Zambia: Who is Michael Sata?

1. Sata was born around 1937 in Mpika, North Province, Zambia.


2. In the mid-1980s Sata became Govenor of Lusaka.

3.  In the 1990s as Local Government minister, Sata introduced the notorious public nuisance law that prohibited spitting, urinating and defecating in public.

4. In 2001, Sata left the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) and, together with a Zambian of Scottish origin Guy Scott, formed a two-man party, the Patriotic Front (PF). Scott is now Zambia's Vice President.

5. Prior to the 2006 election Sata raused crowds with his anti-China rhetoric. At the time influential international investors threatened that they would pull funding if Sata was elected.

6. Over the years Sata built a firm support base comprised of the urban masses and constituents from his home Northern province. Although Sata has softened his anti-China stance, he still insists that foreign investors should not bring people from their country to take unskilled jobs and demands a good wage for Zambian workers.

6. By 2011 Sata had the (unoffocial) support of former President Kaunda and his sons - Panji, Waza, and Kaweche. Kaweche stood for election as an MP under the PF ticket.

7. Sata has earned his nickname 'King Cobra' for his biting tongue and non-nonsense 'Man of Action' image.

8. In his acceptance speech Sata said he was committed to fight corruption which he assigned as a major cause of poverty. He said, "Corruption has been a scourge in this country and there is a wide link between corruption and poverty."

9. Sata is a Catholic, is married to a Doctor and has eight children.

Zambia: How will Sata handle the economy?

Quote from Reuters:

"It is unclear how the earthy populism and Christian zeal that won him votes among those who felt the fruits of economic liberalisation had passed them by will sit with the outsiders who have ploughed billions of dollars into the economy."

Guinea: Tensions mount amidst electoral uncertainty

A new ICG report suggests that social and political tension is mounting in Guinea in the run-up to the legislative elections scheduled for the end of December.

While initially planning to create a new election register the report highlights that as of now dialogue has failed to facilitate any agreement on either "the composition and functioning of the INEC, the electoral register and the elections date", noted as key bones of contention. 

Guinea regained democratic status following the 2010 elections, hailed as the freest and fairest the country had seen. Since his installation as President however, Alpha Conde's position has been less than certain including a failed assassination attempt on July 19th 2011.

As of today, protests marches have been banned as the opposition accuse the president of planning to rig the upcoming elections.

As the report argues, there is a urgent need for the building of consensus on election plans to ensure a timely election in December with a delay likely to result in further instability jeopardising Guinea's immediate democratic future.

Election Calendar for the rest of 2011

2011 has been a big year for elections in Africa with as many as 21 Presidential and Parliamentary polls scheduled to take place. 

Nine months in and there is still a lot more African electoral activity on the horizon:

9/26/2011- Rwanda (Parliamentary)

9/29/2011- Seychelles (Parliamentary)

10/09/2011- Cameroon (Presidential)

10/11/2011- Liberia (Presidential)

10/16/2011- Mauritania (Parliamentary, Local)

11/24/2011- The Gambia (Presidential)

11/27/2011- DRC (Presidential)

12/11/2011- Cote d'Ivoire (Parliamentary) 

12/29/2011- Guinea (Parliamentary)

December 2011- Gabon (Parliamentary)-  (post-poned until next year)

Happy election-watching!