Leave Religion Out of Politics

Yesterday's PF mouthpiece The Post newspaper reported Sata as saying that God had sanctioned a change of government and that he had Divine support to be President.

Zambia is a deeply religious nation and they will not look kindly on an old desperate politician claiming God is on his side. Such claims of those of desperate man who knows he will not win on Thursday. Sata's words are almost blasphemous and he should be condemned by all religious leaders in Zambia. Since when did God support political parties in any country, Zambia would be the first.

If God is supporting the life and times of Sata then why did he give him a heart attack in April? No Mr Sata you cannot have it both ways, God does not support you.

When it comes to politics God is impartial and woe betide any scheming politician who uses His name in vain.

What Makes A Great Leader?

In the lead up to the Presidential by-election on 30th of October many Zambians are now examining the four candidates and preparing to make a decision about whom to vote for. The constant barrage of information received on a daily basis in the media regarding the candidates can somewhat distract from the significant task at hand.

Voters should take the opportunity to reflect on what exactly makes a great leader and then use this as a benchmark to compare and contrast the individuals before they are standing in front of the ballot box. In order to become a great political leader there are many essential qualities that the person needs to possess.

Perhaps the most crucial virtue a potential President requires is vision. They must have a clear understanding of where the country is currently and where they want to take it. Their vision must be built on a solid knowledge of the nation’s history and how it has changed. They need to be able to use this experience to anticipate what may happen in the future so that they are prepared to face any challenge. Their vision should contain goals they want to meet during their term, these must be achievable and not just empty promises made to entice more votes.

Another key skill required is that the person needs to be a good communicator. This ability is important on many levels; by saying that they are a good communicator, it does not mean that they have a loud voice and can shout. Its means they are able to convey a proper message. The correct candidate must also have the capacity to listen. Only through listening to his people can a leader understand what is required of him by the population.

A great leader will nknow what his people think, understand them on a wide range of issues; he has to be able to interact, with his teachers, with the nurses, with the farmers, with the miners, with his MPs, with the fathers, with the mothers, with the chiefs, with the students and with the businessmen.

The President needs to be able to make serious decisions over a variety of subjects on a daily basis for the betterment of his people. So as to not make mistakes, the candidate should have solid experience. A country cannot afford to elect a President who does not have a suitable history of leadership.

The candidate will need to be able to hit the ground running, there is no time to practice once you are a Head of State. No one can exactly predict the events that might shape the future of a country but the best candidate is one who will be reliable in the face of adversity and steadfast in their choice of actions. The President needs to be someone the country can lean on to carry them through difficult times.

The ideal candidate for President should have a good educational record and a firm grasp of the world around us, so that they are able to understand the complex nature of the job at hand. The President of a country is its representative in many international fora. Not only must the leader be able to understand the wishes and needs of their people, but also make those wishes and needs understood by the global community and command respect when communicating them.

A President should have worked in diverse positions throughout their career, in order to give them first hand exposure to the many areas of expertise he will have to deal with. For example it is preferable that he has worked as a General Manager of a business and been a Member of Parliament or even a Minister.

The more experience the candidate has in a variety of different roles, the better prepared he is for what will ultimately be the most important job of his life.

Michael Sata gets ringing endorsement from leading Western Journalist for being Xenophobic!

Michael Sata recently picked up a rather dubious endorsement. In an article published in The London Daily Mail and then this weekend in the Post, Journalist Peter Hitchens backed Mr. Sata in the upcoming by-election for the presidency of Zambia on October 30, 2008.


The reason for the endorsement was based on Mr. Sata’s avowed dislike of the Chinese living and working in Zambia. The logic behind Hitchen’s endorsement is that by supporting Sata, it will be a knock for what Hitchens has called a new Chinese Imperialism that he claims is bringing more corruption to Africa.

There is no doubt that development in Africa has been held back by corruption, but endorsing a politician that has never been able to keep a Ministerial job because scandal has followed him everywhere is ludicrous!

Dating back to the early 1990s scandals and corruption have followed Sata like stink follows a rubbish tip. Putting Michael Sata in charge of Zambia and expecting him to clean up corruption in the country is like putting the patient in charge of the asylum.

Ironically, the endorsement has come just at the time that Michael Sata has found it politically necessary to flip flop his viewpoint on the issue of the Chinese in Zambia. Only recently did the Post publish an article about him being friends and welcoming Chinese investors and here he is now, wanting them out again. Such puerile turncoat behaviour is hardly suitable for someone who wants to lead a nation. World leaders and the international community would condemn such inability to be decisive instantly.

Michael Sata also lacks the necessary skills to be his country’s leader. He has made his name as a stone thrower, a party wrecker and a rebel. He is not a man that works well with other people; the city of Lusaka is presently without a mayor because he has sacked the previous incumbent. 26 MPs and 380 members of the PF have left the party in disgust. They now have come out and are publicly supporting Rupiah Banda’s campaign to be President.

What Zambia needs is leadership that can continue the recent success that has brought economic stability, and not a Michael Sata presidency that will return Zambia to the bad old days of corrupt and abusive government which plagues so many African nations.