Attorney General, Mr. Mulilo D. Kabesha, SC, has filed an urgent legal application in South Africa seeking to halt the planned burial of the late Sixth Republican President, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, outside Zambian territory.
According to a Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) news report aired on Tuesday evening, Mr. Kabesha has submitted a public interest litigation to the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria. The move is aimed at securing an interim interdict that would prevent any burial proceedings until the issue of President Lungu’s final resting place is lawfully and constitutionally resolved.
The urgent application lists several members of Dr. Lungu’s immediate family—including former First Lady Esther Nyawa Lungu, and children Bertha, Tasila, Chiyesu, and Dalitso Lungu—as respondents. Also named are family associate Charles Phiri, lawyer Makebi Zulu, and Two Mountains Pty, the funeral services company currently holding the late President’s remains.
In his submission, the Attorney General argues that under Zambian law, the burial of a former Head of State is a matter of national interest and must follow state-sanctioned public and military protocols. Mr. Kabesha emphasized that the entombment of a national figure such as Dr. Lungu cannot be treated as a private affair, regardless of any alleged personal preferences.
“Even if, hypothetically, President Lungu had wished not to be buried in Zambia—which is denied—those wishes must give way to the broader national and legal expectations of a state burial,” reads part of the court filing.
Mr. Kabesha cited the precedent of Zambia’s first President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, whose stated desire to be buried at his personal residence was overridden by a court ruling that aligned with the public interest. Dr. Kaunda was ultimately laid to rest at the Embassy Presidential Burial Park in Lusaka, a site reserved for former heads of state.
The Attorney General is acting under the authority of Article 177(5)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia, which mandates the Attorney General to represent the state and protect the public interest in legal matters.
The Pretoria High Court is expected to hear the interim interdict application at 08:00 hours on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
This legal showdown marks a rare instance of a cross-border dispute over the burial of a former African head of state and underscores the political and constitutional weight attached to Dr. Lungu’s final resting place. The outcome could set a precedent for how the state balances personal wishes with national symbolism in such high-profile cases.
Legal drama has always followed Lungu -even when he was about to become PF president there were lots of injunctions and lawsuits! This is how he rolls I guess , even in death
It appears we have lost our bearings as a country. Surely the legal challenge is not filed in public interest because the public wants to move on. The state itself abrogated the simple agreed conditions with the family so what more does the state want.
You look tired. Kindly go to sleep. Don’t you need some rolling to do in bed?
@John…Controversial right to the very end! From allegations of identity theft to misappropriating a client’s money and institutionalizing cadrerism. What a legacy!
This is getting embarrassing to us Zambians in South Africa. Reminds me of the Mugabe burial saga. The Zimbabwe government was digging a grave for Mugabe at the Heroes burial place, only for the family to secretly bury him near his mother. Recently there was a court decision to exhume Mugabe.
The ugly street words here in South Africa are “ma kwere-kwere (derogatory name for African foreigners) are taking our jobs, hospital beds, housing, and now our grave spaces”.
Dear Good Zambian
Kindly receive my humble and sorrowful plea.
Some South Africans have taken a share of Zambia in several spheres including part of the cemetery. We buy houses there as well as pay the hospital bills at market price. The grave is not a gift, costing about 90 pin, Zed currency. We wanted to repatriate our hero’s mortal remains. But the hostile conditions prevented. Please hear us. We apologise. Understand us for a bit. Sorry. We will make it up to you sooner than later.
regards
The Undertaker.
Can we get back to the serious works of nation building please? With all due respect,Zambia is far bigger than the long departed ECL
Fix the economy not this drama
Public interest was for the Attorney to petition government to change mind and allow him to fly out for treatment. This is like wanting to k! ll him again to they make sure he is really de@d. Wow, follow him to the grave!
Tell that to HH
The Zambian economy has always needed fixing. When the economy needs fixing it does not mean that everything has to be stopped.
And yesterday he even said ECL was the only President whose immunity was intact. But meanwhile he literally indirectly kept ECL in court through his family. As for the funeral, it is only the family that has the final authority. The President does not have any such powers not even one, on this one he is like all of us none family members. Apologise for abrogating their earlier agreement, may be they can hear you. And stop using known UPND cadres to negotiate with the family, you have a lot of genuine neutral people in this country.
Kangaude.
He actually did not have parliament numbers to grab away his immunity. So it had to wait. The same way the constitutional amendments waited up to today. Just look at how they are suffering from panick disorder owing to lateness.
Agreed
It was just right to bury the former president in
His country of birth than another country inspite of what differences he had.
Can’t even give the man a chance to roll in his grave.
Is this the same State chief legal officer who compensated those cadres with money as if UPND are the only injured people in Zambia? Let’s see how he challenges Lungu in a foreign country with more qualified and experienced lawyers than the Zambian ones he perpetually tramples over.
Failure to deal will loadsheding…Failure to improve our economy….and indeed we’re all just useless….I thought HH was a smart person it turns out he is worse than Lungu…
Now UPND is acting very childish and they will just decampaign themselves….
We have 19 million Zambians struggling to put food on their table….small businesses struggling with Electricity and yet we trying to spend all our energies on Lungu’s dead body….What is wrong with us Zambians….what is wrong with our black race…..Indians you die at 8am by 11am you’re buried already and its back to businesses…..
RSA has defined and functional institutions with a solid legal system. When, not if, they lose this case they will also degenerate diplomatic ties with that country. Some things are better left the way they are. We move on.
Am now ashamed to say am Zambian…this is so embarrassing as a country….first of all our leaders fail to build better Hospitals…and now fighting over a dead body….HH and his UPND minions are just a bunch of useless Pompwes…..at first HH handled it well but now he’s acting like a complete *****$%
JUST BURY LUNGU WHEREVER HIS FAMILY WANTS HIM TO BE BURIED….EVEN ESWATHINI SINCE HE HAS PROPERTIES THERE….AND PLEASE DEAL WITH LOADSHEDING
So Lungu was a serious threat to HH…..this means that if opposition can get their acts together they can easily beat HH….HH is very much beatable….
He is tired send him back to Kabwe to look after his waning business
Another question is who is whispering in his ear
Zambians voted for HH to get them out of the misery…to end loadsheding and improve the Zambian economy…but for the past 4 years its just been story after story and nonsensical hollow speeches……just point at one thing that HH has done since assuming office….Nada…zero…just busy fighting for a dead body…..Satanism is real….
And who is footing the bill for all this? Again the Zambian tax payer who is getting all worked up in these political games. Both sides can go on until kingdom comes because their pockets are not affected. In the meantime, kulibe malaiti…
We’re very good at wasting tax payers money…and we run to the west with a begging bowl asking for handouts….I thought HH was a very sensible person but it turns out he’s worse than Lungu….i think HH will go down as the worst Zambian President ever
Now you and I are on the same playing field
Now the only think is to convince @spaka
Let’s have six months national mourning, a state funeral in South Africa, an exhumation, another state funeral at his farm, an exhumation, then another state funeral in the town centre. And a big golden statue. We can afford to do all of this in the public interest because Zambia is a very rich country where nobody needs to work
@ Anonymous
Who is talking about loadshedding here, please read the article maybe you do not understand simple English here, please enrol for GCE for 2026 rather than embarrassing yourself like this. National matters require serious application of mind not junk mind.
Everybody has an opinion Bringing other failures to light is within the boundries of this article
This debacle lies soley with HH and his inabiity to solve Zambia’s problems What is wrong with that ?
@peace maker
You are off the track. He is talking about where to channel the energy and resources and not these court issues where we just misusing tax payers money. We all know the outcome this court case gonna be unless one is full
Well put, this issue is not for lazy minds! I doubt CR’s govt is in the right – the “family” are sole recepients of a deceased SOUTH AFRICAN to bury wherever they LEGALLY CAN; Zambians resident abroad are BOUND by zambian law as to where they bury “the zambian citizen” – ECL was not a zambian refugee/fugitive/ex-SADF soldier etc but an ex-president! Could the Kennedys have buried JFK in Ireland? NEVER EVER!! =>Henry Kissinger’s final resting place is at Arlington National Cemetery, NOT Israel!!
Fikamoneka, very sad indeed, eish!!
Burying of some body depends on various factors and circumstances. ECL was sick in SA for six months, did you ever even check on him just for a day to start even dictating where he should be burried. Sort out the economic mess you created as UPND and the loadshedding which is not there in Dubai where there is no rain.
@ Peace Maker
Anonymous is perfectly okay, you are the one who is misguided ,Peace maker. Government after causing this impasse after dishonoring the original agreement cannot start creating a new twist by going to courts. We have things to do please, we cannot be preoccupied by the same issue. Even your saying that Anonymous must be enrolled for GCE is misguided as usual. Please enrol for kindergarten yourself
Kudos to you
# Respect the wishes of the family
We have gone to stage 10 loadsheding and you are busy supporting a clearly incompetent government. Incompetent because even to honour the agreement with family is a challenge. Economy is a challenge. Governance is a challenge, am sure by now you have an idea of the report of the rapoteur on human rights. We can’t continue on this path. Using tax payers monies in courts in South Africa now.
WELL STATED
Whether you bury him hear or in South Africa is of no consequences to the general citizenry. Why then are you obsessed with this corpse? Please let’s move on.
I am beginning to think this corpse has some sort of gold attached to it.
We can be sitting here and arguing kanshi there is money somewhere pantu takwaba
@Timbwi..there could be a different person in the coffin or a large stash of US dollars or gold or even ammo!
Well, strange things are happening at the court. According to zambian observer, the court has heard from the state that ECL had 4 passports of which one was from Zimbabwe. According to details, presented to court by the state, no Zambian died in South Africa on the 5th but only a Zimbabwean .
Well, go to if no zambian died then let’s remove our nose from SA and come back. We are just waisting money . Let Zim claim and bury their body .Its not our business .
Meanwhile, Zesco has increased number of hours for loadsheding
Ukoooo! And the RSA High Court has NO JURISDICTION over zambian State Funeral regulations…kaya. This will be bitter, very bitter for the dramatologists, could be a criminal case in the end…eish, batusebanya aba…
Whatever sympathy I had for this family and the PF is well and truly gone.
They have really out done themselves when it comes to showing the whole world how ungrateful and unpatriotic they really are.
They may have had a plan, but they continued dancing long after the music had stopped. The spectacle they created has now disgusted many a common man.
When you take that presidency oath…..
You cease to be a common man on the street…….
You now represent all of Zambia, not just the family ……
The family should have stopped mr lungu running for president if this would be a problem for them……..
FWD2031
To any of you aspiring president hopefuls………
Explain to your family that if ever you were elected president, if you take that oath of office, you now belong to the Zambian people……….
Let them object or agree with your decision to be president…….
FWD2031