The president of Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa, has died in a Paris hospital where he had received treatment after suffering a stroke in June.
News of his death was confirmed by family members.
“Yes, I can confirm that the president passed on this morning,” said the relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mr Mwanawasa underwent urgent surgery yesterday in the intensive care unit at the Percy Military Hospital after a rapid deterioration in his health.
Vice President Rupiah Banda said on state television: “Fellow countrymen, with deep sorrow and grief, I would like to inform the people of Zambia that our president Dr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa died this morning at 1030 hours (0830 GMT).”
The operation had been hailed a success by doctors but the president’s condition remained serious.
Mr Mwanawasa, 59, was evacuated to France after he collapsed with a mild stroke in late June on the eve of an African Union summit in Egypt.
He suffered from frequent ill health during his presidency. It was his second stroke in just over two years.
He was airlifted to France on July 1st after initially being treated in Cairo.
Banda has acted as interim head of state of the southern African nation since then.
Mr Mwanawasa has been President of Zambia since January 2002.
He was one of the first African leaders to publicly criticize President Robert Mugabe of neighbouring Zimbabwe.
He is survived by his wife, Maureen Mwanawasa and their four children: Chipokota, Matolo, Lubona and Ntembe.
Mr Mwanawasa also has two other children, Miriam and Patrick, from his first marriage.
My sincere condolences to the family of Mr Mwanawasa.
My the galant heroe’s soul rest in eternal peace. You stood for the truth and your dream will be made into reality.
Fellow Zambians
May I extend my deepest condolences to the whole nation of (Democratic Republic of) Zambia at this darkest hour. May you remain stedfast in your quest for peace, democracy and stability and forge ahead with the principles that the late Levy Mwanawasa deligently fought hard to achieve.
May his soul rest in peace.
Go well our friend.
Gandanga guru.
Good people dont last rest in peace Mr President.It least you will be remembered for a good course in Zambia, Zambians dont disappoint him i know you will do it.Long live Zambians.
May you rest dear friend in eternal peace. we salute you for having stood by Zimbabweans during their time of need and to us you are a true hero. Tis is not a loss for Zambia only but for the whole of Africa.
may his soul rest in peace, good people don’t live long , levy knew wat democracy means and he was a man of principles who stood for the truth in politics . rest in peace father of democracy
Rest in peace, President Mwanawasa. Your death is a blow to Zimbabwean democracy. You have gone with a part of us.
well hope you rest in peace—–good people always die first so i take it kharma is next. i hope tsvangirai is a good person too. why is he running around africa talking nonsense for the next 10 days instead of taking part in the talks at home? mwana we****-i hope you are a good person.kuhura nana kharma-**** yemunhu.morgan is evil so he will live long.i wish he was a good person and all our problems will be resolved. this man brought sanctions to zimbabwe singlehandedly-morgan imbwa.ugly morgan
ugly morgan, just like your beloved Mugabe, you always capitalise on other people’s funerals to attack your opponents, you never miss such ‘golden’ opportunites.
Ugly morgan, you are a disgrace to africans. anything and evrything is ok, no matter how unafrican. Are you and your father bob so desperate that you dont know no bounds. you should be spending more time pondering the end game for your father. if you cannot see it ending in tears then you are really as ignorant as you sound. pan-african
ko mwari anotora vanhu vasina mhosva sei achisiya mugabe??
hey peter maputi and your brother i dnt get u guys , we are talking about levy ’s death and now u are diverting the whole point to tsvangirai. why dnt u guys just grieve with those who are grieving …. kana riri doro itai muchisanganisa nemvura uye mutange kufunga nepfungwa kwete kufunga nekus**** …manzwa ka vakomana
Its this guy who calls himself ugly morgan.How on earth can he talk like that when someone has died. These guys want every one to support Zanu its not posible. Rest in peace Mr President. I dont want to say who should have died, but i think i must say it “MUGABE” A disgrace in Africa.Zambian people hope you will forget soon about this you are not the only ones who lost true Africans cry with you.Please continue helping us.
me so sad!!
To all who view this site. The guy who calls himself ugly morgan,also calls himself scarface,ghostface and son of bob.All these names come from the same I.P address.
zita rake ndiye jesu anotora wanoda-i love that song and today i will dedicate it to mwanasa.
god be with you x
A sad loss for the people of Southern Africa. At a time when we were seeing the emergence of responsible leadership in Southern Africa, this is a bitter blow to the people of Zimbabwe in particular.
For you spoke for the good, Dr Mwanawasa I wish you well in your promotion to glory.
What a huge loss to the people not only of Zambia but all of Southern Africa. One can only hope that others elected into power can learn from Dr Mwanawasa about serving the people and not themselves. He was known for his adherence to the rule of law and anti-corruption and that is a rare achievement in Africa.
To Mwanawasa’s family – the man is gone but his spirit and legacy will live on and hopefully inspire others – thinking of you at this sad time, how proud you must be – 2008 has seen too many good people go too soon.
Please stay close and watch over us Mwanawasa – we need some great spirits to guide our leadership as southern africa is in so much trouble.
http://www.urlbaron.com/piccies/p7385
What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget.
May your soul rest in eternal peace
Eddie pinto (Uganda)
R.I.P Mwanawasa,we will not be discouraged by people like UGLY MORGAN….
Hamba kuhle mfowetu,Fambai zvakanaka,Go well our father.our path finder for democracy here in Africa. Its sad to miss you here in Zimbabwe especially now when our democracy is at its lowest erb. May your spirit continue shinning on us.
Mehmet, unenge warasika. Verengazve posting yangu. Ndiri kutotsiura ugly morgan kuti asashandisa rufu rwa Levy kutuka vanhu vaasingafarire.
condlce to o zambians
me crying
lets continue to be a united country.
Zambians take heart, God is in control!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
miss you papa levy.
It is sad that we lost a Leader at this time when we needed him most.President Mwanawasa was a good Leader though at first we doubted him.we will live to remember and miss him.It is my prayer that good will us a Leader.M.H.S.R.I.P