THESE are very difficult times we are in. The stroke that hit President Levy Mwanawasa in Egypt last week has landed a big blow on our country, its government and its ruling party, the MMD.Wherever one goes, whatever household one visits what is being discussed is President Mwanawasa's illness and its consequences on the political leadership and economic management of our country. Everyone is discussing this. It appears to be a question no one seems to be able to avoid.The reaction towards Benny Tetamashimba's statement is understandable and it may be legitimately justified. But Tetamashimba is simply saying publicly what all of us seem to be saying privately. The problem is not what he has said but probably the mode he has chosen to say it - publicly.But that's Tetamashimba. Sometimes his courage to say what needs to be said saves the nation but at other times, it has led to serious misunderstanding and probably confusion. However we feel about what Tetamashimba has said - and justifiably so - let us not ignore what he is saying. He may have been insensitive, his motive questionable but he has raised an issue publicly which we can ill-afford to ignore, and which no honest person can say they are ignoring.The rumour that our President had died caught the nation off-guard. Although we all knew that President Mwanawasa had suffered a potentially life-threatening stroke, it seems none of us was ready for that news and its consequences. We would dare say that even those who wished him ill were not ready.This explains the mood that gripped the nation last Thursday. The great majority of our people seemed genuinely concerned about their President. Our financial and capital markets were thrown into immediate turmoil. A huge cloud of uncertainty immediately gripped the nation. Something tragic had happened and we as a nation were not ready for it.Those few, but long, hours of uncertainty caused a lot of reflection on Levy's presidency. With the exception of a few scoundrels, hyenas and jackals, most of our people were heard saying “we need Levy”. There was a general mood of denial. People were receiving the news but refusing to accept it. This caused a lot of tension. We were not spared by this tension. Some people accused us of suppressing information when the government clarified the position.It is one week, one day since that scare - we need to reflect. With all the sensitivity and compassion towards a fellow human being in a difficult situation such as Levy's, we need to draw vital lessons from what happened last week. This can only help us. The government keeps giving us helpful briefs about our President's condition but we are not out of the woods yet - far from it.The danger and risk that caused panic and worry last week is still very much with us. The President is still in a very unpredictable condition. It would not be right or helpful for us to pretend otherwise. It is the job of leaders to find sensitive and very humane ways to prepare the country for the worst whilst hoping for the best.Tetamashimba's style, or lack of it, is difficult to defend. But this is not about Tetamashimba. You might think him foolish, unwise, uncouth and uncultured, but you cannot totally disagree with what he is saying. Those that are in leadership positions with him must find ways of managing him. And that is not our concern for now. There are more important and urgent things deserving every honest Zambian's attention.We have been fortunate as a country to have enjoyed 44 years of virtually unbroken peace and stability. We have enjoyed peaceful transition of power and learnt to settle our differences peacefully and within the dictates of the rule of law. Most of our people are wallowing in abject poverty but we have peace which is something we should never take for granted. President Mwanawasa in his awkward and sometimes clumsy way seems to have laid a reasonable foundation for Zambia to make progress in all areas of human endeavour.He has been determined to fight some very dangerous vices and practices at great personal and political peril. No one can accuse Levy of being a populist, a demagogue. He has had no problem giving the nation bad news if that is what he believed they needed to hear. Levy is a politician who seems uncomfortable with politics.Levy can be unpredictable but it is not easy to accuse him of dishonesty. It is clear that these are some of the things that Zambians were starting to appreciate and love about him. The other day, we heard someone refer to him as an acquired taste difficult to love on first taste but irresistible once you get used to it. One can say he is like an olive - it has a poor taste at first but irresistible when you get used to it.What are we saying?We have to admit that the uncertainty that descended on our nation last week Thursday clearly demonstrated that Levy in his own awkward way had eventually managed to connect with the people. There was a bonding between a leader and his people which was difficult to appreciate before that day. All this is very good but it still does not answer the questions: where do we go now? What is to be done? - to borrow Lenin's words.It is very easy at a time such as this to be lost in sentimentality, feelings of sympathy and goodwill towards our President. But these feelings will not address the potential dangers and pitfalls that we face as a nation. Katele Kalumba's character is a difficult one. It does not give us much confidence. His contribution to our national politics could have been very good but we have to say his impact on our politics has been disastrous.An intelligent man, capable of being well-mannered seems addicted to wrong-doings, wrong methods, and unbridled schemings, political engineering acquired from Chiluba's school of political machinations. Knowing Katele as we do, when he gives us advice, we have to stop and think. When did Katele become a charitable politician capable of subordinating his petty political and sectional ambitions to the greater good of the nation? His advice may sound well-founded but it is sugar-coated poison.Katele is saying there is no reason to start discussing President Mwanawasa's succession because it is insensitive to do so but is that really the reason why Katele is not prepared to talk about President Mwanawasa's succession? He says something that has aroused our interest. He is saying in one cheek that we should not discuss President Mwanawasa's succession and on the other side of his mouth he is saying with his twisted tongue that a party convention should decide the successor. Here is a man who is not prepared to discuss succession!Tetamashimba's words may be offensive, but Katele's are no different. It's a question of a pot calling the kettle black. Katele knows that as party secretary he had great influence over the conduct of party elections at the lower organs. And he will rely on this in organising the MMD convention to produce a result he desires. There is a big lesson to be learnt from all this. Dishonest people don't like transparency.They want everything done in secret so that they can manipulate weak souls and determine the results. The likes of Katele are telling people not to discuss the current political leadership situation in the country and in the ruling party so that they can continue to mobilise and organise unhindered under the cover of darkness while other more descent politicians feel inhibited to do so.The illness of President Mwanawasa must teach us to discuss difficult national issues openly with candour and due regard to the feelings of other people. It will not help us to be secretive about a problem that is so much in the public domain and causing so much anxiety. Only the likes of Katele will benefit from suppressing discussion.
I must say I was one of the many Zambians that panicked when the rumour swept the news wires last week. My friends and I started searching through the pages of the constitution (http://www.parliament.gov.zm) to find out what the provisions are. As the POST pointed out in another hard hitting Editorial last week, the nation has to hope for the best but also prepare for the worst. I think there are only three possible outcomes (a) The President recovers and resumes office (b) The President does not fully recover but somehow remains in power (c)The president is incapacitated and can not continue as president.
You may be asking why I have included option (b). The answer is the Ben Kapita scandal.
As a nation we should prepare for any of these scenarios and have plans in place to move forward. People should be free to openly discuss these issues otherwise we shall just provide a perfect breeding ground for unfounded rumours.
The PANEL
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