ZAMBIA:CONFUSION SURROUNDED the health of the Zambian president, Levy Mwanawasa, yesterday when his government denied reports that he had died in a Paris military hospital after suffering a stroke.
A well-respected South African radio station, Talk Radio 702, first reported that Mr Mwanawasa (59) was dead, quoting a spokesman for the Zambian high commission as saying that he had "passed on this morning". The South African president, Thabo Mbeki, received separate confirmation of Mr Mwanawasa's death, and announced a minute's silence during a ceremony in Pretoria to mourn victims of recent xenophobic attacks.
As news agencies flashed the report around the world, tributes began to pour in for Mr Mwanawasa, who was rushed to hospital on Sunday during an African Union summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. His entry on Wikipedia was even amended to show he had died.
However, nobody in France or Zambia had confirmed that Mr Mwanawasa was indeed dead.
French government and hospital officials referred all inquiries to Zambia, where information minister Mike Mulongoti soon appeared on state television and radio saying that Mr Mwanawasa was in intensive care, but "making steady progress".
He said the person who spoke to Talk Radio 702 did not work for the Zambian High Commission and accused the South African media of "causing anguish and pain to the Zambian people". Vice-president Rupiah Banda later issued a government statement saying the president was "stable" and receiving treatment for hypertension.
Mr Mwanawasa became president in 2001 after defeating the incumbent Frederick Chiluba. He won a second term in 2006, shortly after suffering a mild stroke that required treatment in the UK. He is popular at home and abroad and had been expected to take the lead in censuring Robert Mugabe during the African Union summit.- (Guardian service)