Zambia's 'born-again' President Levy Mwanawasa Dies at 59
Leader had been in Paris hospital since suffering stroke in June.
(Paris, France)—The Zambian president, Levy Mwanawasa, a committed Christian died in France on Monday, August 19, nearly two months after suffering a stroke during an African Union conference. He was 59.
According to media reports, doctors at the Percy military hospital near Paris had performed emergency surgery on Mwanawasa Sunday following a sharp deterioration in his condition. Though the operation was initially described as successful, Zambian state television broke the news of the death this morning.
"Fellow countrymen, with deep sorrow and grief, I would like to inform the people of Zambia that our president Dr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa died this morning at 1030 hours," said the vice-president, Rupiah Banda. "I also wish to inform the nation that national mourning starts today and will be for seven days."
Banda will take over as acting president until elections, expected to be held within 90 days.
"A former lawyer, Mwanawasa was regarded as one of the Africa's most progressive leaders," said the Guardian newspaper in the UK. "His efforts to tackle corruption helped win Zambia widespread debt relief. Under his leadership, Zambia's economy grew at 5%, helped by the buoyant copper price, while inflation dropped to the lowest level in three decades. Mwanawasa freely admitted, however, that the benefits had not trickled down sufficiently to the poor.
"Beyond Zambia, he became best known as a vocal - and rare - African critic of the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, leading to strained relations between the southern African neighbors."
Leading the tributes, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, described Mwanawasa's death as "a great loss for the African continent."
The President's baptism
The baptism of President Levy Mwanawasa, caused a sensation back in 2005 when he gave his life to Christ and, as President of Zambia, was baptized at local Baptist church in Lusaka, the country's capital city. (Baptist Press photo by Troy Lewis)
This was revealed in a story from Michael Ireland in ANS who wrote, "A crowd clapped and cheered as President Levy Mwanawasa rose from the water in an outdoor baptistery behind a Baptist seminary chapel building in Lusaka, Zambia's capital."
The event drew hundreds of people, including public officials, leaders and pastors from the area and neighboring countries, wrote Shawn Hendricks of the Southern Baptist Church International Mission Board.
"This baptism was an incredible occasion for the Baptist witness to many people who we have not had in church before," said Troy Lewis, a Southern Baptist missionary in the southern African nation of more than 10 million people. "They heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
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