Lungu was poisoned, Nakachinda tells international media. Lungu was being treated in South Africa.
Nakachinda is basically accusing the South African government of poisoning Lungu.
The article below has been published in South Africa’s biggest daily newspaper: the Star.
Former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has died at the age of 68, with his final days clouded by political tension, medical struggles, and serious allegations of state-sponsored persecution.
Lungu passed away on Thursday in a South African hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.
However, the official silence on the cause of death and mounting accusations from his political allies have sparked a storm of controversy, including claims that the former head of state may have been poisoned to prevent him from contesting the 2026 presidential elections.
Lungu, who served as Zambia’s sixth president from 2015 to 2021, had announced a political comeback in late 2023 after years of relative quiet following his electoral defeat to current President Hakainde Hichilema (popularly known as HH).
But what began as a bid to return to the ballot box quickly turned into a contentious and, some claim, dangerous standoff with the ruling administration.
A Contested Comeback
Lungu’s return to politics was met with immediate resistance from the Hichilema-led government.
In December 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled that Lungu was ineligible to contest again, arguing that his first, partial term from 2015 to 2016 counted as a full term under Zambia’s constitutional two-term limit.
Lungu’s legal team and supporters decried the judgment as politically motivated, pointing to his widespread popularity among grassroots voters and within opposition coalitions as a threat to the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND).
But critics say the court ruling was just the beginning of a broader campaign to shut Lungu out of national politics.
Stripped of Protection and Benefits
Soon after his political re-entry, Lungu was stripped of all retirement benefits typically afforded to former heads of state.
These included state-provided security, official transportation, medical support, and diplomatic privileges. The government justified the move by citing a legal provision that bars retired presidents from engaging in politics if they wish to retain those benefits.
While technically legal, the action had far-reaching consequences for Lungu’s safety and well-being. Without state protection, his movements were left exposed.
More alarmingly, his access to healthcare, particularly urgent specialist treatment, was severely limited. Sources within the Patriotic Front (PF), Lungu’s party, say repeated requests for travel permits to receive medical care abroad were delayed or denied.“He was denied not only political freedom but medical care too,” said a senior PF official.
“When it became clear that he needed to leave for urgent treatment, the government stalled. That decision may have cost him his life.”
Allegations of Poisoning
With the cause of Lungu’s death yet to be officially confirmed, speculation is growing that he may have been deliberately poisoned. Though no forensic evidence has been made public, the PF is calling for an independent international investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
His daughter, Tasila Lungu-Mwansa, confirmed in a public statement that her father had been unwell for weeks and had travelled to South Africa under medical supervision. However, she also alluded to the family’s belief that his condition may have been the result of “external interference” — a veiled reference to suspected foul play.
PF leaders have taken a more direct stance. “This was not a natural death,” said Brian Mundubile, a close ally of Lungu. “We believe this was orchestrated to eliminate him politically and permanently.”
Restricted Movement and Surveillance
Beyond the courtroom and hospital bed, Lungu’s daily life was increasingly policed. Police were reportedly stationed outside his home, monitoring his activities and restricting public engagements.
Even routine morning jogs and Sunday church services were flagged as political activity and discouraged or blocked by law enforcement.“It was humiliation, plain and simple,” said one family confidant. “He was a former president being treated like a common criminal just for exercising and praying.”
Human rights activists and opposition figures have condemned the government’s treatment of Lungu as not only unconstitutional but dangerous for Zambia’s democratic fabric. “What happened to President Lungu sets a dangerous precedent,” said a representative of the Zambia Human Rights Commission.
“If a former president can be silenced this way, what protection exists for the ordinary citizen?”
I thought he was also part of the campaign team in kawambwa bye elections!.
I stand to be corrected.
Lungu died due to poison from him being so corrupt.
It’s called corruption poisoning
THIS IS VERY CHILDISH PILITICS AND SHAME THAT IT IS COMING FROM PEOPLE CLAIMING TO BE FUTURE LEADERS.
GOD KNOWS WHAT TIME, WHERE, HOW AND WHEN EACH ONE WILL DEPART THE EARTH.
SAD THAT ‘JUDGES’ ARE ALL OVER SPCECULATING.
I WONDER WHAT KIND OF ADULTS ARE IN PF. SURELY YOU CAN LIE IN BROAD DAY LIGHT?
Mr. Nakachinda is just doing what he knows best, trashing Zambia before the international community. With the demise of the former president, he knows that it is curtains down for him, politically and financially.
Once the dust settles down with the burial of the former president, I expect all hell to break loose in the PF camp and the opposition in general. Right now they are united in demonizing the government and the ruling party. Already Mr. Kelvin Bwalya Fube has hinted that the late Mr. Lungu talked to him about uniting the opposition. Dr. M’membe is also waiting in the shadows for the right moment to pounce on the PF carcass, not to mention the “aspiring” PF party presidential candidates who had no guts to challenge Mr. Lungu.
Forget about Mr. “Km” Sampa, he is history. The next one month will be action packed and we will see PF turn its poison inward and consume itself.
If Edgar Lungu was poisoned, Raphael Nakacinda presumably has suspects. So who are the suspects? Did they poison Lungu in Zambia or South Africa? That kind of information would be useful to the police in both Zambia and South Africa. It’s perhaps high time Nakacinda reported to the police so that an investigation can start.
All our former presidents’ funerals were represented by elders from the families of those former presidents, and the proceedings did not have as much complications where you have several spokes persons from different locations all churning out different commands.
To our bereaved family, this funeral should be used to bridge the differences in relationship between the family and the government of the day because after burial the relationship that would have been created will continue to either benefit the family or not benefit it at all and this depends on how this period is handled.
Many people have been seen to be using the lates remains for their own ends to stab wounds in the relationship with government and it is up to the family to see beyond the burial because the late former president will be buried in the next few days but what is important is the relationship that would have been built during the period of mourning which matter most.
Kindly give the family room to make their decisions because after you go back to your respective homes, it is them who will grapple with the aftermath of the bereavement period.
To those elders in the family who may not have stepped forward, this is your time to give valuable advice because everyone can see that the family is being given a crossfire of different forms of advice which may at the end of the day, fail to reconcile them with the aftermath.
Look at the days after the burial, what would you have achieved, would you have achieved healing so as to bring peace to the family, or would you have opened up old wounds which may affect you going forward?
Seek healing and not opening up old wounds. and to those that are dividing the family against government please be fair to the bereaved family because after the funeral they will be alone to face the future.
After Burial people like Binoculars will go back to their families and enjoy the peace while watching from afar with binoculars after having created a big rift between the bereaved family and government, it is the family that will remain to mend the broken fences that would have been mended during of mourning. The Binoculars will meanwhile be braying sausages on his stand.
It is now that the Bereaved Family should see people like Binoculars for who they are, they create the fire and leave you to extinguish it while they are in the safety of their respective homes.