LUNGU WAS NOT POISONED, IT’S NAKACHINDA AND HIS FRIENDS WHO SAID THAT AND NOT US, FAMILY TELLS BBC

The family of ex-Zambian President Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa last June and is yet to be buried, have dismissed allegations he was poisoned.

South African police also want custody of his body as part of their investigations, according to the late politician’s family.

In a letter to the police, seen by the BBC, their lawyers say the family are co-operating with “criminal proceedings”, but maintain the allegations are “unfounded and unsupported by credible evidence”.

It is the latest twist over the fate of Lungu’s body, which remains in a morgue in South Africa and has been subject to an ongoing legal battle between his family and Zambia’s government over where he should be buried.

South Africa’s police service has refused to comment on the letter sent by the Johannesburg law firm Mashele Attorneys, which is representing the Lungu family.

Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe told the BBC: “This is a very sensitive matter that cannot be discussed at this stage.”

Lungu died of an undisclosed illness aged 68 at a clinic in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. He had led Zambia from 2015 until 2021, when he lost elections by a huge margin to current President Hakainde Hichilema.

The Zambian government wants Lungu’s remains to be repatriated and given a state funeral, with full state honours – and a South African court ruled in its favour in August.

But Lungu’s family want a private burial in South Africa as they say the former president had not wanted Hichilema to attend his funeral. The relationship between the two politicians had long been fraught.