Zambian ex-president’s family settle funeral row with government

After days of uncertainty and negotiations, the funeral arrangements of the former president of Zambia were finalized.

Edgar LUNGU, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died 11 days ago in South Africa where he received treatment for unknown disease.

According to his family, he had left instructions that his political rival and his current president Hakande Hichilema “should not approach his body”.

But a spokesperson for the Lungu family confirmed that an agreement had been concluded with the government which allowed Hichilema to preside over the state’s funeral next Sunday.

The row caused consternation among some in Zambia with people who wondered how they should cry their former chief.

After days of talks, the Lungu family and the government agreed that:

• Wednesday, the body of the former president will be advanced to the Zambian capital, Lusaka, on a private charter plane
• Upon arrival at the airport, the body will be received by the family, then there will be complete military honors
• He will then be transported to Lungu’s residence in Lusaka where he will stay in the state
• For three days, from Thursday, he will be taken to a conference center in the capital where the public can pay tribute
• A state funeral will take place on Sunday June 22
• The former president will be buried the next day at Embassy Park, the official presidential burial place and the official mourning will end.

During a joint press briefing in South Africa, Lungu’s family spokesperson Makebi Zulu, sitting alongside the secretary of the Cabinet of Zambia, Patrick Kangwa, said that the family apologized “for the drawbacks and the pain that prolonged negotiations may have caused, but we were doing our best to honor the personal wishes of the former president”.

Zulu also said that the family was based on the government “would not depart from our agreement”.

Speaking for the government, Mr. Kangwa called on unity and thanked the Zambians for their patience “during this difficult period”.

After six years as head of state, Lungu lost the elections from 2021 to Hichilema by a large margin.

After this defeat, he fell from politics but later returned to the fray.

He had ambitions to dispute again the presidency, but at the end of last year, the Constitutional Court prevented him from running, judging that he had already served the two maximum conditions authorized by law.

Despite his disqualification of the presidential election, he remained extremely influential in Zambian politics and did not retain his criticisms towards his successor.

Last year, Lungu complained of police harassment and accused the authorities of having actually put him in residence. He also said he had been prevented from leaving the country. The government denied the two accusations.