Post date: Jun 27, 2011 4:5:32 PM
Dignitaries from across Africa gather in Lusaka to pay their respects to the late Frederick Chiluba, former president of Zambia.
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA (JUNE 27, 2011) REUTERS - Digniatries from across the African continent on Monday (June 27) attended a funeral service for Zambia's former president Frederick Chiluba. The burial was scheduled for later in the day.
Chiluba was the second president to die in just three years, after then sitting president Levy Mwanawasa died while in office, in 2008.
A former trade unionist, Chiluba led the copper-rich country for just over a decade after defeating liberation hero Kenneth Kaunda in multi-party elections in 1991.
Hailed as a democrat for helping dismantle Kaunda's socialist single-party rule of 27 years, Chiluba was later charged with stealing nearly 500,000 U.S. dollars (USD) of public funds. He was acquitted of all charges in 2009, while two business executives accused with him were found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.His wife, Regina Mwanza, was last year acquitted by a Zambian high court of graft charges. Foreign governments, including the United States, questioned Zambia's commitment to fighting graft after the ruling. In 2007 a British judge ordered Chiluba to repay 58 million USD to compensate for money he was accused of stealing during his time in power.
That ruling, initially seen as a turning point in Africa's fight against corruption, was made after Zambian officials filed a civil case in London to recover assets owned by Chiluba and his associates in Britain and other European countries. A Zambian court later decided that local laws did not allow the enforcement of overseas rulings.
Slight in stature and famous for his sharp suits, the born-again Christian and former bus conductor entered office as a reformer, seeming to represent a new generation of African leaders. He left the post looking in many ways like an old-style African strongman.
Chiluba remained a close ally of the current president, Rupiah Banda, whose anti-corruption credentials were questioned after his government refused to appeal Chiluba's acquittal. Despite the controversy, Chiluba remained a popular figure in Zambia, one of the world's poorest countries, where his strong advocacy of Christianity won him many friends.
"Zambia will remain a Christian nation and it has to be like that. We enjoy the facility, we enjoy the peace because Zambia is a Christian nation. He was not ashamed, he declared it, and it is done," Reverend Peter Ndhlovu said at the funeral ceremony.
Chiluba was credited with dismantling Kaunda's socialist-based economy and launching one of Africa's most successful privatisation programmes. As head of the Organisation of African Unity, he brokered peace deals in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. At home he put down an attempted military coup in 1997, after winning a second term in office in 1996.