Edgar Lungu Held Zimbabwean Passport- Zimbabwean government has officially addressed and dismissed persistent rumours suggesting that late former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu was using a Zimbabwean diplomatic passport at the time of his death in South Africa earlier this month. The allegations, which have circulated widely on social media and in regional media outlets, prompted a strong response from authorities in Harare as pressure mounted to clarify the matter.
Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, issued a statement on July 1, 2025, categorically denying that Lungu ever possessed Zimbabwean citizenship or any form of Zimbabwean diplomatic documentation.
“These claims are false, malicious, and unfounded,” Mangwana said in his official communication. “The Government of Zimbabwe has never issued a Zimbabwean passport—diplomatic or otherwise—to the late President Edgar Lungu. He was not a Zimbabwean citizen, and there is no record of him having ever applied for or received such a document from our authorities.”
The statement came in response to growing speculation sparked by an article published in The Zambian Observer, which claimed that Lungu may have been travelling under the alias “Tendai Munyaradzi” at the time of his death on June 5 in South Africa. According to the publication, court documents from the Gauteng High Court indicated that no Zambian national had died at the hospital on that date, but a Zimbabwean citizen using that name was listed instead. This led to claims that the former Zambian leader had assumed a Zimbabwean identity in an effort to obscure his movements.
The allegations surfaced amid an emotionally charged dispute over Lungu’s burial, with reports of disagreements between the Zambian government and the late president’s family. While President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration has insisted that Lungu should be buried with full state honours in Zambia, his family reportedly argues that Lungu did not wish for Hichilema to be involved in his funeral proceedings at all. Some family members and supporters allege that Lungu feared political humiliation or possible retribution in death.
Zimbabwe Government Dismisses Claims Edgar Lungu Held Zimbabwean Passport
As tensions escalated, the identity controversy added a new layer of complexity to an already fraught situation, drawing in Zimbabwe and placing it at the center of a diplomatically sensitive narrative. Critics and opposition figures in both Zambia and Zimbabwe seized on the rumours to question the transparency of regional political dealings and the integrity of government-issued documents.
But Mangwana insisted that the story was nothing more than politically motivated fiction.
“It is regrettable that during a time when Zambia and the entire region should be mourning a former Head of State, falsehoods are being spread to sow confusion and mistrust,” he said. “Zimbabwe respects the sovereignty of Zambia and the legacy of the late President Edgar Lungu. We call on all parties to desist from dragging Zimbabwe into internal Zambian matters through baseless allegations.”
Mangwana further challenged the media outlets and individuals making the claims to produce verifiable evidence.
“If anyone has proof that Edgar Lungu held a Zimbabwean passport or travelled under the name ‘Tendai Munyaradzi,’ we urge them to bring that information forward. Otherwise, it remains a damaging rumour with no substance.”
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Registrar-General’s Office also weighed in on the matter, stating that a review of the national passport database yielded no record of an individual named Edgar Lungu, nor a connection between that name and the alias in question.
Regional analysts suggest that the controversy is part of a broader narrative playing out in Zambia, where former President Lungu’s political legacy remains deeply divisive. Since leaving office, Edgar Lungu had been at loggerheads with the current government, with his supporters claiming he was being persecuted, while Hichilema’s administration accused him of undermining democracy and interfering with governance processes.
In Zimbabwe, the episode has revived long-standing concerns about the integrity of travel documents and the cross-border movement of high-profile individuals under aliases—a practice not unheard of among political elites seeking to avoid public scrutiny.
As of now, no official documentation has been presented to substantiate the claim that Edgar Lungu travelled using a Zimbabwean identity. Both Zimbabwean and Zambian authorities continue to stress the need for respectful and fact-based reporting during this sensitive time.
Edgar Lungu, who served as Zambia’s president from 2015 to 2021, died in Johannesburg under circumstances that are still being officially reviewed. Plans for his burial remain uncertain as discussions between the Zambian government and his family continue.
Source- iHarare
