Multi-ethnic vision or ethnic nationalism? The contested legacies of Anderson Mazoka and Zambia’s 2006 election

Abstract

Studies on elections in Africa’s multiparty democracies stress the role of “incumbency advantages” in the re-election of presidents. While this blanket explanation holds true for the most part, it does not cover the successes of incumbents in polls conducted with minimal levels of clientelism and manipulation. Using the example of Zambia’s 2006 election, this paper shows how incumbents in multi-ethnic societies attempt to build a winning coalition through effective appeals to ethnic inclusion. After the main opposition leader Anderson Mazoka died four months before the election, President Levy Mwanawasa appropriated Mazoka’s legacy as a politician committed to ethnic inclusion. He successfully presented himself in non-ethnic terms, accused his rivals of being tribalists and urged voters to reject them. Mwanawasa won over key sections of the opposition’s base and an election he was widely expected to lose, demonstrating the value of studying the role of individual political leadership in incumbent-party hegemony.