Attorney General, Mr. Mulilo D. Kabesha, SC, has filed an urgent legal application in South Africa seeking to halt the planned burial of the late Sixth Republican President, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, outside Zambian territory.

According to a Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) news report aired on Tuesday evening, Mr. Kabesha has submitted a public interest litigation to the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria. The move is aimed at securing an interim interdict that would prevent any burial proceedings until the issue of President Lungu’s final resting place is lawfully and constitutionally resolved.

The urgent application lists several members of Dr. Lungu’s immediate family—including former First Lady Esther Nyawa Lungu, and children Bertha, Tasila, Chiyesu, and Dalitso Lungu—as respondents. Also named are family associate Charles Phiri, lawyer Makebi Zulu, and Two Mountains Pty, the funeral services company currently holding the late President’s remains.

In his submission, the Attorney General argues that under Zambian law, the burial of a former Head of State is a matter of national interest and must follow state-sanctioned public and military protocols. Mr. Kabesha emphasized that the entombment of a national figure such as Dr. Lungu cannot be treated as a private affair, regardless of any alleged personal preferences.

“Even if, hypothetically, President Lungu had wished not to be buried in Zambia—which is denied—those wishes must give way to the broader national and legal expectations of a state burial,” reads part of the court filing.

Mr. Kabesha cited the precedent of Zambia’s first President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, whose stated desire to be buried at his personal residence was overridden by a court ruling that aligned with the public interest. Dr. Kaunda was ultimately laid to rest at the Embassy Presidential Burial Park in Lusaka, a site reserved for former heads of state.

The Attorney General is acting under the authority of Article 177(5)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia, which mandates the Attorney General to represent the state and protect the public interest in legal matters.

The Pretoria High Court is expected to hear the interim interdict application at 08:00 hours on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.

This legal showdown marks a rare instance of a cross-border dispute over the burial of a former African head of state and underscores the political and constitutional weight attached to Dr. Lungu’s final resting place. The outcome could set a precedent for how the state balances personal wishes with national symbolism in such high-profile cases.