EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sata was a rare breed of leader Michael Sata
Michael Sata

Michael Sata

ZAMBIANS on Tuesday bade farewell to their President Michael Chilufya Sata who died last month of an undisclosed ailment in London where he was receiving treatment. Thousands of people packed the 60,000-seater Heroes Stadium to give the popular leader of the ruling Patriotic Front a befitting send-off.

They were joined by African leaders, among them President Mugabe, during an emotional ceremony that captured the imagination of the nation. Renowned for his sharp tongue and straight talk which gave rise to his nickname “King Cobra”, Sata was a career politician dating back to Zambia’s fight against colonialism and he shared the trenches with other nationalist leaders like founding President Kenneth Kaunda.

A social democrat, he was the fifth president of Zambia. He was a minister during the 1990s as part of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) government under the late Frederick Chiluba but went into opposition in 2001, forming the PF. As an opposition leader, Sata emerged as the leading opposition presidential contender and rival to President Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election, but was defeated.

Following Mwanawasa’s death, Sata ran again and lost to President Rupiah Banda in 2008. After 10 years in opposition and three attempts at the presidency, Sata defeated Banda, the incumbent, to win the September 2011 presidential election with a plurality of the vote.

Brought up in Mpika, Northern Zambia, he worked as a police officer, railway man and trade unionist during the colonial rule. He spent time in London working on the railway sweeping the platforms. Among other things, he was a porter at Victoria railway station. Sata began actively participating in the politics of the then Northern Rhodesia in 1963.

Following independence he worked his way up through the rough-and-tumble rank-and-file of the ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP) to the governorship of Lusaka in 1985. As Governor, he made his mark as a man of action with a hands on approach. He cleaned up the streets, patched roadways and built bridges in the city. Afterwards he became a member of parliament for Kabwata constituency in Lusaka.

Though once close with President Kaunda, he left the UNIP to join the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) during the campaign for multi-party politics in 1991. He had an abrasive style and often riled foreign investors with his call for more involvement of Zambians in their economy. Sata believed that Zambians should benefit more from their resources and this led to clashes with Chinese and other foreigners.

He was pilloried in the West for his support for Zimbabwe and President Mugabe. Under Sata, relations between Zimbabwe and Zambia were cordial and strong. Speaking at the funeral of the Zambian leader in Lusaka on Tuesday, Cde Mugabe — who received a rapturous applause from the audience —spoke of the need for Zambians to continue with his great works and ensure they speak to future generations. He implored the Zambian people to remember that they were one nation despite their differences.

“I want to say we come in tears, the tears represent Zimbabweans, the tears represent Sadc. I’m chairman of Sadc now so I speak for these two (Zimbabwe and Sadc), and I want to say the man we have here is a great man. He was a man of the people, let him live in our memory, let him live in our hearts. Let the buildings speak of him, let the streets speak of him,” President Mugabe said.

Indeed Sata was a man of the people and leaves behind a legacy of selflessness and servitude to the people of Zambia and Southern Africa. He was a rare breed of leader cut from the same cloth as some luminaries such as Kaunda, Cde Mugabe and Julius Nyerere.

Sata belonged to a dying breed of nationalists who were principled in their actions and were never driven by greed or the love for riches. The outpouring of grief displayed by Zambians of all tribes, creed and religious persuasion points to a popular leader admired by his people. Zambians are certainly poorer without him. We can only implore them to uphold his legacy and carry it forward.

Go well King Cobra. Go well Comrade!

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