Lungu Family Disputes Zambian Government's Funeral Plans for Late President, Opposes Hichilema's Attendance
The death of Zambia's sixth republican president, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, on Thursday, 5th June 2025, in South Africa at the age of 68, has ignited a bitter dispute between his bereaved family and the Zambian government over funeral arrangements. This feud has caused widespread sadness and confusion among Zambians, delaying the repatriation of his body and complicating the national mourning period.
According to family spokesperson Makebi Zulu, the Lungu family is committed to honoring the late president's final wishes, which include a private funeral and an explicit request that his long-standing political rival, current President Hakainde Hichilema, should not be present anywhere near his body. The family has asserted that they have already put in place all necessary logistical arrangements to convey Lungu’s mortal remains privately to Zambia, insisting that the government should not assume control over the body or the funeral process.
The family's demands extend to specific arrangements: they wish for Lungu's body to lie in state at his residence, for church services to be held in Ndola, Petauke, and Lusaka, and for them to be consulted on the list of speakers at any memorial events. They maintain that the government's desire to take full charge of the funeral arrangements disregards the family's say and the deceased's conscience, thereby betraying his wishes. Initial meetings between government delegations, led by Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe, former Vice President Enoch Kavindele, and later Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa, reportedly saw the government changing positions after previously agreeing to certain family proposals, leading to a deadlock.
In contrast, the Zambian government has declared a seven-day national mourning period and expressed its intention to provide a state funeral, assuming full responsibility for the body from South Africa to Zambia. The government had designated an official venue for mourning in Lusaka, a plan which the Patriotic Front (PF), Lungu's political party, dismissed, directing mourners to its headquarters instead. This
