Following the death of former Zambian President, Michael Sata, Edgar Lungu was sworn in as the new president of Zambia. Lungu won a close election, beating out rival Hakainde Hichilema by less than 2% of the vote. Lunge will carry out the rest of Sata's presidential term until new elections come around in the fall of 2016. Previously, Edgar Lungu served as the head of the Justice and Defense Ministries under from President Sata. Lunge comes from the same political party as Michael Sata. Less than half of the Zambian population came out to vote in this election. Rival candidate Hakainde Hichilema called the outcome "fraudulent" as he believed he should have won. The new government has already increased taxes on mining companies. Zambia's economy relies heavily on mining and these new taxes could cost citizens their jobs.
Could the election of President Lungu cause a civil war in Zambia? Could this war possibly be led by presidential contender Hakainde Hichilema? With the taxes being raised on mining companies, citizens could possibly become very angry if their jobs are taken away. Hichilema is already angry about not winning the presidential office, so he could possibly jump right in with rebel citizens and start a war. It is hard to pay employees' salaries if companies have their taxes increased. The citizens want to earn money and they cannot earn money if they do not have jobs. The government needs to listen to their citizens and take account for what they want, so a civil war does not break out. A civil war would be more destructive to an economy and country as a whole if a civil war does indeed take place.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/world/africa/zambias-new-president-edgar-lungu-is-sworn-in.html?ref=world
Cara Howell
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