I Zambia har kun kandidaterne fra præsident Mwanawasas parti MMD råd til storstilede valg-kampagner, og de vinder som regel også på grund af den overvældende opbakning fra regeringens side. Og oppositionen påstår, at der også tages ulovlige metoder i brug.
Valgplakater er der ikke råd til, så man bruger det, der er til rådighed - her et gammelt baobab-træ, der propagan-derer for UNIP, den tidligere landsfader Kenneth Kaundas parti. Kaunda blev tvunget ud af aktiv politik for længe siden, men bruger nu sine kræfter i en landsdækkende kampagne imod Aids, der er en alvorlig trussel imod udvikling i Zambia.

In Zambia only candidates from MMD, President Mwanawasa's party, can afford grand-scale election campaigns and they tend to win the many by-elections because of the overwhelming government back-up. According to the Opposition illegal methods are also employed.
There is no money for election posters so what is available is exploited - in this case an old baobab tree that propagates the candidacy of UNIP, the party of Kenneth Kaunda, who used to be the nation's father. He was forced out of politics long ago, but is now committed to a nationwide struggle against HIV/Aids, which is a major threat to development in Zambia.

The Separation of Powers:

To ensure democracy through checks and balances, there is a separation of powers just like in my own country:

- the Legislative (the National Assembly)

- the Executive (the president and his ministers, i.e. the government)

- the Judicative (the courts)

Freedom of the Press

While I was in Zambia, this balance of power was put to a test when Roy Clarke, a political satirist and British citizen with a Zambian wife and Zambian children and grandchildren, wrote his personal version of "Animal Farm" in The Post, the independent newspaper. This prompted the Minister of Home Affairs to issue a 24-hour deportation order. However, the Zambian courts annulled this decree, thus proving that the separation of powers does work in Zambia! According to the BBC, however, journalists are intimidated

Read Roy Clarke's Mfuwe and comments to the same!

Zambia - den tidligere britiske koloni Nordrhodesia, en koloni med raceadskillelse, hvor privilegierne var forbeholdt det lille mindretal af hvide - måtte kæmpe for at opnå uafhængighed, hvilket lykkedes i 1964.

Den første præsident var en af frihedskæmperne Kenneth Kaunda, der var præsident i 27 år og efterhånden ændrede Zambia til en slags socialistisk stat og til sidst med hans parti UNIP som eneste lovlige parti

Ved uafhængigheden var Zambia et rigt land med enorme indtægter fra sine kobberminer, selv om ressourcerne var blevet drænet pga. den 10 år lange føderation med Sydrhodesia og Nyasaland (nu: Malawi), hvor Nordrhodesia var blevet brugt som malkeko for Sydrhodesia. I det første tiår efter uafhængigheden blev der opnået store forbedringer i sorte zambianeres levevilkår.

Men da oliepriserne skød i vejret, og kobberpriserne raslede ned i 70'erne, gik det stærkt ned ad bakke med landets økonomi. En række andre faktorer, bl.a. "hvide elefanter" og eksempler på dårlig ledelse, bidrog også til den økonomiske nedgang.

Den internationale blokade mod (Syd-)Rhodesia, der i 1965 havde revet sig løs fra Storbritannien og dannet en uafhængig stat, hvor det hvide mindretal havde al magten, havde også medført en stor belastning af Zambias økonomi. Faktisk gik blokaden mest ud over Zambia, hvis infrastruktur var forbundet med Rhodesia og Sydafrika.

Præsident Kaunda støttede frihedskampen i det sydlige Afrika aktivt. Han er blevet kritiseret for meget, men han tilskrives en stor del af æren for, at der aldrig opstod stridigheder imellem Zambias 73 forskellige stammer som i mange andre afrikanske lande. Hans motto var "One Zambia, One Nation" (Ét Zambia - én nation).

Ved valget i 1991, hvor Kaunda havde måttet indføre flerpartisystemet igen, blev han og hans parti UNIP banket ud af banen. Zambianerne stemte for forandring, og den nye præsident blev fagforeningsmanden Frederick Chiluba, hvis parti MMD fik et overvældende flertal i Nationalforsamlingen.

Og forandring fik zambianerne, ikke mindste pga. pres fra Verdensbanken og IMF, der forlangte, at økonomien blev liberaliseret, og der blev indført brugerbetaling bl.a. i skoler og i sundhedssystemet - med en befolkning, der blev stadig fattigere.

Chiluba blev en kæmpeskuffelse. Hvis man spændte livremmen helt ind nu, ville man vinde i det lange løb, lovede han. I 1996 anslog WHO, at 80% af zambianerne levede under fattigdomsgrænsen, 25-30% mere end, da Chiluba overtog magten. Antallet faldt ikke, men analfabetismen voksede, og Zambia er i dag et af verdens fattigste lande.

Da Chilubas forsøg på at ændre forfatningen, så han kunne stille op til præsidentvalget for tredje gang, slog fejl, måtte han i 2001 overlade sit kandidatur til Levi Mwanawasa, der blev præsident med kun 29% af stemmerne. Noget af det første, Mwanawasa gjorde, var at anklage Chiluba og adskillige andre for korruption og misbrug af offentlige midler.

Mwanawasas parti MMD fik ikke flertal i Nationalforsamlingen, men det skaffede han sig lidt efter lidt ved at "købe" oppositionspolitikere med ministerposter mm. (Zambia har 60 ministre og viceministre!)

I juni 2005 fik Zambia gældseftergivelse, så udenlandsgælden blev reduceret fra ca.$ 7,2 mia. til $502 mio.

2006 blev præsident Mwanawasa genvalgt med 43% af stemmerne.

Den 19. august 2008 døde han af slagtilfælde, han fik halvanden måned før under Den Afrikanske Unions topmøde, hvor præsident var det sydlige Afrikas største kritiker af Zimbabwes præsident Mugabe og dennes valgsvindel..

I november blev Rupiah valgt til at efterfølge præsident Mwanawasa i de tre år, der resterede af dennes præsidentperiode.

Zambia - formerly the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, a racially segregated colony where the small minority of whites held the privileges - had to struggle to attain independence, which happened in 1964.

Her first president was one of the freedom fighters, Kenneth Kaunda, who held office for 27 years and gradually changed Zambia into some sort of Socialist state and finally with his party UNIP as the only lawful party..

At the time of independence Zambia was a wealthy nation with huge incomes from her copper mines although the ten years' federation with Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now: Malawi) had been a serious drain on her resources because she had been milked by Southern Rhodesia. Great improvements in the living conditions of black Zambians were achieved during the first ten years after Independence.

But when oil prices skyrocketed in the 1970s and copper prices dropped dramatically, the economy started going downhill. A number of other factors, e.g. white elephants and instances of mismanagement, contributed to the economic decline.

The international embargo on (Southern) Rhodesia, which had broken away from Britain in 1965 and formed an independent racially segragated state, had also put a heavy strain on Zambia's economy. Zambia, whose infrastructure was linked with that of Rhodesia and South Africa, had actually suffered more.

President Kaunda actively supported the freedom struggles in Southern Africa. He has been criticised for much, but the fact that there were no tensions between Zambia's 73 tribes resulting in violence as was the case in many other African countries is greatly attributed to him. His motto was "One Zambia, One Nation".

Having been forced to reintroduce multi-partyism, Kaunda and his party UNIP were completely floored at the landslide election in 1991. The Zambians voted for change and the presidential election was won by the trade unionist Frederick Chiluba, whose party MMD won the vast majority of seats in the National Assembly.

And change was what the Zambians got, not least due to pressure from the World Bank and the IMF, which insisted on liberalisation of the economy and introduction of user fees in e.g. education and health - with a population living in increasing poverty.

Chiluba became a huge disappointment. "Long-term gain for short-term pain" he promised. By 1996 the WHO estimated that 80% of the Zambian population lived below the poverty line, 25-30% more than when President Chiluba took office. The number has not decreased, but illiteracy has increased and today Zambia is one of the World's poorest nations.

Having failed to amend the constitution so that he could run for president for the third time, President Chiluba had to hand over his candidacy in 2001 to Levi Mwanawasa, who became president through only 29% of the vote. One of Mwanawasa's first accomplishments was to accuse Chiluba and a number of others of corruption and abuse of public funds.

MMD did not acquire a majority in the National Assembly, but little by little Mwanawasa acquired the majority by "buying" members of the opposition with ministerial posts etc. (Zambia has 66 ministers and deputy ministers!).

In June 2005 Zambia was granted debt relief and her foreign debt was reduced from approx $7.2 billion to $502 million.

In 2006 President Mwanawasa was reelected with 43% of the vote.

On 19th August 2008 President Mwanawasa died after suffering a stroke 1½ months before during the summit of the African Union where he was the strongest critic in Southern Africa of Zimbabwe's President Mugabe's election fraud..

In November 2008 Rupiah Banda was elected to succeed President Mwanawasa for the three years remaining of the latter's term of office.