Navy story.indd - Mars Group Kenya Publications

zambia
The Titanic sails at dawn
The opposition offered its voters refuge on Noah’s Ark, but it sank
and Mwanawasa is back
The polls were wrong and
Michael Sata lost to incumbent
President Levy Patrick
Mwanawasa, whose solid 42 per cent
of the vote came overwhelmingly
from rural areas. In some large towns
Sata’s supporters clashed with security
forces when late returns showed the
extent of his defeat, but things soon
quietened down. Hakainde Sammy
Hichilema of the three-party United
Democratic Alliance took 25 per cent
with a huge majority in his native
Southern Province. Former Vice-
President General Godfrey Miyanda
took two per cent and Kenneth
Kamwili Ngondo managed less than
one per cent.
Of the 3.9 million registered
voters, 2.7 mn. took part, a turnout
of 70 per cent, one of the highest in
recent years. Sata’s Patriotic Front
(PF) party was planning to petition
against the election result following
claims that some continuencies
overcounted Mwanawasa’s votes and
constituencies in Lusaka and the
Copperbelt undercounted Sata’s. But
Sata said on 17 October he would
refuse to sign the petition because it
worked against his new tactics.
The next five years In
his inaugural speech on 3 October,
Mwanawasa called for national
unity, praised his opponents and
urged them to consider working
with him because they raised
fundamental issues which cannot be
ignored. The ceremony, attended by
Presidents Hifikepunye Pohamba
of Namibia and Jakaya Kikwete
of Tanzania, was held under tight
security. Mwanawasa acknowledged
Sata’s campaign skills and shortly
afterwards left for a holiday to ‘reflect
on his next five years’. Some doubt
whether he can complete his second
term in office. He suffered a minor
stroke in April and may leave the dayto-day
running of government to his
new Vice-President Rupiah Bwezani
Banda. His energetic wife Maureen
Kakubo Mwanawasa is tipped to
take a leading role.
The capital, Lusaka and Copperbelt
provinces voted massively for Sata
who also picked up a huge amount
of votes in Central, Luapula and
Northern provinces, strongholds of
the ruling Movement for Multiparty
Democracy (MMD). Mwanawasa’s
former Vice-President Lupando
Katoloshi Mwape and his Defence
Minister Wamundila Muliokela lost
their parliamentary seats.
The decisive votes came from
Western, North-Western and Eastern
provinces, where Mwanawasa’s party
scooped up most of the parliamentary
seats. The MMD’s good performance
in rural areas rewarded its sound
agriculture policies: steady supplies of
fertiliser and farm inputs along with
an effective crop marketing system,
promoted by the Food Reserve Agency.
The President’s vote was substantial
even in areas where he came second.
Mwanawasa says the Bemba
people (one of whom is
Sata) have chosen to be
in opposition and he has
promoted many Eastern
politicians. The new
Vice-President Rupiah
Banda, 69, served as
Foreign Minister under ex-President
Kenneth Kaunda and helped turn
Eastern province from its traditional
support for Kaunda to the MMD.
Sata and Hichilema both disputed
the result but said they would not
challenge it in the Supreme Court.
Sata claims that there was systematic
vote-rigging. Verification, especially
on the Copperbelt, has shown that his
vote was under-recorded. Hichilema
claims the same pattern in Southern
province. Foreign observers gave the
results a clean bill of health, but local
monitors raised glaring disparities
and demanded verification. In some
instances, the recorded vote for the
presidency was far less than that for
the simultaneous parliamentary and
local government elections.
Sata’s parallel life Sata’s
PF gained total control of the main
urban municipalities in Lusaka,
Copperbelt, Luapula and Northern
provinces, where he says he will run a
parallel structure of local government
to implement his campaign promises.
He announced reductions of local
property taxes, asked his lawyers to
review a lease between Lusaka City
Council and Chinese investors to
give Zambians control of a big market
and urged Zambians to apply for
allocations of land within the city.
Mwanawasa threatens to jail
Sata for treason if he tries to run a
parallel government: ‘Sata is pushing
his luck too far. I will sort him
out’. Legally, local government is
autonomous, though the minister of
local government may dissolve nonperforming
councils. Mwanawasa
may consider dissolving PF councils
and calling by-elections; he says
‘Zambians forget easily’ and may not
vote for Sata.
Plenty of legal battles are
anticipated. Mwanawasa’s new
Minister of Local Government, Sylvia
Masebo, was politically groomed by
Sata when she was Deputy Mayor of
Lusaka and is a close personal friend
of Wynter Kabimba, the PF’s Shadow
Minister of Local Government, who
‘Sata is pushing his luck too
far. I will sort him out.’
has been assigned to supervise the PFrun
councils. The friendly rivals may
work for peace on local government.
After the election Sata’s militant
supporters overpowered the riot
police, torched vehicles and took
control of various slums in Lusaka
and Copperbelt; armed soldiers were
called in, and the violence ended when
Sata appealed for calm. Most security
personnel voted for Sata, including at
a State House polling station where
the presidential guards and their
families vote. Military barracks also
voted for the opposition and transfers
are expected in the defence forces.
On 8 October, at a football match
against South Africa at the 35,000-
seat Independence Stadium, fans
showed their support for Sata during
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