But after Mwape lost the parliamentary election, Mwanawasa sent him to China as a diplomat, saying he was loyal to him and the party.

That is how Mwanawasa brought in President Rupiah Banda, who had "retired from active politics in UNIP," and was farming in Chipata, Eastern province, as vice president by first nominating him as an Member of Parliament (MP).

Mwape had been fired by Mwanawasa as a minister after wrong information reached the deceased head of state.

But in 2004, the then vice-president Nevers Mumba alleged in Ndola that some of the people in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were sponsoring an opposition political party in Zambia .

At that time, President Mwanawasa was in New York for a United Nations gathering. He organised a meeting with DRC President Joseph Kabila to apologise on behalf of Zambia over the statement that was made by his deputy.

When Mwanawasa returned back to Zambia , Mumba insisted that he did not regret having issued the statement that some people in the DRC were sponsoring an opposition political party in Zambia .

Mumba had been embroiled in a verbal war with the Congolese embassy officials in Lusaka when Mwanawasa was away in the United States of America (USA).

Mwanawasa fired Mumba as vice-president and also revoked the vice president's appointment as nominated MP.

He decided to appoint Mwape who had not issued any statement against Mwanawasa or the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) when he was fired as minister of education.But prior to the September 28, 2006 general elections, the MMD decided to hold the national convention.

One of the positions that attracted much interest was that of the vice-president, which three prominent Lusaka businessmen, Elias Mpondela, Bwalya Chiti and Captain Austin Chewe, were eyeing.

After the three declared their interests, Mwape as republican vice-president decided to challenge them.

However, before the convention was held, a rumour circulated that some of vice presidential hopefuls wanted to use that position as a springboard to challenge Mwanawasa for the position of party-president.

As a result, the convention went ahead but the election for the position of vice-president was suspended, which has resulted in the MMD not having an elected vice-president up to this day.

Some analysts say that vice-president Mwape would have lost the election to one of the businessmen and that Mwanawasa saved his face from political defeat.

At that time, one of three businessmen, Captain Chewe, had provided motor vehicles for campaign managers throughout the country and had also printed T-shirts that had a wide distribution.

In 1996, second president Chiluba decided to announce the names of the parliamentary candidates for the MMD in Kabwe and told the people of Kabwe Central that their candidate was the late Paul Tembo.

As a result of that decision, the people of Kabwe rioted, leading to president Chiluba being evacuated by security personnel from the platform at Kansanda Square . People of Kabwe rioted, smashing vehicle windscreens and window panes for shops because they were in favour of Captain Chewe, who was a prominent businessman in Kabwe.

When the parliamentary election came, Captain Chewe stood as an independent for Kabwe Central Constituency, won with a landslide victory, embarrassing Tembo who had the support of Chiluba.

Although the party saved Mwape's face at the convention prior to the 2006 party convention, by that time the opposition PF had become strong in the Northern Province , where Mwape's constituency was.

Mwape lost the Lukashya seat in Kasama the 2006 general election to the PF candidate.After Mwanawasa died, the bigger chance of becoming President was with President Rupiah Banda who was the vice-president.

Former vice-president Mumba, who had challenged Mwanawasa, decided to support Banda. That is how Banda has been sent into diplomatic service to Canada .

Government has also appointed Mpondela, who intended to challenge Mwape for the position of MMD vice-president, to head the National Housing Authority.

MMD's Burton Mugala, a former Zambian soccer team striker, lost the election by a big margin to PF's Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, a Lusaka businessman popularly known as GBM.

The Kasama Central seat fell vacant after PF legislator Saviour Chishimba resigned from the party and Parliament.

Meanwhile, Mwape has refuted reports that he sent a container of salaula (second-hand clothes) to support the PF, which captured the Kasama Central seat in last month's bye-election.

Mwape told the local press that the salaula was meant for the vulnerable orphans in his family.

The former vice-president is a former Zambia Air Force airman who had also served as Communications and Transport minister in the second President Chiluba's government. (Sila Press Agency)