LUNGU FAMILY FREE TO BURY FORMER PRESIDENT IN SOUTH AFRICA – GOVT
The Zambian government has accepted the judgment of South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and says the burial of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is now a private matter for his family.
The development follows a ruling by the SCA that overturned an earlier Pretoria High Court decision which had granted the Zambian government authority to repatriate Mr Lungu’s remains for a state funeral and burial in Zambia.
In a statement issued after the judgment, Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha announced that government would not pursue any further legal action.
“We will not be exercising our right to appeal to the Constitutional Court of South Africa,” Kabesha said.
“In line with today’s judgment, this is now a private matter for the Lungu family to proceed with their desired burial in the Republic of South Africa.”
Kabesha said government had spent the past 12 months seeking to honour the late sixth Republican President in accordance with long-standing national traditions governing the burial of former heads of state.
He noted that since the death of President Levy Mwanawasa in 2008, Zambia had established a precedent of burying former presidents at Embassy Park in Lusaka, regardless of individual family preferences.
He cited the burials of former presidents Frederick Chiluba, Michael Sata, Kenneth Kaunda and Rupiah Banda as examples of leaders laid to rest there with full state honours.
“In his Last Will and Testament, President Mwanawasa had indicated a desire to be buried at his farm in Palabana. The then government, however, resolved that it was right for him to be laid to rest at Embassy Park,” Kabesha said.
He added that government believed bringing Mr Lungu home would have allowed millions of Zambians an opportunity to mourn and honour their former leader in their own country.
“Unfortunately, this is not to be, as the family has decided to bury him in South Africa,” he said.
Despite the court outcome, Kabesha said government remained respectful of the family’s decision and extended its condolences.
“Having said that, we maintain our message of condolences to the Lungu family, as we have done since the Sixth President’s death.”