There is no winner or loser in tomorrow’s Lungu repatriation judgement – Kabesha
ATTORNEY General Mulilo Kabesha has guided that there will be no winner or loser when the Pretoria High Court gives its ruling tomorrow in the case about where former president Edgar Lungu should be buried.
Addressing the nation at a press briefing this afternoon in Pretoria, Kabesha said what matters most is giving Lungu a decent and respectful burial.
“I don’t think there will be a winner and a loser but the court will just be giving us what is the best and I think the court has looked at the evidence before which is recorded and the court is equal to the task to look at what is the best for both parties,” he said.
Kabesha said the Zambian government believes the former president should be buried at Embassy Park in Lusaka, where other presidents are laid to rest.
But if the court rules that he should be buried in South Africa, Kabesha said government will accept it as the family’s preferred choice.
“Let’s keep our ears to the ground so that we can hear what the judgement will be. Parties are anxious to know what the result will be. But what is important, whatever will be the outcome, let us continue respecting the deceased.“
“On our side as govt the best is to give Mr Lungu a dignified burial and what is a dignified burial on the Zambian side is where you are buried among your colleagues,” stated Kabesha.
The Attorney General said whatever the outcome of the case, the focus should shift to unity and peace.
“Those who have been presidents before they are all lying at Embassy park in Lusaka. That is the best for the government. If the court decides otherwise, we will take it that is the best for the family for the Lungu family’s desire has been that he be buried in South Africa.”
“Let us continue praying and loving ones another so that the matter comes to closure.
When you bury someone, other issues follow. Other things follow, such as how the family is looked after burial,” guided the Attorney General.
The Pretoria High Court in South Africa will deliver its judgment tomorrow at 11:30 hours in the case that has kept Lungu’s body unburied for two months.
The Zambian government wants to bring the body back for a state funeral, as required by law for former presidents.
However, Lungu’s widow Esther Lungu and family want him buried in South Africa, saying Lungu did not want President Hakainde Hichilema to attend his funeral.
The family’s lawyer, Casper Welgemoed, told the court that before his death, Lungu said in a podcast that he didn’t want Hichilema near his coffin.
He also argued that the family had already made funeral plans and spent a lot of money in South Africa before the government stepped in.
But the judges questioned whether there was clear evidence that Lungu wanted to be buried in South Africa.
They also said the court cannot block a sitting president from attending a funeral and that such an order can only be made by a court in Zambia.
By Catherine Pule in Pretoria, South Africa
Kalemba, August 7, 2025
Every Gambler knows, you don’t have to count the money, while sitting at the Table…There will be enough time to do the counting when the deal is done…
And don’t count the Chickens before the eggs Hatch…
Someone is getting ahead of himself before he even sees the judgement…. Wait for 11:30 Hours. Going to the Supreme court is not beyond your ‘ Sanity ‘.
You dragged the grieving Widow and family to Court, used Rogue media and Mercenary Organizations to disparage the late and his family, sowed hatred against a family in grief, even trying to verify the remains of the late, insinuating that the death was a fake, kept the remains in a Morgue for 60 days, and today you are asking for us to ‘pray’ for the Widow and family. Hopeless Hypocrites, let others talk about Dignity. Not such discredited Immorals.
And know that we won’t forget what you have done to this family…
The whole mood of the burial has fizzled out; this will just be like depositing a body into the soil period, because people have already exhausted the essence of bereavement. How will someone even cry again for a body that has been out there for two months and counting, all the grief has already gone out and everyone has moved on with only memories left for the moments he provided. This is because of the delay in burying, and it proves that our ancestors were intelligent to leave issues that happened during the life of the dead to be discussed after burial and not before. All this shows that family leadership could have lapsed, it is either there are no male elders in the Lungu direct Family, or they choose not to show up because he may have overlooked them during his lifetime, if they were there, maybe they could have provided the leadership that is required during a bereavement.