ATTORNEY General Mulilo Kabesha says the Government attempted to retrieve the body of former President Edgar Lungu after Friday’s judgment, but the move was halted upon learning that the Lungu family intended to appeal.
Mr Kabesha explained that, after being informed by the deceased’s family lawyers, the Government initially believed an actual appeal had been lodged.
“It later emerged that what had been filed was not an appeal itself, but an application for leave (or permission) to appeal before the Gauteng Division of the High Court in South Africa,” he said.
“If the appeal is granted, we will oppose it if we see no reasonableness in it,” Mr Kabesha added.
He noted that under South African law, once an application for leave to appeal is filed, the earlier court order,allowing the movement of the body,is automatically suspended.
On Friday, the South African High Court directed the funeral parlour holding Mr Lungu’s body to hand it over to Zambian Government representatives in South Africa.
However, Mr Kabesha said the late former President’s body remains in the custody of his family, who placed it in a funeral parlour following his death on June 5, 2025.
Speaking on ZNBC’s Sunday Interview programme, Mr Kabesha said the Zambian Government is now awaiting the next step from the Pretoria High Court.
“The court can either grant the Lungu family permission to file their appeal challenging its earlier judgment or dismiss the application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court,” he explained.
This matter arises from a public interest lawsuit in which the Zambian Government sued the Lungu family, seeking to repatriate Mr Lungu’s body for burial at Embassy Park, against the family’s wishes.
On August 8, 2025, the court unanimously ruled in favour of the Government, allowing the body to be brought back to Zambia.
However, the Lungu family seeks to challenge that decision, citing mistrust and claiming it was Mr Lungu’s wish that, in the event of his death, his successor should not attend his funeral.
(Mwebantu, Monday, 11th August, 2025)