[GUEST ARTICLE] ZAMBIA: WHERE PRESIDENTS DON’T RETIRE — THEY DIE
By Godfrey Chitalu
A day after President Hakainde Hichilema celebrated his birthday, former President Edgar Lungu died in a South African hospital. It added another sombre line to our growing political obituary. With his passing, Zambia becomes a democracy with no living former president – a republic without elders. A country where the presidency doesn’t lead to retirement but to the grave.
From Kaunda to Lungu, six men have held the highest office before Hichilema. All are gone. Three died on Zambian soil. The other three—Mwanawasa in Paris, Sata in London, and now Lungu in Pretoria passed away in foreign hospitals. The symbolism is impossible to ignore: even our own leaders do not trust the health system they presided over or are forced to flee their institutions. And perhaps, just perhaps, God allows it to make a point we keep refusing to confront.
In Zambia, leadership seems less like national service and more like a fatal assignment. Not because the office is cursed – but because we’ve cursed the environment that surrounds it. Public insults have replaced public honour. No president, past or present, has been spared national ridicule. Remember cabbage and the DEC insults? Add to that a crumbling health system, deep-seated tribalism, and the isolating nature of Zambian politics – and State House begins to resemble a sacrificial altar more than a seat of leadership.
Why must our presidents flee to foreign hospitals to draw their final breath? Why Pretoria, why London, why Paris? Why do we import caskets to bury men who once ruled a country rich in timber, talent, and dignity? The brutal truth: our health system is too broken even for the elite. And our leaders have died as victims of the very neglect they once supervised.
Biblically, leaders were elders – living libraries of wisdom. Moses mentored Joshua. Samuel advised both Saul and David. Wisdom was not buried – it was passed on. *Proverbs* 16:31 tells us, “Grey hair is a crown of splendour.” But in Zambia, we bury our grey hair before it fully silvers.
Let’s not avoid the obvious: tribal politics. Our presidents often ascend to power along tribal fault lines, not national merit. Even in mourning, we whisper about tribe – as if the coffin is not a great equaliser. And let’s be honest – there’s no culture of mentorship between past and present leaders. It’s a system of suspicion. Dog-eat-dog politics. When one leaves office, they either vanish or are vilified.
Zambia must rethink what leadership means. We must build hospitals that treat everyone with dignity – including presidents. We must create room for former leaders to guide and advise, not disappear in shame or silence. We must dismantle tribal loyalty and rebuild our commitment to national unity – not just in vain slogans like One Zambia, One Nation, but in substance, service, and shared humanity.
Until then, we remain a strange democracy – where every president is a prophet, we only honour after death using crocodile tears.
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They die because they can’t survive without power.
The only survivor was KK, he sought freedom not power.
I think we are not fair to our selves in thinking.It is sad that we lost our former Presidents but we must understand that they were human beings like us and we shall also die like them and others who were not Presidents.Dr Kaunda lived a normal life span of a person and perhaps even more than expected life span of an African adult.Levy Patric was involved in a fatal road accident, even to have him live to that age he reached, it was only God’s favour.He never ran away from our hospitals in Zambia it was just a situation that led him to be taken to Paris.Some illnesses are strange and are not very understood by our doctors and some medication not well known even in developed countries.If you look at prostate cancer, for example, the real cause is not well established.It is not known if the cause is STIs, over indulging in sex, or not being involved enough.But it is believed that the people in Arabic areas suffer less from the illness compared to other parts of the world.You can not do away with specialized treatment and our government has been sending patients to some countries for treatment without segregation.When God our creator says time has come we can’t have any choice.One thing that causes premature deaths in many people is our life styles and particularly the food we eat as well as not exercising enough.We are always advised that tobacco and alcohol is harmful to our health but how do we act?No blame game here .Let us just try to take care of our selves whether you are President, a leader or just an ordinary person.We must however attend to our medical issues as a country accordingly.Let’s mourn with dignity and in peace.
Our leaders need to do something drastic about equipping our hospitals to the same standards as those they chase after or even better. Dr. Kaunda uses to have his medical checkups at UTH and I don’t recall him going abroad for medical attention.
We spend colossal amounts of money on medical evacuations and politicians often jump the queue. These moneys can be used to upgrade our hospitals and make treatment available to more people. It is a shame that when push comes to shove, our politicians rush to foreign medical institutions, casting a vote of no confidence in our facilities.