{"id":80934,"date":"2026-02-18T19:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc"},"modified":"2026-02-18T19:45:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:45:42","slug":"lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc","title":{"rendered":"Lungu Was Not Poisoned Family Tells BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>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.<\/p>\n

South African police also want custody of his body as part of their investigations, according to the late politician\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the police, seen by the BBC, their lawyers say the family are co-operating with \u201ccriminal proceedings\u201d, but maintain the allegations are \u201cunfounded and unsupported by credible evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is the latest twist over the fate of Lungu\u2019s body, which remains in a morgue in South Africa and has been subject to an ongoing legal battle between his family and Zambia\u2019s government over where he should be buried.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s police service has refused to comment on the letter sent by the Johannesburg law firm Mashele Attorneys, which is representing the Lungu family.<\/p>\n

Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe told the BBC: \u201cThis is a very sensitive matter that cannot be discussed at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lungu died of an undisclosed illness aged 68 at a clinic in South Africa\u2019s capital, Pretoria. He had led Zambia from 2015 until 2021, when he lost elections by a huge margin to current President Hakainde Hichilema.<\/p>\n

The Zambian government wants Lungu\u2019s remains to be repatriated and given a state funeral, with full state honours \u2013 and a South African court ruled in its favour in August.<\/p>\n

But Lungu\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. 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\u2019s family. In a letter to the police, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":80933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-80934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nLungu Was Not Poisoned Family Tells BBC - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The family of ex-Zambian President Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa last June and is yet to be buried, have dismiss ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lungu Was Not Poisoned Family Tells BBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The family of ex-Zambian President Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa last June and is yet to be buried, have dismiss ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T19:36:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T19:45:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/sm_1771443872.451082.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Lungu Was Not Poisoned Family Tells BBC\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-18T19:36:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-18T19:45:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc\"},\"wordCount\":286,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/sm_1771443872.451082.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/lungu-was-not-poisoned-family-tells-bbc\",\"name\":\"Lungu Was Not Poisoned Family Tells BBC - 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