Zambia: Violations of the Harare Declaration by the Sata Government

In September 2011, Michael Chilufya Sata contested the presidential elections of Zambia on a populist mandate and won by a narrow margin over the incumbent President Rupiah Banda. Since taking over as president, Sata has embarked on an aggressive agenda to re-impose his vision of a one-party state, positioning his family and personal allies at the center of the economy while damaging Zambian democracy,human and civil rights, and rule of law.

Running under the slogan “more money in your pockets,” President Sata was elected based on ambitious promises to relieve poverty, cut taxes, and redistribute wealth all within 90 days. However, the president has failed to deliver on any of these promises and instead has opened a broad attack against the judiciary, the opposition, and Zambia’s frail institutional system of checks and balances to ensure that his party remains in power indefinitely.

This application to the Commonwealth’s Ministerial Action Group was prepared by Amsterdam & Partners LLP on behalf of the Coalition for the Defence of Democratic Rights (CDDR).

Zambia Commonwealth Report by John Chanda