Greater than eight months after his demise, former Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s stays are nonetheless in a South African funeral residence, the topic of a macabre struggle between his household and the longtime rival who succeeded him.
A graphic image of the dispute: an unfilled, coffin-size gap in a cemetery in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, the place the present President, Hakainde Hichilema, had hoped Lungu could be buried in a state funeral. However Lungu, in his final days, advised his members of the family that Mr. Hichilema, whilst a mourner, ought to by no means go close to his physique.
The matter has gone to the courts, which have repeatedly sided with Zambian authorities over Lungu’s needs. Lungu’s household persists in looking for a burial that sidelines Mr. Hichilema.
So the physique lies frozen in South Africa, the place Lungu died, whereas Zambia endures a scandalous saga that offends conventional beliefs and raises many questions in a rustic the place it’s taboo to fail to bury the lifeless promptly and with dignity.
Behind the deadlock is a long-running feud between two political rivals. It additionally displays a non secular contest between Mr. Hichilema, who’s up for re-election in August, and Lungu, who is claimed to be combating again from the lifeless, in response to students and non secular leaders who spoke to The Related Press.
A non secular battle
“It has shifted from the bodily, it has shifted from politics, and it’s now a non secular battle,” mentioned Bishop Anthony Kaluba of Lifetime of Christ congregation in Lusaka.
Mr. Hichilema’s supporters see Lungu’s will as casting a curse, whereas they are saying a state funeral attended by Mr. Hichilema could be an act of generosity towards Lungu and his household.
The struggle over a corpse can appear weird to others, however Lungu’s directive resonates with many Zambians.
Some have barred their enemies from attending their funerals, usually blaming them for misfortune. These quarrels are normally extra personal, not like the general public drama of a former President who, going through demise, retaliates towards his rival within the harsh language of his ancestors.
Throughout Africa, final phrases are a “important power” to boost life or block it, mentioned Chammah J. Kaunda, a Zambian professor of African Pentecostal theology who serves as educational dean of the Oxford Centre for Mission Research.
Elders going through demise can impose curses or give blessings, and Lungu’s case reveals that curses “can purchase a lifetime of their very own,” he mentioned.
Vibrant democracy with conventional beliefs
Zambia is a vibrant democracy. Its founding President was the genial, handkerchief-waving Kenneth Kaunda, who was voted out of energy in 1991, regardless of his standing as an independence hero.
Like Kaunda, subsequent Presidents have been civilians missing the army power of assorted authoritarians elsewhere in Africa, giving Zambia’s presidential hopefuls the chance to run on their very own deserves.
Even so, there is a notion that some political leaders — like a lot of their compatriots — fear they is likely to be bewitched. The sensation is widespread in a rustic the place conventional faith thrives alongside Christianity, and a spoken curse is dreaded by many as spiritually enforceable if provoked by injustice.
“It’s a weapon,” mentioned Herbert Sinyangwe of WayLife Ministries in Lusaka. “We imagine in our tradition that curses work.” Within the case of three latest presidents — Michael Sata, Lungu and Mr. Hichilema — suspicion was rampant. The official Presidential residence is now thought by many to be below a lethal spell as a result of all of the six former Presidents are actually lifeless. Mr. Hichilema works there however sleeps elsewhere.
Sata, who was President from 2011 to 2014, fearful that Mr. Hichilema, then an Opposition determine, was victimising him whilst he asserted that charms from his personal area have been stronger. Zambian authorities final yr had two males convicted and jailed for allegedly plotting to kill the President by magic. Lungu’s household does not belief Mr. Hichilema.
An empty tomb
The spot in Lusaka that may be Lungu’s tomb was rapidly dug and constructed earlier than it was recognized that Lungu’s household had objections, mentioned cemetery caretaker Allen Banda. He warned {that a} tomb with no corpse was akin to digging “your individual grave.” “If no one goes there, culturally it is your physique that is going to go there,” he mentioned.
That Mr. Hichilema is keen to danger public anger in opposing Lungu’s household has bolstered the views of those that see a non secular battle between him and Lungu.
“On the one hand, almost all the pieces accomplished by the Lungu household to this point appears to have been designed to disclaim Mr. Hichilema entry to Lungu’s physique,” mentioned Sishuwa Sishuwa, a Zambian historian who’s a visiting scholar at Harvard.
“On the opposite, Mr. Hichilema’s conduct to this point means that he’ll do no matter it takes to safe entry to Lungu’s corpse, maybe as a result of the President sees the problem as a matter of life and demise.” Lungu died June 5, 2025, after surgery-related problems. He was 68, and was handled for a narrowing of the esophagus.
Combat in court docket
To organise a state funeral, Zambian authorities would want to take custody of Lungu’s stays till they have been interred. However Lungu’s household resisted Mr. Hichilema’s plans throughout negotiations over funeral proceedings.
They most well-liked to move the corpse by personal constitution and had hoped to maintain it at Lungu’s residence at evening. They picked three folks to take care of it in the course of the state funeral that by no means occurred.
When Lungu’s household concluded that their needs weren’t more likely to be adopted, they opted for a non-public funeral in South Africa. They have been shifting forward with that ceremony once they discovered that Zambian authorities had blocked it.
A South African court docket dominated in August that Zambian authorities may take Lungu’s physique residence for burial.
Bertha Lungu, the previous President’s sister, was inconsolable within the courtroom after the ruling, wailing and cursing at Mulilo Kabesha, Zambia’s legal professional common, who mentioned it was time to take the corpse residence. She asserted that Mr. Hichilema needed the corpse for ritual functions.
Mr. Hichilema denies malice towards Lungu, and has mentioned his Christian religion forbids perception in conventional faith.
A bitter rivalry
Lungu rose to energy after Sata’s demise in 2014. Sata’s Vice-President, Man Scott, was ineligible to hunt the Presidency in a 2015 vote and Lungu was picked to complete Sata’s time period.
His primary opponent was Mr. Hichilema, a rich businessman. It was an in depth race — Lungu received by below 28,000 votes.
After the 2016 election, received once more by Lungu, Mr. Hichilema confronted treason costs and was jailed for 4 months for allegedly failing to yield to the Presidential motorcade.
5 years later, Lungu misplaced to Mr. Hichilema and mentioned he would retire from politics. He modified his thoughts in 2023, and Zambian authorities withdrew Lungu’s retirement advantages.
Lungu confronted extra stress after his spouse and daughter have been arrested in 2024 over fraud allegations tied to property acquisition.
When he fell sick, Lungu discovered it exhausting to go away Zambia. The federal government restricted his travels. He managed to slide away to South Africa early in 2025, shopping for a ticket on the airport counter. The incident was reported by the native press as a safety lapse over which an airport supervisor was fired.
Lungu is “nonetheless influencing our politics from the grave,” mentioned Emmanuel Mwamba, a Zambian diplomat who speaks for Lungu’s get together. “His points stay. How he was handled in life and the way he was handled in demise.”