
By Daimone Siulapwa
WHAT will never be denied as fact when this country’s history is written is how one Michael Chilufya Sata built the Patriotic Front from scratch to make it the second biggest political party in the country in less than a decade.
And it is not like the party was born with any teeth at all. Other than Michael Sata himself, there was no any other easily identifiable name. And when you have Edwin Lifwekelo as the secretary-general, who in essence is the chief executive officer of the party, then you know that you have a lot of work to do. Mr Sata certainly had a lot of work to do.[pullquote]In that regard, Sata deserves respect for building the PF to the level it is today.The success of Sata’s work in so far as building the PF goes is in having the party continuing to be strong long after he has left the PF
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At the time he was forming the PF, opposition parties on the ground included the United Party for National Development (UPND) led by Anderson Mazoka, the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) under the guidance of Lieutenant-General Christon Tembo and Heritage Party (HP), under the command of Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda.
And that is not all.
There was also the Ben Mwila’s Zambia Republican Party (ZRP), Nevers Mumba’s National Citizens Coalition (NCC), Akashambatwa Mbikusita’s Agenda for Zambia (AZ), United Front For Development and Democracy (UFDD) lead by Humphrey Siulapwa and the former ruling party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP), which has always enjoyed the support of former President Dr Kenneth Kaunda.
During the 2001 general elections, Michael Sata got less than two percent of the national vote while managing to win only one Parliamentary seat. But despite that dismal performance, he never relented, perhaps fueled by his hatred of Levy Mwanawasa. He started going round the country campaigning much to the displeasure of Mwanawasa and the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), who kept on saying elections were over and there was no need to continue with the campaigns.
But he did not listen to them.
He rode on a platform of putting more money in people’s pockets and reducing taxes. He also made Chinese investment a campaign issue. Further, he made the anti-corruption crusade waged by Mwanawasa an issue, declaring that he will pardon former President Chiluba if elected.
The message found resonance on the Copperbelt and in Lusaka, Luapula and Northern provinces. By the time the 2006 general elections were coming, Michael Sata and PF were by far the biggest threat to Mwanawasa and the MMD’s hold on power.
This was so despite the alliance of the UNIP, UPND and FDD, who formed the United Democratic Alliance (UDA). There are some people who think that if it was not for a few irregularities, Sata would have won those elections. Others actually believe he was robbed. Of course the 2008 presidential election story is well-known. To date, Sata remains the second favourite to become President after the incumbent Rupiah Banda.
In that regard, Sata deserves respect for building the PF to the level it is today.
But as we all know, destiny is never in our hands its in God’s hands only. I ask myself, if anything should happen to Mr. Sata that should make him incapable of leading the PF. What next? What would remain of the PF? Will it be able move-on with life smoothly or that will be the beginning of its end?
Since the formation of the party, it has had five secretary general’s. The first was Edwin Lifwekelo, then followed by Guy Scott, then Charles Mumbwa and then Edward Mumbi. The current one is a lawyer and former Lusaka City town clerk Winter Kabimba.
None of the five have ever been elected, all have been appointed and disappointed at Sata’s pleasure and displeasure.
Added to that, for a long-time, Sata did not have a deputy. It was only after a long-time that he elevated Guy Scott to the position of deputy-president after serving as secretary-general. In fact, Guy Scott is Sata’s longest-serving secretary general. It remains to be seen how long Winter Kabimba lasts in that position.
What is the point of all this discourse? Well, if there is something that all this reveals, is the fact in terms of building the PF beyond Sata, the King Cobra has failed.
A decade after its formation, the party has never gone to the convention to amend its constitution or to elect leaders. All national and provincial leaders are appointed by Sata, and Sata alone.
Well, it does not take a genius to know that this is not healthy for the party in particular and democracy in general. The PF should begin to build internal democracy within the party. Yes, Sata may be the founder of the party, but it is by no means a personal entity. Sata is not PF or is PF Sata. These two should remain separate so much so that should Sata decide to stop active politics today, the party should still be able to move-on smoothly.
In fact, the success of Sata’s work in so far as building the PF goes is in having the party continuing to be strong long after he has left the PF. That, is the measure by which Mr Sata will be judged. And not say if Sata resigned or left for any reason, then Guy Scot will take-over. Guy Scot is Sata’s appointee, he has never been elected, and as such, the members have the right to reject his leadership. And just one more thing, the PF has no membership cards, so it is difficult to tell who is a member and not.
In other words, the PF should start preparing for life after Sata. And Sata should start preparing for that as well.
For this reason, I am for the PF going to the convention, so that the party structures can be defined before elections next year. The new draft constitution says the Vice president automatically becomes president without elections when the president of the country is incapacitated or passes on? On the expense of being called a racist, is Zambia ready for a white president 46 years after independence? Or maybe PF is better of with GBM as vice although he seems not to know what he wants and has now dramatically rescinded his resignation.