By Penny Dale BBC, Lusaka

Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa has sacked his sports minister, replacing Levison Mumba with a woman who has also courted controversy.

No reason has been given but the dismissal follows Mr Mumba's testimony last week against the president in a court case in which the opposition is asking the Supreme Court to nullify last December's election.

Mr Mwanawasa officially got 29% of the vote

Mr Mumba told the court that in November last year, when he was health minister, he authorised the use of a government vehicle for Mr Mwanawasa in his election campaign.

The foundation for Mr Mumba's dismissal had been laid in the past few days: on Friday, Vice-President Enock Kavindele reportedly asked him to resign; on Sunday Mr Mwanawasa told a delegation of women ruling party activists demanding Mr Mumba's expulsion from the MMD that Mr Mumba had "disappointed" him and on Tuesday the deed was done.

Mr Mumba was not available for comment. He is believed to be out of town, perhaps in his Petauke constituency in Eastern Province.

Corruption

This is not the first time Mr Mumba has been at the centre of controversy: his own election as MP is being challenged in the courts by the opposition, and during his short stay at the tourism ministry earlier this year, he was accused of corruption when he tried to issue safari concessions outside the tender process.

The opposition leader wants the December vote overturned

The judge said that Mr Mumba's move was illegal and blocked the allocation.

Despite Mr Mwanawasa's claims that he would fire any of his ministers as soon as there was even a whiff of corruption, Mr Mumba was merely moved sideways.

He has been replaced at the sports ministry by Gladys Nyirongo, her reward, say political commentators, for defecting from the Heritage Party to the MMD during the crucial vote earlier in the year to elect the Speaker of the National Assembly.