PRETORIA-(MaraviPost)-The body of former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu remains in South Africa five months after his death, despite a court order authorising its return to Zambia for a state funeral.

In August, the Pretoria High Court ruled that the Zambian government had the legal right to repatriate the late president’s remains and instructed Lungu’s family to release the body to state officials.

However, the process has reached a complete standstill due to a protracted standoff between Lungu’s family and the administration of President Hakainde Hichilema.

The dispute centres on disagreements over the nature and execution of the proposed state funeral, with both sides insisting on different interpretations of the late president’s final wishes.

Family representatives have reportedly raised concerns about whether the government will honour what they claim were Lungu’s preferred burial arrangements, while government officials insist that the former head of state must be accorded full official rites consistent with his position in Zambia’s history.

The stalemate has placed Zambia in an unusual and increasingly uncomfortable position, with the remains of a former president lying outside the country months after his death. Observers warn that the longer the impasse continues, the more it risks deepening political divisions and inviting further legal or diplomatic disputes.

For now, the late president’s body remains in South Africa, leaving the matter unresolved and the nation without closure.

Former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu died in June 2025 while receiving medical treatment in South Africa, following a period of declining health that his family had long considered serious and worsening.

Before his death, relations between Lungu and the administration of President Hakainde Hichilema had deteriorated significantly, with the former leader repeatedly accusing the government of political persecution and unjustified hostility.

The Hichilema government launched a series of investigations into Lungu and his family, resulting in the seizure of a number of properties believed to be linked to alleged corruption. While the government defended these actions as legitimate efforts to reclaim public resources, Lungu’s supporters described the seizures as targeted harassment.

In addition to property confiscations, the government stripped Lungu of several privileges normally accorded to former presidents, including an official security detail and certain statutory benefits. These measures were widely debated, with critics arguing that they set a troubling precedent for the treatment of former heads of state.

As Lungu’s health worsened, his family repeatedly requested permission for him to travel abroad for specialist treatment. The government initially refused these requests, citing ongoing legal matters and concerns about his travel intentions, a stance that drew criticism from civil society and human rights advocates.

Lungu eventually travelled to South Africa for medical care after legal interventions and heightened public pressure, which emphasised that access to treatment was both a constitutional right and a moral obligation.

His death in South Africa subsequently set the stage for the ongoing dispute over the repatriation of his remains — a dispute that five months on remains unresolved, casting a shadow over Zambia’s political landscape and denying the nation the closure that accompanies a formal farewell to a former head of state.