Ex-president Lungu to be buried in Zambia in legal blow to widow

A South African court ruled Friday that Zambia's former president Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa on June 5, should be buried in Zambia, against his family's wishes.

Lungu's burial has been the subject of a two-month dispute between Zambia's government, which had planned a state funeral for him in Lusaka, and his family, who wanted him buried in South Africa.

Lungu's widow and children blocked his body from being repatriated, saying he would not have wanted his political rival current Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema at his funeral.

Zambia in turn had filed a lawsuit halting his burial in South Africa while the funeral was already underway.

State honour

A court in Pretoria ruled on Friday that Zambian law prevailed.

"A former president's personal wishes or the wishes of his family cannot outweigh the right of the state to honour that individual with a state funeral," it added.