ZAMBIA: Frederick Chiluba has an unshakeable belief in God. Since retiring as president of Zambia last year, he has devoted many hours to reading the Bible and receiving faith groups.
"He is a very religious man," says Mr Vernon Mwaanga, a friend.
But it will take more than prayer to save Mr Chiluba from an unprecedented investigation into his personal affairs which could soon land him in jail.
Investigators accuse the diminutive former leader of stealing millions of dollars of public money during his 10-year rule. They also accuse him of dealing drugs from his luxury Lusaka mansion.
Even more surprisingly, the investigation is being led by President Levy Mwanawasa, the man Mr Chiluba picked as his successor last December.
Western observers and ordinary Zambians say that the drive could set an inspiring example for other African countries ruined by poor governance and corruption.
"We Zambians are tired. Now we want to live in a clean country," said Mr Mutembo Nchito, a lawyer leading the investigations. One western ambassador said he had been "shaken and excited" by developments.
On Saturday police searched Mr Chiluba's house for drugs, a day after the High Court ruled that his immunity from prosecution could be lifted.
Documents and two hunting guns were confiscated.
However, fresh revelations yesterday have cast some doubts on President Mwanawasa's bona fides.
Yesterday, state television reported that Mr Mwanawasa was blocking his wife, Maureen, from appearing before a parliamentary committee to explain how she funds her charitable work.
In recent weeks Mrs Mwanawasa has been touring the country, handing out food and medicine in areas where her husband's popularity was previously low.
According to some local reports, she spent $155,555 in one week.
The revelation is seen as a blemish on Mr Mwanawasa, a portly lawyer who has otherwise confounded expectations since coming to office last December.
The preferred candidate of Mr Chiluba, he won the poll by a wafer-thin margin and was dogged by allegations of vote-rigging. The opposition taunted him as "the cabbage"; a reference to alleged mental difficulties following a car accident in the 1990s.
He famously retorted: "I am not a cabbage, I am steak."
In recent months, however, Mr Mwanawasa has silenced his critics. In parliament he launched a blistering attack on Mr Chiluba, accusing him of pocketing $20 million through a phoney arms deal and of slipping $56 million to friends and family via a London slush fund.
Now state investigators are investigating bank accounts in the Bahamas, the UK, France and Switzerland. Some heads have already rolled. A former aide and the intelligence chief are in jail, the chief justice has resigned and the ambassador to the US has been recalled.
"We have decided that corruption should be talked about and the guilty punished," said Vice-President Enoch Kavindele in an interview. "There will be no sacred cows."
Mr Chiluba vigorously denies the charges. Mr Mwaanga, who speaks on his behalf, said: "Where is all the money that went missing? I would like the person who says we took it to raise his hand and tell us."
Across Zambia, hands are shooting up. During Mr Chiluba's 10-year rule, a small elite became visibly wealthy while the rest of the country plummeted into poverty. As MPs voted to lift Mr Chiluba's immunity, tens of thousands of people massed outside the parliament building to egg them on.
"That Chiluba, he was a thief," said Ms Ruth Nakazwe, a young businesswoman.
To add to Mr Chiluba's woes, his ex-wife, Vera, is suing him for $2.5 billion; her share, she claims, of the wealth he amassed in office.