Maureen Mwanawasa (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Kakubo; born April 28, 1963) is a legal practitioner and was once a

First Lady of Zambia First Lady of Zambia is the title attributed to the wife of the president of Zambia. Zambia's current first lady is Mutinta Hichilema, who has held the office since 24 August 2021. The first lady of Zambia plays the ceremonial role of the spouse ...

from 2002 to 2008. She is also a member of the Association of Women Lawyers in the United Kingdom, a serving council member of

Law Association of Zambia Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

Women’s Rights Committee, and is the current Vice Chairperson for the

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

, Zambia Board. She is the current Patron of Breakthrough Cancer Trust and the Child Care & Adoption Society of Zambia.

Biography

Maureen Kakubo Mwanawasa was born in Kabwe, in the Central Province of Zambia on April 28, 1963 to Jeniya Lupumpaula Chilunga Kakabo and Lupumpaula Buluwayo Kakubo. She was the eighth born in a family of 10 children (including a set of twins), 6 boys and 4 girls. She started her school in 1970 at the age of seven at Raphael Kombe Primary School in Chimanimani Township in Kabwe. In 1976 she was accepted to go to St. Mary's Secondary School in Maramba, Livingstone, Southern Province of Zambia from form 1 until her compilation in 1981. Mwanawasa met her future husband,

Levy Mwanawasa Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia. He served as president from January 2002 until his death in August 2008. Mwanawasa is credited with having initiated a campaign to rid the corrupti ...

in Kabwe where they went on to get married on 7 May 1987. The couple have 4 children together, 3 girls and 1 boy. She campaigned with her husband during his 2001 elections when run for the presidency of Zambia and won the elections held on 27 December 2001 and took office on 2nd January, 2022. As early as 2006, Mwanawasa was seen as a potential candidate for president of the country, but following her husband's death she did not file as a potential candidate to represent her husband's party in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

. She, however, did suddenly clash against

Michael Sata Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who was the fifth president of Zambia, from 23 September 2011 until his death on 28 October 2014. A social democrat, he led the Patriotic Front (PF), a maj ...

of the Patriotic Front when he came to pay respects to her at her husband's funeral, resulting in Sata being forced off the premises. She is the past president of the

Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS The Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), originally formed as the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 by 37 African first la ...

and founder of the Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative (MMCI) in 2002. She was also the joint owner of Mwanawasa & Company, her husband's law firm, until he entered into politics and left his private practice. She was awarded the International Hope Award by World Vision in 2006. Mwanawasa was a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ev ...

, but in 2001 she was excommunicated for being actively involved in politics."Zambia: Jehovah's Witnesses Excommunicate Maureen Mwanawasa"
allafrica.com, 2001-12-18. She is currently a Baptist Christian.

Political career

In May 2016, Mwanawasa announced her candidacy for Executive

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

under the sponsorship of the

United Party for National Development The United Party for National Development (UPND) is a social liberal political party in Zambia, led by Hakainde Hichilema, the current president of the country. The party is an observer member of the Africa Liberal Network. History The UPND was ...

(UPND) in the 2016 general election held on August 11, 2016. Mwanawasa, who filed her nomination papers on May 30, 2016, received the endorsements of former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Guy Scott Guy Lindsay Scott (born 1 June 1944) is a Zambian politician, who served as acting President of Zambia from 2014 to 2015, and was the Vice President from 2011 to 2014. Scott became acting President upon Michael Sata's death in office on 28 ...

, as well as former MPs

Sylvia Masebo Sylvia Masebo (born March 7, 1963) is a Zambian entrepreneur, politician, and National Assembly of Zambia representative for Chongwe constituency with the United Party for National Development (UPND). Sylvia Masebo holds a degree in Banking and F ...

and Obvious Mwaliteta. She pledged to curb the city's

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

outbreaks and water shortages if elected. Mwanawasa also promised to clean up the city's chronic garbage and litter problems by creating a now garbage collection system, saying "Everywhere you look around in Lusaka, there is garbage and this should change starting this week when we form government. There is no way our beautiful city can be floating on garbage...The levels of indiscriminate disposal of garbage in Lusaka city are alarming. When you are on the streets of Lusaka, you look west you see garbage, you look east you see garbage, you look north, it’s garbage, you look south it’s garbage. This is unacceptable. Would you like it if your house was filled with garbage and there is bad odour all around? The answer is no. We need to maintain our hygiene and stay healthy and fit. It is our duty to keep our city clean not only for us, but also for the people visiting our city and also for the future generations." Mwanawasa placed second in the Lusaka mayoral election on August 11, losing to the Patriotic Front (PF) candidate, Wilson Kalumba. Kalumba won the election with 270,161 votes, while Mwanawasa came in second place with 150,807 votes.

Personal life

Maureen Mwanawasa is the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

of former

, who

died in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The dea ...

in 2008 and is a mother of four (4) including Chipokota Mwanawasa a Zambian lawyer and entrepreneur.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwanawasa, Maureen Living people First Ladies of Zambia Movement for Multi-Party Democracy politicians People disfellowshipped by the Jehovah's Witnesses 1963 births People from Kabwe District