Edgar Lungu Announces Return to Politics

Zambia’s former President, Edgar Lungu, announced his return to politics over the weekend. Previously, he retired from politics after suffering a crushing defeat to President Hakainde Hichilema in the 2021 presidential election.

His defeat in 2021 was unsurprising, not least given the heavy debt and precarious economic state Lungu left the country in after six years in office.

His spending binge left the government encumbered with around $13 billion of foreign debt. Over the past few years, President Hichilema has now successfully restructured more than half of this debt with Zambia’s bilateral creditors. Likewise, after Lungu’s crude resource nationalisation discouraged external investors, President Hichilema has since overseen rejuvenated interest from foreign investment.

President Hakainde Hichilema’s victory in 2021 was hard won. During the elections, Mr Lungu implemented a number of authoritarian acts – such as the Cybersecurity and Cyber Crimes Act, the Data Protection Act, and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act – to restrict the oppositions online presence on social media and the internet through enhancing the government’s control over Zambia’s online civic space.

This authoritarian move caused a substantial backlash. 41 human rights, free expression, and technology organisations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), were forced to call on Lungu to ensure that digital communications and social media remained uninterrupted during the August elections.

Lungu’s recent announcement of his return came as the first formal statement of his anticipated return to politics.

"I am ready to fight from the front, not from the rear, in defence of democracy. Those who are ready for this fight, please come along with me, I am ready for anything," Mr Lungu told his supporters on Saturday, speaking at a commemoration service to Michael Sata, former president and leader of the Patriotic Front (PF) party.

Since Lungu lost the election in 2021, the PF has experienced internal issues over leadership, ultimately ending up with court proceedings. Lungu’s return may well increase tensions and worsen the legal battle.

Miles Sampa was the last to controversially claim to have been elected PF party president at a recent meeting. This was deemed undemocratic by other party members.