On the occasion of sorrow and shock, after the death of His
Excellence Michael Chilufya Sata in London on the 28 October, 2014. I
would like to sincerely share a condolence message to the first
family, comrades and patriotic citizens of the Republic of Zambia.
A simple paragraph cannot ease the pain of the loss, but I hope the
people of Zambia take solace in knowing that his brave services
exceeded all measures of selflessness and devotion to his beloved
country Zambia.
Today, I honor him not only as a 'Man of Action', but as a true son
of Africa and Zambia in particular, whose walk encouraged most of us
not to give up on our dreams.
And at this moment, I offer my heartfelt sympathy, and I pray that
God's grace gives the First family and the people of Zambia comfort
as you grieve.
THE CONSTITUTION
According to the
constitution, states that the sitting vice president takes over the
presidency upon the death or resignation of the incubment president.
More to that, the vice president is given a transition period of 90
days to organise new election and the vice president is not barred
from running in the elections.
And according to article
38 states that, if the is vacancy of the Presidency due to the death
of the incubment; the Vice President should immediately assume the
office of the President and if the Vice President is unable for a
reason to assume the office of the President, the Speaker should
perform the executive functions, except the power to make
appointments and dissolve parliament. I believe this article of the
Zambian constitution was strengthened and clearly explained after the
death of the Levy Mwanawasa in 2008 and it is at a time like this
that article 38 will be exercised and observed meaning ceremonial
Vice president Guy Scott takes over the presidency from acting
President Edgar Lungu. Furthermore, I believe we now understand that
it is the ceremonial Vice President who holds the responsibility of
organising and hosting free and fair elections within 90 days of
vacancy of the Presidency.
90 DAYS OF AGONY
Away from the constitution
articles and protocol, I would want us to talk about the Zambia's
magical number of 90days. In Zambia the 90 days is two faced and I
will explain the two faces. The first face of the '90 days concept'
that apppears before Zambian is the political propangada or strategy
that was used in 2011 and never fulfilled to date. The 90 days
propangada excited a lot of voters that believed in it very much
until they were told that the 90 days was just a paper work strategy
and did not exist in reality at all. And the other face of the 90
days that zambian remember is the continuity of development that
Rupiah Banda to follow in Levy Mwanawasa's foot prints and this was
characterised by politics of insults and corruption.
Generally, 90 days in
Zambia is a peroid of agony that is surrounded by unstability and
undemocratic pathway to elections. It is also during this time that
the loyalty of party members is tested because during this time new
'mushroom' political parties are formed without a fan base and also
politic prostitution can be observed when senior members change
parties in search of greener pastures which is now a common practice
in Zambian politics.
MUSHROOM POLITICAL
PARTIES AND POLITICAL PROSTITUTION
To put it in another way,
the 'mushroom' political parties that enage during this period lack
the necessary ingredient to be called a political party because in
reality these parties are a one-man stand or in local language a
'Katemba' without any foundation or fan base to inspire a change. And
this is mainly observed during the period of filing candidates for
elections and according to my own analysis, 'mushroom'political
parties dont even run for election, but end up endorsing other
political parties' due to financial complications.
THE ECONOMY AND
MISUSE OF FUNDS
It is during this 90 days
that the Zambian economy is weak and the Kwacha is lower beyond
redemption from the Central Bank of Zambia. And speaking, with a
sense of history in mind, I believe the Kwacha has never fully
recovered from the fall it experienced after the death of Levy
Patrick Mwanawasa and the Rupiah Banda era and I know readers will
conquer with me on this one.
More to that, it can also
be observed that during this period of agony state funds are
embezzled and misused and evidence of this can be given by statistic
check on how many government officials are undergoing or underwent
abuse of office charges and trials all dating to the previous 90 days
of agony.
With the history of the 90
days of agony in mind, I believe the government through the Secretary
to the Treasury and patriotic citizens have a big role to play to
ensure economic stability and safeguarding of public resources during
this transition period.
HIS LEGECY
And to discuss his legecy in public at the moment is an act of
injustice I believe because African leadership is so different from
other forms of leadership, in the sense that, the legecy of an
African leader is mainly determined after a new leader is elected and
begins to make errors thats when people begin to wish for the previos
leader. Meanwhile in other parts of the world, a leader's legecy is
determined the moment he passes away or when his term ends.
In conclusion, truth be told that Michael Chilufya Sata was the most
popular Zambian President ever to be elected by a majority urban vote
and eventhough, during his governance errors were made and as the
acting president has announced the 14 days of mourning, I believe
this is the time to reflect and celebrate Michael Sata's life in
peace and unity.
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