Zambia poll result a harbinger for ANC

Zambian president elect Hakainde Hichilema’s victory over incumbent Edgar Lungu is a lesson for the ANC that liberation credentials no longer count and the opposition can get into power in Africa.

Experts believe the Zambian election results indicated Africa’s quest for democracy was resilient.

“South Africa can learn from the Zambian example in terms of voting unresponsive governments out of power,” said Dr Sithembile Mbete, an international relations expert.

“Zambian opposition parties and politicians have been focused and resilient in their efforts. This was Hichilema’s sixth presidential campaign.”

The Economic Freedom Fighters said Hichilema’s win should inspire all opposition parties in Africa to “redouble their efforts for democratic regime change against despotic, brutal and corrupt ruling parties”.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) congratulated Hichilema for his “incredible” triumph.

His United Party for National Development (UPND) was the first party that believed in liberal values and free market policies to be voted into power on the continent, another sign that economic rather than political interests now occupied African voters’ minds.

Hichilema beat Lungu in the presidential election held on 12 August.

He is the second opposition leader to be voted into power after Frederick Chiluba, who defeated the country’s founding president, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, in 1991.

Chiluba’s victory shocked many South African Development Community leaders. The vote was seen as the first signal of a drift away from liberation party voting patterns on the continent.

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Zambia was followed by Kenya which saw an opposition coalition assuming power over liberation party, Kenya African National Union, in 2002.

According to Mbete: “Because of the period of one-party rule under Kaunda, Zambians appreciate
the power of their vote.”

DA federal leader John Steenhuisen said: “They have decisively rejected the notion that Africans are forever beholden to outdated liberation movement political parties that turn the state into an extraction machine for the connected few.”