Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has abruptly ended the national mourning period of former President Edgar Lungu in an escalating stand-off between the family and the authorities about his burial plans.
It follows the last-minute cancellation of the return of Lungu’s body from South Africa by his family on Wednesday, leaving the country uncertain about when and where the former leader will be buried.
In his address on Thursday evening, President Hakainde Hichilema announced an immediate end to the mourning period, saying the country needed to “resume normal life”.
“The government has done everything possible to engage with the family of our departed sixth president,” said Hichilema.
The national mourning period initially ran from 8 to 14 June but was later extended until 23 June, with flags flying at half-mast and radio stations playing solemn music.
The extension followed a meeting between government officials and Lungu’s family in an attempt to resolve the deadlock over his funeral programme.
Burial arrangements had been finalised and his remains were due to be flown back home on Wednesday on a private charter plane.
President Hichilema and senior officials had been prepared to receive the coffin with full military honours, and plans were set for the body to lie in state at Lungu’s residence before a funeral this Sunday and burial the following day.
However, Lungu’s family on Wednesday blocked the repatriation of Lungu’s remains, saying the government had reneged on its agreement over the funeral plans.
The family said it hoped that the former president’s body would be repatriated “some day” and buried in Zambia.
The government expressed regret over the family’s action and issued an apology to the South African government and military, who had prepared for the handover.
“It is unfortunate that their efforts were in vain,” Hichilema said.
He added that Lungu, being a former president, “belongs to the nation of Zambia” and his body should therefore “be buried in Zambia with full honours, and not in any other nation”.
Hichilema said his government had “reached a point where a clear decision has to be made,” adding that the country “cannot afford a state of indefinite mourning”.
The opposition Patriotic Front (PF), the party Lungu led until his death, has backed the family’s position.
“The government has turned a solemn occasion into a political game,” said PF acting president Given Lubinda. “This is not how we treat a former head of state.”
Civil society groups have called for an urgent resolution of the matter, with a section of religious leaders saying the stand-off was “hurting the dignity of our country”.
“We appeal for humility, dialogue, and a resolution that honours the memory of the former president while keeping the nation united,” said Emmanuel Chikoya, head of the Council of Churches in Zambia.
The government has called for calm and reaffirmed its willingness to continue dialogue with the family over the impasse.
Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died earlier this month in South Africa where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.
After six years as head of state, Lungu lost the 2021 election to Hichilema by a large margin. He stepped back from politics but later returned to the fray.
He had ambitions to vie for the presidency again but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court barred him from running, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law.
Despite his disqualification from the presidential election, he remained hugely influential in Zambian politics and did not hold back in his criticism of his successor.
