The burial of the ex-president of Zambia is in doubt after Hockey Hicilem cancels the mourning

Zambian President Hakin Hicielem sharply completed the national term of mourning of former President Edgar Lung in escalation between the family and the authorities.

It follows at the last minute the abolition of Lung’s body returns from South Africa on Wednesday, leaving the country uncertain when and where the former leader is buried.

In his address on Thursday evening, Hockey Hockey Hiciemilma, the end of the mourning period, stated that the country needs to “restore normal life”.

“The government has done everything possible to interact with the family of our sixth president,” Hicilya said.

The national mourning period initially took place from June 8 to June 14, but later was extended until June 23, and the flags were flying to the semi -mass and radio stations that played solemn music.

The expansion occurred after the meeting between state officials and Lung family in an attempt to resolve a deadlock about their funeral program.

Burial has been finalized And his remains were to return home on Wednesday in a private charter plane.

President Hicilem and high -ranking officials were ready to accept the coffin with full military honors, and the plans were established that the body was lying in Lung’s residence before the funeral this Sunday and the funeral the next day.

However, Lung’s family blocked the Lung’s remains on Wednesday, saying the government had resumed a funeral agreement.

The family stated that it hoped that the body of the former president would be repatriate “some day” and buried in Zambia.

The government regretted the actions of the family and apologized to the government of South Africa and the military who prepared for the transfer.

“It is a pity that their efforts were in vain,” Hicilya said.

He added that Lung, being a former president, “belongs to the nation of Zambia”, and therefore his body should “bury Zambia with full honors, not in any other country.”

Hicilya stated that his government “reached the point when it was necessary to make a clear decision,” adding that the country “could not afford uncertain mourning.”

Opposition Patriotic Front (PF), the party leading to death supported the position of the family.

“The government has transformed the solemn occasion into a political game,” said Lubindo president, who performed the duties of PF. “This is not the way we treat the former head of state.”

Civil groups called for an urgent resolution of this issue, and in the section of religious leaders it is said that the confrontation “harm the dignity of our country”.

“We appeal to humility, dialogue and resolutions that honor the memory of the former president, keeping the united nation,” said Emanuel Chikoy, the head of the Council of Churches in Zambia.

The government called for peace and confirmed its willingness to continue the dialogue with the family over the deadlock.

Lung, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died earlier this month in South Africa, where he was treated for undisclosed disease.

Six years later, Lung’s head of state lost the election in Khichilem in 2021. He retreated from politics, but later returned to the fight.

He had ambitions to fight the presidency again, but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court banned him from running, deciding that he had already fulfilled a maximum of two terms allowed by law.

Despite the disqualification by the presidential election, he remained extremely influential in Zambian politics and did not hold back in criticizing his successor.

Additional reporting WYCLIFFE MUIA