By 
Former President Edgar Lungu’s widow, Esther Lungu, has revealed that one of her husband’s final wishes before undergoing surgery in South Africa on June 3 was that President Hakainde Hichilema should not attend his funeral or even view his body.
“During the late former President Lungu’s time in South Africa, he was open and consistent in expressing his wish that, upon his death, the current President should be nowhere,” she stated in an affidavit filed before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. “He expressly said Mr. Hichilema must not be allowed to participate in or see his body.”
Esther Lungu submitted that her husband did not travel to South Africa solely for medical treatment, but fled Zambia under the “very real fear of persecution.”
She argued that the former Head of State was forced to leave the country without government consent in January 2025, fearing politically motivated medical neglect and harassment. Upon his arrival in South Africa, he was diagnosed with terminal oesophageal cancer, which his doctors said could likely have been treated if he had been permitted to travel earlier.
This revelation forms part of Lungu’s family opposition to the Zambian government’s application to have the former president’s remains repatriated for burial in Zambia.
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The state, through Attorney-General Mulilo Kabesha, maintains that it has the legal authority to decide the burial arrangements of a former Head of State under the Former Presidents’ Benefits Act.
However, Esther Lungu insists that the Act no longer applied to her husband at the time of his death, as all his benefits and privileges were revoked in 2023.
“He died a private citizen,” she said. “There is no testament, will, or legal basis for the State to interfere with the burial. That responsibility rests with his family, and his wish was to be buried in South Africa.”
She also accused the government of orchestrating a prolonged campaign of political persecution against the Lungu family, including arrests, property seizures, and criminal charges involving several of their children.
She believes these actions stem from political retaliation over Hichilema’s arrest in 2017 during Lungu’s presidency.
Supporting their claims, she attached videos and podcast interviews in which the late President expressed deep mistrust of the current government. In one recording, he said: “One who torments another in life must not preside over the funeral in death.”
She stated that the Benefits Act merely allows a family to accept or reject funeral support but does not dictate burial location or state involvement.
“The late President wanted peace in death. He found refuge in South Africa and wanted to be laid to rest here, away from the torment he endured at home,” she said.
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