Zambia: The death of President Mwanawasa

On 19 August Zambian state-owned television services announced that the country's president, Levy Mwanawasa, had died in a hospital in Paris, aged 59, two months after suffering a stroke during an African Union (AU) conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Mwanawasa's body was flown back to Lusaka (the capital) on 23 August. The funeral took place on 3 September, on what would have been the president's 60th birthday.

Immediate context

Mwanawasa was taken ill on the eve of the 2008 AU conference in Egypt, at which it had been speculated that he would have played a key role in bringing an end to the continuing crisis in Zimbabwe. Zambia was bordered to the south by Zimbabwe, but the two countries were also historically linked: in 1924, control of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) was transferred to the UK as a protectorate and in 1953 Northern Rhodesia united with Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) to form the Central African Federation (CAF).

Often outspoken on African political issues, Mwanawasa became one of the first heads of state to rally against President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and it was reported on 27 March 2007, that Mwanawasa had broken ranks with other southern African leaders, urging them to take a new approach to Zimbabwe, which external pagehe likened to a "sinking Titanic.call_made"

In April 2008, in his role as chairman of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), Mwanawasa called an emergency meeting in Lusaka to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe. In a clear reference to the possibility of increasing violence, Mwanawasa stated that "nothing should be done by anybody that would further give rise to heightened tension in Zimbabwe." The emergency SADC summit called for the swift release of the disputed presidential election results, but stopped short of heeding the request of the Zimbabwean opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to external pageopenly call for Mugabe's resignationcall_made.

An angered Mugabe had boycotted the summit, claiming that the meeting had been "clearly sponsored by the British government."

Reaction and outlook

As reported by the news agency [LDM1]Agence France-Presse (AFP) on 20 August, US President George W Bush offered his condolences by saying "as president of Zambia, President Mwanawasa launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign and dedicated himself to improving the welfare of all Zambians". Bush went onto praise Mwanawasa as "a champion of democracy in his own country and throughout Africa, who worked tirelessly to uphold the values of good governance, speaking out against human rights abuses and threats to democracy when many others were silent."

In tribute, the Associated Press on 19 August quoted the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, as describing Mwanawasa's death as "a great loss for the African continent and for democracy, for which he was an ardent defender for all his life."

The African Press Organisation on 19 August reported that the Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, expressed his sadness by calling Mwanawasa's death "a grievous loss to Africa, the Commonwealth and the international community."

Mwanawasa made no provision for a successor but constitutionally the vice president Rupiah Bwezani Banda took charge of the country, with presidential elections to be held within 90 days to elect Mwanawasa's successor. Prior to Mwanawasa's death, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) had announced that 19 senior members of the party had expressed interest in succeeding Mwanawasa. However, it was suggested that if the Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) opposition parties were to unite, the MMD could be defeated in presidential elections.

Historical context

Born in what was then Northern Rhodesia in 1948, Mwanawasa originally studied to become a lawyer, obtaining a degree from the University of Zambia, before spending four years working in private law firms. In 1978 he started his own practice, Mwanawasa and company, remaining with them until 1992.

In the late 1980s Mwanawasa came to the attention of Frederick Chiluba, leader of the MMD, and was appointed vice president under Chiluba, after victory in the 1991 general election. Chiluba's victory brought to an end the single party rule of Kenneth Kaunda, who had external pageheld power since 1964call_made.

Mwanawasa served in his role as external pagevice president until 1994call_made when he resigned and moved into semi-retirement, citing differences with Chiluba and insubordination by a number of his colleagues. Mwanawasa later told a news conference that his appointment in November 1991 had been made reluctantly by President Chiluba, who since then had gradually isolated him, making his post "virtually irrelevant." He also accused the government of condoning irresponsibility and greed. However, Mwanawasa retained his position as vice president of the ruling MMD.

He later returned to politics as party candidate ahead of the 2001 legislative and presidential elections, replacing Chiluba, who in May 2001 had abandoned an unpopular attempt to stand for a third term. external pageChiluba selected Mwanawasa as his successorcall_made, and Mwanawasa won the election by a narrow margin of external page28.6 percent of the total votecall_made. Mwanawasa was sworn into office in external pageJanuary 2002call_made but the announcement of the final election results had been postponed after violent clashes had erupted between police and thousands of anti-government demonstrators protesting against alleged vote rigging. The opposition claimed that only widespread electoral fraud had stopped the main opposition candidate, Anderson Mazoka of the United Party for National Development (UPND), from winning the presidential election. Only hours before Mwanawasa's inauguration, the High Court had dismissed a petition from seven opposition parties alleging that the MMD had stuffed ballot boxes and intimidated voters. The court ruled that the opposition petition was "premature" because the constitution only allowed an appeal to be lodged 14 days after a president had been sworn in.

In February 2003, Chiluba was arrested and charged with multiple counts of "theft by public servant." Chiluba first went on trial in external pageDecember 2003call_made in one of Africa's most high-profile corruption cases but the proceedings became immersed in procedural problems and the case was dropped in April 2004. A ruling against the former president was finally made in May 2007 when the high court in London, ruled that Chiluba and a number of associates had conspired to external pagemisappropriate some US$46 millioncall_made. The judgment was the result of civil proceedings brought in the UK courts by the Zambian attorney general on behalf of the country, in an effort to recover money transferred by the ministry of finance to London and elsewhere between 1995 and 2001.

Mwanawasa won a second term in external pageSeptember 2006 with 43 percent of the votecall_made. However, Mwanawasa's main challenger, Michael Sata of the PF, had accused the MMD of vote rigging. Violent demonstrations then erupted in Lusaka and in the Copperbelt Province. Sata conceded defeat on 2 October and urged his supporters to remain calm.

Sometimes labeled as a reluctant politician, Mwanawasa was accused of being Chiluba's puppet during the external page2001 election campaigncall_made. However, with his strong reputation for integrity and a tough, unrelenting stance on tackling crime and fighting corruption, Mwanawasa proved to be a favourite of the international community. Mwanawasa's external pageoutspoken criticism of Mugabe's leadership of Zimbabwecall_made won Mwanawasa many political plaudits.

Under Mwanawasa's guidance, Zambia witnessed economic growth which was assisted by an upturn in global copper prices and by increasing tourism. Mwanawasa's economic leadership resulted in the IMF and the World Bank Group's International Development Association (IDA) agreeing to support a comprehensive debt reduction package for Zambia under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. external pageThe total debt service relief from all of Zambia's creditors was worth more than US$3.8 billioncall_made.

Nevertheless, much of the country's population remained poor, and in 2005 Mwanawasa external pagepublicly apologized for the failure to eliminate povertycall_made.

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