Selflessness in leadership is the only path – Sata

Selflessness in leadership is the only path – Sata
Written by Lambwe Kachali
Sunday, January 11, 2009 9:18:33 AM

SELFLESSNESS in leadership is the only path through which Zambia will attain the necessary prosperity, Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata said yesterday.
And Sata charged that President Rupiah Banda's trip to Northern Province was aimed at enticing his Zimbabwean friend to ‘buy’ the Kasaba Bay.

Commenting on Radio Icengelo station manager Fr Frank Bwalya's observation that Zambia is not going anywhere without transforming its politics by imparting attributes of servant leadership, Sata said Zambia could only prosper with a selfless leadership.

Sata said the MMD leadership did not inspire Zambians because they were materially preoccupied.

Sata said he totally agreed with Fr Bwalya's observations and that there was need for Zambians to take such a statement very seriously.

He said since MMD came into power under Frederick Chiluba, the leadership had never exhibited selflessness and servant leadership, which he said had reversed national development.

Sata said leadership positions were very tempting and required people with a heart for the general populace.

"For example, Dr Kenneth Kaunda [first Republican president] developed this country to where it is today because of selflessness, servant leadership. When [former president Frederick] Chiluba took over in 1991, his pre-occupation was material wealth for himself. He threw away national interest and put his first for the entire ten years he served as president of this country," Sata said.

He said Zambia was facing a leadership scandal because political leaders were exploiting ordinary citizens.

"I totally agree with Fr Bwalya because unless people in political leadership stop exploiting ordinary citizens to amass personal wealth, Zambia is going nowhere. As far as I am concerned, leaders must starve first before citizens and not people to starve first before their leaders," Sata said. "But today, we have people running the affairs of our country becoming bosses of the masses instead of being servants of the masses. They are becoming richer and richer, thereby making ordinary citizens poorer. This is a political scandal and its shows that the country has lost direction. We need to follow what the church is doing."

However, Sata said it was not too late for Zambia to reverse the political situation in the country because PF was there for the people.

"I served in KK's and Chiluba's administrations. Before I became local government minister under Chiluba's administration, I had already started building Avondale housing project and it was a success," Sata said. "In the Ministry of Health, I cleaned up the mess which was there although now everything has been shuttered by negligence. I tell you, the only development Chiluba can boast is about cell phones because even in Kaputa district, Zambians are able to use cell phones now.

"But the man, Chiluba failed Zambians; he is totally a political failure."

Sata also said it was practically impossible for politicians sitting on the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) to forego their allowances for the common good of Zambians because they were selfish.

He said although the advice from Fr Bwalya that leaders should sacrifice by forgoing NCC allowances for the common good of all Zambians was timely, it was impossible because most delegates at the conference were after amassing personal wealth.

Sata said the only solution was to completely abandon the conference.

"Advising these politicians sitting at the NCC is like trying to get milk out of a stone. It's practically impossible because nobody at the NCC can sacrifice for the common good of all Zambians. There is nobody who is going to sit at the NCC and get nothing. They are there for money; they are there to fatten their bank accounts. The only answer is to suspend it completely and divert that K350 billion for development to solve cholera problems, repair roads and bridges and improve conditions of civil servants," Sata said.

In his letter to Zambians which he wrote while in detention at Kalulushi Police Station on November 13, Fr Bwalya observed that Zambia would not go anywhere without transforming its politics by imparting upon it attributes of servant leadership and changing the constitutional framework which currently promotes constitutional dictatorship.

Fr Bwalya stated that Zambia should urgently undertake fundamental political and socio-economic changes if it were to shape its direction.

Fr Bwalya stated that since multiparty democracy was introduced in Zambia under the leadership of former president Frederick Chiluba, no change towards real democratisation and good governance had taken place.

He stated that the only way for Zambia to attain socio-economic democracy and development was by having a good constitution.

And Sata charged that Zambia was being ruled by a salesman instead of a president.

He said President Banda wanted to sell Kasaba Bay to his Zimbabwean friend, saying that was the major reason of his trip to Northern Province.

Sata advised Zambians not to allow Kasaba Bay to be sold the way Inter Continental Hotel in Livingstone was sold.

"Rupiah is a salesman and not a President. You remember he went to Luanshya and instructed finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane to go to Europe to entice an investor to take over Luanshya mine. And now his trip to Northern Province was to go and introduce his own friend who wants to buy Kasaba Bay," Sata said. "I think the country still recall Rupiah saying he wants to promote tourism in Northern Province, the man had this prospective buyer in mind.

"And this Minister of Tourism [Catherine Namugala] should not even refuse because this is the truth."

Efforts to get a comment from Namugala failed.

A Zimbabwean tourism investor has declared interest to invest over US$ 8 million [about K40 billion] as initial capital into the government-owned but defunct Kasaba Bay lodge.