Banda wins Zambian presidential election

THE acting president and ruling party candidate of Zambia, Rupiah Banda, won the presidential election by a slim margin amid opposition allegations of vote-rigging.

Banda got 40.1 percent of the ballots cast, compared with 38.1 percent for Michael Sata, Electoral Commission of Zambia Chairman Florence Mumba told reporters today in the capital, Lusaka. Sata's Patriotic Front demanded a recount after his lead was slashed in the latter stages of the count.

Banda, 72, faces a more difficult political and economic environment than his predecessor, the late President Levy Mwanawasa, who defeated Sata in 2006 by a margin of 14 percentage points. Copper prices have plunged by more than half in the past six months, undermining economic growth in the southern African nation, the continent's biggest producer of the metal.

“Mwanawasa's successor is set to take over an economy that is at a different trajectory,” Yvonne Mhango, an economist at Johannesburg-based Standard Bank Group Ltd., said before today's decision. It “will test his government's ability to minimize the impact on Zambia of a slowing global economy,” Mhango said.

Banda, who has been acting president since Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in June, pledged to continue policies that helped the economy expand 5.4 percent last year. Mwanawasa gave mining companies tax incentives, curbed inflation, cut government spending and sold some state assets, helping to boost private investment and allowing the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to cancel Zambia's debt in 2006.

Vedanta, Glencore

The country, which borders Angola and Tanzania and has a population of 11.7 million, is Africa’s biggest copper producer. Vedanta Resources Plc, India's largest copper producer, and Glencore International AG own mines in Zambia.

The kwacha slumped to a three-year low of 4,705 against the dollar on Oct. 29 as concerns about a slowdown in the global economy led investors to sell assets in riskier, emerging market assets. The government on Oct. 23 cut its economic growth forecast for this year to 6 percent from 7 percent as commodity prices plunged.

Banda's election may reassure investors about continuity of economic policy. Sata, 71, known as “King Cobra” by supporters for his aggressive political style, had promised to spread wealth generated from the country's natural resources more widely among Zambians, though failed to provide detailed economic plans. Sata's appeal was strongest among the young and unemployed in a country where 64 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Fear of Disruption

“The fear of disruption will rescind,” Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika, national secretary of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy, said in an interview.

“Concerns about the political and economic outlook are removed. People in this country have put a premium on continuity and stability. Had Sata been elected, we would have seen heightened anxiety amongst investors.”

A Sata victory may have also made running the government more difficult. The ruling MMD has 72 seats in the 158-seat legislature, compared with 46 for the Patriotic Front.

Sata said yesterday the ruling party inflated voter rolls to favor Banda, an allegation that the MMD dismissed. The Patriotic Front vowed it won't recognize Banda as leader until the courts rule on whether a recount of all ballots is warranted.

An observer team from the 15-nation Southern African Development Community said the Oct. 30 poll was “credible, peaceful, well-managed and transparent.” The Electoral Commission of Zambia made changes to the roll since 2006 that increased registered voters by about 4,000, Commission spokesman Akufuna said.

Banda is expected to be sworn in as president later today.-Bloomberg.net