GOVERNMENT CANNOT WITHDRAW ECL’S BURIAL CASE BEFORE SOUTH AFRICA’S TOP COURT, BUT HIS FAMILY CAN – SPEAKER MUTTI
By: Thomas Afroman Mwale
Speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti, says it is the family of late former President Edgar Lungu that has the authority to withdraw the burial case currently before the Supreme Court of South Africa, which has resulted in Mr Lungu remaining unburied eight months after his death.
Ms Mutti said the appellants in the matter are members of the Lungu family, who have the power to withdraw the case not the Zambian Government.
She explained that it was the family that initially challenged the repatriation of Mr Lungu’s remains to Zambia.
She described the matter as serious and advised Matero Member of Parliament Miles Sampa to help facilitate the return of the former president’s body to Zambia for burial.
The Speaker was responding to Mr Sampa, who asked in Parliament when Mr Lungu would be buried, describing the eight-month delay as unchristian.
Mr Sampa raised the matter while debating President Hakainde Hichilema’s State of the Nation Address on National Values and Principles.
He appealed to Vice President Mutale Nalumango and Minister of Justice Princess Kasune to urge Attorney General Kabesha to withdraw the case and allow the former president to be buried.
Former President Lungu died on 5th June 2025 and has not yet been buried due to an ongoing legal dispute between his family and the Zambian Government over his final resting place.
His family appealed a judgment by the High Court of South Africa, which ruled in favour of the Zambian Government that he should be buried in Zambia.
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