Levy Mwanawasa

Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia, holding office from January 2002 until his death. He is known for launching a campaign against corruption in the country. Before becoming president, he was Zambia’s fourth vice-president from November 1991 to July 1994, while also serving as the elected member of parliament for the Chifubu Constituency.

Born in Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia, as the second of ten children, Mwanawasa earned a law degree from the University of Zambia. He worked at private law firms from 1974 until 1978, when he started his own practice, Mwanawasa & Company. In 1985, he became Solicitor General for the Zambian government but returned to private practice the following year. In 1989, he led the legal defense for Lt. Gen. Christon Tembo, who was accused by the Kenneth Kaunda government of plotting to overthrow the government—a charge that carried the death penalty. Tembo won the case, boosting Mwanawasa’s reputation among anti-Kaunda opposition figures. After Frederick Chiluba became president, he appointed Mwanawasa as vice-president in November 1991. Mwanawasa left his law firm in March 1992.

Before his party’s convention in 1990, Mwanawasa was expected to run for president of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), but he declined, citing his youth and inexperience. Instead, he ran for parliament in Chifubu and won by a large margin. On 8 December 1991, he was in a serious car accident that killed his aide instantly. Mwanawasa suffered multiple injuries and was flown to Johannesburg, South Africa, for treatment, spending three months in the hospital. The accident left him with noticeably slurred speech. A commission of inquiry was set up to investigate whether the crash was an assassination attempt.

Mwanawasa served as vice-president until he resigned in July 1994. In 1996, he unsuccessfully challenged Chiluba for the leadership of the MMD. After that loss, he retired from politics until the 2001 election. In August 2001, the MMD’s National Executive Committee chose him as its presidential candidate. He won the 27 December 2001 election with 29% of the vote under Zambia’s first-past-the-post system, beating ten other candidates, including two former vice-presidents, Godfrey Miyanda and Christon Tembo. Anderson Mazoka came second with 27%. Mwanawasa took office on 2 January 2002. The results were disputed by major opposition parties, including Mazoka’s United Party for National Development. Some domestic and international election monitors noted serious irregularities, such as flawed voter registration, biased media coverage, and the MMD’s misuse of state resources. In January 2002, three opposition candidates petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the result. The court agreed the election was flawed but ruled in February 2005 that the irregularities did not affect the outcome, so it dismissed the petition.

In February 2002, Mwanawasa’s government filed defamation charges against *The Post* editor Fred M’membe and opposition lawmaker Dipak Patel over an article quoting Patel calling Mwanawasa a “cabbage,” apparently referring to his accident injuries. However, in February 2003, Mwanawasa appointed several opposition lawmakers to his cabinet, calling it an effort to promote “national reconciliation.” These included Patel as Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Industry, and Sylvia Masebo as Local Government Minister. Godfrey Miyanda, also from the opposition, opposed the move and threatened a lawsuit. In January 2005, Mwanawasa apologized to the nation for failing to address poverty, noting that about 75% of Zambians lived on less than $1 a day, the UN’s absolute poverty line. He was elected president of the MMD for a five-year term in 2005.

Mwanawasa ran for a second term in the 28 September 2006 election, with Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front as his main challenger. His re-election was confirmed on 2 October, with official results giving him 42.98% of the vote. He was sworn in on 3 October and soon named a new cabinet, appointing Rupiah Banda as vice-president.

Foreign investors liked Mwanawasa, partly due to his anti-corruption efforts. During his presidency, Zambia attracted foreign investment, mainly driven by mineral exports. His policies helped lower inflation and spread some benefits to the poor. Tourists and white farmers leaving Zimbabwe boosted Zambia’s economy, and he turned the town of Livingstone, near Victoria Falls, into a tourist hub. Zambia received significant aid and debt relief because of economic liberalization and Mwanawasa’s steady efforts. Overall, economic growth rose to about 6% per year. Mwanawasa was one of the first African leaders to publicly criticize Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe. When Mwanawasa died, Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was among the first to express grief. Mwanawasa sold Konkola Copper Mines to Vedanta for $25 million, despite an initial asking price of $400 million—an amount the company recouped in about three months, later earning at least $500 million in profit.