Esther Nyawa Lungu (born 2 June 1957) is a Zambian public figure who served as the First Lady from 25 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. She is the widow of the former Zambian president

Edgar Lungu Edgar Chagwa Lungu (11 November 1956 – 5 June 2025) was a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 26 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister ...

. While she was raised Catholic, Esther Nyawa Lungu and her husband are currently practicing Baptists. In 2015, she travelled to the United States to participate in a series of events, including the First Ladies' and women's summits at the George W. Bush Institute in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. At the Invest in Women conference in Dallas, Esther Nyawa Lungu was a distinguished panellist, with the session being moderated by

Cherie Blair Cherie, Lady Blair (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is the spouse of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth was born ...

. During her tenure as the First Lady of Zambia, Esther Nyawa Lungu was an advocate against

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

. In December 2015, she established the Esther Lungu Foundation, where she serves as the chairman and mentor. The foundation's primary objective is to empower women and children in Zambia. In May 2024, Esther Lungu was arrested for fraud.

Early life

Esther Phiri was born on 2 June 1957 to Agnes and Island Phiri, who were originally from the country's Eastern Province. She was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, but she and her husband are now practicing

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

. She said, "When we first met, Edgar had his UCZ hymn books while I had my Catholic catechism books, until we eventually found common ground in the Baptist faith."

State visits

became a junior minister in the Vice President's Office in 2011, Minister of Home Affairs on 9 July 2012 and Defence minister on 24 December 2013 in the Patriotic Front government. Lungu was adopted as the candidate for the Patriotic Front during the January 2015 presidential by-election, following

Michael Sata Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who served as the fifth president of Zambia from 2011 until Death and state funeral of Michael Sata, his death in 2014. A social democrat, he led the Patrio ...

's death. He narrowly defeated the opposition candidate and was sworn-in as the

President of Zambia The president of the Republic of Zambia is the head of state and head of government of Zambia and is the highest executive authority in the country. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is responsible for the admin ...

on 25 January 2015 and his wife Esther became the

First Lady of Zambia First Lady of Zambia is the title attributed to the wife of the president of Zambia. Zambia's current First Lady, first lady is Mutinta Hichilema, who has held the office since 24 August 2021. The first lady of Zambia plays the ceremonial role o ...

. Being the First Lady, Esther was part of many state visits along with the President. During 2015, she attended a series of meetings in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

and she was invited by the George W. Bush Institute to participate in first lady conference and discuss topics of women's empowerment, health and technology. She was invited by the health minister of the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and by Princess Latifa Bint Abulazis Al Saud to discuss support for women and child welfare programmes in Zambia. As a part of her continual humanitarian work, she launched Esther Lungu Foundation in December 2015.

Social activities

Lungu launched a trust fund which seeks to reduce vulnerability of the underprivileged persons using gender sensitive, participatory and environmentally sustainable approaches to improve their livelihoods. The Esther Lungu Foundation Trust (ELFT) aims to leverage its position to address issues relating to

economic empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

, maternity, children, neo-natal health, and water sanitation. The ELFT, with the Muslim Social and Welfare Trust, installed hand pumps with boreholes in many places in Chongwe District. The district was facing acute water shortage as the reserves in Chongwe River reduced. It started identifying vulnerable families, where empowering women might eradicate poverty in the country. It began work with the ministries of Community Development and General Education to enrol schoolchildren. Lungu suggested hand soap can reduce one out of every three cases of childhood diarrhea. She has advocated for bettering the lives of Zambia's older women, and donated 30,000K to six women's associations in Chilanga. She congratulated her husband for choosing a woman as his running mate, a first in her country. Some journalists see her social work as a campaign for her husband in upcoming presidential elections, which the Patriotic Front denies. The

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...

conferred on Lungu the title of 50th Anniversary Ambassador for the African Region, in September 2017. It was the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics Leadership Academy which was hosted by Zambia at the Olympic Youth Development Centre.https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/esther-lungu-worthy-special-olympics-ambassador-for-africa/ 27 September 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lungu, Esther 1961 births Living people First ladies of Zambia Zambian Baptists Converts to Baptist Christianity from Roman Catholicism 21st-century Zambian women