[1] Initially the two countries had good relations after gaining independence.

However, relations became strained in 2008 as Zambia, like Botswana, reported similar 'smear campaigns' against the Zambian government by Zimbabwe's state owned media, claiming it was "hired by Britain to press for a speedy regime change in Harare."

The foreign affairs minister, Kabinga Pande, said it had lodged a protest against Zimbabwe, against the "sustained malicious campaign against Zambia.

"[2] Following the controversial Zimbabwean presidential election of 2008, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa described Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe as a "regional embarrassment".

[3] Post-2008, tensions thawed with Michael Sata affectionately referring to Mugabe as "Sekuru" in 2013 at a UNWTO event hosted in Victoria Falls.