Sata, who happens to be Robert Mugabe's admirer, had during the campaign charged that should he lose the elections, then they would not have been free and fair. Yet in a free and fair election, a candidate must be prepared to either win or lose. The irritable 'King Cobra', however, has commendably decided to channel his claims of vote fraud through the courts. Africans should learn to resolve their differences through the due process of the law. It is time Africa did away with the prevailing thinking among African political leaders that cheapens the life of the ordinary voter. The close margin of 40 percent for Banda and 38 percent for Sata is good for Zambia's democracy. The ruling party is bound to be accountable to all Zambians. Landslide victories have tended to make the winning parties arrogant and unaccountable.Banda was sworn-in on Sunday in the presence of the new South African president Kgalema Motlanthe and - of all people - Robert Mugabe. Motlanthe was obviously there as the new SADC chairman. But Mugabe's presence was curious, particularly that his Zimbabwean March 29 and June 27 polls were characterised by much violence and took almost six weeks to announce the results. Very strange indeed!
