By Ollus Ndomu
The long, bitter battle over where Zambia’s sixth President Edgar Chagwa Lungu should be buried has now entered its most critical chapter yet, with the state laying out a fresh legal argument before the Pretoria High Court in South Africa.
At the heart of the government’s amended motion is a simple but chilling claim: that the late President Lungu left no explicit burial wish in his will. The state argues this omission should weigh heavily in its favour because without clear written instructions, the law steps in to presume what he would have wanted.
What The Law Says
The government’s case hinges on the Former Presidents’ Benefits Act. Under Section 5(2), a former head of state forfeits these benefits if they re-enter active politics. The state now argues that Lungu’s benefits were suspended while he was politically active but not permanently revoked. When he died, the argument goes, the suspension ended automatically.
So, what does that mean in practice? If Lungu was still entitled to presidential benefits at death, the government insists this legally and morally obliges the state to provide a state funeral. By extension, it argues it has the right to determine the final rites, not the family alone.
No Will, No Burial Directive
The state points out that Lungu’s will is silent on how or where he wanted to be buried. This is the cornerstone of its new legal push. As Chief Government Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa framed it earlier: the state must protect public interest and national custom. It cannot sit by while a former president’s remains rest in a foreign land, out of reach of the nation that elected him twice.
The Family’s Resistance
Family spokesperson Makebi Zulu’s position has been defiant: the relationship with the government is too broken to trust the state to bury Lungu. They insist that past betrayals during negotiation and the cancelled national mourning proved the state’s intentions were more about optics than respect.
Zulu has repeatedly said on record, “The President is not the state,” implying that Hichilema’s presence or leadership at the funeral would dishonour the family’s wishes. He also accuses the government of using burial talks as propaganda to avoid embarrassment over a former president being laid to rest abroad.
The Big Picture
This case is no longer about burial wishes alone. It has become a test of where the line is drawn between family autonomy and the state’s obligation to safeguard national dignity. The PF loyalists, meanwhile, fan conspiracy theories about rituals and secrecy, but without credible evidence they remain political noise.
The Pretoria court will have to decide whether the Former Presidents’ Benefits Act can override the family’s fierce opposition. If it sides with the state, the government will be expected to handle Lungu’s burial in Zambia with the very dignity it claims he deserves.
What Next?
With hearings set for early August, both sides must now submit final arguments and evidence. The family has until July 24 to file their response. Until then, Zambia remains trapped in the most drawn-out and bruising farewell a former president has ever had.
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