Zambia Daily Mail apologises for leaving late President Edgar Lungu out of its Independence feature

Zambia Daily Mail Limited, the company that publishes the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper, has apologised to the nation for leaving a picture of the late former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu out of its feature marking Zambia's 62nd Independence anniversary. The feature was published on Friday, 23 October 2026. In a statement made public on Monday, the company said the omission was entirely unintentional and offered what it called an unreserved apology to the nation. It said management regards the lapse with the seriousness it deserves and is handling the matter internally. The statement did not explain how the picture came to be left out, whether anyone had been disciplined, or what changes the company will make to prevent a repeat. Mr Lungu, Zambia's sixth President, died in 2025. Since the omission, members of the public have questioned who approved the feature before it went to print, with some asking whether the Editor-in-Chief had cleared it. Those comments have not been confirmed by the company, and its statement does not name any editor. ## Why it matters The Zambia Daily Mail is a state-owned newspaper, and what it prints about the country's former leaders is read as a signal of how the government treats them. Mr Lungu still has many supporters, and the omission has drawn strong feelings. An apology that does not explain what happened leaves the question of accountability open for a paper that readers expect to be fair to all former Presidents. ## What happens next The company says it is dealing with the matter internally. It has not said whether the findings will be made public. Source: Zambia Daily Mail Limited statement, 26 October 2026, 17:15.