Former Zambian President Edgar Lungu Is Dead

Former Zambian President Edgar Lungu Is Dead

Zambia’s former president, Edgar Lungu, passed away on Thursday at the age of 68 in a hospital in South Africa, according to announcements from his family and the Patriotic Front, his political party.

The party stated that Lungu had been undergoing specialized medical treatment at a clinic in Pretoria.

“My father had been under medical supervision in recent weeks,” his daughter Tasila Lungu-Mwansa announced in a video shared on social media.

“His condition was managed with dignity and privacy with support from all well-wishers,” she said.

Report also claimed that Edgar had long suffered from achalasia, a condition marked by the narrowing of the oesophagus, which required ongoing treatment in South Africa.

A lawyer and trained military officer, Lungu assumed the presidency in 2015 following the death of President Michael Sata. He served nearly seven years in office before stepping down in 2021, after a landslide electoral defeat to opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, now Zambia’s current president.

Despite his 2021 exit, Lungu had expressed intentions to run again in the 2026 presidential elections. Throughout his political career, he often described himself as an “ordinary Zambian of humble beginnings.”