[JURIST] Zambia’s new president, Defense and Justice Minister Edgar Lungu, was sworn on Sunday after he was declared the winner of the presidential poll [official results] Saturday night. Lungu was a candidate for the Patriotic Front [party website], the ruling party in Zambia. The elections were called [BBC report] after the the death [NYT report] of President Michael Sata in October 2014. Lungu will complete Sata’s term until the 2016 presidential elections, and said he plans to finish economic development projects begun by Sata. Lungu obtained [AP report] 48.3 percent of the vote, while his closest opponent, Hakainde Hichilema, received 46.7 percent. Zambian elections were held last Tuesday.

Former Zambian presidents have been surrounded by controversy in recent years. In 2013 Zambian authorities arrested [JURIST report] former president Rupiah Banda on allegations that he misappropriated over USD $11 million during his three-year tenure in office. Zambia’s Supreme Court in 2010 acquitted [JURIST report] Regina Chiluba, the wife of former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba, of charges that she accepted stolen property during the years of her husband’s administration. Prior to his wife’s acquittal, former president Chiluba was acquitted [JURIST report] in 2009 of charges of stealing money from the country’s treasury while in office from 1991-2001. He was ordered to stand trial [JURIST report] on the corruption charges in February 2008.