Maravi

Sata disputes Rupiah’s victory

Sata disputes Rupiah’s victory
Written by Noel Sichalwe
Sunday, November 02, 2008 12:10:19 AM

VICE-President Rupiah Banda has scooped the presidential elections, defeating his three opponents. The elections were contested by Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata, United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema and Heritage Party president Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda.
Vice-President Banda won the Republican presidency after defeating his closest rival, Sata with a narrow margin.

According to the results from 148 constituencies out of the 150 as released by the Electoral Commission of Zambia on Saturday evening, Vice-President Banda had 708, 683 votes, closely followed by Sata with 682, 171. Hichilema had 346,527 while Gen. Miyanda trailed with just 13,263.

The elections, conducted on October 30, were characterised by high levels of apathy in almost all the constituencies with a turnout of an average 47.5 per cent.

As at 15:00 hours yesterday, Sata was still leading by 13,840 votes but Vice-President Banda had a projected dominance in the 17 constituencies that had not been counted.

Sata had 666,194 votes while Vice-President Banda polled 652,354 votes. Hichilema garnered 318,087 while Brig Gen Miyanda had 12,419.

The elections were called following the death of president Mwanawasa after suffering a stroke which led to his subsequent demise in Paris, France on August 19.

Late president Mwanawasa appointed Vice-President Banda in 2006 when he was re-elected for his second term of office which was due to end in 2011. Prior to his appointment, Vice-President Banda had retired from public service and was farming in Eastern Province.

Labels: ELECTIONS, MMD, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 12:11 AM