{The battle for Zambia\u2019s presidency became even more of a family affair on Wednesday with late leader Michael Sata\u2019s widow joining the race to become the ruling party\u2019s candidate.}<\/p>\n
Christine Kaseba joins Sata\u2019s stepson Mulenga and his nephew Miles Sampa, who have also declared themselves in the running to be the governing Patriotic Front\u2019s candidate. The country is set to go to the polls on January 20.<\/p>\n
According to private radio station \u2013 Radio Phoenix, Kaseba said she was still mourning Sata, who was buried last week, but the pain of seeing her husband\u2019s work uncompleted would be more excruciating.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pain I am feeling will be nothing compared to the pain I would feel if president Sata\u2019s desires are not met,\u201d the radio station quoted her as saying.<\/p>\n
Lusaka mayor Mulenga filed his candidacy papers on Tuesday and told reporters the party needed a youthful leader to further his father\u2019s vision. \u201cIt is time for a vibrant, young and focused leader. We need to refresh the party while furthering the vision of my father,\u201d Mulenga said at a news conference.<\/p>\n
His cousin Sampa [Sata\u2019s nephew], the deputy commerce minister, has also said that Sata\u2019s death should pave the way to younger leaders. \u201cSata is the last of that generation that Zambians voted for. Some people are saying I am young and I will be controlled by others. Only my uncle used to control me,\u201d said Sampa, an economist by profession.<\/p>\n
At least seven candidates have so far applied to run for the presidency. Sata, nicknamed \u201cKing Cobra\u201d for his biting rhetoric, died of an unspecified illness in London on October 29. He was 77.<\/p>\n
He had ruled Zambia since elections in 2011. He has been replaced by Vice President Guy Scott until the election is held.<\/p>\n
Opposition party crisis
\nZambia\u2019s opposition was also plunged into crisis last week when former president Rupiah Banda claimed he had wrested the [opposition] party\u2019s nomination from a rival and vowed a political comeback.<\/p>\n
Banda, who is also 77, announced that a committee of the opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) had elected him as its candidate for the vote expected in January.<\/p>\n
But rival Nevers Mumba, who had long been regarded as a shoo-in for the job, challenged that assertion, telling AFP he was the party\u2019s candidate. \u201cI\u2019m not aware of such a decision,\u201d he said, adding that in a Sunday meeting, which he chaired, did not vote for Banda.<\/p>\n
\u201cConstitutionally, I am the president of MMD and I will stand as the presidential candidate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Banda, who holds no position in the party, said 19 out of 23 top MMD officials plumped for him as the party\u2019s candidate at the Sunday meeting held two weeks ago. \u201cWe have very little time for campaigns and all genuine MMD members should support this decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Banda lost the 2011 vote to Sata, and is currently standing trial for corruption as part of a crackdown led by the late leader. He has recently publicly hinted at a possible return to politics, saying he was legally eligible to stand for re-election if needed. \u2013 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{The battle for Zambia\u2019s presidency became even more of a family affair on Wednesday with late leader Michael Sata\u2019s widow joining the race to become the ruling party\u2019s candidate.} Christine Kaseba joins Sata\u2019s stepson Mulenga and his nephew Miles Sampa, who have also declared themselves in the running to be the governing Patriotic Front\u2019s candidate. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000055100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-17481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000055100,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17481.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17481.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17481.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17481.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17481.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17481.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000055100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17481"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=17481"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=17481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}