Till then, political transitions in the continent had occurred through the barrel of the gun, death of the incumbent or retirement where a hand-picked successor took over after other contenders had been unceremoniously locked out.
Now Zambia is once again in the headlines after another democratic transition in an era where incumbents are becoming increasingly difficult to remove through the ballot. After three failed attempts, Michael 'King Cobra' Sata, a former political enforcer of past regimes, has dislodged Rupiah Banda from the Zambian State House through the ballot and not bullet. For the second time, a Zambian president has lost an election he 'organised'. This is a first in a continent where yesterday's liberators have become today's monsters - clinging to power by hook or crook. Whenever such dictators leave, they make sure they install their hand-picked puppets whom they would manipulate behind the scenes. What happened in Zambia last week must be rude news to entrenched African dictators, one of whom was once reputed to have mused loudly how a tyrant can lose an election he has organised. While third generation African leaders are becoming almost impossible to remove and some - who have left power - rule through their proxies, we hope that once again, the Zambian example will be emulated elsewhere just like the 1991 elections set the trend.
