A former diplomat vowing stability and a fiery populist promising to aid the poor gear up Wednesday for their final rallies in a neck-and-neck contest for Zambia’s presidency.
The two leading candidates, acting President Rupiah Banda and opposition leader Michael Sata, have wallpapered Lusaka with their posters on dirtbins, bridges and lamp posts ahead of Thursday’s vote.
Radio airwaves jingle with Banda’s slogans, urging people to vote “for continued development” and “economic prosperity for all Zambians,” while Sata’s banners promise lower taxes and more jobs.
Economic themes ring strongly in a country that has enjoyed years of sustained growth thanks to soaring global prices for copper, Zambia’s main export.
Banda — the 71-year-old who took over after late president Levy Mwanawasa’s stroke four months ago — has built his campaign on promises to continue existing policies, which he says will boost the economy in one of the world’s poorest countries.
The retired diplomat had been seen as a political outsider when he became vice president two years ago, but he outmanoeuvred a dozen rivals within the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) to become the party’s candidate.
Banda is fending off a tough challenge from the opposition Patriotic Front leader Sata, a 71-year-old known as “King Cobra” for his stinging political skills.
Sata lost to Mwanawasa in the last election, but built a strong base of support in Lusaka and copper-belt towns that are home to most of Zambia’s jobs.
He has vowed to transform Zambia within 90 days of taking office by forcing foreign companies to hand 25 percent stakes to local investors, while embarking on social spending to provide better jobs and housing.
They are both expected to appear before large crowds Wednesday in Lusaka, to make their final appeals to voters.
Two other candidates are potential spoilers for either side in a close election, which will name a president to ride out the end of Mwanawasa’s term in 2011.
Hakainde Hichilema, 46, of the United Party for National Development, is seen as a dark horse contender, while former vice president Godfrey Miyanda of the Heritage Party is seen as an also-ran.
Sata and Hichilema have already voiced fears of vote fraud, accusing electoral authorities of planning to rig the ballots.
The election commission has denied the charges, but the controversy recalled tensions after the 2006 vote, when Sata supporters rioted for days in Lusaka to protest his loss.
Despite recent economic successes, the new president will inherit formidable problems.
More than 60 percent of the population live on less than two dollars a day, while more than one million people — of a population of 11.7 million — have HIV.
The commodities boom that powered recent growth now threatens to turn to bust, as global economic worries have sent copper prices tumbling by 50 percent from their peak in July.
Worries about the future and discontent about the way the ruling MMD has shared Zambia’s mineral wealth have earned Sata many supporters in Lusaka.
“In short, what people need is change,” Salinda Kayombo, a 49-year-old driver in Lusaka, told AFP. “The MMD’s term is through.”
“He said he’ll change the country in 90 days and if we reach 2011 with no change, we’ll chuck him out. Zambians are awake. We want someone whose promises come true.”
But Banda supporters argue equally adamantly that Zambia should stay the course.
“We want continuity,” said Prince Simwaka, a 28-year-old butchery worker who believes Banda will win. “I’m hoping that he’ll proceed with what Mwanawasa was doing.”
AFP
