MAUREEN MWANAWASA DIES
Former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa has died aged 60.
Maureen’s nephew and former foreign affairs minister Stanley Kakubo has confirmed in a statement.
“It’s with deepest and profound sadness and sorrow that the Mwanawasa and Kakubo family announce the untimely passing of our beloved mother, sister, aunt, and Former First Lady of the Republic of Zambia, Mrs Maureen Kakubo Mwanawasa,” he announced.
Kakubo who is also family spokeperson said Maureen passed away this evening at Maina Soko Medical Centre after a short illness.
“The funeral gathering is at her residence in Roma Park. More details will be communicated in due course,” stated Kakubo.
A lawyer by profession, Maureen became first lady in 2001 after her husband, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa won the presidential election to succeed late former president Fredrick Chiluba.
She was seen as a powerful and supportive figure in her husband’s reign until his death in 2008.
Maureen tried her chance at becoming Lusaka mayor on the UPND ticket in the 2016 general election but lost to PF’s Wilson Kalumba.
Since then, Maureen led a quiet political life and was often in the news for her law practice.
On her 60th birthday last April, Maureen got baptised at Twin Palm Baptist Church in Lusaka, exactly 22 years after being disfellowshipped as a Jehovah’s witness for supporting her husband’s political career.