In a country where two-thirds of the 11.5 million population live on less than a dollar a day, his slogan of "lower taxes, more jobs and more money in your pockets" has proved a seductive mix.

No clear picture has emerged from a series of polls, but in an interview with AFP, Sata said he had every reason to believe he would soon be Zambia's fourth president since independence in 1964, and transform its fortunes so it would no longer be seen as the poor relation of southern Africa.

"I am very confident," he said as he wrapped up campaigning.

"Over the last five years, Zambia has been stagnant. Nothing has been happening, the economy is not moving, the politics is not moving.

"We have no drugs in our hospitals, we have no teachers, we have lost our nurses, we have lost our doctors ... We have the highest unemployment rate since independence.

"The countries which we helped to liberate, like Mozambique and South Africa, are doing much better than us," he said.

The former governor of Lusaka is promising to institute widespread tax cuts, both for individuals and companies, while remaining evasive about how he intends to keep the lid on inflation and the budget deficit.

"What we need to do first is to reduce the taxes because at the moment there is discrimination where the so-called investors have tax concessions and Zambian industry has no tax concessions".

Throughout his campaign, Sata has been lambasting Chinese companies which have carved out interests in Zambia ranging from copper mines to clothing factories.

While the firms are major employers of Zambians, they also supplement their workforce with Chinese labour in a country where unemployment is rife.

"Instead of employing Zambian labourers they bring hundreds of Chinese," said Sata.

"The Chinese should bring their technology, bring their expertise, but use Zambians."

While he has tempered earlier threats to expel Chinese traders, he is not extending any olive branches.

And though denying accusations in the local media that he is being financed by Taiwan, the rival to the communist regime in Beijing, he is unapologetic about what he insists is an assertion of Zambia's independence.

"We have the right to talk to anybody," he said in reference to meetings with Taiwanese officials.

"Zambia is not a province of China, Zambia is a sovereign state. The Chinese do not control the Zambian economy."

A minister under both independence leader Kenneth Kaunda and Chiluba, Sata founded his own party in 2001 after resigning from the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) to protest against the choice of Mwanawasa as leader.

But despite his relatively advanced years, he has no doubts that he is fit for office. His campaign literature mentions his "excellent health" -- a thinly veiled jibe at Mwanawasa after the 59-year-old recent suffered a stroke.

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