24 August 2008
editorial
Kigali — Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa died in a French hospital on August 19, nearly two months after he was admitted as a result of suffering a stroke.
Mwanawasa's death has dealt a double blow to Southern Africa, not only generating fears of possible political instability in Zambia but also concern about the impact on the process of finding a solution in Zimbabwe.
Mwanawasa lacked charisma, wit and style. At rallies even his own supporters were fast bored by the former lawyer's monotone drawl. His ill-health and slurred speech, the results of a car crash, led to nasty jibes about his mental capacity.
When he narrowly won his first, disputed, presidential election in 2001, opponents dubbed him "the cabbage", deriding him as a stooge for others more powerful. On paper he ought never to have been president.
But off paper and in reality Mwanawasa made strides to fight corruption, secured healthy economic growth and kept politics clean. Debt was cancelled; aid and investment poured in.
At some political risk, Mwanawasa turned against his predecessor and one-time patron, Frederick Chiluba, who was charged with 168 counts of theft.
Chiluba was convicted of graft in a civil court in London last year. It was a rare success: few African leaders have been held to such account.
Mwanawasa was an outspoken critic of Mugabe, and once likened Zimbabwe to a "sinking titanic".
Describing Mwanawasa as a "good friend and comrade", the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, said he had "left us at this most trying time".
Under the current constitution, which is under review, Zambians will have to head for fresh polls within 90 days.
As we bid farewell to Mwanawasa, let's hope his rather dull shoes can be appropriately filled and that Zambia can plod on.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 The New Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
You are right.. Kigali whoever he is is very UNAFRICAN. I think he needs a brain transplant. He utterly failed to engage his brain before he wrote article.
In Zambia Kigali now means "unthankful fool". Does it make you(KIGALI) feel better to expose your wicked thinking to the world? Foolish
it worries me to see that journalists of this calibre are allowed to produce articles of this kind, worse still to have their work posted on the internet where they can mislead an even larger population! The views of the journalist were his personal opinion, more so that certain allegations are of such a nature that they would be difficult to justify even in a court of law. The calibre of writing only expected in a desparate gossip news paper! To you, Mr. Journalist, if i may be so polite, you are a shame to the journalism world, though you… [Read Full Text]
My Dear Editor, "Unlikely Hero": I cannot believe this nonsense really. If you have nothing to write about, then go to sleep you stupid Nyamulenge! Forgetting how you slaughtered each other a few years then ran to Zambia. Do you know how many Nyamulenges are now peacefully doing business in Zambia? We have accommodated them and this is what we get at a moment when we need all the sympathy and prayers really! Very sad, you are no better than Mugabe.
The New Times is not a satirical newspaper and so I'm equally shocked be the display of such disrespect. I don't understand that it went past all editorial checks. So this is a very unsavoury character, as we all agree. Now may I ask why you are calling him Munyamulenge? Where do you see that he is? And even if he was, what does his article have to do with his people? Are you casting the blame on all Banyamulenge? Are the Banyamulenge living in Zambia the ones who wrote this article? Your comment is so full of hatred I… [Read Full Text]
I would like to express my utter disgust at the editor of this newspaper. If you do not have any editorial comments, please do not expose your stupidity by writing foolish things about other countries. How can you demean my late President like that? Please get a life and just write about how much your war striken Rwanda has progressed. Shame on editors of this useless newspaper
mr editor or whatever you call yourself, you should have come to Zambia to see the thousands that braved the heat to stand in queues stretching for miles just so that we could bid farewell to our beloved president who went out of his way to put this country where it is today.Ask your president Kagame on his vist to Zambia with his wife on the kind of hospitality he received or if he ever had a "dull" moment.You should choose your words carefully.You are so foolish.Our president may have lacked charisma or spoke with a slur but he was… [Read Full Text]
I feel sorry for you Mr Editor.. You cant even edit your mouth. How on earth would say such a terrible thing about a PRESIDENT that you don't even know? About a good man? You have no HEART.
If I were you I would be a mistake to belong to the journalism profession and I m glad I m not you. I hope after reading this, you will be a man enough to apologise for the nonsense that we are seeing. If you cant please keep away from Zambian affairs...I glad you are not a Zambian. Maybe the war in… [Read Full Text]
Nonsence Refugee, Go back to your camp you fool
Nosense. How could surely an editor permit such an article. You guys got, but next time a genocide, look for somewhere else to go not Zambia. How could you surely say such about my president. Now I know why Kigali means un-thankful fool. You truly are.
See all comments.
Its a shame on the editor of this article. You need to lean how to report with some respect and dignity and please have some respect in your articles. We Zambians are proud of the work LPM did and would not call his shoes dull.however your shoes may be the dull ones.