AFRICA: Mwanawasa to be buried Sept. 3

ZAMBIAN leader Levy Mwanawasa, who died on Tuesday after suffering a stroke, will be buried in Zambia on Sept. 3, acting President Rupiah Banda said on Thursday.

"The body will be taken to provincial capitals and on return to Lusaka will lie in state ... up to Sept. 2 ... until the burial ceremony on Sept. 3," Banda said in a statement.

Mwanawasa, 59, died in a French military hospital on Tuesday after suffering a stroke in June. Banda, 72, has taken over as head of government until early elections are held.

Under Zambia's constitution, an election must be called within 90 days of the presidential office becoming vacant. The presidential term is five years.

"The cabinet has considered options and logistics including the transporting of the body from Paris to Lusaka, taking into account that the body has to be taken to the provincial centres of Zambia and for the burial to coincide with what would have been the late president's 60th birthday on Sept. 3, 2008," Banda said.

Mwanawasa was a favourite of donor countries for tackling corruption and turning the southern African nation into one of the continent's economic success stories.

The late president had led Zambia, Africa's biggest copper producer, since 2001, winning re-election in 2006. His economic policies helped produce strong growth averaging 5 percent over the last 6 years.

Mwanawasa's body is expected to be flown to Zambia on Sunday. A final resting place has not been decided on, but a cabinet minister told Reuters he would be buried in the country's capital, Lusaka.

"We are looking at two burial sites. The Heroes Cenotaph or his farm at Chalimbana," the minister said. (Reporting by Shapi Shacinda; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; editing by Tony Austin)

 

Reuters