is arguing that the burial should not proceed until all legal and constitutional questions surrounding Dr. Lungu’s final resting place are resolved — particularly whether he should be interred in Zambia with full state honours.
In court documents, Kabesha insists that the burial of a former Head of State is a matter of public interest governed by national laws, customs, and military protocols. He argues that regardless of alleged personal wishes to forgo a state funeral, such preferences must give way to the responsibilities of the state to honour national leaders appropriately.
Citing precedent, the application draws attention to the burial of Zambia’s founding president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, whose private wishes were overridden by the courts in favour of a state-sanctioned interment at Embassy Park in Lusaka.
Among the respondents named in the lawsuit are former First Lady Esther Nyawa Lungu, Lungu’s children Bertha, Tasila, Chiyesu, and Dalitso Lungu, as well as family lawyer Makebi Zulu and Charles Phiri. Also named is Two Mountains Pty, the South African funeral company currently housing the former president’s remains.
The matter is being brought under Article 177(5)(c) of the Zambian Constitution, which empowers the Attorney General to act in the public interest.
The case is set to be heard at 08:00 hours tomorrow, Wednesday 25th June 2025, in Pretoria.
If the court grants the interim order, it could indefinitely delay the planned private burial of the late president, which has already been a source of national and diplomatic contention.
