INspire

Sata and The Post comradeship - Much Ado about Sinister

by mazuba mwiinga

Give me a pick, and I get smack-frozen with choice, especially if you sell me a freezer in a cold June day. Of course this may not make sense to you; and that’s how my rational reasoning flows over PF and The Post understanding.

Have you ever sat down and ask yourself critical and life saving questions as to how the marriage between The Post and PF rings a bell to you? Its shameful isn’t it, that after all is said and done you still cant comprehend why and how today The Post thinks Sata is your saviour or some damn Messiah for this country, when just three years ago Sata was a ‘demon’ in the eyes of The Post?

I have tried to pick a few shreds of sense here and there, but they ended up not matching at all. Some of us were there in late 1990; what we thought was so good for Zambia – FTJ, just because he chorused so sweet tunes like a morning bird in rainy season, ended up to be a man with a hood on his head and mask on his face. Of course the man had his own merits, though seemingly these merits were outwitted by his own ego. Sata is no difference; that I can assure you and I can bate my life on it.

Wasn’t it Sata who was at the helm of FTJ? The ‘chola’ boy who would kill for FTJ? The man who would never say any word that does not idolise the word FTJ? Or are our memories so short that we can even forget the Chilenje Merzaff Flats scandal? What of the Third Term bid for FTJ? Who was the last man standing beside FTJ? If FTJ had hand-picked Sata instead of Levy for MMD Presidency, do you think there would have been PF today? Do you think Sata would have sprayed his venoms on FTJ for allegedly betraying his loyalty? Despite being so close and loyal to FTJ why didn’t FTJ pick on Sata his right hand man? Was FTJ foolish on this? He knew Sata better than anyone else where the Presidency is concerned.

Its simple logic that Sata is so desperate to go to State House because his heart is full of vengeance; little does he know that no soldier wins a battle with a heart full of hate.

When UNIP was collapsing, this was a man described by the late ardent journalist Jowie Mwiinga, as “sitting on the fence”, to see which way served him better. Thank God he played his cards well as he always has been used to, and was fused him in the MMD. Every sane Zambian cannot be told the sinister works of Sata in FTJ administration. The archives are there to show.

What is happening in PF now is like a gang of frustrated opportunists, who surely know their political line is on the edge; and wants to vent its last kicks by consoling each other in a pack of jackasses’ style who behaves like a headless chicken let loose for death. Little do they know that, vengeance is the weak man’s song; as they say that revenge is the sword that wounds the one who wields it.

A rolling stone gathers no moss. And that’s how the clandestine marriage between PF and The Post is. A pure comedy of errors mustering Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing to the last prick of its vein. This is a play that has wit, twists, turns…; but hey, it’s a comedy with nothing but laughter and insidiousness. One character in this play says, "Our talk must only be of Benedick. When I do name him, let it be thy part. To praise him more than ever man did merit." And that’s exactly what The Post is doing. Giving merit where it’s not due. And they know pretty well, that their praise of Sata is just to deceive people.

In their editorial of Wednesday February 14, 2007, entitled ‘Sata - change your politics’, The Post said of these things about Sata, “…..It is absolutely ridiculous for Sata to insist on mayors who are members of his party not to take part in state functions….. Sata needs to urgently change his approach to politics. The political line he is pursuing now is not a positive one, it is a destructive one. There’s just too much cynicism on his part. But we know from experience that a nation cannot be built and developed on cynicism - cynics have never built and developed any community. They have instead hindered the prospects for the building and development of strong and prosperous communities….”

In their editorial of Thursday November 01, 2007 entitled ‘Sata caught in a web of lies’, The Post said some of these, ‘….We did not expect Michael Sata to be ashamed of his questionable dealings with Taiwan, especially the dubious manner in which he asked for US $50,000 because the old man has no shame. Sata exaggerates his worthiness when the man is just a shameless liar…. As it is, Sata’s lies are crumbling in his face and he wants to divert attention from that. But we will not give him the space. We will ensure that he is exposed for what he is - a seasoned liar….. It’s all right for Sata to walk into our newsroom and demand that he be interviewed or accompanied wherever he wants to go by a journalist of his choice, but it’s not all right for other politicians – who don’t even burst into our newsroom - to be covered in our newspaper…….

When we cover other politicians in the manner that seems positive in Sata’s eyes, then we are sympathetic to their cause or we are converted…….. This is cheap propaganda. Is Sata saying that the MMD and ourselves are responsible for his mischief, for his monkey business? Is Sata suggesting that the MMD created that letter to the Taiwanese government in his name, asking for US $50,000 and then leaked it to us so he could be destroyed? Is Sata denying being the author of that letter to the government of Taiwan, asking for funding for him to continue his mission of discrediting China? Is Sata saying we cannot write any negative story about him and his party, that we should turn a blind eye to his misconduct and lies? Is Sata suggesting that we should be his constant praise singers and Levy’s constant critics?.......’

In their editorial of Saturday March 03, 2007, entitled, ‘No need for a showdown’, The Post said of PF in this way, ‘….Things don’t seem to be going well in the councils dominated by opposition Patriotic Front. It appears these councils have become a platform for a political contest between the Patriotic Front and the government. But there is a serious danger in this. If the Patriotic Front and those in government perceive councils as nothing more than a forum in which they can express their demands and execute their political agendas, then our councils won’t function effectively, efficiently and in an orderly manner……’

In their editorials of Tuesday August 07, 2007, entitled ‘Sata and FOI’ The Post said of Sata like this, ‘….Because some coward Patriotic Front member of parliament went on Yatsani Radio to castigate his dictatorial tendencies, real or perceived, without disclosing his names, Sata suddenly feels that journalists should be compelled by law to disclose their sources of information. In saying this, Sata is only guided by his personal interest in the matter. He is oblivious, unconscious or insensible to the ethical requirement that journalists should not disclose their sources of information when there is need to do so……

As a result of personal interest, Sata has forgotten that on a number of occasions, he has given us information off the record. Is he now saying that each time he gives us such information, it will be all right for anyone to use the law to compel us to disclose that it was in fact him who gave us the information? If it is normal that every source of information should be known, why does Sata sometimes prefer to speak off the record?...’

In their editorial of Thursday October 25, 2007, entitled ‘Sata, the hired gun’, The Post said, ‘….Not long ago, home affairs minister Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha described Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata as a shameless old man. Some people might have felt that Lt Gen Shikapwasha was being hard on the old man Sata. But things have to be called by their names. Sata is, in truth, a shameless old man. And he should be told that no amount of misinformation and propaganda will bury the truth….. Maybe this explains why Sata can’t leave active politics despite his advanced age. It seems he is using politics to keep him going. In justifying his US $50,000 request from the government of Taiwan, Sata says Taiwan was just one of the sponsors of his trip to the US because PF had asked for funding from a lot of institutions and organisations both locally and abroad. He said these institutions and organisations responded favourably. But did Sata really need to raise US $100,000 for a week’s trip to the United States? For him, this trip to the US was an opportunity to fundraise….’

These aren’t my thoughts. These are the thoughts of The Post which today is a brother King to Sata. If I may ask, what has made Sata a saint over a period of three years? Is there something I am failing to understand here between The Post and Sata?

This is our country and we need to remain steadfast and refuse to be deceived for nothing. Lets not take for granted what we hear and read; it’s all a fuss. Its all much ado about nothing in this PF and Post friendship we are seeing; what a callous way of hoodwinking the people!