Africa bids farewell to Levi Mwanawasa

At least 10 heads of state from Africa have arrived in Lusaka Zambia, to pay their last respect to departed Zambian President Levi Mwanawasa who will be buried today in a state funeral that will mark the end of at least two weeks of national mourning. Senior officials from Europe and the US are also expected to be in attendance. Already, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Tanzanian and African Union President Jakaya Kikwete, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki have arrived in Lusaka.

Mwanawasa died in a French hospital on August 19, nearly two months after he was admitted as a result of suffering a stroke, while attending an African summit meeting in Egypt.

Mwanawasa's death has dealt a double blow to Southern Africa, not only generating fears of possible political instability in Zambia but also concern about the impact on the process of finding a solution in Zimbabwe. A fierce, Mugabe critic, Mwanawasa had earlier this year declared the Zimbabwe election "an embarrassment" .

When he narrowly won his first, disputed, presidential election in 2001, opponents dubbed him "the cabbage", deriding him as a stooge for others more powerful. Mwanawasa, a practicing lawyer since 1973, in reality made strides to fight corruption, secured healthy economic growth and kept politics clean. Debt was canceled; aid and investment poured in.

At some political risk, Mwanawasa turned against his predecessor and one-time patron, Frederick Chiluba, who was charged with 168 counts of theft.

Chiluba was convicted of graft in a civil court in London last year. It was a rare success: few African leaders have been held to such account.

Mwanawasa, who died at 59, leaves behind a wife and six children.