GOVERNMENT PLEDGES TO HONOUR LUNGU’S LEGACY DESPITE SOUTH AFRICA BURIAL.
By Osward Kafwanka
The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to preserving and honoring the legacy of Zambia’s Sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, despite the family’s decision to bury him in South Africa.
Ministry of Information Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana says the former president’s Memorial Day will continue to be recognized in the same manner as those of other former Heads of State.
Mr. Kawana states that the Government’s legal action in the South African courts was undertaken in good faith, with the intention of ensuring that former President Lungu was laid to rest at Embassy Park alongside other former presidents.
He has further maintained that the Government will not appeal the ruling by the South African Supreme Court of Appeal, which overturned the August 2025 Gauteng High Court decision ordering the repatriation of former President Lungu’s remains to Zambia for burial.
Meanwhile, the Lusaka Ministers Fellowship has appealed to the Lungu family to reconsider and reverse its decision to bury the former Head of State in South Africa.
The fellowship has urged the family to reflect on the matter, arguing that a burial in Zambia would allow the nation to collectively honor and remember its former president.