VICE-PRESIDENT ATTENDED
JEHOVAH
MEETINGS
Investigator 125, 2009 March
Levy Patrick
MWANAWASA
(1948-2008) was the third president of Zambia elected 2001, re-elected
in 2006. Before that he was Zambia’s vice-president in 1991-1994.
Mwanawasa
attended JW
meetings until 2001 but was not a baptized member. His wife, Maureen,
was baptized but disfellowshipped in 2001 for involvement in
politics.
An
interview with Mwanawasa
after his wife’s disfellowshipping was reported on the Internet as
follows:
Mr
Mwanawasa
also said he believed in the participation of everybody in the
country’s politics, without undue interference.
Referring
to a question
on his participation in politics contrary to the beliefs of Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Mr Mwanawasa, before revealing the action against his wife,
said the Bible recognised respect for civic authority. He said he had
often referred to Romans Chapter 13 verses 1-7 which particularly
discussed how civic authority shall be respected.
The …
presidential
hopeful
explained that even Jehovah's Witnesses applied for national
registration cards (NRCs) and saw no reason why they should not obtain
voters' cards.
The
couple had four
children and Levy had two more from his first marriage. After leaving
JWs, Mwanawasa and wife reportedly joined the Baptists.