 Prior to a planned summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in August 2007, Banda was sent by Mwanawasa to improve relations with neighboring Zimbabwe following Mwanawasa's criticism of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.After Mwanawasa suffered a stroke while attending an African Union summit in Egypt on 29 June 2008, Banda became acting President.He subsequently delivered a series of optimistic but vague updates on Mwanawasa's health.