Levy Patrick Mwanawasa is dead. He died Tuesday at 10:20 am, in a Paris hospital. He was only the third president of Zambia since it gained its independence in 1964. He is the first Zambian president to die.
His death didn’t come as a surprise. Back in June he had a stroke. Since that time, there had been little information disseminated about his condition. It was always the same, “Let us pray for our Great President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa.” They always say his full name like that. As days became weeks, the lack of information spoke for itself. The country was abuzz with speculation. They were angry too, but only in speech, not in action. “Why haven’t they told us anything? When will they make a plan for the transfer of power? There’s only so long they can let us go on without a leader.” It didn’t help that parliament has been spending all its time trying to pass through a very controversial pay raise for themselves, especially because they suspected that elections would be happening soon.
All the uncertainty left us interns to speculate as well. What will happen if and when he dies? How peaceful will the peaceful Zambia prove to be? All I could think of were the numerous elections held around Africa in recent years-Kenya, the Congo, Zimbabwe, which proved to be less than fair and peaceful.
When word did come through of his death, I can’t say much became clearer. The government has been in the process of writing a new constitution, but it’s not finished yet. So the old rules still apply, I think. There’s a lot of confusion on the street about what exactly is the procedure from here. It seems that the vice president will continue the temporary power he has had until the funeral on Tuesday, after which the Chief Justice will be sworn in. Elections will take place in 3 months or 6 months, depending on who you talk to.
There was a palpable hush to the office on Tuesday afternoon. Everyone lost in thought. Whether about a leader they loved and respected, or uncertainty about the future. On Tuesday night, we turned on ZNBC, the national station, to find a live tribute show. It was somewhat laughable (however inappropriately) in that it had the quality of a small town public access show, with unsteady cameras panning in and out, focusing on not quite the right area and hosts looking at the wrong camera. But amid all that, there were some nice recollections of Mwanawasa, some touching music, and some fired up religious speeches.
Our Nyanja teacher told us today about what the funeral will be like. The president’s body is being flown from Paris into Lusaka on Sunday. People will line Great East Road, from the airport all the way to the Show Grounds, which represents several miles, to watch the body drive by. Traditionally when there is a funeral, anyone who wants to will come to the house to pay their respects. Everyone removes their shoes. The women sleep on the floor in the house. The men sleep on the ground outside. There is no way the state house could accommodate an entire country’s worth of people who want to pay their respects to the leader. So they decided to hold the funeral at the Show Grounds, where just a few weeks ago, they celebrated Farmer’s Day with the annual agricultural fair.
From Sunday until Tuesday, his body will lay at the Show Grounds, and some people will camp there the entire time, sleeping on the ground, partaking in the house of mourning. After the burial, nobody knows what to expect. The campaigning will begin. It’s not expected that there will be any serious unrest or violence. But it may also be best to steer clear of the compounds during the campaign because if anything were to happen, it would happen there.
Forget Obama and McCain. No doubt, experiencing a Zambian political campaign firsthand will be a memorable experience.
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