Another chapter has been written in the extraordinary recent history of Zambia, the formerly little-known southern African country that happens to be the world’s fourth largest producer of copper. Late in September, incumbent President Levy Mwanawasa saw off main challenger Michael Sata to win the country’s fourth democratic election, defying opinion polls that had tipped Mr Sata to win.
Mr Mwanawasa, of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) party, secured his second and final term in office after receiving 43% of the vote, compared with Mr Sata’s 29%. The results give Mr Mwanawasa an even stronger mandate to the one he received following his 2001 election victory.
