Mulilo Kabesha
Source: Africa Publicity
Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, has revealed that the Zambian government’s attempt to retrieve the body of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu from South Africa was halted after learning the Lungu family planned to appeal a recent court ruling.
Following the Pretoria High Court’s judgment on Friday, August 8, 2025, which allowed the body to be handed over to Zambian officials, the government moved to repatriate it.
However, Mr Kabesha said the process was stopped when the family’s lawyers indicated an appeal was being pursued.
“It later emerged that what had been filed was not an actual appeal, but an application for leave to appeal before the Gauteng Division of the High Court,” Mr Kabesha explained. “If the appeal is granted, we will oppose it if we see no reasonableness in it.”
He noted that under South African law, once an application for leave to appeal is filed, the earlier court order permitting the movement of the body is automatically suspended.
Although the court ordered the funeral parlour to release Mr Lungu’s body to government representatives, the remains remain in the custody of his family, who placed them there after his death on June 5, 2025.
Mr Kabesha, speaking on ZNBC’s Sunday Interview programme, said the government is awaiting the court’s next decision—either granting the family permission to appeal to the Supreme Court or dismissing their request.
The dispute stems from a public interest lawsuit in which the government sought to repatriate Mr Lungu’s body for burial at Embassy Park, against the family’s wishes. The family argues that Mr Lungu did not want his successor to attend his funeral.