20110924
press tv
New Zambian President Michael Sata (R) takes the oath of office in Lusaka on September 23, 2011.

“Corruption has been a scourge in this country and there is a wide link between corruption and poverty,” Sata said during the inauguration ceremony in Lusaka on Friday, AFP reported.

“Corruption is morally unacceptable and must be fought with the vigor that it deserves,” he added.

Sata, the candidate of the Patriotic Front (PF) party, was elected president with 43 percent of the vote after beating incumbent Rupiah Banda, whose Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) had ruled the country for 20 years.

The election was held on Tuesday, but the announcement of the final results was delayed after the government's vote-tallying website was hacked.

The new Zambian president has frequently criticized foreign mining firms, and especially Chinese firms, over labor conditions.

“Foreign investment is important to Zambia, and we will continue to work with foreign investors who are welcome in the country, but they need to adhere to the labor laws,” he said after the swearing-in ceremony.

Last year, Chinese managers opened fire on protesters at a huge coal mine in southern Zambia, but the government dropped charges against them.

China has invested heavily in Zambia's copper, cobalt, and coal mines and in the country's power plants.

Over the past ten years, Chinese citizens have begun running farms, restaurants, shops, hospitals, and clinics dispensing traditional Chinese medicine in Zambia.

Over 60 percent of the citizens of Zambia live on less than two US dollars a day.