Edgar Lungu | |
---|---|
6th President of Zambia | |
In office 26 January 2015 –24 August 2021 | |
Vice President | Inonge Wina |
Preceded by | Guy Scott (caretaker / interim) |
Succeeded by | Hakainde Hichilema |
Minister of Defence of Zambia | |
In office 23 December 2013 –25 January 2015 | |
President | Michael Sata Guy Scott |
Preceded by | Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba |
Succeeded by | Davies Chama |
Member of the National Assembly for Chawama | |
In office September 2011 –25 January 2015 | |
Preceded by | Violet Sampa-Bredt |
Succeeded by | Lawrence Sichalwe |
Personal details | |
Born | Ndola,Loangwa,Northern Rhodesia,Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (present-day Copperbelt Province,Zambia) | 11 November 1956
Political party | Patriotic Front (current) |
Spouse | |
Children | 6 |
Education | Mukuba secondary school |
Alma mater | University of Zambia |
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.
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 to Lungu's favour. [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), in that year's presidential election. [4]
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] [ citation needed ]
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]
At the 2011 general election, Lungu stood as the Patriotic Front candidate for Chawama constituency and won the parliamentary seat. [7] After the PF won that 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. [8] He became Minister of Defence on 24 December 2013 [9] 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. [10]
Sata went abroad for medical treatment on 19 October 2014, leaving Lungu in charge of the country in his absence. [11] [12] 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. [13]
On 3 November 2014, Acting President Dr. Guy Scott dismissed Lungu as Secretary-General of the PF. [14] He replaced him with Davis Mwila, the Member of Parliament for Chipili. [14] The next day, Scott reinstated Lungu. [15] 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. [16] [ citation needed ]
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. [17] He was declared the winner by the Electoral Commission of Zambia on 24 January. [1] [ citation needed ]
Lungu was sworn in as President of Zambia on 26 January 2015 at the National Heroes Stadium in the capital Lusaka. [18]
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. [19]
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. [20] [21]
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". [22]
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. 18 October was officially registered as an annual public holiday in Zambia named the National Day of Prayer, Fasting, Repentance and Reconciliation. [23] [24] [25]
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." [26]
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. [26]
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"). [26]
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. [27] [28] [ citation needed ]
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". [29]
Lungu once again stood as the Patriotic Front candidate at the August 2021 general election. He lost the election to his closest rival, Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development, getting almost a million votes less than Hichilema. [30] [31] [4] Lungu conceded defeat as Hichilema was declared the winner on 16 August 2021 by the Electoral Commission of Zambia. [30] [31] [4]
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. [32]
After the 2021 election, Edgar Lungu decided to retire from active politics, [33] leaving Given Lubinda as the Patriotic Front's acting president. [34]
Lungu made an official announcement of him returning to active politics on 28 October 2023, returning to being the leader of the Patriotic Front. [33] [35]
However, there was a controversial extraordinary general conference that had taken place earlier that October in which Miles Sampa was declared the president of the Patriotic Front (PF) party, defeating 7 other aspirants for the same position. [36] Emmanuel Mwamba (the PF Information and Publicity Chairperson) argued that that convention was illegal and that the convention that took place was contrary to the party's outlined procedures in its constitution. [36] That convention left the PF party divided [36] and the matter was soon taken to the Lusaka High Court. [37]
So, the Patriotic Front party consisted of two factions, one with Miles Sampa as the leader and one with Given Lubinda as the leader. [37] [38] After Lubinda gave back the PF presidential title to Lungu (thereby demoting himself to vice-president, [39] [40] ) the party remained with two factions (with Sampa as the leader of the other one). [41] [38] [42] [43]
As the leader of one of the two factions of the PF, Lungu decided to join the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), an alliance of opposition political parties in Zambia, in early 2024. [44]
On top of this battle with Miles Sampa over who is the rightful PF leader, there is an ongoing and contentious issue of the Presidential eligibility of Edgar Lungu due to the fact that he was previously elected twice (in January 2015 and August 2016) to be the president of Zambia. [45] A decision was made in July 2024 to have a full trial over the matter. [45] The Constitutional Court decided that it would issue its ruling on 10 December 2024 in the case of Lungu's presidential eligibility. [46] [47]
In November 2024, Lungu's PF faction was invited to join the Tonse Alliance and it accepted, with Lungu being chosen as the presidential candidate for the alliance for the 2026 general election. [48] Due to the UKA not being in support of a political party belonging to more than one alliance, it was decided that Lungu and the PF are no-longer part of UKA. [49] [50] [51] Due to internal divisions within the PF, the Tonse Alliance decided that it will field candidates in any upcoming elections under the New Congress Party (NCP), including the 2026 general election where they plan to register Lungu as their presidential candidate. [52]
On 10 December 2024, the Constitutional Court barred Lungu from running again for president as he had already served a maximum of two terms. [53]
Lungu married Esther Lungu in 1986 and has six children, including Tasila Lungu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chawama (elected in 2021). [54] He and his family are practicing Baptists. [55]
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. [56] [57] [58] [59]
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. [56] [57] [60]
The politics of Zambia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Zambia is head of state, head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Formerly Northern Rhodesia, Zambia became a republic immediately upon attaining independence in October 1964.
The president of the Republic of Zambia is the head of state and head of government of Zambia and is the highest executive authority in the country. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is responsible for the administration of the government, overseeing the implementation of national policies, and representing Zambia in international affairs. The office was established at Zambia's independence in 1964. The current president is Hakainde Hichilema, who assumed office on August 24, 2021, following the 2021 presidential election where his party, the United Party for National Development, won a majority. The president's role includes appointing the Cabinet, serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Zambian Defence Force, and ensuring the enforcement of laws.
The United Party for National Development (UPND) is a prominent political party in Zambia, founded in December 1998 by Anderson Mazoka, a former executive of the Anglo American Corporation. The party emerged as a significant opposition force following a split from the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD). The UPND positions itself as a centrist party with strong ideological commitments to social and economic liberalism, advocating for policies that support free-market principles, human rights, and democratic governance.
The Patriotic Front (PF) is a political party in Zambia, founded in 2001 by Michael Sata. It emerged as a breakaway party from the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) after Sata was not selected as the MMD's presidential candidate for the 2001 elections. The PF is primarily supported by the youth and the urban poor, and it gained significant political influence over time.
Hakainde Hichilema is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016, he won the 2021 presidential election with 59.02% of the vote. He has led the United Party for National Development since 2006 following the death of the party founder Anderson Mazoka.
Presidential elections were held in Zambia on 30 October 2008 following the death of the incumbent President Levy Mwanawasa on 19 August 2008, as the elections had to be called within 90 days of his death. It was expected that there would be internal problems within the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) as Mwanawasa had not declared a successor prior to his death, but Acting President Rupiah Banda was selected as the MMD's candidate without apparent problems. Michael Sata stood as the candidate of the Patriotic Front (PF), while Hakainde Hichilema stood as the candidate of the United Party for National Development (UPND). Godfrey Miyanda stood as the candidate of the Heritage Party.
Given Lubinda is a Zambian politician who served in the Cabinet of Zambia as Minister of Justice. He was the Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Zambia for Kabwata Constituency in Lusaka District from 2001 to 2021. He was first elected as Kabwata MP in 2001 under the UPND ticket before being elected in 2006, 2011 and 2016 under the Patriotic Front ticket. He was the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services from September 2011 to January 2012 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from January 2012 to February 2013. He was also Minister of Agriculture in 2015. Lubinda is of mixed-race parentage. He is known as an outspoken politician.
Presidential elections were held in Zambia on 20 January 2015 to elect a president to serve the remainder of the term of President Michael Sata, following his death on 28 October 2014.
General elections were held in Zambia on 11 August 2016 to elect the President and National Assembly. A constitutional referendum was held alongside the elections, with proposals to amend the bill of rights and Article 79.
Christine Kaseba is a Zambian physician, surgeon and politician who served as the First Lady of Zambia from September 2011 until her husband's death in October 2014. She is the widow of former President Michael Sata, who died in office on October 28, 2014. Kaseba made an unsuccessful bid for President of Zambia in the January 2015 special presidential election to succeed her husband. She was appointed Zambian Ambassador to France on April 16, 2018.
Miles Bwalya Sampa is a Zambian politician, currently serving as Member of Parliament for Matero Constituency and president of the Patriotic Front. The veteran politician previously served as Mayor of Lusaka, having been elected in August 2018. His election in 2021 would see him return to Parliament representing Matero Constituency, a position he served from 2011 to 2016.
Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba is a Zambian businessman and politician who served as Member of Parliament for Kasama Central from 2009 to 2016. He later served as Vice President of the United Party for National Development. Under the Patriotic Front government of President Michael Sata, he served as Minister of Defence from 2011 to 2013.
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in Zambia.
Irene Chirwa Mambilima was the Chief Justice of Zambia from 2015 until her death in 2021. She also served as Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia and presided over the 2006 and 2011 general elections and the January 2015 presidential by-election. She was part of several election observer missions including in Liberia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Seychelles. Her other international assignments included serving as Sessional Judge of the Supreme Court of The Gambia in 2003. Mambilima sat on the International Board of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) as a Director of the Africa Region. She was also a member of several professional associations including the Zambia Association of Women Judges, the Editorial Board Council of Law Reporting, the Child Fund (Zambia), Women in Law Southern Africa, and the Council of the Institution of Advanced Legal Education.
Felix Chipota Mutati is a Zambian politician and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. He is also a member of the UPND Alliance. As a member of the alliance, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament (MP) and was appointed as the Minister of Technology and Science on 17 September 2021 by President Hakainde Hichilema.
Likando Kalaluka, State Counsel, is a Zambian legal practitioner who served as Attorney General under the government headed by President Edgar Lungu. He is a lawyer and advocate of the High Court for Zambia. Kalaluka is currently serving as the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) board chairman. As Attorney General, Kalaluka was an assistant cabinet member and assistant legal adviser to the Zambian Government.
Sylvia Masebo is a Zambian entrepreneur, politician, and National Assembly of Zambia representative for Chongwe constituency with the United Party for National Development (UPND). Sylvia Masebo holds a degree in Banking and Finance. She first stood on the ticket of Zambian Republican Party (ZRP) in 2001, then the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in 2003, then the Patriotic Front (PF) in 2011, and then the UPND in 2021.
General elections were held in Zambia on 12 August 2021 to elect the President, National Assembly, mayors, council chairs and councillors. Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development was elected president, defeating incumbent Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front.
Events in the year 2021 in Zambia.
Edgar Lungu's eligibility to run in the 2026 elections remains a contentious and ongoing legal issue. Lungu, who served as the sixth President of Zambia from January 2015 to August 2021, assumed office following the death of President Michael Sata. After winning the 2015 presidential election and being re-elected in 2016, he was defeated by Hakainde Hichilema in the 2021 general election. The controversy centers on whether his partial term from 2015 should count towards the two-term limit stipulated by the Zambian Constitution.