Former Zambian President Lungu dies aged 68

He had "been receiving specialized treatment in South Africa" for an undisclosed illness, the Patriotic Front (PF) added. BBC reported.

Lungu led Zambia for six years from 2015, losing the 2021 election to the current President Hakainde Hichilema by a large margin.

After that defeat he stepped back from politics but later returned to the fray. He had ambitions to vie for the presidency again but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court barred him from running, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law.