Much has been said about Levy

Much has been said about Levy
By Editor
Sunday August 24, 2008 [04:00]

Much has been said and written about President Levy Mwanawasa since he died on August 19. Listening to some of those who have been paying moving tributes to Levy, one has heard them say, “What I am about to say has already been said by others.”

We believe there is much more to be said about Levy. Much more than the heavy political tributes we have heard and read. And we would like to use this opportunity to say what has not found its way into speeches or the print media.

Working with Levy on his biography enabled us to have a rare insight into Levy the romantic, Levy the loving father who was a big teddy bear to his children. We can testify to the fact that Levy loved his wife and his children and his brothers and sisters – including members of his extended family. He was a true family man in its African sense. Levy always wanted to please his wife, his children and his extended family and make them happy. He was at times torn between setting aside time to spend with them and the gruelling tasks of his office.

Apart from his obvious political impact on the lives of ordinary people, Levy did a whole lot of good to entire strangers by demonstrating how not to give in to vices, to difficulties and challenges.

What intrigues us was how Levy, by sheer good work, without bribing anyone, without brown envelopes that used to characterise the previous regime, convinced people who did not know him and who had differed with him fundamentally politically, that he was a good person doing good work worthy of support. And the last person to testify to this is no other than his political arch competitor – Michael Sata.
Levy leaves a good feeling for which we should thank all those who were around him, his family, his children and his wife.

And we turn to his widow Maureen. This is no doubt a difficult time. Many challenges lie ahead. But she has everything reason to be proud. She stood by a good man and made him better still. The success that Levy is being credited with now would not have been possible without an effective partner, without Maureen.

Maureen was clearly a great support to Levy, a source of strength and encouragement during his sometimes difficult presidency. She was truly a comrade of Levy.

We have had the privilege to peep into their family life. Maureen tried to give their children a normal upbringing despite her numerous public engagements. Levy valued this very much. He was obsessed with raising ordinary children. Levy was frightened of raising social misfits. Through Maureen, he has been able to achieve his aspiration.

At a time we are mourning, it is very easy to be overtaken by grief and be consumed by the memory of those that have departed. As we know Levy, we are all consumed with him, thinking about him, remembering little things. This is necessary and important. But let us not lose sight of those that have stood with him.

Levy has had a difficult health history and many scares on his life. When Levy was a child, he suffered serious burns in a fire that could have ended his life at about the age of seven. When he was vice-president of the Republic of Zambia under the Chiluba regime, he survived a very serious road traffic accident whilst heading to the airport on national duties. During his brief retirement from politics between 1996 and 2001, he battled prostrate cancer and triumphed.

In 2006, a few months before a crucial general election, Levy suffered a stroke. And now in 2008, he suffered another stroke, which has finally taken him away from us.

With the exception of the fire in his childhood, Maureen has been at his side through all the difficulties we have described. She has remained a supporting wife and a dependable partner. As we mourn Levy, we wish her well. And we hope she will take courage and encouragement from her husband’s legacy. She is very much part of this legacy.

The whole Mwanawasa family led by Maureen herself should walk with their heads high. Levy has done them proud. And his legacy of integrity and honesty cannot be ignored by any fair-minded person. Levy has left them – and indeed all the people of Zambia – a formidable legacy. He has passed the torch onto them, and they should not allow the flame to be extinguished. They should hold it high because Levy should always remain a symbol of commitment and dedication in our people’s struggles, in what is right, in what is good, in what is just, in what is fair, in what is humane and in all their quest to achieve a better life.

The days that lie ahead are not going to be easy. A lot of changes are going to happen. They will be happening very fast and sometimes unfairly. We implore Maureen to remain steadfast and have a single-minded focus on what issues have formed Levy’s legacy. It won’t be easy and will require more than strength. We say this because it is said that the battle is not for the strong, but for those who can endure.

Together with her late husband, they have returned sanity to our country, good values – values of honesty, humility, sensitivity to the plight of others - that were abandoned under the Chiluba regime, which have been brought back and should be defended at all costs.

Our culture is not always fair on women. It does not always recognise the many important things that they make to society, to their families and indeed to the achievements of their husbands. At its best and most generous interpretation, our culture takes for granted the contribution of women. But more often than not, it is dismissive of women.

Maureen has not always been appreciated in the public domain because she has been viewed as too strong and too independent minded a woman. She has attracted attacks simply because she is a woman. Things that men would do and raise no controversy have been controversial with her.

This will not stop with the burial of her husband. The expectation on her will be no different from what is expected of an ordinary widow – she should be seen and not heard. She should have no voice. These are the challenges that Maureen is going to face almost immediately.

For a person who worked so closely with her husband, with our country’s President and shared in many trials and tribulations, his many triumphs and failings, she will be expected to say nothing. This seems to be our culture. Maureen must brace herself for this. It is unfair, it is not right, it is not just but it seems to be our culture.

If we follow this nonsensical approach to life, we make ourselves poorer, we make ourselves more miserable. The person we have lost is no ordinary person. He was a head of state, our president. Maureen has to mourn but she cannot mourn the way ordinary people mourn. She has to find inner courage, strength, resolve and determination to mourn and yet carry on contributing to her husband’s legacy.

If she, for a moment, thinks that she is going to mourn, weep and cry like the rest of us and then attend to her husband’s legacy later, there will be no legacy. If she is lucky to find something remaining, it will be so twisted that she would not recognise it.
There is nobody alive today who shared with Levy ideas, opinions, analysis, aspirations, fears, choices and so on and so forth as much as Maureen did.

Maureen has no choice but to make herself available, whenever needed, to make clear what her husband’s wishes were, what her husband’s vision was and indeed what her husband’s legacy is.

We are talking about the legacy of Levy because the great majority of Zambians who are talking about Levy, who are exalting his leadership are all pointing to his legacy and are saying it should be protected, defended and continued. This being the case, clarity on this will always be important and Maureen’s role will always be vital.

We say this with all sensitivity and sincerity, taking into account that she has lost a husband and a loving father of her children. But this is the way public service is. From the day Maureen became the first lady, and even the time when she agreed that Levy should run for the presidency, she accepted a different life.

A life which is not always easy. Who does not want to mourn a loved one in peace and quiet, away from extraneous competing demands? She may not enjoy the privacy of mourning her husband but it is for a good cause – the defence of his legacy.