In this Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, file photo, newly-elected Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, right, is sworn into office during an inauguration ceremony in Lusaka. Lungu will seek medical attention abroad, officials said Monday March 9, 2015, after the recently elected leader collapsed during a public ceremony on Sunday. Lungu tried to steady himself against a podium while watching a military procession on Sunday but then he collapsed, a local newspaper reported. (AP Photo/Moses Mwape, FILE)
The newly elected Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, collapsed during a public event on Sunday and it was later announced that he would need to seek treatment abroad. The procedures following a president’s death are often rather straightforward — as Zambians know all too well having had two presidents die in office since 2008. But what happens when a president falls ill and cannot perform the duties of his office?
In the United States, if a president’s illness makes him unable to discharge his duties, the 25th Amendment to the Constitution provides for the vice president to take over the duties of the president. There are two ways the 25th Amendment can be invoked. According to Section 3 of the amendment, the president can make a written declaration of his inability to discharge his duties. Alternatively, if the president doesn’t voluntarily transfer powers before his incapacitation, according to Section 4 of the amendment, the vice president can, with a majority of the cabinet (or some other such “body as Congress may by law provide”), submit their own written declaration that the president cannot discharge his duties, after which the vice president immediately assumes the powers and duties of the office.
Joint Resolution Proposing the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, pages 1 and 2. Credit: U.S. National Archives
Despite its relative youth, the Zambian constitution also has provisions for presidential incapacity. In my article with Boniface Dulani on the constitutional provisions for presidential succession, we studied Article 36 of the Zambian constitution, subtitled “Removal of President on Grounds of Incapacity.” According to Article 36, the cabinet can instruct Zambia’s Chief Justice to request a board of doctors to investigate the president’s capacity to carry out his responsibilities. If the board deemed the president incapacitated, the constitution requires a two-thirds vote by the national assembly endorsing the vice president to assume the presidency and call a presidential election within 90 days.
Still, multiple Zambian presidents have fallen ill in office, with no action taken according to Article 36. The most notable case was President Levy Mwanawasa, who suffered a stroke in June 2008 that eventually led to his death two months later. There was no movement by his cabinet in the intervening period between his stroke and death to invoke Article 36. A lone cabinet minister, Ben Tetamashimba, suggested the ruling party look for a successor following Mwanawasa’s stroke and the party leaders and Mwanawasa’s family condemned Tetamashimba’s remarks and he faced disciplinary measures in the party.
What does this mean for Lungu? It is hard to make a direct comparison to Mwanawasa, though the little information that has been shared about President Lungu’s ailment makes clear his condition is less serious than a stroke. His narrow victory in the recent special election and the general election scheduled to be held sometime in the next 18 months will likely motivate him and his supporters to downplay his condition. This will prove challenging because unlike his predecessors, Lungu’s poor health was widely reported, given he collapsed at a public event.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Lungu’s major challenger in the previous election and in the upcoming election, Hakainde Hichilema, campaigns on his health. For example, in another state where presidential ill health and death led to a constitutional succession in 2010 — Nigeria — we see the incumbent candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, touting his health in a campaign ad:
What I love about this campaign ad is the emphasis on Goodluck Jonathan as being "young, healthy and energetic". pic.twitter.com/aEoTNScPYL
— kim yi dionne (@dadakim.bsky.social) (@dadakim) March 11, 2015
The handling of presidential health is a delicate matter. Though well studied in the United States, there is more to be learned about the politics of presidential health in African countries.