Tricky Demands Stall Lungu Repatriation Negotiations

By A Correspondent- Tricky demands have stalled negotiations between the Zambian government and the family of the late former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu over the repatriation of his body.

Friday, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga travelled to Lusaka to mourn with the Government of Zambia.

Zambia played a pivotal role in the liberation of Zimbabwe through its support of ZAPU and ZPRA forces.

A number of Zimbabweans lost their lives on Zambian soil during the liberation struggle. During the era of Southern and Northern Rhodesia, many Zambians worked in what is now Zimbabwe.

Since independence, trade between the two countries has flourished.
The late Edgar Lungu was very close to the late President Robert Mugabe and the current President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, who assigned VP Chiwenga to pay a courtesy visit in honour of Lungu.

Sources have revealed that Tasila Lungu and her family are allegedly withholding the body of the former president until the government agrees to drop all criminal charges against them.

Lungu’s party spokesman Emmanuel Mwamba avoided answering questions regarding the money laundering cases during a phone interview with ZimEye’s Simba Chikanza, dismissing them as “partisan issues in Zimbabwe.”

The Lungu family is reportedly demanding the dropping of all charges and the restoration of property ownership papers.

An officer stationed at one of the properties told ZimEye that they are confident the family will be cleared soon.

“The matter is still in the courts, and they are fighting,” said the official, who asked not to be named for their safety.

However, the Zambian government has firmly stated that the executive cannot interfere with judicial processes, resulting in a deadlock.

Sources close to the tense negotiations say that one of the conditions being pushed by the Lungu family—before agreeing to the repatriation of the former president’s remains for a state funeral—is a blanket amnesty on all ongoing court cases involving family members.

At the forefront of the Lungu camp is Chawama Member of Parliament Tasila Lungu, accompanied by lawyers Jonas Zimba and family spokesperson Makebi Zulu.

Representing the government in the sensitive negotiations are former Vice President Enoch Kavindele, former Secretary to the Cabinet Leslie Mbula, and current Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa.

The standoff comes amid mounting legal troubles engulfing nearly every member of the former president’s immediate family.

Tasila, the political face of the family, is under investigation for alleged acquisition of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime.

Her mother, former First Lady Esther Lungu, and siblings Chiyeso and Daliso Lungu, have also come under scrutiny for alleged possession of unlawfully acquired property.

Chiyeso, a lawyer, lost two properties, including a lucrative plot in State Lodge, after the EFCC declared them proceeds of crime.

Her claim that the assets were gifts from her parents was rejected by the courts.

Esther Lungu’s name appears in multiple forfeiture proceedings, including a case where she faces charges of stealing three motor vehicles, unlawful possession of US$400,000, and illicit acquisition of land.

On 31 May 2024, she was arrested and briefly detained on money laundering charges related to 15 flats before being released on bond.

Meanwhile, Dalitso Lungu, the former president’s son, is facing possible forfeiture of over 80 vehicles, 16 properties, and an entire company—assets estimated to be worth K31 million. The EFCC’s case against him is awaiting judgment.

Following President Lungu’s death in a South African hospital last week, the Zambian government declared a seven-day national mourning period and anticipated that his body would arrive midweek for a state funeral and burial at the presidential burial site.

However, the family disrupted these plans.

At a memorial service in Pretoria on Tuesday, family spokesperson Makebi Zulu shocked mourners by announcing that the body would not arrive as planned and that a new date would be announced later.

Zulu said the family found it “difficult to engage” with the State on arrangements for mourning the former president. He added that the family had arranged private repatriation of the remains in accordance with what they say were Lungu’s final wishes—including that President Hakainde Hichilema should not be involved in any part of the funeral proceedings.

He accused the government of shifting its position during negotiations and undermining the family’s right to oversee the funeral.