(LUSAKATIMES) Zambia: The Mwanawasa Legacy (or Legend?)

Zambia: The Mwanawasa Legacy (or Legend?)
By Chilekwa M. Mumba

It has been over a year since the unfortunate passing of our third President, Mr. Levy Mwanawasa. Since then, we have seen an assiduous defense of his Presidency, most of which I daresay is misconceived. I will avoid playing judge of the late Levy Mwanawasa’s Presidency, as it is both dishonorable and contemptible to fustigate a person unable to defend him/herself. However, it is equally important that we lend ourselves some level of skepticism when discussing the legacy of President Mwanawasa.

This allows for a provocative and necessary assessment of how this “Legacy” has been converted to mere political currency, by both an inadequate government, as well as an inadequate opposition. Indeed, thanks to the cheap and unproductive politics preferred by our main political players, the late President’s reign has turned from legacy to stuff of legend. Underline the word legend.

it is a sham and pretentious that today the major opposition, so vehemently “once upon a time” opposed to the Late President’s policies, has today wholesomely endorsed his Administration with warlike vigor!

Allow me to first respectfully and briefly school ourselves on the science of politics. One of the paramount contributions to any failed political system is the very conscious resolve made by both the politicians and electorate to prefer wish-wash over fact. Politics are fundamentally classified in two ways; productive or non-productive. Let us choose to be bold and candid with ourselves to class ourselves in the “productive” bracket. Here we identify Zambia’s political Achilles heel, shrouded in the unyielding subject of the “Mwanawasa Legacy”-a term which apparently rolls off any Zambian politicians’ tongue with pleasant ease. There is a very comical, yet shameful and pointless wrestle of who exudes the legacy of the late President the most. Underline the word pointless.

On one hand, we have the current opposition claiming that their calling is to restore the lost vision of the late President. This is despite the unvarnished reality that there are notable shortcomings in this “legacy”. We should not mince words, therefore allow me to proclaim that it is a sham and pretentious that today the major opposition, so vehemently “once upon a time” opposed to the Late President’s policies, has today wholesomely endorsed his Administration with warlike vigor. Who can forget the unproductive and politically vicious attacks of the opposition leaders on President Mwanawasa? This shameless abuse of President Mwanawasa’s tenure serves as testimony to the deficient and desultory opposition with which we Zambians are burdened with. Underline the word “burdened”.

Then on the other hand, the ruling MMD is collapsing within itself, on the basis that the Mwanawasa Vision has been lost by President Banda. The notable MMD Member Mr.George Mpombo has coined quite a few remarkable political terms as reference to the “sinners” against the Legacy. Yet at the same time, we see the MMD clamoring to seem to be upholding the Mwanawasa Vision, according to the silly and illogical MMD dictum “continuity with change”. The President and his advisors are ever referring to how they are upholding the Mwanawasa Vision in the hope of converting Zambian sympathy for this tragedy, to sheer political capital. President Banda today largely find himself criticized as aloof and directionless due to the fact that instead of forging his own legacy, he is trying to duplicate a legacy which in hindsight, may not have been actual reality but due to surrounding circumstances, is mere affordable fantasy. In this case please underline “affordable fantasy”.

You see, the truth is President Mwanawasa’s Legacy, is now mere stuff of legend, due to the cheapness of Zambian politics. Legend, because it is wrongly deemed as the climax of Zambian progress. The majority of our politicians who worship this wish-wash will continue to be prime text-book examples of non-productive politicians. Bottom line is that the discussion of the Mwanawasa Legacy has become an enigma, which is not helping the nation to advance politically, socially or economically. The past belongs to the past.Zambians have more urgent needs our politicians need to attend to.

Now for the underlined words; the Mwanawasa Legacy is now officially “Legend”, whose discussion is “Pointless”, thus Zambians can do without this “Burden”, and actually need real solutions to turn the “Affordable fantasy” into a reality of prosperity. LT Bloggers speak on it.