View source for Maureen Mwanawasa

{{Infobox First Lady
| name        = Maureen Mwanawasa
| image       = Maureen Mwanawasa.jpg
| order       = [[First Lady of Zambia]]
| term_start  = January 2, 2002
| term_end    = August 19, 2008
| predecessor = [[Vera Tembo]]
| successor   = [[Thandiwe Banda]]
| president   = [[Levy Mwanawasa]]
| occupation  =
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1963|4|28}}
| birth_place = [[Kabwe]], [[Zambia]]
| death_date  = 
| death_place = 
| spouse      = [[Levy Mwanawasa]] (1988-2008; his death)
| children    =
| party       = [[United Party for National Development|UPND]]
| alma_mater  = 
}}
[[Image:Laura Bush with Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa and First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa.jpg|thumb|250px|right|First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa with husband, President [[Levy Mwanawasa]], and [[First Lady of the United States]] [[Laura Bush]] in June 2007.]]

'''Maureen Mwanawasa''' (born  April 28, 1963 [[Kabwe]], [[Zambia]]) is a Zambian politician and former [[First Lady of Zambia]] from 2002 until 2008. She is the [[widow]] of former [[President of Zambia|President]] [[Levy Mwanawasa]], who [[died in office]] in 2008.

== Biography ==
As early as 2006, Mwanawasa was seen as a potential candidate for president of the country,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zambianchronicle.com/?p=315|title=How The G Factor May Help The MMD Should Maureen Mwanawasa Run|last=Mumba|first=Brainwave R.|date=November 26, 2007|publisher=The Zambian Chronicle|accessdate=4 November 2010}}</ref> but following her husband's death she did not file as a potential candidate to represent her husband's party in the [[Zambian presidential election, 2008|election]]. She, however, did suddenly clash against [[Michael Sata]] of the [[Patriotic Front (Zambia)|Patriotic Front]] when he came to pay respects to her at her husband's funeral, resulting in Sata being forced off the premises.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://zambianchronicle.com/?p=1339|title=First lady chases Sata from funeral …|last=Shacinda|first=Shapi|date=August 26, 2008|publisher=The Zambian Chronicle (source: Reuters)|accessdate=4 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7582398.stm|title=Zambia's mourning turns political|date=26 August 2008|work=[[BBC Online]]|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=4 November 2010}}</ref>

She is the past president of the [[Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS]] 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.

Mwanawasa was a [[Jehovah's Witness]], but in 2001 she was excommunicated for being actively involved in politics.<ref>[http://allafrica.com/stories/200112180439.html "Zambia: Jehovah's Witnesses Excommunicate Maureen Mwanawasa"], allafrica.com, 2001-12-18.</ref>

==Political career==
In May 2016, Mwanawasa announced her candidacy for Executive [[Mayor]] of [[Lusaka]] under the sponsorship of the [[United Party for National Development]] (UPND) in the [[Zambian general election, 2016|2016 general election]] held on August 11, 2016. Mwanawasa, who filed her nomination papers on May 30, 2016, received the endorsements of former [[President of Zambia|President]] and [[Vice President of Zambia|Vice President]] [[Guy Scott]], as well as former MPs [[Sylvia Masebo]] and [[Obvious Mwaliteta]].<ref name=lt1/> She pledged to curb the city's [[cholera]] outbreaks and water shortages if elected.<ref name=lt1>{{cite news|first=|last=|title=Maureen Mwanawasa vows to tackle cholera as she vies for Lusaka Mayoral post  |url=https://www.lusakatimes.com/2016/05/30/maureen-mwanawasa-vows-tackle-cholera-vies-lusaka-mayoral-post/ |work=[[Lusaka Times]] |date=2016-05-30 |accessdate=2016-08-21}}</ref> 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."<ref name=lt2/>

Mwanawasa placed second in the Lusaka mayoral election on August 11, losing to the [[Patriotic Front (Zambia)|Patriotic Front]] (PF) candidate, [[Wilson Kalumba]].<ref name=lt2>{{cite news|first=|last=|title=Former First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa loses in her bid to become Mayor of Lusaka  |url=https://www.lusakatimes.com/2016/08/16/former-first-lady-maureen-mwanawasa-loses-bid-become-mayor-lusaka/ |work=[[Lusaka Times]] |date=2016-08-16 |accessdate=2016-08-21}}</ref> Kalumba won the election with 270,161 votes, while Mwanawasa came in second place with 150,807 votes.<ref name=lt2/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{First Ladies of Zambia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwanawasa, Maureen}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:First Ladies of Zambia]]
[[Category:Zambian women in politics]]
[[Category:Movement for Multi-Party Democracy politicians]]
[[Category:People disfellowshipped by the Jehovah's Witnesses]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]