Chiluba is dead

SECOND Republican Presdient Dr Frederick Chiluba is dead. He was 68.
Dr Chiluba died at his Kabulonga home in Lusaka early this morning.
His spokesman Emmanuel Mwamba and his former press aide Richard Sakala in separate interviews confirmed that Dr Chiluba died shortly after midnight.
"It is with a deep sense of loss that we announce the death of second President of the Republic of Zambia Dr Frederick Chiluba this morning after midnight at 00:05 hours," Mr Mwamba said.
Dr Chiluba died with his wife Regina, his doctor and family by his bedside.
Mr Mwamba said details of Dr Chiluba's death will be announced later today. Dr Chiluba was a heart patient and had been unwell for several years.
By 03:00 hours this morning Dr Chiluba's body was yet to be removed from his home at 12 2B Serval Road Kabulonga to an unknown mortuary in Lusaka.
Several mourners had already started arriving at the funeral house by 01:00 hours. Among them was Dr Chiluba's former wife, Ms Vera Tembo and his children.
There were scenes of grief and wailing as a sombre mood hang over the funeral house as droves of people poured in as news spread about the death of Dr Chiluba.
Dr Chiluba's former press aide Richard Sakala said in an interview that "it is a sad and tragic loss coming at a time when he (Chiluba) has been vindicated by the courts of law."
Mr Sakala says he hopes the people of Zambia will remember Dr Chiluba for the good he did for the country.
Dr Chiluba was President of Zambia from 1991 to 2001.
He was elected republican President in November 1991 as leader of the newly-formed Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) when Zambia reverted to plural politics through a revolution of change which saw the one-party government of former President Kenneth Kaunda ousted from power after 27 years.
Under his 10 years of leadership, Dr Chiluba began to steer Zambia out of its economic doldrums through a rigorous privatisation programme that encourgaed foreign investments, a clear shift from the centralised type of government that had characterised the Kaunda regime.
He was born Frederick Jacob Titus Mpundu Chiluba on April 30, 1943 to Jacob Titus Chiluba Nkonde and Diana Kaimba in Musangu Village, Luapula Province.
Dr Chiluba went to school at Kawambwa Secondary School and later completed his General Education Certificate via correspondence and studied economics in both the United States and former communits countries.
He worked as personnel clerk before becoming an accounts assistant at Atlas Copco in Ndola where he joined the National Union of Building, Engeering and General Workers (NUBEGW) rising through the ranks to the post of chairman general.
The former President went on to win the chairmanship (presidency) of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). In 1987, he successfully withstood challenge to his chairmanship of NUBEGW that would have put his ZCTU position in jeopardy.
In 1990, he helped form the MMD that went on to successfully challenge the one-party government of Dr Kaunda. Dr Chiluba was elected President on October 31, 1991. He was re-elected for a second five-year tearm in 1996.
He stepped down at the end of his term on January 2, 2002, and replaced by Levy Mwanawasa who died in office in 2008.