Edgar Lungu

Edgar Chagwa Lungu (born 11 November 1956) is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 26 January 2015 to 24 August 2021.[1][2] Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Following Sata's death in October 2014, Lungu was adopted as the candidate of the Patriotic Front in a Convention of the Patriotic Front in Kabwe, for the January 2015 presidential by-election, which was to determine who would serve out the remainder of Sata's term. In the election, he narrowly defeated opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema and took office on 25 January 2015.

Edgar Lungu
Lungu in 2018
6th President of Zambia
In office
26 January 2015 – 24 August 2021
Vice PresidentInonge Wina
Preceded byGuy Scott (acting)
Succeeded byHakainde Hichilema
Minister of Defence of Zambia
In office
23 December 2013 – 25 January 2015
PresidentMichael Sata
Guy Scott
Preceded byGeoffrey Bwalya Mwamba
Succeeded byDavies Chama
Personal details
Born (1956-11-11) 11 November 1956
Ndola, Loangwa, Northern Rhodesia, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (present-day Copperbelt Province, Zambia)
Political partyPatriotic Front (current)
Spouse
​
​
(after 1986)​
Children6
EducationMukuba secondary school
Alma materUniversity of Zambia

Lungu was elected to a full presidential term in the August 2016 election, again narrowly defeating Hichilema. Hichilema initially disputed the election result and filed a case at the Constitutional Court to nullify the result. On 5 September, however, the court dismissed the case.[3] Lungu was sworn in for his first full term on 13 September 2016.

In 2021, Lungu was defeated by long-time opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema (his 2015 and 2016 opponent), after the Electoral Commission of Zambia declared the victory of Hichilema in that year's presidential election.[4]

Early life and law career
Edgar Lungu in January 2015

Lungu was born 11 November 1956 at Ndola Central Hospital. After graduating with a LL.B. in 1981 from the University of Zambia, he joined the law firm Andrea Masiye and Company in Lusaka. He subsequently underwent military officer training at Miltez in Kabwe under Zambia National Service (ZNS). He then returned to practising law. He then joined politics.[5]

In 2010, Edgar Lungu had his law practicing licence suspended by the Law Association of Zambia. This was after he was found guilty of professional misconduct.[6]

Political career

After the PF won the 2011 election, Lungu became Junior Minister in the Vice-President's office. He was subsequently promoted to Minister of Home Affairs on 9 July 2012.[7] He became Minister of Defence on 24 December 2013[8] after Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba resigned from his ministerial post, and he functioned as Acting President during President Michael Sata's long-term illness in 2013–14. He has also held a string of central positions in his party, including Chair of the PF Central Committee on Discipline, and he became PF Secretary General and Minister of Justice on 28 August 2014 to replace Wynter Kabimba, who was fired.[9] These positions were in addition to the Defence portfolio.

Sata went abroad for medical treatment on 19 October 2014, leaving Lungu in charge of the country in his absence.[10][11] Sata died on 28 October 2014. Vice-President Dr. Guy Scott took over as Acting President, and Lungu was viewed as one of the main contenders to ultimately succeed Sata in a presidential by-election.[12]

On 3 November 2014, Acting President Dr. Guy Scott dismissed Lungu as Secretary-General of the PF.[13] He replaced him with Davis Mwila, the Member of Parliament for Chipili.[13] The next day, Scott reinstated Lungu.[14] On 30 November, Lungu was elected as President of the Patriotic Front at a national convention of the party held in Kabwe, Zambia. However the convention was unusual because no voting took place. Instead, the unaccredited delegates elected him by raising hands.[15]

View of the crowd at the inauguration ceremony

On 20 January 2015, Lungu contested the presidential by-election and beat his closest rival Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development by a narrow majority of just 27,757 votes (1.66%), with just 32.36% of the registered electorate participating.[16] He was declared the winner by the Electoral Commission of Zambia on 24 January.[1]

Finishing Sata's term (2015–2016)

Lungu was sworn in as President of Zambia on 26 January 2015 at the National Heroes Stadium in the capital Lusaka.[17]

The following month, Lungu forced the head of the central bank out of office and promised lower interest rates. He appointed Inonge Wina as Zambia's first female Vice-President.[18]

In March 2015 Lungu collapsed while holding a speech commemorating International Women's Day in Lusaka. After spending a short while in a Zambian hospital he had an operation for his narrowed oesophagus in Pretoria, South Africa.[19][20]

Lungu commuted the death sentences of 332 prisoners to life in prison on 16 July 2015 and condemned the massive overcrowding at the Mukobeko prison, calling it "an affront to basic human dignity".[21]

In October 2015, Lungu ordered a national day of prayer in hopes of preventing further damage to the economy. Top religious and political officials participated, and other public events were cancelled.[22][23]

Questions were raised about the freedom of journalists under Lungu's presidency, though he denied his government had stopped any journalists from reporting on, or interviewing, him. Lungu appealed to the media to report "truthfully."[24]

Lungu emphasized the diversification of Zambia's economy away from its decades-long dependence on copper mining, towards agriculture and other sectors, and sought investors for its energy sector -- declaring it was not safe to depend on hydro-electricity, and that climate change created a need for alternative energy.[24]

During his interim term, he met with French President François Hollande in France (early 2016), and with Pope Francis in the Vatican (calling it an "experience of a lifetime").[24]

First full term (2016–2021)
President Lungu with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 26 July 2018

Lungu ran for a full term in the August 2016 presidential election, which turned out to be a rematch of the 2015 presidential election between Lungu and UPND candidate Hakainde Hichilema. Lungu won the election with 50.32% of the vote, just a few thousand votes over the threshold for avoiding a run-off. He also increased his margin of victory over Hichilema to 100,530 votes or 2.72%. Hichilema refused to concede defeat after the announcement of official results and filed a petition before the Constitutional Court, asking for the results to be nullified due to irregularities. The court dismissed the case on 5 September 2016 and Lungu was inaugurated for a full five-year term of office on 13 September.[25][26]

In December 2019, Lungu expressed anti-LGBT rhetoric, stating "Even animals don't do it, so why should we be forced to do it?... because we want to be seen to be smart, civilised and advanced and so on".[27]

Post-presidency

On 3 May, 2023, police surrounded Lungu's residence in Lusaka and demanded access to search it. His lawyer said that police were conducting a search following a complaint against his wife over her suspicious ownership of the vehicles and a title deed.[28]

Personal life

Lungu married Esther Lungu in 1986 and has six children, including Tasila Lungu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chawama (elected in 2021).[29] He and his family are practicing Baptists.[30]

Books

Against All Odds, a biography of Lungu by the Zambian journalist and senior diplomat Anthony Mukwita, was published by Partridge Africa on 5 January 2017.[31] [32] [33] [34]

The book set records when it became the first Zambian book to go on sale at Barnes & Noble and the first Zambian book on a head of state to be featured in the London Book Fair in Hammersmith.[31][32][35]

See also

References
  1. "Zambia's President Edgar Lungu declared election winner". BBC News. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  2. "Zambia Defence Minister Lungu wins presidential election". BBC News. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  3. Clare, Spencer; Zane, Damian (5 September 2016). "Africa Live: Zambia election challenge dismissed, Somalia suspends Kenya khat fights". bbc.com. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  4. Mfula, Chris (16 August 2021). "Zambia opposition leader Hichilema wins landslide in presidential election". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  5. "Spotlight on Zambia's President Edgar Lungu". The Africa Report.com. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  6. Zambian Watchdog (29 July 2010). "LAZ suspends MISA lawyer Edgar Lungu". Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  7. "Labour and Tourism Ministry re-aligned again, Masebo, Lungu appointed as Cabinet Ministers". Lusaka Times. 10 July 2012.
  8. "Edgar Lungu is new Defense Minister". Zambian Watchdog. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  9. "Zambia: Wynter 'Bruised'.. Edgar Lungu Is New Justice Minister and PF Secretary General". All Africa.
  10. "Zambian President Michael Sata goes for medical check-up", BBC News, 20 October 2014.
  11. "Party rivalries grow as Sata ails", Africa Confidential, volume 55, number 21, 24 October 2014.
  12. Copley, Mwangi S. Kimenyi and Amy (30 October 2014). "The Death of President Michael Sata and Issues of the Health of African Leaders". Brookings. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  13. Scott drops Edgar Lungu as PF Secretary General (article apparently moved), Lusaka Times, 3 November 2014.
  14. "Guy Scott reinstates Edgar Lungu as Secretary General until the burial", Lusaka Times, 4 November 2014.
  15. "Zambia: PF credibility badly damaged by Lungu's election – By Arthur Simuchoba". African Arguments. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  16. Archived 11 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine "The official results of the 2015 Presidential Election, as released by the ECZ"
  17. Matthew Hill, "Zambian Ruling Party's Edgar Lungu Inaugurated as President", Bloomberg, 25 January 2015.
  18. Matthew Hill,"Zambia central bank chief replaced as president vows lower rates", Bloomberg, 13 February 2015.
  19. "Edgar Lungu collapse: Zambian president 'needs treatment abroad'". BBC News. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  20. "Zambia's president recovering after surgery in South Africa". Reuters. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  21. "Zambian president gives death row inmates life sentences", Reuters, 16 July 2015.
  22. "Zambia : Zambians mark the day of National Prayers". LusakaTimes.com. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  23. "National Prayer Day in Zambia in 2021". Office Holidays. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  24. "President Lungu confident of being re-elected," (summary, in English, of interviews by France 24 and Radio France International), February 11, 2016, Zambia Daily Mail on Lusaka Voice, retrieved June 4, 2023
  25. "Zambian court dismisses presidential election challenge". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  26. AfricaNews (5 September 2016). "Zambian court throws out election petition case, Lungu to hold inauguration". Africanews. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  27. "US diplomat 'threatened' in Zambia gay rights row". 2 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  28. "Police surround Zambian ex-president's home in Lusaka". 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  29. "Esther Lungu Tells story of how she met President Edgar Lungu". The Zambian Observer. 27 January 2018.
  30. "Lungu is a kind man". Zambia Daily Mail. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  31. "Against All Odds: Zambia's President Edgar Chagwa Lungu's Rough Journey to State House". 5 January 2017.
  32. Mukwita, Anthony (5 January 2017). "Against All Odds - Paperback (by Anthony Mukwita (Author))". ISBN 978-1482877243.
  33. "Lungu's Rough Journey to State House goes global". 9 January 2017.
  34. "Mukwita Says Book On Pres. Lungu's Journey To Plot One Selling Like Hot Cake". 11 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  35. Mukwita, Anthony (5 January 2016). "Against All Odds: Zambia'S President Edgar Chagwa Lungu'S Rough Journey to State House". ISBN 9781482877250.
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