Family of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu said he will be buried in South Africa at a private ceremony after a funeral arrangement with the government.
Later Thursday, President Hakainde Hichilema cut national mourning for some time after Lungu’s family refused to allow his body to be repatriated from South Africa. His funeral is scheduled to be held in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, on Sunday.
The family now says it will be announced later that Lungu will be buried in Johannesburg’s “dignity and peace”.
This will be the first time another former country has been buried in South Africa.
Lungu said in his will that his long-time rival Hichilema should not attend his funeral.
The government and his family later agreed that he would hold a state funeral before the exact arrangement broke down.
“We hope to announce that the funeral and funeral of our beloved Edgar Chagwa Lungu will be held in South Africa according to the family’s wishes for a private ceremony,” Family spokesman Makebi Zulu said in a statement.
Mr. Zulu thanked the South African government for its “no intervention” and respected the decisions and desires of the family in “this deep emotional period”.
President Xixilema said in his speech on Thursday that Longu, as a former president, “belongs to the Zambian country” and therefore his body should be “buried in Zambia with all honors, not other countries.”
But due to the ranks, he announced the immediate end of the mourning period, saying the country needs to “return to normal life.”
“The government has done everything possible to interact with the family of the late sixth president,” he said.
The national mourning period was initially operated from June 8 to 14, but later extended to June 23, with the flag playing solemn music on half-mast and on radio stations.
President Hichilema and senior officials are ready to receive full military honors on Wednesday Lungu’s coffin.
However, Lungu’s family blocked his body at the last minute, saying the government’s agreement on the funeral plan was violated.
Opposition Patriot Front (PF), Longuo (PF) led the team until his death and stood with his family in the funeral plan.
“The government turned a solemn moment into a political game,” the acting president of the PF told Lubinda. “This is not the way we treat the former head of state.”
Civil society groups have called for an urgent resolution to the matter, with some religious leaders saying the deadlock “has hurt the dignity of our country.”
“We call for humility, dialogue and a resolution to keep the memory of the former president while keeping Manchester United,” said Emmanuel Chikoya, head of the Zambian Church Council.
Lungu, who led the country from 2015 to 2021, died earlier this month in South Africa and was treated for undisclosed illness.
After six years as head of state, Lungu lost the election with a big profit in the 2021 general election. He quit politics, but later returned to competition.
He had the ambition to fight for the presidency again, but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court banned him from running, ruling that he had appointed up to two terms allowed by law.
Despite his disqualification in the presidential election, he still has a huge influence in Zambian politics and has not stopped his criticism of his successor.
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