Hours after the Zambian government said it had taken custody of the body of former President Edgar Lungu, a court in South Africa – where Lungu died – has ordered the return of the body.
It is the latest twist in a 10-month saga over what should happen to Lungu's remains following a long-running feud between Lungu and his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema.
The government has long said that, as a former head of state, Lungu should be honored in the country and buried alongside his predecessors at the special presidential cemetery in the capital Lusaka.
But Lungu's family wanted a private burial after negotiations broke down with the government over funeral arrangements.
Last August, the South African High Court in Pretoria ruled that the Zambian government could repatriate the body and give it a state funeral – a result that left Lungu's relatives visibly distraught in the courtroom.
The family appealed against the decision but, in a surprise announcement late on Wednesday, Zambia's government said Lungu's remains had been “formally transferred” to the state by a South African court.
According to the statement, the transfer came after Lungu's family was unable to “advance their case” in the appeals court.
But just hours later, the same South African court ordered the Zambian government to return the bodies until the case goes back to court on May 21.
To further complicate matters, Two Mountains Burial Services, the funeral home where Lungu's remains were originally interred, has reportedly said it will no longer accept the body and has asked the Lungu family to find an alternative.
In an interview on a Zambian YouTube news channel, Lungu family spokesperson Makebi Zulu disputed that the appeals process had been exhausted, saying the correct process had been followed.
The former president died of an undisclosed illness at the age of 68 in a clinic in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. Chaos followed his death, with mourners receiving conflicting information from the government and Lungu's political party, the Patriotic Front (PF).
Two separate mourning periods were announced and at one time there were competing mourning books.
Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, had several disputes with Hichilema, who was opposition leader for several years before eventually removing his bitter rival.
After Lungu's death, his family said that the former president did not want Hichilema to be at his funeral or “anywhere near” his body.
Additional reporting by Nomsa Maseko in Johannesburg