By Brian Okoth

Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema has cancelled the national mourning programme of former President Edgar Lungu.

The national mourning period, previously ran from June 8 to 14, and it was thereafter extended by nine days, from June 15 to 23.

The extension came following a recent meeting between government officials and Lungu's family to resolve an impasse over his funeral programme.

Lungu died in South Africa's capital Pretoria on June 5, 2025 aged 68. He was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

Lungu's family accuses government of reneging on agreement

After the government and Lungu's family recently agreed on a programme, the former president's body was supposed to be repatriated to Zambia on Wednesday, June 18 ahead of a three-day public viewing in the capital Lusaka, a funeral service on Sunday and burial on Monday, June 23.

However Lungu's family addressed the press on Wednesday, saying the government had reneged on its agreement on funeral plans, thus cancelling the planned programme for repatriation and subsequent burial.

The family said it hoped that Lungu's remains would be repatriated "someday" and buried in Zambia.

In his address on Thursday, President Hichilema said Lungu, being a former president, "belongs to the nation of Zambia" and his remains should therefore "be buried in Zambia with full honours, and not in any other nation."

Zambia 'cannot afford state of indefinite mourning': Hichilema

While announcing an end to the extended national mourning programme, Hichilema said: "Our country cannot afford a state of indefinite mourning. We have done everything possible to engage the family of our departed sixth republican president. And we have reached a point where a clear decision has to be made."

He added: "Given these circumstances, I therefore wish to inform the nation that as of the end of today, June 19, 2025, this particular national mourning period is officially over. This would allow the country to begin to return to some normalcy."

Lungu, who served as Zambia's sixth president from 2015 to 2021, had strained relations with President Hichilema, whom he lost to in Zambia's August 2021 presidential election.

Lungu's family members, including his widow Esther Lungu, currently have corruption-related court cases.