ZIMBABWE — Zambia President Levy Mwanawasa has died two months after he suffered a stroke at the African Union summit in Egypt.

 

Mwanawasa passed on quietly this morning in a Paris military hospital where he has been in the intensive care unit.

 

 

A family member informed the media of his death. Mwanawasa's health suddenly deteriorated last night, ZimDaily was told.

Earlier Zambia's vice-president, Rupiah Banda, said Mwanawasa had been making steady progress until last night when his condition suddenly changed.

He had undergone minor surgery before his death.

He was among leading African leaders who staunchly rejected Robert Mugabe's electoral theft in the June 27 one-man presidential run off election.

In his statement presented to the SADC summit in South Africa last weekend, Mwanawasa said the June 27 vote was a blot on democracy in southern Africa.

Zimbabweans said they had received news of Mwanawasa's death with shock.

 

 

No statement was immediately available from the Zambian embassy in Harare but officials confirmed they had received the news of Mwanwasa's death through the "proper channels."

Mwanawasa was rushed to hospital on June 29 in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after suffering a stroke just before an African Union summit. He was later transferred to Paris for treatment.

Mwanawasa was a favourite of the International Monetary Fund and other Western donors, who extended billions of dollars in debt relief after he cracked down on government spending and launched an anti-graft drive.

An outspoken critic of Mugabe, Mwanawasa was the immediate past chair of the Southern African Development Community, which has mediated between the veteran leader and the MDC to try to end the country's political and economic crisis.

The Zambian leader suffered a mild stroke in 2006 but said before being re-elected that year that he was fit to stand for office.

 

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