{"id":55523,"date":"2023-12-29T21:02:35","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T21:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback"},"modified":"2023-12-29T21:19:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T21:19:10","slug":"former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback","title":{"rendered":"Former Zambia President Edgar Lungu loses retirement benefits for his political comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>Zambia\u2019s government has withdrawn retirement benefits and privileges from former President Edgar Lungu following his decision to return to active politics.<\/p>\n

Lungu lost the presidency to Hakainde Hichilema in 2021, after which he announced his retirement. After six years in office, he left the country facing serious economic issues as Africa\u2019s most indebted nation.<\/p>\n

His return to politics sets the stage for a bruising 2026 presidential race. According to BBC, The former president has already been notified about the immediate withdrawal of his retirement benefits and privileges, according to government spokesman Cornelius Mweetwa.<\/p>\n

He said it was clearly stated in the law that former presidents who returned to politics would lose their benefits. As a retired president, Lungu was entitled to three security officers, a diplomatic passport, three state cars, a furnished house, medical insurance, and funeral expenses on his death.<\/p>\n

He also enjoyed immunity from prosecution. In a press conference on Wednesday, Mweetwa said the former leader would now be treated with \u201cequality of the law\u201d, just like any other senior citizen of the country.<\/p>\n

The former Zambian president is aiming to capitalise on growing dissatisfaction with the continued economic hardships in the country under his successor.<\/p>\n

Civil society groups have also expressed concern over what they described as the \u201cshrinking\u201d human rights freedoms in the country. While announcing his political comeback last week, Lungu said he was returning to fight for and defend democracy in the country.<\/p>\n

He also pledged to save his factionalised ex-ruling Patriotic Front party from collapse. The government has threatened to de-registrar the party over leadership wrangles.<\/p>\n

The government spokesman denied Lungu\u2019s recent statement that supporters of the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) were targeting him.<\/p>\n

He described Lungu\u2019s remarks that his life had been threatened as a \u201cmere false alarm\u201d, saying the former leader was as secure \u201cas any other citizen\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lungu was, however, warned against confrontational politics against President Hichilema\u2019s government. Last month, Lungu was warned against jogging in public, with police describing his weekly workouts as \u201cpolitical activism\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is not clear whether his immunity from prosecution will be removed. Zambia\u2019s parliament has revoked the right to immunity for two former presidents \u2013 Frederick Chiluba in 2002 and Rupiah Banda in 2013.<\/p>\n

Some members of the ruling UPND have been calling for the removal of his immunity and prosecution for alleged corruption during his rule. The former Zambian leader said the allegations were politically motivated.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Malawi<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. Zambia\u2019s government has withdrawn retirement benefits and privileges from former President Edgar Lungu following his decision to return to active politics. Lungu lost the presidency to Hakainde Hichilema in 2021, after which he announced his retirement. After six years in office, he left the country facing serious economic issues as Africa\u2019s most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":55521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,371,234],"class_list":["post-55523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-malawi"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Zambia President Edgar Lungu loses retirement benefits for his political comeback - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zambia\u2019s government has withdrawn retirement benefits and privileges from former President Edgar Lungu following his dec ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Zambia President Edgar Lungu loses retirement benefits for his political comeback\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zambia\u2019s government has withdrawn retirement benefits and privileges from former President Edgar Lungu following his dec ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-29T21:02:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-29T21:19:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2023\/12\/sm_1703872058.67334.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"549\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Former Zambia President Edgar Lungu loses retirement benefits for his political comeback\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-29T21:02:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-29T21:19:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback\"},\"wordCount\":431,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2023\/12\/sm_1703872058.67334.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Malawi\",\"Malawi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/former-zambia-president-edgar-lungu-loses-retirement-benefits-for-his-political-comeback\",\"name\":\"Former Zambia President Edgar Lungu loses retirement benefits for his political comeback - 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