Former President of Zambia, Edgar Lungu, has died at the age of 68.
His party, the Patriotic Front, announced his death in a statement released on Thursday.
According to the party, Lungu passed away in Pretoria, South Africa, where he had been receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed illness.
The statement read that Lungu was “receiving specialized treatment in South Africa for an undisclosed illness.”
Lungu served as Zambia’s president from 2015 to 2021. He lost his re-election bid to the current president, Hakainde Hichilema, and subsequently stepped away from politics. However, he later returned to the political scene with intentions to pursue the presidency again.
In a brief video message, his daughter, Tasila Lungu, confirmed his passing and shared that he had been “under medical supervision in recent weeks” and died at a clinic in Pretoria at 06:00 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 said.
