Hunt for Successor 59
By Field Ruwe

Fast Forward: 21.11.2016: “A laicized Catholic priest who once called his president a potato has won the presidential elections in Zambia. The election of Father Frank Bwalya has broken a five-year authoritarian rule by Michael Sata who many feared was turning the country into a family empire. Endorsed by the Catholic hierarchy and the majority of the country’s three million Catholics, Father Bwalya beat the populist leader by a large margin…”

How about that? This could happen. In fact it is likely to happen. Of the three major candidates, Hakainde Hichilema (UPND), Nevers Mumba (MMD), and Father Frank Bwalya (ABZ), the latter is in a better position to win the 2016 presidential election. Father Bwalya who belongs to the Bemba people, the largest ethnic group in the country with 6.5 million people (55% of the population) has the full blessings of the Vatican. The presidency is his to lose.

If Father Bwalya fails to defeat President Michael Sata he will become the first Catholic priest to lose a presidential election. Whenever and wherever a Catholic priest has given up his priestly ministry and ecclesiastical duties to join the race for the presidency he has won. Bishop Fernando Lugo Mendez of Paraguay and Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti are a good example. They both triumphantly rode on the mystic of the Vatican in blatant defiance of the Canon law that prohibits the Catholic clergy from holding political office.

“That’s not true,” I hear a prelate saying. “

Hold on sir, let me finish: while the Catholic Church considers politics a serious hazard to moral theology it discreetly supports priests who seek public office. How can it not when its priests are subjects of the Vatican, a sovereign state, whose political leader is the pope? How can it not when it calls upon the same priests to preach and practice social responsibility and struggle for social justice? How can they have any impact without involving themselves in the chaotic world of politics? Most of all, how can the Vatican sustain its empire without its monastic agents (priests) expanding the influence of the Roman Catholic Church around the world?

All said and done, the most urgent question is: can Father Bwalya receive the backing of three million Catholics in the country? Answer: Yes he can, and here is why; while some priests may feel Father Bwalya has overreached himself and should be curbed by the church, there are many who feel he is walking along the right path and has their support. They believe they have found in the youthful and avuncular Father Bwalya the much needed courteous, yet courageous and tough voice with which to rekindle the Roman Catholic prowess. He is perhaps their holy grail.

Don’t forget it has been a tumultuous period for the Roman Catholic Church in Zambia. Since the mid-1991 when FTJ declared Zambia a “Christian nation,” to shouts of “amen,” “precious Jesus,” and “hallelujah” the number of people who consider themselves as “devoted” Catholics has hit rock bottom. With Father Bwalya as president the Vatican has an opportunity to restore its authority and contain the Evangelicals, mainly the Pentecostals whom it accuses of benefiting from the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation and of “proselytizing” (stealing its flock). With him in State House whether laicized (stripped of his priesthood) or not it will be possible to revisit the “Evangelical” Christian nation clause and fine tune it.

Let’s backtrack for a minute. During FTJ’s reign the Catholic hierarchy refused to render its theological support to his declaration and accused him and his Evangelical accomplices, Nevers Mumba and General Miyanda included, of lobbying and manipulating legislation to suit their religious stature. Over the years, the Catholic’s appeals to FTJ and his successors to have the “Christian nation” clause removed from the Constitution’s preamble have fallen on deaf ears—even deafer this time now that the constitution is in the hands of a fickle Catholic-bred president who used the cross of Jesus as a campaign wand and falsely vowed to rule the country in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

It is out of this gloomy situation that Father Frank Bwalya emerged and began to promote his progressive agenda. Like Bishop Lugo and Father Aristide, Father Bwalya is a proponent of Liberation Theology, a political methodology within the Roman Catholic Church perpetuated by priests in Latin America as the Church’s moral reaction to the poverty caused by social injustice. Although censured by the Vatican for its Marxism concept, Liberation Theology has been identified as the most popular avenue to secular power for it links political activism to Christian theology.

Father Bwalya has been applying this concept since he was ordained and appointed Station Manager of the Catholic-operated Radio Icengelo. A trained journalist with a Bachelor of Divinities degree and diploma in Philosophy, he used the station to candidly “preach food for all men and women” in the manner of Father Aristide who in 1988 told his congregants that “the solution [to starvation] is revolution, first in the spirit of the gospel; Jesus could not accept people going hungry. It is a conflict between classes, rich and poor.” Father Bwalya interpreted the Aristide “revolution” through his Red Card campaign and became an instant political celebrity.

Father Bwalya’s sudden impact on the people was fulsomely acknowledged by the Catholic Church. Notice how in 2008 the Catholic hierarchy canonically admonished him and withdrew his duties as Icengelo manager but kept the collar around his neck even when he attacked them for curving to the demands of the government to have him fired. Father Aristide and Bishop Lugo had similar experiences. Like them, Father Bwalya’s appointment as curate of Ipusukilo Parish was withdrawn and he was placed on an indefinite sabbatical (leave). He was ordered to “remain obliged and maintain celibacy until a new way of life is determined by the competent ecclesiastical authority.”

And as recent as January 2014, the Bishop of the Diocese of Ndola reported that Father Bwalya was free to practice active politics” as long as “he does not do on behalf of the Ndola diocese or the Catholic Church.” This was more or less a special dispensation from the Vatican for Father Bwalya to leave the church, become president, and return to the clergy at the end of his service.

What does all this mean for Father Bwalya? It means that in the political situation he finds himself today, he has endless opportunities. First, Zambians in general place a priest in a mystical niche. They regard him as a selfless man who exercises a higher caliber of righteousness. In an impoverished Zambia, a priest occupies a special status; he is a messenger of God called upon to provide light in time of darkness. He strengthens and encourages the poor and the sick in their struggle for survival.

Father Bwalya, who is yet to win national likeability, should take advantage of this ecclesiastical prestige to garner support from the people of Zambia if he is to break the tyrannical leadership of President Sata. He must depict himself as a uniter and not a divider and incessantly attack President Sata for being a tone-deaf leader (chumbu munsholowa).

He must make all Zambians see him as an honest administrator, moral educator and a cultural mainstay, and above all, a nation builder who carries with him the “One Zambia One Nation” leitmotif. Presently, he does not meet the afore-mentioned qualities. Many people are not sure he is a priest worth voting for. His past relationship with Sata has reduced him to an imprudent chameleon in a white collar and tattered flip-flops. He needs to remove the stigma. To do so, he needs help from the clergy.

Gates at the Vatican are open for him. After the deportation of Lundazi-based Father Viateur Banyangandora in 2012, the Catholic hierarchy is beginning to distance itself from Sata. Catholic opposition is intensifying. Priests who were unhappy with the MMD and supported Sata’s PF policies and ideologies feel betrayed. They know they are facing the reality of the country ruled by the most dangerous president whom the people of Zambia have blindly allowed to equip and wage a violent repression. They are beginning to speak from the pulpit against him.

“He [Sata] is a very arrogant man,” Rwandan Father Banyangandora said. “And so are his ministers. He’s a man who doesn’t allow anyone to criticize him. When you do, he sends police officers to your home.”

Such tactics and abuses are increasing as Sata consolidates his power. The beating, arrest, intimidation, harassment, persecution, and prosecution of his political opponents and members of the media, is a matter of grave concern. The Catholic hierarchy has seen the impossibility of reconciling Catholic faith with Sata’s fatal dictatorial philosophy which could plunge the country into a bloodbath.

“There is too much violence in our country. Political cadres are fighting each other every day. These are some of the vices that are part of the wound of Christ,” lamented Saint Ignatius Catholic Church Father Charles Chilinda at this year’s mass to mark Easter Sunday. And he cautioned: “Today you might be a politician and tomorrow you will be an ordinary citizen. God is the ultimate boss.”

The above statement was made in the wake of Sata’s threats to “sort out” Chipata Catholic Diocese Bishop George Lungu for encouraging prayers for the goodwill of the constitution. The Catholic clergy knows that president Sata can be sadistic, cruel, and belligerent. It is this reason that has earned himself a proviso from the Council of Churches in Zambia: “an attack on one faithful servant of God is an attack on the entire body of Christ.”

Father Bwalya is among the servants of God. He should take advantage of the present situation and escalate his liberation theology. He must use Catholic clergy as his loci power. He is familiar with all the priests in the country. With their support he must find access to the non-Catholic traditional churches that are members of the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) like UCZ, Anglican Church, Reformed Church of Zambia, and Seventh Day Adventist, and together device a brilliant campaign strategy with an attention to detail worth a victory. Winning the support of the traditional church will earn him a strong woman-vote and an endorsement from marketeers around the country.

Having said all this, UNPD Hichilema is way ahead of Father Bwalya. After coming third in all his attempts he has moved into second place and become the flagship candidate of the opposition. He carries Father Bwalya and other opposition leaders on his coattails. I shall address his predicament in my next article. All in all, removing Sata in 2016 will require a pragmatic, strategic and an unselfish coalition party with Father Bwalya at the helm.

Please Note: I have created a website www.aruwebooks.com on which you can access all my articles, essays, books, and my autobiography. On it you can also learn more about the books I have written and read snippets of chapters. Contact me, blog, or join in the debate.
Field Ruwe is a US-based Zambian media practitioner, historian, and author. He is a doctoral candidate at George Fox University. ©Ruwe2012

By Hjoe Moono

Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses. It’s about representing all under your reign, even when they may not have supported your getting to leadership. To protect the lives and noble interest of all, even when they oppose you. To supress your possibly bloated ego for the better good of society. To realise that when a leader, especially in a democracy like Zambia, it is no longer about you and how great your campaign strategy was/is.

It is about the people who have now entrusted you their lives. Leadership entails public life, in which the greater good of the nation is the guiding principle. Once in public life, as Mr. Sata is, everything becomes public. One no longer has the luxury of privacy accorded to him in his pre-election. He heads a public institution—the government, and as such, he is expected to behave as such—head of a publicly elected government office—the office of the presidency.

But Mr. Sata today decided not to be a leader, stepped out of the public office of the presidency to fight personal battles and settle old scores with his adversaries. This is perhaps the latest kind of governance the world has ever seen—and it will indeed be one of his legacies—the man that left the presidency for a while to fight his opponents on ‘fair-ground’. Now clearly this is a misplaced priority. But perhaps a reflection of something we cannot make a diagnosis of, nor understand since we are not well schooled in law and PF’s governance style.

If Mr. Sata can devote even just 30% of the zeal and determination he has shown us in fighting Richard Sakala and the Daily Nation, Zambia would be a better place. Zambia would be marvel in development, and possibly our exchange rate would be better and not out of hand as it is. But as is evident, his ego is more important than serving the nation’s need. Mr. Sata has devoted more time to brushing his ego and settling old scores using his power—from fighting Chitimukulu to now Richard Sakala. One wonders if at all the man ever pays attention to his presidential duties.

That a president has sued private citizens whom he governs over and is claiming damages for his personal pockets from these Zambian citizens is regrettable. One would ask, while Mr. Sata will be attending court sessions hoping to win damages, who will be heading the country as president? Since he would have vacated the office of presidency to pursue a private matter, effectively the country is without a head during those periods. Clearly, this is not a mark of the man of action we knew. This is not statesmanship. There is indeed a deficit of leadership at the presidency.

Where will justice and impartiality be when the man that appoints judges is the complainant? Aren’t the defendants already defeated? And this is a man who claimed he wanted to govern by the Ten Commandments? Mr. Sata should realise that Zambians elected him to that position so that he can attend to the many challenges facing our country and not to fight his own created wars using the office of the presidency. Such an act has never been seen before in Zambia’s 50 years history.

Our past presidents have been insulted, called names, ridiculed by him and his press aides and public image builders disguised as a newspaper while in the opposition and even after he ascended to the presidency. None of the former head of states stripped off their immunities, abandoning their duties to fight the then critical media. It’s obvious, they had work to do, and it is just plain silly to do so. Looks like our current president has loads of time on his hands.

The sooner Mr. Sata realises that he has a country to govern the better for him, his party and the nation. He is no longer in opposition, he is His Excellency The President. Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. He is no longer the man to fight with opponents as he did when he engaged in a vulgar confrontation with his former Secretary General at a voting queue in 2011. His advisors, both personal and legal should have endeavoured not to allow the office of the presidency to be reduced to the levels similar to that of a desperate and insecure man.

Mr. Sata’s move can only be expected from a man so desperate to maintain some sort of super-ego that he never had. So desperate to take out any opposition and create a cult culture of being hero-worshiped. Why is he so desperate to stop people from criticising him? Is it because the daily nation has now turned out to be the greatest competitor to his praise singing former independent newspaper? Is he fighting a media sales battle on behalf of some newspaper to improve its sales?

It is obvious, the glaring praises of Mr. Sata appearing in Zambia’s former independent paper do not sale, it is cheap propaganda that Zambians have seen through, and the critic of the Daily Nation mirror and echo the new voices of the nation afflicted by the PF’s mode of governance. And knowing that he is the top selling news item, he wants to sell his media coverage by giving exclusive rights to his praise singing paper. And this is a man we have as our dear His. Excellency, charged with affairs of our nation. What a joke!

This unfortunate development is probably just an ice-berg of the pettiness that surrounds the current office of the presidency. Mr. Sata would do well not to confuse the power of the office he currently holds with who he truly is. This move to play double standard by suing private citizens when it suits him to shielding his being sued using the presidential immunity should be viewed as social abuse of the his privileges. With each passing day, one would be inclined to strongly view this man is an obsessive confidence-trickster who is terminally untrust worthy.

I long for and miss the great Michael Sata, the visionary, the man who against all odds stayed focused and changed the way we view politics in Zambia. The man that lived the maxim: Dare to dream—nothing is impossible. I long for the return of that man who wold inspire and instil confidence in our youths, as we all hoped for a better tomorrow under his leadership. With regards the current one, indeed, I would echo Fr. Frank Bwalya’s words: The Sata we voted for is not with us anymore!

As clearly evidenced, we have a shadow of the once great and revolutionary leader of modern day Zambian politics. To the extent that the current man occupying Mr. Sata even believes what he says, he is delusional. To the extent that he does not, he is an actor whose first invention — himself — has been his only interesting role. And shape shifting and incoherency in leadership is his style.
It feels like the Sata we knew left a long time ago, leaving this Michael Sata shaped hole that carries on talking through a press aide. And when it talks directly, the Minister of Information has to interpret.