The burial of Zambia’s founding president Kenneth Kaunda hangs in the balance after some members of his family petitioned the court on Tuesday to stop the government from burying him at a graveyard for presidents.
Kaunda’s children, led by his son Kaweche, want the High Court in Lusaka to order the government to bury the southern African liberation hero’s next to his wife Betty at his farm as per his wishes.
According to the government, Kaunda is set to be buried on Wednesday at Embassy Park in Lusaka where other Zambian presidents are interred.
However, the children and other relatives the court to declare the government’s decision as “null and void”.
The government, however, insists that the late Zambian leader would be buried at Embassy Park and would later be exhumed for interment next to his wife as per his wishes.
Kaunda, 97, died at a military hospital in Lusaka on June 17 where he was being treated for pneumonia.
JN/APA