This archive report was first published on 21 June 2021.
On June 20, 2021, Zambia lost its first female chief justice, Irene Mambilima, who passed away in an Egyptian hospital after falling ill during an official tour.
According to a statement issued by President Edgar Lungu's principal private secretary, Simon Miti, Justice Mambilima had traveled for official duty on June 10, 2021.
Justice Mambilima, 69, was appointed Chief Justice on February 26, 2015, and held the position until her untimely death.
She held a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Zambia and a Master of Laws degree from the University of London, and was admitted to the bar in 1977.
Justice Mambilima served in various positions since joining the Zambian judiciary as a commissioner of the High Court in 1985, including serving as a judge of the High Court from 1989 to 2002 and as sessional judge of the Supreme Court of The Gambia in 2003.
She twice served as the country's chief of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), between 2005 and 2015, and presided over several significant elections, including the 2006 and 2011 general elections and the 2015 presidential by-election.
