The recent general election in Zambia was characterised by two things.
The first was the ability of the varying political parties to campaign without fear of intimidation. The result was that, in a hotly contested election, the opposition party managed to gain power by a small majority.
The second interesting point was that the ruling party of the last 15 years mangnanimously accepted defeat, seamlessly handing over power to the newly elected President.
This general election in Zambia is a wonderful lesson to other African states, where it seems that the willingness to accept defeat in the election (Eg: Zimbabwe and others) is just something that is not implemented let alone contemplated. In this regard, Zambia serves as a shining example of what is indeed possible in 21st Century Africa.
