03:27 GMT 8th November 2011
Michael Chilufya Sata beat the incumbent Rupiah Banda with 43 per cent of the ballot, bringing an end to 20 years of rule by the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD).
'I promise to put Zambia first,' he told thousands of people at his inauguration ceremony later that day. 'As our democracy now passes its 20th anniversary, my first pledge as president is to fully commit myself, not only to the rule of law, but to the spirit of democracy.'
He added, 'My vision and my commitment to you today is to ensure that all our efforts are directed to creating opportunity for Zambians to participate in the economy, to provide for their families with pride and security, and to develop livelihoods and careers to utilise their talents and fulfill their aspirations.'
On foreign mining companies, which he lambasted during his campaign for their poor working conditions, he said, 'We will continue to work in fair partnership with the investors already in the country and welcome new ones. It is our hope that investors will abide by the labour laws of the country, ensuring that Zambians are not disadvantaged.'
Sata also pledged to create more jobs, reduce the size of government and tackle corruption. 'Corruption has been a scourge in this country and there is a wide link between corruption and poverty,' he declared.
This was the Patriotic Front candidate's fourth presidential bid. He lost by only two percentage points to Banda in 2008. Nicknamed ICing Cobra for his sharp tongue and abrasive style, Sata won huge support among the urban poor in a nation where major foreign investment in rich copper deposits has brought record economic growth but few benefits for 60 per cent of the population, who have to live on less than two dollars a day.
Now 74, Sata has had a long and eventful political career. He joined the independence struggle in his country as a trade unionist after working variously on the railways and in the police force. He became a local councilor and worked his way up through the ranks of the United National Independence Party to serve as governor of Lusaka under Zambia's founding president, Kenneth Kaunda. As governor, he earned a reputation as a man who gets things done.
Following the end of one-party rule in 1991, he joined Frederick Chiluba's newly formed MMD and was appointed minister of local government and labour, where he was credited with doing a good job of helping town halls run smoothly. He moved on to the health ministry, where he once again ran a tight ship. After being passed over as the MMD's presidential candidate in 2001 in favour of dark horse Levy Mwanawasa, he left in protest and set up the PF.
Characterising himself as a man of the people, he makes much of his humble roots in rural Northern Rhodesia, as Zambia was then known, and the fact that he once worked as a porter for British Rail at London's Victoria Station. He told one interviewer, 'I never got any complaints about my work. I want to sweep my country even cleaner than I swept your stations.'
The election campaign, which kicked off at the end of July, was characterised by intermittent skirmishes, culminating in polling booths and cars being torched on polling day, September 20, after electoral officers delayed the start of the voting process. Two days later, violent protests broke out in northern Zambia as the county awaited final results in what had proved a tight presidential race. With almost half the votes counted, Sata was in the lead. Police say demonstrators stoned cars and buildings in the cities of Kitwe and Ndola and set fire to a market in Kitwe, prompting Banda to appeal for calm.
Banda, also 74, was clearly the west's preferred candidate, given the free market credentials of his government. He made much of the country's economic growth figures, with GDP growth in 2010 hitting 7.6 per cent against the backdrop of a record maize harvest, increased copper production, and a boom in construction and tourism.
Presenting his manifesto as 'transforming and rebuilding the nation', his long list of 'landmark' achievements included a robust local currency, the kwacha, improved health care that included new and upgraded hospitals and health centres as well as the availability of anti-retro viral drugs to 89 per cent of the population, the training of 12,500 new teachers since 2008 and construction of 45 new high schools and 42 new basic schools, the repair of thousands of kilometres of roads and the completion of 67 rural electrification projects, with 24 in progress.
But these were not enough to persuade enough people to vote him back into power. Economic growth may have made the country's elite wealthier but it had failed to trickle down to ordinary people, who saw talk about development as mere hot air. In any case, many argued that the numerous initiatives he undertook were not his own but his predecessor's who died in office, Mwanawasa.
His decision to scrap a windfall tax of 25 per cent on mining companies, whose profits have grown on the back of record copper prices, angered many people, as did what Sata called his 'kid gloves' approach to corruption. It is believed that Banda had a hand in the acquittal of the late President Chiluba from his corruption charges, which dragged on in the court for a number of years.
The PF successfully put itself across as 'a people's party', promising 'more money in your pockets' and 'development in 90 days'. There were pledges of jobs for the country's unemployed youths. The PF also managed to survive the collapse of its unity pact with Hakainde Hichilema's United Party for National Development in the run up to the campaign, which left the opposition camp in disarray.
During the campaign, Sata continued to rail against Chinese investors, although he toned down his aggressive rhetoric as election day drew closer. In the past he has threatened to deport them, along with Indians and Lebanese accused of mistreating Zambian workers. There were unconfirmed reports that Chinese businessmen funded Banda in an attempt to keep him out of power.
It was thought that given his youth, Hichilema or HH would have been in with a better chance, but he trailed third with 18.5 per cent of the vote. Banda picked up 36.1 per cent. In his farewell speech to the nation at State House, the latter congratulated Sata in an emotional speech, wishing him well in his tenure of office. 'We did a lot of good for Zambia,' he said. 'Many of our projects will blossom into bright flowers. My greatest thanks go to the Zambian people. We may be a small nation in the middle of Africa but we are a great nation.'
Afterwards he told reporters, 'The people of Zambia have spoken and we must all listen.' He was later booed by Sata's supporters at the inauguration ceremony.
In his inauguration speech Sata said one of the pitfalls of the previous government was its 'kid gloves' approach to corruption. He also called upon every Zambian to be prepared for hard work and declared that he would launch a path for economic revival within 90 days and reduce the escalating poverty levels. Citizens were also urged to provide checks and balances to ensure that 'your government' performs to acceptable standards.
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