The rule of law or the law of rule?

There are certain skills and understandings a potential President should posses. The most important of which, no matter which country the individual seeks to govern, is the understanding of the rule of law. The judicial processes and the organs which enforce the law should remain untouched by political shenanigans and meddling. All citizens of a country, from the very top to the very bottom should maintain a healthy respect for the law of the land. Without it officials and friends of those in power soon think they are above the law, corruption flourishes and the reputation of the country dives into the gutter.

It is most interesting then to review the stances taken by the three main candidates on the issue in this election (alas Miyanda does not really count). Both HH and RB remain fairly onside on the issue, neither has threatened to abuse the legal organs of the country and neither has threatened to arrest those who do not agree with them. Threatening to arrest people because they do not agree with you is a sure sign of a megalomaniac and a person with dictatorial tendencies.

One would think that someone with a legal background would understand all of this and indeed, would be a champion of the country’s legal system. Michael Sata was once a policeman so he should fit the bill. After all we expect the police to uphold the law, don’t we? Alas no, he seems to think that the legal system is for him to play with and to use as is his want. Only he has threatened to arrest somebody, you will not be surprised to hear that RB and top MMD officials are his intended victims. That PF mouthpiece the Post newspaper ran a headline ‘Banda to face arrest for corruption if Sata wins’ (3rd Oct 2008). Mr Sata was quoted as saying “I will deal with them and sort them out, sort them out clean”. He also went on to say of Mike Mulongoti that he would be arrested for trying to stifle freedom of the press and for dictating what the press should write. What is most worrying is the ‘I’ in all of this. Had he said ‘I will ask the police to investigate’, or, ‘I will ask the ECZ to look into the allegations’ then we would have nothing to worry about. But no, it is the ‘I’ that damns him as ignorant of the rule of law, as an abuser of power. Nobody will be safe if Sata becomes President on 30th October.

Some great politicians have been to prison for their beliefs or allegiances. Think of the twenty-seven years of incarceration of Nelson Mandela, our own Kenneth Kaunda was locked up by Chiluba, so was Rupiah Banda. Michael Sata too has been to prison but sadly for Zambia not for political beliefs or for any revolutionary struggle. His time in prison was for theft. Sata is a common criminal with a criminal record to prove it. He is certainly no material for a future President.

The most worrying thing is that his friends at the Post can say what they like, they never retract the false statements they make about other candidates; as far as they are concerned Sata can do no wrong. This is all the more strange when one considers that until a few weeks before the campaign it considered Sata one of the most evil and corrupt people on the planet. So why then do Sata’s newfound police powers not seem to apply to the Post? Why has the Post suddenly converted itself into the ‘I love Sata’ fan club? These are questions the Zambian people would love to know the answers to. As for me I have a word of warning to those at the Post, beware strange bedfellows.