by Dickson Jere
Lusaka - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who died on Tuesday aged 59, built a reputation as a darling of the West by daring to criticise Robert Mugabe and keeping a tight rein on his country's economy.
A lawyer by profession, Mwanawasa, who had been in hospital in Paris since suffering a stroke at the end of June, first came to prominence as a leader of the Multi-party Movement for Democracy (MMD) which ended the one-party rule of founding president Kenneth Kaunda in 1991.
His political career, however, was widely seen as over until he was unexpectedly plucked from semi-retirement by the outgoing president Frederick Chiluba who anointed him as his successor.
Continues Below ↓
It was a decision Chiluba would live to regret, later finding himself on trial for stealing millions of dollars of state funds as Mwanawasa proved that he was prepared to ruffle feathers despite a mild-mannered demeanour.
While Chiluba fumed at his protege, his neighbour Mugabe was also infuriated by Mwanawasa's lack of deference.
With tens of thousands of Zimbabweans heading north to escape the world's highest rate of inflation, Mwanawasa caused severe embarrassment to Mugabe by likening the state of his economy to the Titanic.
And when the rest of southern Africa's leaders kept quiet over opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's decision to pull out of a run-off election against Mugabe, Mwanawasa described their silence as "scandalous."
"Free campaigns have not been allowed, and the opposition have been denied access to the media," he told reporters.
His temerity in criticising Mugabe - in stark contrast to the much-criticised quiet diplomacy of South African President Thabo Mbeki - won him the enmity of the Harare regime who portrayed him as a puppet of old colonial power Britain.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
