“Shock as body of former Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, Is Seized in Secret Operation”
Family accuses South African police and Zambian agents of removing the former president’s remains from an unnamed mortuary in Pretoria without a court order.
The family of the former President of the Republic of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, are stunned after his corpse was allegedly removed earlier this afternoon on 22 April 2026.
Family lawyer Makebi Zulu said the family were informed that the South African Police Services and Zambian agents went to the mortuary, demanding the body.
“There was no court order for this to happen, and an appeal had already lapsed,” he said.
Lungu, the sixth president of Zambia, died in South Africa in June 2025 after a short illness. He was 68.
The body of Lungu was being kept in a secret location after a stand-off between his family, who wanted him buried in South Africa, and the Zambian government, led by President Hakainde Hichilema, who wanted a state funeral.
In 2025, a Pretoria court ordered the president’s remains to be repatriated to Zambia. But the body remained in the country.
The Zambian government want Lungu buried at Embassy Park, along Independence Avenue opposite the Cabinet Office, the final resting place for Zambia’s deceased presidents. It was made a national monument in 2009.
In accordance with his wishes, his family wanted Lungu to have a private burial in South Africa.
Colonel Athlenda Mathe, the South African Police Service spokesperson, said she was unaware of the incident but “will check”.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation was unavailable at the time of writing.
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