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Zambia’s former president Edgar Lungu died at the age of 68 in a South African hospital, after receiving treatment for a long-standing health condition.
- On Wednesday, the Zambian government sought to interdict former president Edgar Lungu’s funeral.
- Lungu’s family was expected to hold a private funeral service in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
- This went against Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema’s instruction that Lungu’s remains be buried in Zambia.
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has ruled that the funeral service of former Zambian president Edgar Lungu should not to go ahead, pending an urgent court application.
Essentially, the court has ruled in favour of the Zambian government which had sought to interdict the funeral from taking place on Wednesday. The decision was made after both parties came to an agreement.
Lungu was scheduled to be laid to rest on Wednesday in a private ceremony at the Christ the King Cathedral in Hillbrow, defying Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema’s directive that the late president’s remains be repatriated and buried in Zambia.
The legal battle was sparked when Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, filed an urgent application on Tuesday night to prevent the funeral from going ahead.
This move followed a failure to reach consensus between the Lungu family and the Zambian government regarding the planning of a state funeral.
Lungu’s remains were originally set to be returned to Zambia last week.
However, the process stalled after the family expressed concerns over being excluded from significant decisions related to the state funeral.
*More to follow.
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