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Zambia’s former president Rupiah Banda died on Friday on the age of 85 after an extended battle with colon most cancers, his son Andrew informed AFP.
“He’s gone”, Andrew Banda informed an AFP correspondent in Lusaka.
The southern African nation’s fourth chief since independence from Britain served for 3 years from 2008 — a time period remembered for financial progress and corruption allegations.
Banda was vice-president when his predecessor Levy Mwanawasa unexpectedly succumbed to a stroke, propelling him into the highest job.
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However the veteran diplomat was defeated in 2011 elections, regardless of overseeing main financial progress throughout his tenure.
Zambia’s financial system expanded throughout Banda’s temporary presidency, primarily on the again of rising copper costs and a surge in Chinese language funding.
He pursued a building spree began beneath Mwanawasa, constructing much-needed roads, hospitals and colleges.
Zambia recorded a 7.6 p.c improve in progress for 2011, up from 6.4 p.c the earlier yr, for which Banda took credit score.
He had hoped the financial uptick would persuade voters to maintain him in energy.
Most of Zambia’s 17.9 million inhabitants, nevertheless, didn’t reap the advantages of mining and constructions booms.
Wealth accrued within the palms of some as corruption allegations surfaced, marring his repute.
In September 2011, he was closely defeated by opposition chief Michael Sata.
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Man of the land
Banda was born on February 19, 1937 within the small city of Gwanda in neighbouring Zimbabwe, then the British colony of Southern Rhodesia.
His mother and father had moved from neighbouring Zambia, previously Northern Rhodesia, to hunt work.
Banda returned to his nation of origin and later pursued his research in Ethiopia and Sweden, incomes a level in economics.
Within the early Nineteen Sixties, Banda began a diplomatic profession in Europe. He was subsequently appointed ambassador to Egypt, america and the United Nations.
Home politics caught up with Banda in 1975, when he briefly served as international minister after which mines minister for Zambia’s first president Kenneth Kaunda.
An extended-time member of Kaunda’s United Nationwide Independence Celebration (UNIP), Banda was additionally a outstanding businessman and an ardent soccer fan.
He led a number of state-run firms beneath Kaunda and was the proprietor of KB Davis, an organization that equipped mining tools in Zambia’s north-central copper-belt area.
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He additionally dabbled in sports activities and at one time served as vice-president to the Soccer Affiliation of Zambia.
Regardless of his achievements, Banda nonetheless forged himself as a person of the folks.
“Along with my political expertise I’m additionally a farmer, I’m a person of the land,” he informed AFP in a 2008 interview.
“I do know what it’s like when the rains are late and when a crop fails.”
Good friend of thieves
Banda had deliberate to retire from politics and finish years of lively engagement with UNIP to decide on a farm in japanese Zambia’s Chipata district.
However Mwanawasa dragged him again, naming Banda vice-president shortly after his 2006 election victory towards Sata.
When Mwanawasa died two years later, Banda out-manoeuvered a dozen different candidates from the now ruling Motion for Multi-Celebration Democracy (MMD) celebration to fill in for the late head of state.
He was quickly accused of awarding authorities contracts to his kids and slacking on Mwanawasa’s anti-graft campaign.
In 2009, Banda refused to attraction the acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba, tried for alleged embezzlement beneath his predecessor.
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He then disbanded Mwanawasa’s corruption process pressure, prompting Sata to blast him as a “pal of thieves”.
Banda introduced he had been recognized with colon most cancers in 2020.
Lengthy earlier than, he had re-married with Thandiwe Banda, a political science instructor virtually 40 years his junior.
When Banda took workplace, she grew to become the youngest first woman in Zambia’s historical past.
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