ITS TIME TO KILL THE COBRA!

Dear Readers,

It has been a interesting month in the lead up to the elections. Thank you for all of your support and comments - we have one last thing to ask from you:

Go out and vote tomorrow! Take your family, your uncles and aunts and your neighbours - fill up your cars with people and take them to the polling stations. Your vote is a right and it has been given to you so that you can improve your lives.

Whoever you vote for HH, Rupiah Banda or Miyande - remember to select the candidate who will continue taking Zambia forward. As economic crises loom globally, now is the time to choose someone who will be sensible, someone who wants the best for the country not just for themselves.

Get out there...vote and together lets make sure Sata doesn't win!!

The Kusila Kwa Cobra Team

Sata: A Terrorist

As the election day draws near, tensions are mounting.

One topic the Kusila Kwa Cobra team has heard repeated in conversationson the streets of Lusaka, Livingstone and in the Copperbelt; is the worry that with total disregard of the actual results, Sata will declare himself victor.

An outsider would wonder why people are concerned about this, when it is certainly likely to be another free and fair election - due to the continued efforts of ECZ and the number of impartial observers already in Zambia.

But such concerns as not unfounded, as many of you had heard the stories about Sata in the 2006 elections. We have spoken to people who were there at the time and can confirm that it was all true.

A day after the elections Sata, with his motley collection of heavies, pushed their way in to the court house. Threating the staff there, he declared himself the true winner of the election and the next President of the Republic of Zambia.

At that particular moment he wanted just two things; to change the inaugeration ceremony from the usual venue of the court to Independence Stadium. And he also demanded the complete list of all the acting civil servants so that he could start compiling his new government.

One can only wonder with horror, what other orders he would have given over the next 24 hours if his grand designs had not been disproved by H.E. Mwanawasa and the election observers. And his dreams of ruling the country had not been taken away from him by the true democratic decision of our voters.

But the good news is that the world is watching Sata, and this time they know what kind of slippery snake they are dealing with. The Terrorism Research Centre has already posted a blog warning the international community about his possible reaction this week to the results (http://www.terrorism.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=93584)

Over the last century, we have watched dictators and terrorist destroy the hopes and ambitions of entire nations in a matter of years. We can not allow Zambia to be tricked in to believing that Sata will achieve anything positive for the country.

This man has not changed - Sata is ignorant, rude, violent, uneducated and now he has been identified as a potential terrorist! Protect yourselves and your family on Thursday; ensure that you and the people you know DO NOT VOTE PF.

POLL

Far too often in Africa, polling is a misunderstood art. Either politicians reject the polls for being inaccurate or expect the outcome of an election to follow exactly the poll. Opinion polls shouldn’t be viewed either way. The way opinion polls need to be regarded, is as a snap-shot of what people are thinking of on the day the questions were asked.

In the case of the recently released opinion poll by the Steadman Group, there are a couple things to keep in mind. The Steadman poll was in the field from October 10-15. As the old saying goes, a week is a long time in politics. It is usually in the last fortnight of the election campaign is when the electorate truly begin to firm up their choices.

The other thing that must be kept in mind in regards to the Steadman poll is there are some real oddities that must be taken in consideration when judging the validity of the poll. When the poll is broken down by region there are several questions that arise. For example, in the poll, Steadman has Rupiah Banda ahead of Michael Sata in Sata’s heartland of Lusaka.

It is also worth questioning how the poll put Michael Sata is doing as well as suggested in the Western Province, a region that the late President, HE Levy Mwanawasa did exceedingly well in 2006.

To anyone following Zambian elections over the past 8 years, most would find it hard to believe either that Michael Sata would be able to win the Zambian presidency without taking Lusaka or on the contrary that Rupiah Banda would win in Lusaka, but not win the election.

So, what conclusions can be drawn then from the poll? The answer is that it is hard to tell with polls.

However, as another old saying goes, there is only one poll that means anything and that is the one on Election Day.

Constitutional Reform – An Electoral Perspective

Why are we having this election? Think about it. No, your first answer is wrong. It is not because Levy Mwanawasa died.

It is because our constitution does not allow for a Vice-President to take over and complete the term in office. In Zambia Vice-President’s are chosen after Election Day, so have no electoral mandate themselves. This is exactly why we are now holding this by-election; Rupiah Banda needs a mandate from the people to govern. This Constitutional deficiency has given people like Sata and HH another chance at getting elected – for them this loophole in the Constitution is a gift.

In America the Republicans have John McCain and Sarah Palin on their ‘ticket’. The Democrat’s ‘ticket’ is Barak Obama and Joe Biden. When JFK was assassinated in Dallas Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President on the plane back to Washington. So within hours America had a new President. Government continued and although the American nation was in mourning it was not in crisis. When Richard Nixon was forced to resign over the Watergate scandal Vice-President Gerald Ford took over with immediate effect.

Had our constitution allowed for Rupiah Banda to be sworn in as President the Zambia would be in the same situation. We would not have to be spending billions of Kwacha on printing ballot papers and other paraphernalia required to hold an election. So when this is all over can we please get back to reviewing the Constitution. Can we please change the law so that a Vice-Presidential candidate is known before polling day? Let that person also have an electoral mandate to run the country in the event of the untimely demise of the President.

Choosing a suitable running mate will tell the people a lot about the Presidential wannabee. We would be able to compare the ‘tickets’ of the parties involved and we would know exactly how genuine they are about the political agendas. Mind you it is worth remembering that Sata tried to change the Constitution in favour of a Chiluba third term – perish the thought. Had he succeeded we would not have this Constitutional crisis; we would be living in a dictatorship.

Cobra Finally Showing Us What He Would Do If Elected!

Sata’s campaign for the by-election to choose a President who can serve the remainder of the late HE Levy Mwanawasa’s term has, for far too long, been dominated by the Post newspapers attempted character assassination of the MMD candidate and Acting President Rupiah Banda.

What has been missing is a proper discussion on the issues. At last it looks like the hyperbole is settling down and Sata is going to give us a proper look at his positions on the issues. Now the electorate may finally have the necessary information in order judge which candidate to choose, based on what they stand for. A good example of what a Sata presidency might look like came in a recent campaign declaration, whereby Michael Sata announced that if elected he would force foreign companies to set aside 25% of their investment for locals. At first glance this may seem like a good idea. But what would the long term effect of this policy be?

There seems to be general consensus in Zambia that the economy has been doing well for the past 7 years. The key to that success, was recognition by the late President Mwanawasa that economic prosperity in the modern world is based on a countries ability to attract foreign investment.

The astute President understood that foreign investment was a fickle bedfellow, much like the fairytale goose that lays the golden egg. With both the goose and foreign investment, if you squeeze either too hard then they will stop laying for you. Sata’s proposal to force 25% religuishment of international inward business, is an action that will squeeze Zambia dry of foreign investment.

There is no doubt that Sata is a populist politician, trying to get votes by making promises that will be impossible to deliver. However this policy is also sending a message to the greater world as to the type of people that a Sata presidency will be seeking and taking advice from. This policy is taken from one of his great political hero’s Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe.

The same Robert Mugabe, that has steered his country to almost total economic collapse and a world record inflation rate of over a trillion percent. After the recent economic success and growth in our country, Zambian voters may not think that a Zimbabwe meltdown is possible here. But remember; Zimbabwe was once the breadbasket of Southern Africa and in only a few short years has become the basket case!

PROTECT ZED - DON'T VOTE SATA!

Canadian Journalist Tries To Hide Sata Bribe Scandal

Kusila Kwa Cobra reported recently that Michael Sata was at Yatsani Radio station handing out K50,000 notes to people. One of their intern staff, Ms Eliasha Stokes reported these illegal actions on a website called Journalists for Human Rights.

Ms Stokes now wants to have her work removed, Kusila Kwa Cobra will consider her request. Her blog has subsquently been removed from the Journalists for Human Rights website; maybe they spotted the hypocrisy of her story? When you see what she has written then you will see why. Ms Stokes letter to us can be found under the story called 'Sata Exposed for Bribing Journalists’. Kusila Kwa Cobra’s reply to Ms Stokes is here:

Ms Stokes,

Thank you for contacting me via the Kusila Kwa Cobra website. You did not leave your email details so this is the only way I can communicate with you. This is of course a very public forum and its contents may be picked up by other journalists, newspapers, radios etc, so I choose my words carefully.

I do not understand your concerns about false ‘investigations’, naming names, “putting false world [sic] into my mouth” as you put it and your right with regard to copyright. You withdrew your article after it was challenged which suggests that you were aware of your mistake. I however totally stand by my work. Let me explain.

First you raise the issue of our investigation proving “absolutely false”, far from it. If I am wrong then I urge you to address the following:

• Deny that you were working at Yatsani Radio when the ‘politician’ attended the premises to “buy air time for an interview”;

• Deny that you took Kw50,000 from the politician;

• Deny that four other people also took money (we accept that they were not journalist, indeed we understand that they were not employees of Yatsani radio but we do have their names);

• Deny that the politician in question was Mr Michael Sata, Presidential Candidate for the PF Party;

As you will see my ‘investigation’ is well informed and I am more than happy to furnish any authorities you choose with the evidence I have uncovered. The authorities I am thinking of are the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the Zambian Police and the Immigration Department. Should you think of any other do let me know. Of course if I am wrong then you will have no problems defending my charges. If I am proved wrong then you have my word that I will retract my story and apologise to you on the Kusila Kwa Cobra website. It would be the professional thing to do.

Your second point is that I put false words in your mouth. Again far from it. I attribute no names to you. I named Yatsani Radio and I named Michael Sata. I could name other names but I will hold back for now, unless of course you want me to.

Thirdly, that your article is not political. Your article is about political corruption, namely bribery. You yourself use the expressions, “a very prominent politician”, “the election is coming”, “The politician reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of K50,000 notes (about twenty dollars). He hands a note to each of the journalists”, “I know it is unethical for a journalist to take money, especially from a politician.”, ““That’s our future President”, remarks one of my co-workers.”, and finally, “Future President or future dictator?”. Ms Stokes you are a journalist, you know the power of words and you know the meaning they can convey; it is you who made the story political, not me.

What this really boils down to is your own hurt journalistic ego. It was you who took money off a politician during an election campaign. It was you who was silly enough to write about your stupidity and then publish it on the web. You are either very naive or you deliberately placed your story so as to attract attention to yourself as a journalist who has witnessed electoral bribery at first hand.

What is most depressing is that after conducting yourself in such an unprofessional manner you choose to hide behind imperialist USA laws. I may well have to remove your text from my website but this story will not die. Kusila Kwa Cobra is monitored in the USA, South Africa, Norway, UK to name but a few, and of course it now has a keen following in Zambia. As a journalist who has taken money off a politician I would have thought you would want to keep a low profile, not raise your head above the parapet.

This issue has nothing to do with copyright. This is a story about political corruption and your involvement in it. You are an accomplice to Mr Sata’s actions, your refusal to go to the Electoral Commission or the police damns you. In Zambia we have a problem with corruption and we expect learned people like yourself to help us in our fight. You are a Canadian; would your actions be acceptable in your own country? The answer is ‘no’, so why do you come to our country and get involved in such illegal actions.

You are nothing more than a cheap journalist who takes money from bad politicians; maybe you should go get a job at the Post.

The Kusila Kwa Cobra Team.

Bye Bye By-Election - Can Sata Face The Raw Truth Of Kanchibiya?

In today’s edition of that PF mouthpiece ‘The Post’ it is reported that the MMD were trounced in the recent by-election in Kanchibiya in Northern Province, with PF getting an incredible 70% of the vote. What a great headline for Sata and his supporters. But as usual with all Post stories the truth rarely matches the headline. Closer inspection of the figures reveals that it is Sata who may be crying on 30th October.

Turn out for the by-election was a poor 33% and the reality is that it was PF people who could not be bothered to vote for their man. The fact is that the PF candidate received 2195 votes less than their 2006 candidate. The MMD candidate was down by only 492 votes. In terms of percent of votes lost PF is down 30% and the MMD only 23% when compared with the 2006 elections. After you do the maths one discovers that the MMD closed the gap on PF by 7%.

Alarmingly for Sata this by-lection took place in Northern Province, which after Lusaka and the Copper Belt is one of his strongest regions. If his vote is down 7% in this region then he is going to be in big trouble nationally. If the Kanchibiya result is replicated across Zambia on 30th October then it will be bad news for the King Cobra

Further analysis of other results show even more bad news for Mr Sata and the PF, proving that the Kanchibiya result is not a one-off either. Earlier this year in the Kanyama (Lusaka urban) by-election the PF crashed in support again. Votes won were PF 30.5% vs 40.7% in 2006, so down 10.2%; UPND 22.3% vs 33.1% in 2006, up 10.8%, and MMD 27% vs 22% in 2006, up 5%.

For some reason Sata’s people are staying at home. Is it because he is not attracting them this time around? Has he lost his sparkle? Is it because his negative campaigning is annoying even his own supporters? Are his policy u-turns driving people away? And more worryingly why is he being hammered in both the rural and urban areas? Who knows, and quite and frankly who cares, but I’ll bet a few kwacha that Sata is a very worried man; the people are rejecting him.

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.

Where was Mr. Sata Hiding?

A memorial service to celebrate the life of HE Levy Mwanawasa was held in central Lusaka this last Sunday, and there was one very conspicuous individual who failed to attend.

The absence was not conspicuous just because this was a national event and the absentee is standing as a candidate in the upcoming by-election that will serve to select the successor of the recently passed President.

The non-appearance of Mr. Sata was so blatant because it was clearly a personal snub of the man who only recently saved Mr. Sata’s life!

While Mr. Sata was lying in hospital in Lusaka after suffering a massive heart attack in April of this year, who was it that arranged for the acerbic politician to be airlifted to South Africa to receive cardiac care?

The recently deceased President, that’s who!

Is this how the man that wants to be the next President of Zambia pays his respect? The memorial was not a political event, it was a country bidding farewell to a beloved President.

The memorial was supposed to be a time when political leaders put their partisanship aside and be just leaders; leading the people in mourning.

If Sata were to become President of Zambia, would he not show up at a SADC meeting or an AU summit because there were going to be people there that didn’t like him?

Would he avoid addressing the UN in New York, because the Chinese are on the Security Council?

Leadership is not a popularity contest; one must be able to lead those that are supporters and non-supporters alike.

Think carefully Zambia, before you vote!

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.

Michael SATA Collapses Again.

MICHAEL SATA COLLAPSES AGAIN!

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.