TRANSPARENCY International Zambia is right to warn that much campaign language is unrealistic, financially unsustainable and detached from party manifestos. An election should be a contest of ideas, priorities and plans. Instead, Zambia is once again being treated to an auction of hope in which candidates compete to offer the largest benefits at the lowest cost, without explaining who will pay or which institution will implement them. Rather than entertain, campaign promises are supposed to influence voting decisions, shape expectations and become a moral contract with the electorate. A politician who knowingly makes an impossible....