Mwanawasa death rumour sends shockwaves

ARTHUR SIMUCHOBA
Correspondent | Tuesday July 8, 2008 00:00

By Thursday, June 5, it was widely known in Zambia that the country's leader was ensconced in hospital in Egypt after being taken ill at Sharma el Sheikh where he was attending an African Union (AU) summit on the Zimbabwean political crisis.

The lingering source of concern was the speed and severity of the president's illness, as reported, that caught the country by surprise. However, the fact that things had come to that level was not beyond comprehension and was easily internalised by many people in Lusaka in particular. 

Still, that Thursday was extraordinary. The Vice-President's office had up to that point kept the country abreast of developments through regular bulletins on his progress in hospital. People hoped for the best and were beginning to take the matter in their stride.
But towards midday that same day, the tempo of things started to change.

Reports of the president's demise now came fast and thick, saying he had died in Paris military hospital where he had been transferred for treatment. Such reports gripped Lusaka, the capital city, and swept throughout the country like a veldt fire.

The sources of the story were mainly the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and British television channel, Sky News. It was said the two had broadcast a report to that effect that morning and were the more frequently cited sources and almost nobody talked of the South African radio station that had originated the report.

The 'bush telegraph' was clearly in sway and working overtime. Cell phones also went overtime.  By voice and text they spread the word. In no time at all, the city was saturated and the agitation was by now palpable. Not since the last attempted coup of October 1998 when heavy shooting was heard in the city has Lusaka been so agitated.

The most expressed emotion was sadness at this supposedly untimely end of Mwanawasa's life and presidency. There was a great deal of incredulity, too. The president was spoken of in more sympathetic and respectful terms than he usually is in normal times. There was a strong sense of loss - and nostalgia came to be attached to his name.

But discussions even touched on the question of succession and there was a great deal of confusion about it. The chief justice - and not the Vice-President - was said to be the one in line by quite a cross section of Zambians. Perhaps, not too surprisingly as this was the first time that Zambia seemed to come face-to-face with the prospect. The nation had never been anywhere near that before and it was difficult to even begin to contemplate it.

What was absent with all this outpouring of emotions was official confirmation of any sort at all. Is Mwanawasa dead? As time wore on and still there was no confirmation, a sense of unease and fear began to creep in.

Some hot heads still blamed government for withholding and trying to hide information from the people. 'They should just announce officially, why are they hiding, there is no point hiding a fact. The radio stations couldn't have broadcast it if it were not true,' they declared.

But with no confirmation still, many now began to couch their discussion of the matter in the form of disclaimers-carefully constructed non-committal statements. 

Those who had remained suspicious of the reports even at their height but were caught up in the numerous discussions that ensued were now retreating. They now were careful not to be seen to be the 'originators' or to be giving too much credence to the reports in case they were challenged worst of all by the police because it (death rumour) had every potential to disrupt public order.

With the police and the other security agents wanting to know its origins, people now started to talk of 'these liars spreading lies that could get you arrested'. Finally government quashed the reports through Television Zambia (TVZ) main evening News bulletin.

'The President is alive and in stable condition under treatment,' it said, rebutting international media reports that President Mwanawasa had died in Paris.

'Contrary to the reports, doctors attending to Dr (Levy Patrick) Mwanawasa, in a French military hospital are happy with the progress made and his condition remains stable,' said the statement. It described the media reports as 'malicious'.

They were triggered by a report on a South African talk show radio station. The report quoted an official at the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria as having confirmed the death. But strangely nobody answers to the name of the source among staff at the mission. 

For whatever reasons, it seemed a carefully planted and orchestrated fabrication, which some analysts believe was meant to foment conflict between Zambia and Zimbabwe, which Mwanawasa once described as a 'sinking titan'.

However, with confirmation from President Mwanawasa's wife Maureen, who was at his bed side that he was alive and making progress 'with hope,' reports of his death on June 5, seemed 'greatly exaggerated.'

The hub-bub of that day has of course greatly receded but the anxiety and uncertainty continue. The country has responded to Mwanawasa's illness largely with sympathy.

An inter-denominational service to pray for his recovery was immediately called at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka by the bishops. It was a well attended and moving prayer meeting that attracted people from all walks of life, including his predecessor Frederick Chiluba and his wife.

First president Kenneth Kaunda (KK) sent a message of sympathy and wished him a quick and complete recovery. Opposition leaders all publicly wished the President Mwanawasa quick recovery and messages of sympathy came from figures across the spectrum of Zambian society. Leader of the Patriotic Front (PF), the country's largest opposition party Michael Sata, even wanted to fly to France to see the president.

But government has discouraged people with such plans from travelling to France. Chief government spokesman and information minister Mike Mulongoti said such a visit (s) would be inappropriate at this time. The government is clearly not for it as the country hopes for the best but is wondering what was behind the falsehood that shook Zambia and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to the core.
(Sila Press Agency)