A court in South Africa has rejected an attempt by the family of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu to appeal a ruling that he must be buried in Zambia.
Lungu, who served as Zambia’s president from 2015 to 2021, died in a South African hospital in June at the age of 68.
His family had wanted him to be buried in South Africa and sought to prevent current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema from attending or speaking at a state funeral.
In August, the Pretoria High Court ruled that the Zambian government had the right to take charge of the burial and ordered that Lungu’s remains be handed over to the state.
On Tuesday, the same court upheld its decision, saying there was no chance of success in a higher court.
“We are satisfied that no compelling reasons exist to grant leave to appeal simply because the matter is so fact specific that there is very little to no prospects that the same set of facts will confront a court again,” the judgment stated.