Acting Zambian leader Rupiah Banda was declared the winner of the presidential election yesterday but opposition rival Michael Sata has vowed to challenge what he says was a rigged poll.
Banda, a pro-business centrist who became acting president after Levy Mwanawasa died of a stroke in August, pulled ahead of Sata on Saturday night after trailing the challenger during two days of vote counting.
Banda won 40.09 percent of the vote to Sata’s 38.13 percent, with nearly 1.8 million ballots cast, Electoral Commission of Zambia chairwoman Florence Mumba said.
Voter turnout out was 45 percent, she said.
When Banda overtook Sata late on Saturday, scores of opposition supporters marched through a crowded Lusaka slum, setting fire to market stalls and throwing stones in the streets, witnesses said.
Riot police fired tear-gas at the Patriotic Front (PF) supporters, who quickly dispersed, police spokesman Benny Kapeso told reporters.
“We intervened quickly and managed to bring the situation to normal,” he said.
Zambia is Africa’s largest copper producer and any political turmoil could unsettle foreign investors, particularly those in the mining sector.
Sata’s party said that Thursday’s vote was marked by discrepancies between vote tallies and the number of voters on registration lists.
“I have evidence that results are being inflated ... They cheated me in 2006 and they want to do the same,” an angry Sata told journalists in the Lusaka conference hall where officials were announcing the results.
“The PF will not recognize Mr. Banda until the court gives us reason to do so,” party spokesman Given Lubinda said on Saturday.
Sata, a populist with strong support among workers and the poor, made the same charge two years ago when he lost the presidential election to Mwanawasa.
Tensions were high in the capital, a Sata stronghold.
Police maintained a strong presence at key points around the capital as the final results were announced.
Banda was expected to be sworn in later yesterday as Zambia’s fourth head of state, and some regional leaders were expected to attend the inauguration ceremony.
Election officials said the count had proceeded slowly, but defended their actions. Independent election monitors have noted some irregularities in the poll but have stopped short of condemning the vote.
The winner faces the formidable task of matching Mwanawasa’s strong record of fiscal discipline, praised by Western donors and investors, and fighting corruption, two rare successes in Africa.
Banda had hoped to benefit from Zambia’s relative prosperity as well as Mwanawasa’s popularity. He vowed to maintain the government’s pro-business policies if elected.
The economy had been the main campaign issue, since prices for copper are dropping, inflation is rising and fears of interest rate hikes are growing.
Banda, running to complete the three years left of Mwanawasa’s second term, had promised to stick with his predecessor’s free market policies under which foreign investment in Zambia increased from US$71.7 million in 2001 to an estimated US$4 billion last year — with US$1 billion of that from China.
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