FAMILY’S LAWYER GRILLS GOVERNMENT IN COURT: “EDGAR LUNGU WAS TREATED AS AN ORDINARY CITIZEN”
Pretoria, South Africa – 4 August 2025
The lawyer representing the family of the late former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has begun to deliver a scathing argument, highlighting the Zambian government’s attempt to reverse its own long-standing position regarding the late leader’s status and funeral arrangements.
The lawyer argued that by all official conduct and documentation, President Lungu had, since 2023, been stripped of his presidential benefits and was effectively treated as an ordinary citizen by the Zambian government. This, the court heard, included the withdrawal of his salary, travel privileges, and all formal recognition as a former head of state.
“We are dealing with an ordinary citizen of Zambia who happened to be in South Africa at the time of his passing,” the lawyer asserted.
“It is disingenuous for the government to now, after his death, claim he must be accorded full state honours, including burial in Zambia, when all along he was denied even the basic entitlements of a former President.”
The legal team further revealed that at one point, the government denied President Lungu permission to travel for a political mission and even refused his attendance at an international conference and to seek medical health as the applicants agreed to have denied the late permission travel out of the country. These actions, contributed to the deterioration of his health and potentially to his early death.
In response to government claims that there was a standing agreement with the family regarding the President’s participation in funeral proceedings, the family’s lawyer pushed back, highlighting contradictions in the government’s submissions.
“If such an agreement existed, why then is it disputed in the very affidavits they present? Paragraph 7.10.4, which allegedly includes the President of Namibia presiding over a state funeral and Dr. Alick Banda officiating a service, is expressly denied by the family,” the lawyer noted.
Referring to the official papers, he pointed to inconsistencies and omissions in government claims, especially around the question of where President Lungu wished to be buried. The court was reminded that no clear statement was ever made and certainly no evidence presented that the late President wished to be buried in Zambia under government control.
“This court cannot make a finding on what the late President’s wishes were,” the lawyer said.
“That question remains unanswered and certainly cannot be dictated by a government that revoked his rights in life.”
Ordinary citizen with “Diplomatic passport?”
Ba Makebi wenye….sure you want to lie to support criminals? How did Lungu enter South Africa? If he used a Diplomatic passport then he was not an ordinary citizen. Ordinary citizens dont have Diplomatic passports
Mulenga, you nailed it!
Lungu volitionally relinquished the benefits of a former president, but not the status of “former president.” The latter is not a personal or family prerogative.
The government wants evidence that Edgar died. They don’t want to hear Makebi and the family pronouncements because they lack credibility. Show the government the body, and you can bury Lungu’s remains anywhere – either in Haiti, Mozambique, or Congo, or spread his ashes in Dubai. The choice is yours!
The demand has nothing to do with witchcraft, charms, or lack of empathy, but it is aimed at object reality and national security. Otherwise, these people know what they are hiding and the government seeks to get to the bottom of the matter. (Personal opinion).
Guess the South African Lawyer didnt go through the constitution of Zambia and what it says about a former president who goes back to active politics.
He will get it right soon and know that he is being misled as for him just doing the job for his pocket