Opposition Leader Is Handed Reins in Zambia

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Source: The New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata, a 74-year-old veteran politician who had whipped up not-so-subtle anti-Chinese sentiment (China runs several big mines in Zambia), handily won the presidency in election results announced Friday.

It was a rare example in Africa of an opposition candidate’s cruising to victory and, perhaps more important, the incumbent’s graciously admitting defeat.

Rupiah Banda, who was elected president in 2008, tearfully acknowledged that he had lost and called for his supporters to recognize Mr. Sata as president, paving the way for a smooth transition of power. News services reported that Mr. Sata was sworn in to office on Friday.

Zambia, a sparsely populated, copper-rich country in southern Africa, had been ruled by the same party for 20 years. But Mr. Sata, a former government minister who once worked as a railway porter and is popularly known as “King Cobra” for his fierce tongue, tapped into anger about the deplorable conditions in Zambia’s Chinese-run mines.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/world/africa/zambias-presidency-changes-hands-after-election.html