By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Zambia’s former president, who had “been receiving specialised treatment in South Africa” for an undisclosed illness, has died, his party said in a statement.
Edgar Lungu, according to his Patriotic Front (PF), died on Thursday at the age of 68.
Lungu led Zambia for six years from 2015, losing the 2021 election to the current President Hakainde Hichilema by a large margin.
After that defeat, he stepped back from politics but later resurfaced to the public glare.
He had announced his intention to run for the presidency again, but the Constitutional Court at the end of last year barred him from running, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution.
In a short video, Lungu’s daughter Tasila said that the former head of state, who had been “under medical supervision in recent weeks”, died at a clinic in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, at 06:00 (04:00 GMT) on Thursday.
“In this moment of grief, we invoke the spirit of ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ – the timeless creed that guided President Lungu’s service to our country,” she added in an emotional statement.
Lungu first became president in January 2015 after winning a special presidential election triggered by the death of Michael Sata.
After completing Sata’s term, he won a further five years in power in 2016, taking just over 50% of the vote.
But after six years at the helm, Lungu was blamed for a struggling economy and high unemployment.
He lost in 2021 by close to a million votes, with Hichilema tapping into widespread dissatisfaction among the electorate.
He said he was retiring in the aftermath of the vote, but returned to frontline politics in 2023 as his successor’s popularity waned.
“I am ready to fight from the front, not from the rear, in defence of democracy. Those who are ready for this fight, please come along with me, I am ready for anything,” Mr Lungu told supporters at the time.
Lungu was a lawyer by training but enjoyed a meteoric rise in politics after winning a seat in parliament as a PF MP in 2011.
In May last year, he warned that there could be a change of government before 2026. Following political rhetoric, the police cautioned him against engaging in activities that could jeopardise public peace.
His wife, Esther Lungu, was also tried in Lusaka over alleged theft of three vehicles and title deed of a house, as well as $400,000.
