Legal Purgatory: The Painful Limbo of President Lungu’s Burial
A reflection 爵 by Rev Walter Mwambazi
The latest development in the burial saga of Zambia’s sixth Republican President, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, is not just a legal technicality – upit’s a national heartbreak. The Pretoria High Court has postponed the case indefinitely, pending a hearing in the Constitutional Court. No date has been set. No closure offered. Just silence.
And so, the body of a former head of state remains in Johannesburg, suspended in what Simon Mwewa Lane Television aptly called legal purgatory. It’s a term that captures the surreal and painful reality: a man who once held the highest office in our land now lies in limbo, his final journey stalled by courtroom filings and unresolved appeals.
⚖️ What Does This Really Mean?
This isn’t just about legal procedure. It’s about dignity, legacy, and the soul of a nation.
No burial date means no closure for the family, the nation, or the institutions tasked with honoring him.
No repatriation means Zambia cannot fulfill its constitutional and cultural duty to bury its leaders in the land they served.
No resolution means the body of a former president is effectively “stuck” – guarded in a morgue, watched by private security, and politicized by rumor and suspicion.
This is NOT how we honor our dead. And certainly not how we honor a former head of state.
The Emotional Toll
For many Zambians, this delay feels like an insult to our collective memory. Whether one supported President Lungu or not, his role in shaping Zambia’s history is undeniable. To see his body caught in a legal tug-of-war is deeply unsettling.
Families mourn in silence.
Citizens watch in confusion.
The nation waits, powerless.
This is not justice. It’s paralysis.
The Danger of Rumors
In the vacuum of resolution, rumors have flourished. Allegations of ritualistic intent, political vendettas, and spiritual manipulation have clouded the discourse. These claims, while emotionally charged, lack credible evidence and risk turning a solemn moment into a circus.
Let’s be clear:
State funerals are ceremonial, not spiritual.
Body viewing is a universal practice of closure, not a ritual.
The government’s filings focus on protocol and honor, not mysticism.
We must reject fear-based narratives and focus on truth, dignity, and national healing.
️ A Plea for Resolution
This indefinite postponement is not just a delay – it’s a denial of closure. It’s time for all parties to rise above personal grievances and political rivalries. The burial of a president is not a private affair. It is a national moment.
Let us:
Urge the Constitutional Court to expedite the hearing.
Call on both the family and the government to prioritize dignity over discord – a process that has been painful to follow to say the least!
Remind ourselves that honoring the dead is a reflection of who we are as a people.
President Edgar Chagwa Lungu deserves to be laid to rest in Zambia. Not because of politics. But because of principle.
And so once again, we wait! 梁
ECL remains can be brought back to Zambia once there is a change of government next year. Let the family put him to rest now in RSA.
This government has wasted so much tax payers money on this case only because one person wants to touch the dead body for reasons only he and his sangomas know.
“HE THAT DIGS HOLES FOR OTHERS, SHALL HIMSELF BE BURIED IN THEM”. -EDITH NAWAKWI.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
Keep on dreaming.You are living in your own world.Pf is gone.It will never come back. The sooner you accept this fact the better.HH is the president accept.Government is not changing anytime soon.May be in 2051
Hahahaha @Haaindingo ou will wait TILL CHRIST COME. WE will tell HH to forget about LUNGU soon. LUNGU was not even worth to be the president. He DOESN’T EVEN DESERVE TO REST AT EMBASSY PARK. LET HIM BE BURRIED AWAY from here. We don’t want HIM. We just DIDN’T WANT PF TO SABOTAGE the government. NOW ECL family they can do whatever they want.
There was an agreement between the government and the Lungu family on 14th June 2025.
The government however started shifting goal posts, causing the family to refuse to bring the remains to Zambia.
President Hakainde Hichilema cancelled the Period of National Mourning. The family
hence forth decided to bury their loved one in South Africa.
On the day of the burial, the State obtained
an injunction stopping the burial from proceeding in the midst of a requiem Mass.
And then last week the Pretoria High Court Judgement which removed the family from any involvement in the burial…and the ” Akatumbi kaleisa” evil frenzy which greeted the judgement..an insight into the dignity which awaited Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu in Zambia.
And of course the family had to appeal, and they have done so , and now we are in limbo.
How can this be resolved?
Allow the burial to take place in South Africa as per the decision of the family after Mr Hakainde Hichilema had cancelled the National Mourning,
or reinstate that same 14th June Agreement which has been completely Discarded by the Pretoria High Court Judgement.
– Private repatriation of the remains
– The remains to lay in repose at the family home
– requiem Mass to be presided over by Arch Bishop Dr Alick Banda at Show grounds
– Limited presence of Mr Hakainde Hichilema, confined to a presence when foreign dignatories are around.
In the absence of a decision on the two options, the remains of Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu will be in the Morgue for years..or as Haaindigo tyrol is saying, the burial in Zambia likely to take place under a new government after 13th August, 2026.
It would be foolish for the new government to prioritise Mr. Lungu’s burial over other pressing matters. Ba Nkuku man, you really think that people would vote in a new government just for the purpose of having Mr. Lungu’s remains repatriated for burial?
If the family chooses to bury in South Africa, then let the body remain there till the resurrection. We are not at the beck and call of the Lungu family for them to be disrupting our lives to attend to their whims.
@JMC you are Right. Till resurrection of the Dead. Let the family do what it wants. NO ONE WILL BRING LUNGU’S BODY here in Zambia. He wasn’t worth to be the PRESIDENT!!