After days of uncertainty and negotiations, the funeral arrangements for Zambia's former president have been finalised.
Edgar Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died 10 days ago in South Africa where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.
According to his family, he had left instructions that his political rival and current President Hakainde Hichilema "should not come anywhere near his body".
But a spokesperson for the Lungu family confirmed that an agreement had been reached with the government that allowed for Hichilema to preside over a state funeral next Sunday.
The row caused consternation among some in Zambia with people left wondering how they should mourn their former leader.
- The former president's body will be flown to the Zambian capital, Lusaka, on Wednesday on a private charter plane
- On arrival at the airport, the body will be received by the family and then there will be full military honours
- It will then be transported to Lungu's residence in Lusaka where it will lie in state
- For three days, starting on Thursday, it will be taken to a conference centre in the capital where the public can pay their respects
- A state funeral will be held on Sunday 22 June with official mourning ending the following day.
The former president will be buried next Monday but it is not yet clear whether he will be interred at the official presidential burial grounds or at his residence.
Mr Zulu also said that the family was proceeding on the basis that the government would "not deviate from our agreement".
After that defeat he stepped back from politics but later returned to the fray.
Despite his disqualification from the presidential election, he remained hugely influential in Zambian politics and did not hold back in his criticism of his successor.
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