Maravi

Sata and The Post

Sata and The Post
By Editor
Wednesday November 07, 2007 [03:00]

It will be folly for anyone to think that they can live without the help or co-operation of others because no man is an island. That is how life is. We all depend on one another in the same way that hands wash each other. There is a mutual interdependence in the act of hand washing and in like manner, people depend on each other.

This is also true of the saying that a bundle cannot be fastened with one hand. No man is completely self-sufficient. We have need for each other. Someone working on his own does not achieve as much as those working together.

But there are people like Patriotic Front president Michael Chilufya Sata who exaggerate their worth. Sata thinks that he is so indispensable that this country would grind to a halt if he were not part of the political scene. He forgets that one tree is not enough to build a fence and that no one person can alleviate all the poverty in a country.
That is why all the time we hear Sata bragging that ‘when I was this and that, I achieved this and that’ as though he worked alone in those ministries. Even in his party, all those members of parliament and councillors have to revere him because he thinks without him, they are nothing, they are doomed. He thinks their political careers can only thrive under his leadership. But what he forgets is that Zambia has never had any shortage of political heroes at any stage.
The same with us; Sata thinks we can only prosper if we write or report about him daily. This is an illusion on his part. He has misled himself into believing that The Post can only sell if it is carrying his name. That is why today he is saying that we need him more than he needs us.

However, Sata should be reminded that even when the rooster is not present to announce the dawn, the dawn would still occur. What we are saying is that we don’t need Sata in order to survive if he thinks he can be the rooster to announce our presence on the news market. When people embrace his political comedy, Sata thinks the whole country is behind him. What he doesn’t know is that most serious-minded people consider him merely a political comedian. He is the Ukwa of Zambia.

Last year after the elections, he accused us of having rigged elections for the MMD and sent his thugs to come and physically harm us. He said we had robbed him of his victory against Levy Mwanawasa and vowed never to have anything to do with us. He stayed away from us for a few weeks. After that, he came back on his own and we received him with both hands - the same way the prodigal son was received - because we harbour no grudge against him. We leave the harbouring of grudges to lesser souls. And it is not only Sata we have accorded this opportunity. We have done this to several others who even wanted to annihilate us when they were in government. When they left government positions, they became lame ducks and we had to lift them up and give them the necessary protection; besides allowing them to enjoy the freedom of expression via our newspaper.

Anyway, we don’t want to stoop so low as to establish who between us and Sata needs the other more. We will leave such pettiness to people like him because our belief is that no matter how strong we can be, we will still need or require to work with other people if we are to succeed. We don’t have to look down on anyone because we believe that everyone has something to offer in their own way.

We know that Sata today is a wounded buffalo because his dubious ways have been exposed. The veil has been lifted and everyone is able to see what Sata attempted to conceal. And to divert people’s attention from the real issues we have raised against him about his questionable dealings, Sata wants to fight us personally and throw all sorts of accusations at us. Today, we are a Chinese newspaper when only yesterday, we were a very professional institution. A few weeks ago, Sata was even encouraging us to consider opening a journalism institute in order to share the vast experience we have in this field.

But this is Sata for you. He doesn’t believe in whatever he says. That is why he has no difficulties shifting positions on any matter. Today, he would say he will forgive all the people accused of plunder as soon as he goes to State House. But if tomorrow there is a backlash on that statement, he will quickly make amendments and say he will ensure that all people accused of plunder of national resources are given a fair and quick trial for the benefit of the innocent ones.

We want to remind Sata that we have no grudge against him. We are only doing our work according to the dictates of the profession. But if he chooses to fight us personally, he should be reminded that we do not lack the capacity to defend ourselves; we will also fight back in the same manner. No amount of intimidation or blackmail will stop us from calling a spade a spade.

The problem is that Sata thinks he is the only intelligent guy around. He would boast about his ability to infiltrate all sensitive institutions and organisations, including State House, but he thinks other people have no capacity to do that, including to infiltrate his own party.
He thinks he is the only Zambian who knows a lot about anything and everyone when there are a lot more people who know more than he thinks they do about anything, including himself.
On our part, we think we have ably made our point on all the issues Sata and his minions accused us of lying about. But should they wish to engage us further, we will, without hesitation, rise to the challenge.

Labels: SATA

posted by MrK @ 12:24 PM