Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa said on Tuesday that he can still perform his duties as head of state despite suffering a minor stroke that landed him in a London hospital two weeks ago.
”I am feeling very well, far better than when I went in. I am still not fully recovered but I will function,” Mwanawasa said in a telephone interview from London with state radio.
The 57-year-old president said he expected to be discharged later in the day but that he would remain in London as an outpatient. He could be returning to Zambia on Friday.
Zambia’s third president since independence, Mwanawasa fell ill in early April as he prepared to travel to the northern Copperbelt province for a campaign swing ahead of elections expected later this year.
When asked whether he was healthy enough to perform his duties, Mwanawasa said: ”I was actually worried, but to the contrary, I am feeling far much better. I fell sick just like anybody else, but I cannot promise that I will not fall sick again.
”I don’t intend to break until I have broken the yoke of poverty that holds Zambians,” said Mwanawasa, who took office in January 2002.
There has been speculation over Mwanawasa’s health with some opposition leaders calling for his resignation, arguing that he was not fit to govern following the stroke. — AFP
