“You Died a Sad Man, Yet a Loved Father of the Nation”: Zambia Mourns Edgar Lungu with Tears, Anger, and Deep Regret
A dark cloud hangs over the nation. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, Zambia’s sixth Republican President, has breathed his last not as a celebrated statesman with full honours, but as a man many believe died in silent sorrow, stripped of dignity, betrayed by the country he once led.
Across Zambia’s digital space from WhatsApp groups to Facebook timelines emotions are raw. The mourning is not simple. It is layered, complicated, and deeply human. Tears mix with anger. Regret collides with political bitterness. And amid it all, one painful truth resounds: he died a sad man.
>”He never enjoyed his private life, not even one day. Chibi sana,” one user lamented, echoing the grief of many.
> “His salary was frozen, his medical trips denied, his security removed… He paid for his own hospital bills while battling illness,” wrote another, their heartbreak palpable.
In his final years, Edgar Lungu once the most powerful man in the land walked through life without the honours due to a former Head of State. The presidential pension was taken away. His security detail vanished. Even the basic respect due to a man who peacefully handed over power was, according to many mourners, stripped from him.
And now, in death, even more wounds are reopening.
> “Let him be mourned as a commoner,” one message bitterly said, reacting to news that his funeral would be held at the PF Secretariat and not granted the full state recognition traditionally afforded to former presidents.
This has sparked outrage. A fire of national shame. Thousands are questioning how a man who once carried Zambia on his shoulders could be allowed to die seemingly abandoned.
But the mourning is not just about what happened to ECL in life it is also about what is happening in death.
> “It is deeply immoral and hypocritical for those who publicly wished him dead to now shed crocodile tears,” wrote one user, their grief sharpened into rage. “If you had no respect for him while he lived, have the decency to be silent now.”
Zambia is grieving, yes. But it is also confronting itself.
In markets, churches, homes, and buses, people are whispering and weeping. The students in various towns who sang and danced in memory of ECL have shown a love deeper than politics. They are mourning not just a leader but a father, a symbol of endurance, and, for many, a man of peace.
> “Nothing — not even death — can separate you from the love the Zambian people have for you,” one post reads, followed by heartbroken emojis and prayers.
Yet amidst the sorrow, there is soul-searching.
Did Zambia fail its former President? Did politics blind the nation to his humanity? Is this how we treat our leaders once they’re no longer in power?
> “Sometimes the foolish things of God bring about the greatest change,” one person reflected, hinting that Lungu’s pain and passing might awaken the nation’s conscience.
Indeed, Edgar Lungu’s death has stirred something rare: a moment of national reflection. A moment when Zambians must look beyond party lines, beyond insults, beyond grudges and see the man for who he was. A husband. A father. A leader. A human being.
He may have died without state honours, but in the hearts of thousands from the Copperbelt to Eastern Province, from Choma to Kanyama Edgar Lungu is being buried with something far greater than protocol: the tears, prayers, and love of a grieving people.
Rest in peace, Edgar Chagwa Lungu. You were many things to many people but today, to Zambia, you are the son we lost too soon.
June 6, 2025
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