Zambia says it has custody of ex-president's body in dispute with family over burial

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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Zambian government says it has taken custody of former President Edgar Lungu's body from his family in a long-running dispute over where he should be buried after he died in South Africa nearly a year ago.

In a statement Wednesday, Zambia's attorney general said the government had custody of Lungu's remains after a South African court ordered the body be released to them. It said the body had been moved from a funeral home in the South African capital, Pretoria, to another facility.

Lungu's family claimed a separate urgent court order ruled that the body be returned to the funeral home, where it had been since he died in June last year while the macabre dispute over who should have control of his burial and final resting place played out in South African courts.

Details of the two apparently conflicting court orders were not immediately available.

The battle revolves around Lungu's relationship with current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. The two were bitter political rivals.

Hichilema's government has said Lungu should have a state funeral at home and be buried at a cemetery set aside for Zambian leaders. Lungu's family claims that one of his last wishes was that Hichilema should not go anywhere near his body and not preside over his funeral.

In June last year, the Zambian government succeeded in getting a court order to stop his funeral service in South Africa as it was taking place, forcing family members to leave the church ceremony and travel to a courthouse.

Lungu, who was Zambia’s leader from 2015 to 2021, died of an undisclosed illness in a South African hospital on June 5. He was 68.

When Lungu was president in 2017, Hichilema was arrested, charged with treason and detained for four months, only to be released and the charge dropped after international condemnation.

Lungu lost to Hichilema in a 2021 election, and claimed years later that his movements were being restricted by Zambian police and that he had been effectively placed under house arrest by authorities to prevent any political comeback. Hichilema's government denied the allegations.

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