My book on the life of Michael Sata
My mission is to chronicle the life of President Michael Sata in its entirety in a book titled “King Cobra: unauthorized biography of Michael Sata.” The project is up and running. I am in the brainstorming, cluttering, and information-gathering stage. In other words, I am at the moment simply listing facts. I am not looking for dull facts; no ennui in this biography.
In my raw draft I am concentrating on how president Sata grew up and where, the towns he lived in, schools he attended, his very first job, why he was fired; his stay in England, how he got there (by plane or ship), what he did when he returned, how he got involved in politics, how Kaunda discovered him, his relationship with FTJ, and how he managed to become the fifth president of Zambia.
I am also interested in the name “Sata.” It is a very unique Bemba name. I want Zambians to learn more about it. Usually a name links one to a tribe, its culture, tradition, heritage, past, and helps to trace ancestors. Some of the prominent Bemba names including Katongo, Chiti, Nkole, Mulenga, Kapasa, and Chimbala make up the genealogy of the Bemba. Where does the name “Sata” fit in? What does the name mean? I don’t know, so, I have to continue going to the library.
Conversation with the strange visitor
Gorgeous Saturday, August 10: I headed for the library a stone throw from my abode. It was the third week of my research. But what began as a promising day, with a little song in the shower, quickly turned into an ordeal, and threw me off my pedestal. It is not clear up to this day if my pursuer, the bulky John Banda, was an intelligence officer, a police officer, a PF intransigent, cadre, an antagonist, or a mere schizophrenic. But he surely was up to no good. His sudden appearance felt like the 2 a.m. raid on a hounded journalist.
When he uttered the words “we need to talk,” there was no love in his voice. Oblivious of the library sign “Silence Please” in the microfilm room, he howled the words in a “you are under arrest” sing-song manner. For a moment I pictured myself cuffed and on the plane home. Fortunately, my defense mechanism kicked in timely.
“If you do not tell me why you are here, I’ll call the police,” I said with phone in hand and thumb ready to punch the emergency 911.
The mention of the police rattled him a bit.
“I’m not here to cause trouble,” he said in his husky beer voice. “I just want to talk to you in private.”
“I do not know you, and I do not wish to talk to you,” I firmly said.
“Why?” he asked, “because you are a traitor.”
I shot up like a canon. “How dare you come in here and call me a traitor!”
“You’ve betrayed your own president,” he said.
“What nonsense,” I responded.
“Can you guys keep your voices down?” someone said.
Banda looked at me belligerently and lowered his voice.
“Why don’t we step outside so I can tell you why I am here?”
I was going to resist, but the whole incident was becoming a spectacle. If both of us were kicked out of the library, Banda would get his wish. I was not going to walk out of the library into the mouth of a lion. I had to act fast. I quickly engaged my mind in gear four.
I got up, and picked up my bag.
“I do not appreciate being disturbed,” I told him and began to walk away from the microfilm monitor.
“The exit is this way,” Banda said.
“I am not getting out of this building,” I said. “I don’t trust you. There’s a place in here where we can talk. I must warn you that if your intention is to cause me harm, you are going straight to jail. I have already reported people like you to the police.”
I led him to the courtyard nestled in the building. It is an open place surrounded by an arcaded gallery in the manner of a Renaissance cloister. Here people mingle, chat, read, take their meals or simply chill their medulas.There were very few people, some seated on the benches around the green square. I spotted an empty bench, but I did not want to sit next to him. I made a sudden stop in a place I thought was safe enough to talk.
“Now, what do you want from me?” My voice was firm.
“You have been slandering and defaming the president,” he said. “Under Zambian law it is a crime to defame the president. His Excellency President Sata is doing an excellent job and foolish people like you are getting in his way. You must stop.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “You mean you have traveled all the way from Zambia to come and caution me?”
“I live here,” he said. “I’ve been reading your…”
I cut him short.
“You obviously don’t live in this town.”
“Yes, I do,” he said.
“Where exactly,” I asked. “I’ve never seen you around here.”
He hesitated.
“It does not matter,” he said. “It is inappropriate of you to label the president a dictator.”
“Isn’t he?” I asked. “I think he’s worse than all his predecessors.”
John Banda gritted his teeth. I looked into his steel eyes and saw nothing but rage. Had it been back home, he would have knocked my teeth out. But here there was little he could do. Lunging at my throat and wringing the last breath out would be captured on the library camera and guarantee him a seat on death row.
“You’re saying this nonsense because you are away from home,” he affirmed. “You need to be locked up for a long time for what you’ve just said. President Sata is not a dictator.”
“What is he?” I asked.
“He’s not a dictator, period,” Banda shot back. “And don’t you dare use that word again.”
“Fine,” I said. “But tell me, what do you call a leader who does not rule through democratic means? What do you call a leader who denies his people civil liberties; one who destroys the media, cracks down on those he perceives as dissidents and denies them the protection of the rule of law? Would you in your right mind say he’s a democrat?”
He opened his mouth, but I beat him to it.
“What do you call a leader who fashions the country to his own whim; one who thinks he has the power to do whatever he likes? President Sata does not know the meaning of democracy. He has failed to champion democratic rights and freedoms. He is busy suppressing political opposition and surrounding himself with violent people like you.”
“I could kick you for saying that,” Banda said.
“I know.”
His eyes were hot. “You don’t know me, and it is clear that you don’t know president Sata.”
“Do you?” I asked. “Do you know president Sata?”
“Of course,” he replied. “I know him better than you do.”
“Thank god,” I said. “Maybe you are the right person to ask. Can you please tell me what illness is making president Sata to make frequent private visits abroad. I am a taxpayer, I need to know, every Zambian should know, and since you know him better, please tell me.”
He hesitated.
“The president is in good health. Anyway, I am not here for that.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all year,” I told him.
I was at the verge of calling him a sycophant, but I feared he might lose his head and go ballistic.
“It is clear you don’t know him,” I continued. “Let me ask you another question.”
“I am not here to answer your stupid questions,” he exploded. “Just stop the nonsense or you’ll pay a big price.”
I ignored his threat.
“Just answer this one simple question,” I calmly insisted. “Where did the president go to school? Please tell me. The entire nation is dying to know.”
“Rubbish,” he retorted. “I’m not going to tell you.”
“Because you don’t know,” I quickly added. “You don’t him. He is your president, and yet you don’t know him. I bet you don’t know the crime he committed when he was first arrested. You don’t even know how he got to London, and what he did when he returned. Until you can provide answers, you should not be coming to threaten me and disrupt my life. You have the right to love him, or work for him, and I have the right to seek the truth from him. I am simply doing my job. I do not want Zambians to later regret that they were led by a man they didn’t know. It will be a great shame.”
“You are full of crap,” he said. “What makes you think Zambians will believe the lies you write?”
“Tell me one lie I have told about the president, one lie and I will discontinue my series.”
“They’re a lot, enough to land you in jail for many years.”
“Tell me just one,” I insisted. “You can’t. And yet I can tell you one lie by the president. He lied that he would put money in the pockets of the poor.”
“He’s working on it,” Banda said. “You’ve no idea what he has done since he became president. He’s fighting corruption, creating jobs, and improving education and health services. But he’s been frustrated by people like you who feed on UPND and MMD garbage. We know Hakainde supports and pays you to spread lies.”
I smirked.
“Get it in your head, I do not subscribe to any political party. I have said it before I do not know Hakainde and have never met him before. When I began to write my series, I was encouraging young politicians like him to put a stop to the same old politics. I was not targeting Sata because I was hoping he would apply his Lusaka governor panache, sweep the towns clean, create a Zambian brand out of our abundant natural resources, strengthen the economy and after two terms retire. It was my hope that a young successor would emerge and take our country to higher heights. But Sata is obviously here to stay. He’s got what he wanted and coiled back in the hole, I am trying to smoke him out.”
“Smoke him out,” Banda scoffed. His stare was sufficient to strike fear in me. “Field Ruwe, you are full of yourself. Who do you think you are? You are nothing, you understand. No one knows you in Zambia, and no one listens to you. The falsehoods you write end up in the toilet.”
“So why are you bothered about me, a nothing?”
“Because they few of us who read your nonsense can’t stand it. We can’t stand you. We want you to stop.”
“Tough luck,” I said. “I’ll stop at nothing. I’ll not sit by and watch Zambians duped. While it is highly appreciated that president Sata is a tenacious politician, it is clear that he lacks creativity and innovation. Zambia is a home to thousands skilled and talented youthful men and women, some are mathematicians, others scientists, and many more are innovative and creative beyond expectation, but they are totally redundant due to poor and selfish leadership.”
It was approaching eleven. I began to walk back into the library.
“I’ve answered your questions, now leave me alone,” I said.
Banda was static. He was staring at me like a lion watching a deer escape from its paws.
“I’m not done with you,” he said.
Don’t miss Hunt 48.
By Field Ruwe
Text Part II to a friend. Permission is granted to other media outlets to publish this story with acknowledgment.
“I am also interested in the name Sata it is a unique Bemba name.” No wonder your book will be crap.Who told you that Sata is Bemba ? Sata is Bisa by tribe my failed career comedian cum politician/hater/ professor.
Its rear I support Saulosi, this Field Ruwe peace of crap… He just messing internet with graffiti about Sata.
Spot on Nostradamus.I also see no reason why this guy has continued his attacks on Sata in this manner.There so many things worth talking about in Zambia.Seems to me that Ruwe is that type that likes hearing the sound of their voices.The type that hates advice from others.Get over it Ruwe, he is now your president ,you will have the chance to remove him in 2016.Hope you will go down there and vote instead of just sitting on your marijuana smoke tainted behind writing crap like this.
PF cadres never sleep. They are by their lap tops ready to counter. Historically the Bisa are part of the Bemba Kingdom. Ruwe is a historian who is trying to findout the background of president Sata. All you need to do is to answer some of the questions he is raising. That’s how you challenge the failed comedian who has turned his life into something far much better. All of us who are academically inadequate must take a leaf from him. It is never too late to learn. Good work Ruwe.
Nostradullas, what nonsense. You are the sycophant Ruwe is talking about. What is wrong with probing a mysterious president. Answer the following questions: Where did Sata go to school and what level did he reach? in Bisa what does the name Sata mean and how common is it among the Bisa? When did Sata travel to England and how? Where was Sata between 1963 and 1980? If you can provide the answers blog somewhere else, you blog addict. We knew you would be the first to blog.
Attention fimo fimo…Historian my foot.Maybe he is a challenge to you academically but not me.The Bisa might have had been conquered by the Bemba some few centuries going back but they still remain a district tribe,different from the Bembas because even traditionally their lifestyle is different.So don’t confuse facts here.
Ruwe is right. The Bisa or Tabwa chiefdoms were carved out of Bemba princes who were mostly sons and nephews of paramount Chitimukulu. Take time to read the history of the Bemba
Ladies and gentlemen, after you have read Saulosi’s and Notradamus comments see where else they appear. They are all over the internet writing what Saulosi terms as “crap.” Answer Ruwe’s questions. Stop going for his character. There is absolutely nothing wrong he is doing. Zambians need to debate issues and not go for character assassination. Saulosi is a typical example of intellectual dysfunctional. He began well with countering Ruwe’s claim about Sata’s name. He failed to stand up to the challenge and resorted to character assassination. Go back to the Bisa topic.
@Dongo wachepa sana.You are lucky that i have lecture in 10 minutes but get it.Bisa are a distinct tribe no wonder during the time when slave tribe was active in central Africa the Bisa’s were used by bembas as middlemen or transporters for lack of a better term.Anyway i bet i have to go for now.
Wanted to say “when slave trade was active…..”
Saulosi you are right, just as Ruwe as a name sounds unZambian, ignore the trash this jealousy guy writes! President Sata was democratically elected. Field, please have some decent respect for the electorate. It is our right to elect anyone we wish, not yours to tell us whom to vote for. Shame on you!
Saulosi, come back, you coward, where are you off to. I can’t believe you lecture. No wonder students do not progress much. Here is a piece of information for you. Bembaland is a territory of a loose confederation of the Bemba and those that surround them. “Lubemba” is the religious and ritual capital of this confederation. Although individual territories of the Bisa, Lumba, Soli, Ushi, Lala, and Ambo have their own settlements, they are part of the confederation. If you teach history, erase the crap you have been teaching them and replace it with the afore-mentioned. UNZA watch out for his man.
@Attention Notradamus and Dongo hear it from me, a Bisa,we are not part of the bemba people! we were at some point conquered by the Bemba and some time back by the Ngoni but at no point in time do we trace our origins from the bemba or ngoni people,we existed in eastern and luapula-northern province zambia before the bemba and ngoni came to these parts of the land.Get your facts right! Thank you.
Sata is a mwachusa from Tanzania. His father comes from Tanzania.
Ever wandered why his biography is not public . We know about KK FTJ Banda.
Sata came to Zambia aged 7 with his charcoal burner dad and mother. The family settled in Mpika. The name Sata came about when he decided to align himself to the Bisa people because people started to question his back ground on a serious note. If you check the records, you find that he adopted the name chilufya during the time when chiluba’s parentage was questioned by Zambians.
The Bisa are the mushroom clan that has no system of paramountcy. Although they have their own dialect and organization, they were attacked by the Bemba and lost territory to them becoming part of Lubemba. That’s why if Sata wanted to appoint a Bisa as Chitimukulu he can do so. No one is disputing that the Bisa were once and independent establishment. In fact they were a principle trading community in Central Africa, but after their defeat by the Bemba, they lost territory. It can be safely stated that Bisa is a clan within the Bemba Kingdom
I have wondered why I performed badly at UNZA. You have lecturers like Soulosi spending time blogging. The man was blogging a few minutes before class. How do you prepare new material that way. Soulosi (that is if indeed he’s a lecturer) is the type that hands out recycled lectures and exam papers year after. We should start suing people like him who waste our time and money. I should be seeking a refund. I wish I knew this guy’s real name. I would drag him to court for failing hundreds of students and producing half-baked ones. You ought to be ashamed of yourself
Saulosi, check Mutale Chikwanda’s blog below. He has summed up the Bisa well. That’s how it should done.
Keep on Field! I can’t wait to lay my hands in that book. Indeed we need to know who is in Plot One, the most important and most influential person in our land! Keep your focus, we are waiting.
He is not the most important, how old are you?
Notradamus, Sata is the most powerful person and therefore the most important. Who else makes decisions like he does? Don’t just blog for the sake of it. I am told that’s your career, to blog and blog and blog. Find something better to do. We are tired of your senseless comments.
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There is a mad man blogging
Ba Unbu….somthing….what you wrote is uncalled for may God forgive you….just debate
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Stop blogging please can you answer Ruwe’s Questions and prove yourself worth the challenge.
you are a wasted piece of sh.it
dont fill intimidated Ruwe……………keep up the job and go even beyond sata just, we need scrutinize all these guys
Keep the spirit Ruwe…………. all haters to go to hell where they are expected to wed chickens.
Ruwe should be writing about his president, Banda of Malawi. He comes from Nyasaland, to hell with you short little man Ruwe. You are an economic refugee riding on your wife’s back. Shame on you little yellow man.
You sound like a useful idiot
Mulekeni Ruwe alande. Continue my friend and dig deeper
Good piece of writing…but ba Ruwe i thought you collecting info kaili….from the nice piece you have written looks like leakage lol
No wonder we don’t have biographies of our presidents. We are content with oral history. When one tries to find out the biography of president Sata, his supporters begin to defend him. What is wrong with knowing were he went to school. A biography is a very important piece of history that should be accessed by all. Our children will need to know the people who led our country. It is not a norm but a must to chronicle the biography of a leader. It can be done by anyone. Ruwe has taken up the task, let’s support him. He has not committed any crime. Stop criticizing people who are trying to document our history.
A hired gun.No different from Chanda Chimbwe!
Correct spelling for tribes bordering Eastern province Tanzania and Malawi between Lundazi, Chama and Nakonde districts among others are: Nyondos, NYAKYUSA, TUMBUKAS. note the correct spelling of NYAKYUSA and not MWACHUSA
I am a staunch support of H.E, Sata. But let’s understand Ruwe for a moment. He wants to find out more about his president. What is wrong with that? Shouldn’t we know who he really is? Why should anyone feel bad about it? Sata is a public figure whom we should learned about in history. To skip parts of his life is doing a disservice to history. Indeed why can’t H.E. share his background with us?
Ruwe whts yr problm?Sata is not bemba.Atacks on him like Chanda Chimbwi wont help.Tel yr finaciers ths is not material worth called research but crap of gosip!Yr bloted vengeance is highly subjectve not objectve hence unworth fr public consumption.Why harbour hate on some one not fightng or insultng you.You gather crap fr wht?Go on & further publicise Sata fr sure & we see wht hapens in 2016.Yes there may be gaps as PF is implementng manifesto.The mediocre Bufi slogan is scathng & wont delude citizens to the tune of govt achivements.Come 2016 we shall begin countng achievments & shal wehere u point failures.Go on boy its yr show case Ruwe anyway.
I need to find where Ruwe gets his chamba man that must be strong stuff – hallucinating that you are in Zambia talking to “John Banda” when in fact you’re in Boston? I would pay a lot for some of that grass man
Ba clutchplate, totally naive. Debate issues you low thinker. Answer the questions: Where did Sata grow up? What level of education did attain? Where was he between 1963 and 1980? These questions are important NOT to duffed you, but your children or siblings. We are called Third World because of people like you. Whites laugh at us and say he have no history because the country is full of people like Clutchplate. I am wasting time trying to flog this horse.
It’s a matter of history and public record, it doesn’t need research. It’s like writing a book about what time the sun rise and sets – the Greeks have done it already, Field does not need to reinvent the wheel
PhD in chamba smoking
Zambia please wake up. Whites laugh at us because we have no history of our own. Chiluba, Mwanawasa, and Banda have ruled us without recording their biography. In 20 years time our children will be a laughing stock. The West is guided by history. They have emerged as great because they keep learning from the past. We don’t. To asked about the president’s past is taboo. We can’t even ask about his illness. This is what happens when people have very little education. They can’t think beyond nonsense. Without shame they shoot down good ideas. Comeon!
You may wish to know that Amos Mapulanga did an official biography of Mwanawasa under the title “Levy Patrick Mwanawasa: An Incentive for Posterity” and Richard Sakala also published a number of books centered on Chiluba’s presidency.
PF carders are yet to answer Ruwe’s questions. These are simple questions. Could just one carder answer these questions. Where did Sata go to school? What is the highest level of education that he attained? Does he he have any former classmates who are still alive? How did he go to London? Where was he between 1963 and 1980? Does he have any brothers or sisters? Simple questions that deserve answers…
If you don’t know the answers it’s because you are dull and uninformed. It’s old information that is public knowledge. So what is your point? That you are lazy-minded, dull and instead of getting off your back side and educating yourself you think you are so relevant that the president should take the time to explain things to you? Some people think they own the world
Clutchplate, the president is obligated to laying his background before the people of Zambia. You have failed to answer the questions and rushed to rumbling like a lunatic. Answer at least one question so as to defend yourself. We want the president to tell us who he really is. There is nothing wrong with that. In future one of the requirements must be that a presidential contender writes a brief autobiography of himself. The government should then ascertain by going to the areas he grew up and visit his village to interview friends and relatives.
@Clutchplate Banda…. Okay I am dull. Now answer the interrogations I have raised above. You say the answers are old public knowledge therefore you should have the answers. Also, by implication you claim to be smarter than me, therefore you should be able to answer the queries. Now, out with it… give us the answers, we are waiting!!
A BEMBA/BISA HISTORY LESSON:
The Bisas and Bembas are historically Lubas from Congo. They left Luba Kingdon as one group under the leadership of brothers Chiti and Nkole assisted by their relatives. When they reached Luchindashi a row broke out between Chiti’s sister Chilufya Mulenga and her cousin Chanda over Chanda’s refusal to give some mushroom to Chilufya’s child by the name of Bwalya Chabala who was crying of hunger. When Chiti heard this he was angry and decided leave Chanda, her children, siblings and a group of people in the Luchindashi area under the leadership of Kopa, Kabinga,etc. The remaining group later called itself Bisa and Chiti named his group Bemba in honour of his father Mukulumpe Mubemba.The Bembas later invaded the Bisas – hence the Bembas in Mpika as well.
Sounds plausible, but it doesn’t change the fact that SATA is a mwachusa from Tanzania.
In short Sata is Bemba.
We need people like Mutale Chikwanda in our country to explain stuff. “Professor” Soulis (chief blogger) should not be misleading his students. Thanks Mutale
Ci Ruwe u say re doing research giv us yr findings not u askng us questions fr wht?Dont ask isues of yr research whch u ve volunteerd to undrtake.Dont involve us .WhtDid Sata askd u to write his biograph?U shameless felow!U feel Sata nevr went to sch?U misplaced & dont evn compare Sata’s inteligence to to yr boy HH.Sata is both qualified & wise.Whts yr problm?Go drfecate yrself!
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