AILING and fragile looking Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Chilufya Sata on Wednesday collapsed after filing in of his presidential nomination papers resulting in his failure to appear before the News markers' Forum of the Post Newspapers.
Sata who filed in his nominations on Wednesday was on the same evening
scheduled to make a presentation to the forum on his manifesto and the vision for Zambia. “He felt very bad and had a cardiac problem, which led to his collapse. He was resuscitated within few minutes,” said a medical doctor who attended to him.
The opposition leader has earlier this year suffered a heart attack which resulted in late president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa making a prompt evacuation for specialists' treatment in South Africa. Sata was due to travel to South Africa for review but he refused saying he will only do after going through the campaign period.
According to medical experts, heart complications are never completely cured and it is clear that Sata is not and will never be the same. Since the heart problem, Sata has not been in the same state of health and even his campaigns have not been as impressive as in the 2006 polls when he was in usual former self.
The once chain smoker has been made to stop his smoking habits and in place of cigarettes has preferred to be a regular bulb gum chewer. The move by Sata has also been emulated by his party's spokesperson Given Lubinda who has followed the foot steps of his master and he too has quit smoking.
On Tuesday, a day before he could file in his nominations, Kasama Central MP Savior Chishimba had filed an injunction restraining his president to file in his nomination papers. Sata is said to have been angered by Chishimba and worse still insulted the Lawyers representing the Kasama Central MP. He is said to have called the Lawyers sons of a beach-whatever that means Sata himself knows. Owing to pressure from Chishimba that Sata collapsed and failed to make it for the Newsmakers' Forum. Sata, who feels nobody can challenge him in his party, has accused the United Party for National Development (UPND) of sponsoring Chishimba. But one thing that should be realized for sure is that Chishimba's decision to file an injunction against his President has had a negative impact on the popularity of Sata.
When Sata suffered a heart problem early this year, late President Mwanawasa facilitated his speedy evacuation for specialist treatment in South Africa. Sata was in hospital for close to a month and on his return, he intended to reconcile with Mwanawasa who was his long time number one enemy.
On May 14 this year, the two leaders meet at State House and since then Sata has been preaching about his reconciliation with Dr Mwanawasa. He has tried to hide his sickness by asking Dr Joseph Katema, the Member of Parliament for Chingola to state that he has fully recovered and therefore capable of contesting the October 30 elections. Dr Katema, at a Press briefing recently claimed that Sata was in sound health and therefore capable of contesting the elections. Dr Katema is surely contradicting himself because not too long ago, in Parliament, while referring to late Mwanawasa's illness said that heart and stroke were difficult ailments to completely heal.
One wonders why Dr Katema has this time around failed to advise his President not to contest the presidency as it was a strenuous undertaking which required people who are in sound health.
It is clear that like all members of the PF, with the exception of Chishimba and others called rebels fear Sata-who is simply the beginning and the end of the party, Biblically referred to as Alfa and Omega.
Sata is not the right man to rule Zambia because he has failed to manage the party as some members, despite his dictatorial tendencies rebelled against him. Despite reconciling with Mwanawasa, Sata, a staunch Catholic as he claims has failed to reconcile with members of this party who have followed the constitutional requirements to participate in the National Constitutional Conference (NCC).
What should not be forgotten is the role that he played in the Chawama Saga where he macheted defenseless Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) after Geoffrey Samukonga won the area parliamentary seat. As though that was not enough, Sata went ahead and expelled 22 members from the MMD who were against Chiluba third term bid. He used extreme force to ensure that the 22 were not anywhere near the Mulungushi Rock of Authority, the venue for the MMD convention.
It was at the said convention that Chiluba was dubiously voted as the party president when in fact his political career had ended.
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