Maravi

Compromising Sata

Compromising Sata
By Editor
Sunday June 15, 2008 [04:00]

Opposition Patriotic Front president Michael Sata must have been right when he recently observed that he did not know that Zambians like tension. From the time he decided to reconcile with his long-time archenemy, President Levy Mwanawasa, a couple of weeks ago, many people have reacted with mixed feelings. Some have accused President Mwanawasa of having acted with some selfish interest when he ordered that Sata be speedily evacuated to South Africa for specialist treatment following his heart attack in April, claiming he was looking for a way of neutralising his hardest and ardent critic.

And when Sata initiated reconciliation with President Mwanawasa after recovering from his heart attack, some people said either he was compromised by the President or he compromised himself.

But we think that neither President Mwanawasa nor his government has compromised Sata nor has Sata compromised himself by having a change of heart towards President Mwanawasa. Of course, the timing of their reconciliation was questionable because it came just after Sata was discharged from hospital. So Sata was perceived to be paying back to President Mwanawasa. And President Mwanawasa rightly asked the question: “Did you have to fall sick for us to reconcile?”

Again, Sata cannot entirely be blamed for having seen sense too late in the day because it is said that people understand the pain of sickness when they experience it themselves. Someone who has never experienced pain, sickness or suffering cannot really empathise with others who are experiencing difficulties. This is what Sata was. He foolishly took pleasure in the suffering or illness of others. He thought he had an immortal soul. What he did not know was that death could strike at any time, no one can escape death.

We remember how he used to publicly boast that he was the fittest of all men and women who aspired for the presidency of this country. When the late Anderson Mazoka fell ill, Sata did not show any sympathy towards Mazoka because he even teased him from time to time.

And when President Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in April 2006, Sata did not hide his joy at this sad development. He even declared President Mwanawasa unfit to run the office of the President before doctors said anything on this matter. We also remember how Sata frantically pushed the then Vice-President Lupando Mwape to call for a special Cabinet meeting to resolve to move the Chief Justice or Parliament to set up a special tribunal to investigate the health of President Mwanawasa and quickly declare that he was unfit to hold the highest office in the land.

Clearly, Sata was in a hurry to go to State House and did not care about anything or anyone. He called President Mwanawasa a cabbage who was unfit for the Office of the President. Without doubt, Sata did not wish President Mwanawasa well when he was struck by that stroke. He also denounced him several times for going to London for specialist treatment. He said President Mwanawasa was passing a vote of no confidence in the medical staff at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) each time he went to London for treatment.

But when Sata suffered that heart attack, President Mwanawasa was quick to evacuate him to South Africa for specialist treatment. The doctors here knew too well Sata’s condition; that he was not going to survive if he was not immediately evacuated to South Africa for that specialist treatment. In fact, neither Sata’s family nor his political party had the capacity to enable his evacuation as quickly as the doctors recommended. The government, through President Mwanawasa, quickly intervened and played this role, thereby saving Sata’s life.

Obviously, Sata was touched by this kind gesture from a man he expected would hit back and rejoice over his illness or just let him die because after all, he was not the cause of that heart attack. President Mwanawasa did not pay evil with evil.

And like we have observed before, Sata’s change of heart towards President Mwanawasa teaches us something very important about the nature of human beings. It is useful to remember that all of us, as human beings, even the most seemingly cold-blooded, have a core of decency, of humility, of kindness, and that if our hearts are touched, we are capable of changing, of seeing things differently and more positively.

We think this is what must have happened to Sata. He must have realised the folly of his past actions and deeds and decided to change, to adopt a more humane approach to life. And in doing so, we think that Sata exhibited a lot of courage because he was in a very difficult situation. He realised too late that it is preferable for one to make friends before encountering difficulties, otherwise he might have to face difficulties alone.

What we are trying to say in other words is that we do not think that President Mwanawasa or the government have compromised Sata. Neither has Sata compromised himself. We think that it is not abnormal for a sane person to behave the way Sata has behaved. This is not to say that Sata should abandon his watchdog role as an opposition leader. But if he decides to abandon that role, no one can blame the government for that because for all we know, the help rendered to Sata by the government was unconditional. After all, he is entitled to that service by the government as a citizen.

Several people have complained that Sata’s new approach of avoiding politics of confrontation has robbed a voice from the voiceless. We don’t think so because no one has stopped Sata from objectively criticising the government, and indeed anyone else.
We have said before that cynics cannot build a nation. And it is clear that most of the that Sata spoke in the past, he was just being a nuisance. And all those who had a grudge against President Mwanawasa were happy because Sata spoke for them. They didn’t have the courage to openly and directly attack President Mwanawasa.

Sata was just being a nuisance for most of the time when he spoke because sometimes he boasted to us that he was the only one who knew how to annoy or provoke President Mwanawasa. He would come to us, ask us to write something as he predicted what President Mwanawasa’s reaction would be. Of course, we ignored some of Sata’s statements that were clearly malicious. We also condemned him, privately and publicly, together with many other Zambians, for practising politics of confrontation because they add no value to society or to the development of the country.

Now, it is surprising that some people who condemned Sata for practising politics of confrontation are accusing him of being compromised when he decides to abandon such politics. Are they inviting Sata to go back to politics of insults for him to show that he is not compromised by the government? Does Hakainde Hichilema want to continue receiving those unwarranted attacks he received from Sata for Sata to prove that he is not compromised? Even assuming that Sata is now compromised, is Hichilema and others conceding that only Sata has the capacity to criticise and expose President Mwanawasa and his government? Is Sata the only person or opposition leader who can offer checks and balances to the government? Is this country centred on Sata so that when he decides to compromise himself, everything will come to a halt?

If Sata has compromised himself, he will not be the first one to do so. Several others have done so in the past and they were judged for what they were. After that, others emerged and continued the struggle for good governance. And let us not forget that Sata was not even a factor in the 2001 elections. Mazoka was. During the 2006 elections, Sata was a huge factor and he almost won the presidency. That is how politics have been for a long time. Leaders come and go. If Sata has gone, there is no need to make so much noise about it. Other leaders will replace him, unless we are saying that Sata is the only redeemer or saviour for this country.

Moreover, there is need to understand the true meaning of Sata’s reconciliation with President Mwanawasa and at the same time encourage him to remain vigilant to effectively play his role as an opposition leader, without insulting and telling malicious lies against others.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PF, SATA

posted by MrK @ 3:12 AM