REMEMBERING SATA, KING COBRA

Sat, 28 Oct 2017 13:00:48 +0000

BY NATION REPORTER

ON October 28, 2014, Zambia woke up to the worst news a country can be subjected to. The President was dead. The nation erupted into mourning.

President Machael Chilufya Sata, (MHSRI), had been a popular leader both as an opposition figure and as sitting president.

The scenario was hardly new to the country, but the effect was still devastating.

His candor and abrasive manner of handling issues earned him the nick name of king cobra. He never beat about the bush on any issue.

Sata’s pro-poor policies earned him friends among the working class but mostly the man on the street, the street vendors, the market traders.

When rumours of his demise in a London hospital filtered through, the streets were almost deserted as traders gravitated towards the PF offices to get the confirmation.

By the time the official announcement was being made on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), the nation was literally on stand still. This death, painful as it was to the nation, especially members of the Patriotic Front (PF), also posed several questions and not least, the succession.

The incumbent acting President then was Defence Minister and PF secretary general, Edgar Chagwa Lungu.  How the instruments of power ended up with Guy Scot, the republican vice –president, is information only privy to the authorities.  Stories of Mr Lungu being forced to handover the instruments of power are what most PF members believe.

Whatever, the case, this is all water under the bridge because the man who gave up the instruments of power, is now Republican President. Bitter sweet victory of sorts in the silent struggle for power. Those who wanted power failed to garner support from the Zambian public, who only speak through the ballot.

Today, marks three years since the passing of Mr Sata, the founder of the Patriotic Front and Zambia’s fifth republican president.

How will Zambians remember him?

Money in the pocket through lower taxes and social infrastructure development are some of the key policy issues that Mr Sata held dear.

His vision lives on today as the party he founded continues to lead the country on a massive infrastructure development of unprecedented levels.

The link Zambia 8000 project of developing roads where there are none, and tarring major road networks in the country has continued.

Todate, no province can claim not have benefitted from this project. Roads within cities and districts have also been targeted for improvement.

The government has also embarked on construction of health centres throughout the country, a project that Health minister Chitalu Chilufya has been monitoring closely. This is aimed at ensuring that rural areas have health centres within reach of local communities.  In urban areas, the upgrading of health centres into mini hospitals has helped to decongest main hospitals.

These are some of the projects that Mr Sata might have done himself had he lived.

Michael Chilufya Sata, a social democrat, the man that ordinary Zambians loved to identify with, often liked to ride commuters buses and frequent markets. He was a hands-on leader.

Mr Michael saved under President Frederick Chiluba, as minister during the 1990s as part of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) government.

He resigned from government to form the Patriotic Front in 2001.

His first attempt at the presidential poll was against incumbent, Patrick Levy Mwanawasa, which Mr Sata lost along with the United Party for National Development (UPND). This was to be part of a string of setbacks in elections but the man was not deterred.

When Mwanawasa died in a military hospital in France 2008, this presented another opportunity for Mr Sata to try his hand but came up short against then acting president, Rupiah Banda.

When Mr Banda’s first term ended, which also marked 20 years of the Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD) rule, Mr Sata was again on the ballot.

This time was different and he emerged victorious with a resounding majority. After 3 years in office, President Sata’s health began to fail and he died in London on October 28, 2014, leaving Vice President Guy Scott as Acting President until a presidential by-election was held on 20 January 2015.

According to Wikipedia “Michael Chilufya Sata was born in 6 July 1937 and brought up in Mpika, Northern Province. He worked as a police officer, railway man and trade unionist during colonial rule. He spent time in London working on the railway sweeping the platforms. Among other things, he was a porter at Victoria railway station.  Sata began actively participating in the politics of Northern Rhodesia in 1963. Following independence, he worked his way up through the rough-and-tumble rank-and-file of the ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP) to the governorship of Lusaka in 1985. As Governor, he made his mark as a man of action with a hands-on approach. He cleaned up the streets, patched roadways and built bridges in the city. Afterward he became a member of parliament for Kabwata constituency in Lusaka. Though once close with President Kenneth Kaunda, he became disillusioned by Kaunda’s dictatorial style and he left the UNIP to join the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD)  during the campaign for multi-party politics in 1991.”

When in 2001, President Chiluba, who had completed his two term of the presidency, overlooked Mr Sata and nominated Levy Mwanawasa as the MMD’s presidential candidate for the 2001 election, Sata left the MMD in frustration and set up a new party,  the Patriotic Front (PF).

The PF, with its pro-poor policies has continued with Mr Sata’s vision of developing rural Zambia. The approach is to leave no one behind but to put roads everywhere, even in areas that ordinarily do not vote for the ruling party.

As Zambia remembers this giant of a politician, it would be fitting to do something to help the local communities. Instead of mourning, let leaders leave the comfort of their air conditioned offices and go and interact with people in the streets, the vendors and marketeers as well people in the shanty compounds.