After Mwanawasa suffered a stroke while attending an African Union summit in Egypt on 29 June 2008, Banda became acting president.James Butty, "Zambian President Has Had a History of Hypertension, Says Information Minister", VOA News, 2 July 2008. He subsequently delivered a series of optimistic but vague updates on Mwanawasa's health. These updates were greeted with widespread skepticism, but Banda insisted that he had "no reason to lie".
