Zambia at 62: Is Becoming President a Curse or a Blessing?
Becoming President of Zambia is one of the most sought-after positions in the country. Yet the record of those who have held the office suggests it often exacts a heavy personal and family cost, especially after leaving State House.
Zambia has had seven presidents since independence in 1964. Two, Levy Mwanawasa and Michael Sata died in office. The others faced prosecution, family tragedy, loss of status, or prolonged public controversy after leaving power. Only two (KK and RB) appear to have enjoyed the formal benefits of the office but not after sustained period of significant hardship.
This raises a question on the country’s 62nd independence anniversary: is the presidency a blessing or something closer to a curse?
Kenneth Kaunda, the founding president, led Zambia for 27 years and played a major role in supporting liberation struggles across southern Africa. His contributions are widely recognised, even if figures such as Nelson Mandela often receive greater international celebration. While in office he endured the legal troubles of one son and later the 1999 murder of another, Wezi Kaunda.
After leaving office in 1991 he was detained and placed under house arrest over alleged links to a coup attempt, faced citizenship challenges, and spent a period in difficult political isolation before later rehabilitation and a long life that ended in 2021 at the age of 97.
Frederick Chiluba, who restored multiparty democracy, faced serious corruption allegations after leaving office. A UK civil court found against him, Zambian criminal proceedings largely ended in acquittal, though asset disputes continued for years and some properties were later forfeited. He also went through a highly public divorce. He died in 2011 without fully escaping the shadow of those cases while the family still face other challenges.
Levy Mwanawasa, often praised for his anti-corruption stance, suffered a stroke while attending an African Union meeting in 2008 and died weeks later in a Paris hospital. His widow, former First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa, died in 2024 after her own period of public and private difficulty.
Rupiah Banda’s relatively short tenure was followed by the lifting of his presidential immunity, travel restrictions including the seizure of his passport, and a series of court appearances on corruption-related charges. Most of those matters were later resolved or dropped and his immunity restored. He died of cancer in 2022.
Michael Sata, after years in opposition, fell ill while in office and died in a London hospital in 2014 without completing the programme he had set out.
Edgar Lungu left office in 2021 after significant infrastructure projects. His post-presidency years included political comebacks that were blocked, legal pressure on his family, and, after his death in South Africa in June 2025, a protracted and bitter dispute over the repatriation and burial of his remains that continued well into 2026.
Despite this pattern of illness, death in office, prosecution, family strain and contested legacies, the office continues to attract ambitious politicians. The formal benefits, power, prestige and the chance to shape national direction remain powerful draws. Yet the human cost borne by the individuals and their families has been high and remarkably consistent.
As Zambia marks 62 years of independence, the question is worth asking openly, is the presidency primarily a blessing that enables service and lasting achievement, or does the combination of intense pressure, political retribution and personal vulnerability make it something closer to a curse for those who occupy it and those closest to them?
The historical record does not offer a simple answer, but it does demand honest reflection for those who persue the highest office.
Michael M. Mulusa
A voice