Former Zambia president, Edgar Longo, died on Thursday, at the age of 68, 6 months after his attempt to return to politics, which was frustrated by a court decision stipulating that he is not eligible to run again.
Longo was the sixth president of Zambia, which is located in the southern Africa region, and took power from 2015 to 2021, when he lost the elections to veteran opposition leader and current President Haknde Hishilima.
During his referee, the late president received his ruling on his broad road building program, but he also drowned the country’s money in debt.
In 2020, Zambia disappeared from paying its external debt, which contributed to Longo’s loss to the elections.
Longo died in a medical center in Pretoria (the capital of South Africa), where he was receiving treatment, according to a statement of his political party, the “National Front”, published on social media.
The party also posted a video of its daughter Tassila Longo (parliament member) as she announces the news of her father’s death.
“My father has been under medical supervision in the past weeks. His condition has been dealt with with dignity and secret,” Tasila said.
The late president was suffering from a rare disease that leads to esophageal narrowing, and he had previously received treatment in South Africa.
Soon after he took office in 2015, he fell ill and underwent a medical procedure there that were not available in Zambia at the time, according to the presidential office at the time.
“Different legacy”
Longo was born on November 11, 1956 in the city of Nondola, in Al -Nahhas. He is a lawyer, and he held the positions of the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Defense during the era of former President Michael Sata, before he took over the presidency after the death of Sata in 2015.
After assuming the position, Longo quickly started implementing progressive legislative reforms, including amending the constitution to reduce the president’s authorities.
After winning the 2016 presidential elections, Longo ruled the country for a period of 5 years, and at the end of it, he tried to underestimate the constitutional amendments he approved himself.
“Edgar Longo’s legacy is contrasting,” said political analyst Lee Habasunda of Zambia University.
“He will be reminded of his tolerance with the behavior of thugs from his supporters, although he also represented a pattern of politicians who communicated with various classes of society,” he added.
During his reign – especially at the end of it – Longo supporters became underestimated, and his failure to curb their reinforcement was seen as an implicit approval of their actions.
Habasunda said he was among the leaders who “allowed the poorest of the Zambians to approach the power circles.”
Longo’s relations were tense with a number of donor Western countries, such as the United States, which requested the withdrawal of its ambassador in 2020. Relations also deteriorated with International Monetary Fund During his reign, which prompted the Foundation to withdraw its resident representative.
In light of the economic crisis, Zambia became one of the first countries to fail to pay its international debts after the Kofid-19 was destroyed by the world’s economies.
After defeating the 2021 elections, Longo retired from politics, then returned again in 2023, as he was accepted as a leader and presidential candidate for an alliance that includes the National Front.
But last December, the Constitutional Court in Zambia ruled that he was not qualified to run for another term.