Opposition to challenge Banda’s Zambian election win

RUPIAH BANDA, a pro-business centrist, was sworn in as Zambia’s president yesterday after a narrow election win, but the main opposition party said it would challenge the result in court.

Banda’s victory, if allowed to stand, will be welcomed by foreign lenders and investors, who praise his government’s conservative fiscal policies. Zambia’s economy has grown an average 5% a year since 2002, buoyed by a mining boom.

He had campaigned as the heir to late president Levy Mwanawasa, who died in August, and pledged to make no dramatic policy changes if elected in Thursday’s poll.