Former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has died aged 68, his party, the Patriotic Front (PF), announced on Thursday. The brief statement, released just after midday, did not specify the location or cause of death, saying only that “the nation has lost a dedicated leader.”
Independent Zambian broadcaster Diamond Media earlier reported that the former president was in South Africa for a routine medical review and had developed “sudden chest complications” in the early hours of Thursday. Diamond said he was taken to an unnamed Pretoria-area hospital where he later died, but this account has not been confirmed by either the family or the Zambian government. Officials in Lusaka told reporters they would “comment after consulting the family.”
A career that shaped a decade of Zambian politics
Mr Lungu, a lawyer-turned-politician, rose rapidly through the PF ranks after the death of President Michael Sata in 2014, winning a snap election in January 2015 by a narrow margin. He secured a full five-year term in 2016 but was defeated in August 2021 by opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema.
In December 2024 the Constitutional Court ruled that Mr Lungu was ineligible to contest the 2026 poll, having already served two terms. Undeterred, he remained PF faction leader and had recently resumed nationwide party mobilisation.
Long-running health concerns
Mr Lungu’s health had been a subject of speculation since 2015, when he collapsed at a Women’s Day ceremony and later underwent surgery for a narrowed oesophagus in Pretoria. In February this year, the Zambian health minister cited medical-privacy rules in refusing to disclose details of the ex-president’s reported treatment abroad, while PF officials insisted he was merely on “a routine check-up” in South Africa.
Next steps
President Hichilema is expected to address the nation once official communication is received from the Lungu family. Zambia’s Cabinet Office traditionally coordinates state funerals for former heads of state; a seven-day period of national mourning is customary.
Political analysts say Mr Lungu’s death is likely to alter the balance of power within the PF and could ease tensions that had simmered between the former president and the current administration over alleged corruption and the 2024 term-limit ruling.
Tributes began pouring in on social media within minutes of the PF announcement. Former vice-president Inonge Wina called Mr Lungu “a patriot who served with humility,” while South Africa’s governing ANC said in a statement that his “commitment to regional integration will be remembered.”
Further updates will follow as soon as the family and state issue formal statements and funeral arrangements are confirmed.
