![[Zambia] Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata addressing a rally in Lusaka.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/200612626.jpg.webp?itok=RX4Ur3o2 "Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata addressing a rally in the capital, Lusaka.")
Zambia's democracy is being tested, analysts say, by the government's recent actions against the main opposition leader, Michael Sata, three months after President Levy Mwanawasa was returned to power in a controversial election on 28 September.
Sata's Patriotic Front party won all urban parliamentary and local government seats in the capital, Lusaka, and the country's economic heartland, Copperbelt Province, but lost in the presidential vote by 28 percent to Mwanawasa's 42 percent.
Undeterred, the opposition heavyweight has continued to hold political rallies, criticising the government's pro-market policies. Sata claims that these have been of no discernible benefit to ordinary Zambians - two-thirds of whom survive on US$1 or less a day - and neither has the 37 percent tax regime imposed on the country's 400,000 government workers. He also says the "bogus" Chinese investments in Zambia have created hardly any jobs.
Police have denied Sata permits to hold rallies, but have not disclosed their reasons. Sata was arrested for allegedly making a false declaration of goods and assets when filing his nomination papers for the general election, but the courts subsequently dismissed this as unfounded.
Sata's opponents have described his election campaign as xenophobic for attacking Chinese business practices in the copper-rich country. The Asian investors took advantage of Mwanawasa's generous investment terms, such as 20-year tax holidays, a 0.6 percent mineral royalty tax - globally the norm is 3 percent - with no duty imposed on imports of equipment and machinery.
The opposition leader recently told IRIN that "in fact, to every [one] Zambian in a Chinese company, there are about 15 Chinese. I have done my intelligence research and it is devastating to know that all Chinese companies are paying an average of $50 per month to Zambian employees."
Lee Habasonda, executive director of the Southern Africa Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes, a regional good governance watchdog, said Sata's arrest was a desperate bid by Mwanawasa to stamp his authority on his second and final term of office. "President Mwanawasa knows very well that although Sata's support is mostly in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, it is unlikely that there could be a backlash [against Mwanawasa], and this is why he is doing everything possible to get at Sata."
Sata's campaign rallies continue to attract huge crowds in the aftermath of the election. Deputy interior minister Chrispine Musosha had said there was a high security alert and banned all political rallies, "because of the endless attacks on President Mwanawasa and the First Lady, Maureen".
The ban was lifted a few hours later by interior minister Ronnie Shikapwasha, who condemned his deputy for issuing a statement without any consultation, and defence minister George Mpombo joined the fray, saying, "My government will continue suffocating Sata to the very end."
Analysts say the government's attempts to silence Sata have been distracting it from more pressing priorities, such as addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic: 17 percent of the sexually active adult population are infected with HIV/AIDS, the public health system is in crisis, and high levels of unemployment and poverty remain unchanged.
"The way government is focusing on sorting out Sata is very worrying and unhealthy for the country: it is diverting public attention from real issues affecting the people to mere rhetoric. We need to debate high tax regimes, the forthcoming budget and the stalled constitution-making process, but all this is not happening at the moment," said Chrispin Matenga, head of Development Studies at the University of Zambia.
"We might have a repeat of the first five years of Mwanawasa's rule, which saw the fight against corruption completely overshadowing development and yet, only one conviction was secured - it's like government is buying time."
Mwanawasa's first five-year term was characterised by an anti-corruption drive, in which his predecessor, Frederick Chiluba, took centre stage, but only Chiluba's former press aide, Richard Sakala, has so far been found guilty of corruption and given a five-year prison sentence.
Waziya Phiri, a spokesperson for the opposition Heritage Party, told IRIN: "The MMD government has failed to deliver, and this failure is now turning them into proper dictators, ready to pounce on anyone who points out their failures or weaknesses."
According to a spokesperson for the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy party, Benny Tetamashima, "We see no reason why Sata should insist on campaigning now. He just lost the election three months ago, and 2011 - the next election - is very far away. Why should he be campaigning now? We all thought, after the election it would be a period of peace and reconciliation."
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Sata's Patriotic Front party won all urban parliamentary and local government seats in the capital, Lusaka, and the country's economic heartland, Copperbelt Province, but lost in the presidential vote by 28 percent to Mwanawasa's 42 percent.
Undeterred, the opposition heavyweight has continued to hold political rallies, criticising the government's pro-market policies. Sata claims that these have been of no discernible benefit to ordinary Zambians - two-thirds of whom survive on US$1 or less a day - and neither has the 37 percent tax regime imposed on the country's 400,000 government workers. He also says the "bogus" Chinese investments in Zambia have created hardly any jobs.
Police have denied Sata permits to hold rallies, but have not disclosed their reasons. Sata was arrested for allegedly making a false declaration of goods and assets when filing his nomination papers for the general election, but the courts subsequently dismissed this as unfounded.
Sata's opponents have described his election campaign as xenophobic for attacking Chinese business practices in the copper-rich country. The Asian investors took advantage of Mwanawasa's generous investment terms, such as 20-year tax holidays, a 0.6 percent mineral royalty tax - globally the norm is 3 percent - with no duty imposed on imports of equipment and machinery.
The opposition leader recently told IRIN that "in fact, to every [one] Zambian in a Chinese company, there are about 15 Chinese. I have done my intelligence research and it is devastating to know that all Chinese companies are paying an average of $50 per month to Zambian employees."
Lee Habasonda, executive director of the Southern Africa Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes, a regional good governance watchdog, said Sata's arrest was a desperate bid by Mwanawasa to stamp his authority on his second and final term of office. "President Mwanawasa knows very well that although Sata's support is mostly in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, it is unlikely that there could be a backlash [against Mwanawasa], and this is why he is doing everything possible to get at Sata."
Sata's campaign rallies continue to attract huge crowds in the aftermath of the election. Deputy interior minister Chrispine Musosha had said there was a high security alert and banned all political rallies, "because of the endless attacks on President Mwanawasa and the First Lady, Maureen".
The ban was lifted a few hours later by interior minister Ronnie Shikapwasha, who condemned his deputy for issuing a statement without any consultation, and defence minister George Mpombo joined the fray, saying, "My government will continue suffocating Sata to the very end."
Analysts say the government's attempts to silence Sata have been distracting it from more pressing priorities, such as addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic: 17 percent of the sexually active adult population are infected with HIV/AIDS, the public health system is in crisis, and high levels of unemployment and poverty remain unchanged.
"The way government is focusing on sorting out Sata is very worrying and unhealthy for the country: it is diverting public attention from real issues affecting the people to mere rhetoric. We need to debate high tax regimes, the forthcoming budget and the stalled constitution-making process, but all this is not happening at the moment," said Chrispin Matenga, head of Development Studies at the University of Zambia.
"We might have a repeat of the first five years of Mwanawasa's rule, which saw the fight against corruption completely overshadowing development and yet, only one conviction was secured - it's like government is buying time."
Mwanawasa's first five-year term was characterised by an anti-corruption drive, in which his predecessor, Frederick Chiluba, took centre stage, but only Chiluba's former press aide, Richard Sakala, has so far been found guilty of corruption and given a five-year prison sentence.
Waziya Phiri, a spokesperson for the opposition Heritage Party, told IRIN: "The MMD government has failed to deliver, and this failure is now turning them into proper dictators, ready to pounce on anyone who points out their failures or weaknesses."
According to a spokesperson for the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy party, Benny Tetamashima, "We see no reason why Sata should insist on campaigning now. He just lost the election three months ago, and 2011 - the next election - is very far away. Why should he be campaigning now? We all thought, after the election it would be a period of peace and reconciliation."
nm/go/he
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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