His successor, former labor leader Frederick Chiluba, left office voluntarily though under a cloud, accused of corruption and abusing the political process.

FORBES: Democracy Is Under Challenge In Zambia

Mr Mwanawasa famously fell out with his predecessor, Frederick Chiluba, who had handpicked him to lead the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy.

BBC: Zambia's president dies in France

There, on Christmas day, the current president, Frederick Chiluba, who on his election in 1991 was hailed as a fine democrat, threw into jail his once autocratic but now elderly predecessor, Kenneth Kaunda.

ECONOMIST: Africa��s democratic despots