Zambia: The big and small man of Africa and the trappings of power-R Mukundu

I cannot claim to know the politics of Zambia, nor the intricacies of the power struggles that are ongoing in the ruling MMD party and country at large. But even as an outsider I have the advantage of viewing things without emotion and from an uninterested vantage point. This past week, President Rupiah Banda, recently elected to the highest office in Zambia lambasted The Post newspaper, one of the success stories of private media development in Africa. The President, surrounded by cadres from his party was on the offensive against the newspaper. The allegations, which I cannot claim to know details about, are that The Post and, its editor Fred M’membe owe the state substantial amounts of money allegedly as a result of the collapsed Zambian Airways which the Post had invested in. These matters, in normal societies are personal, board room and cabinet matters that are best handled by relevant Ministries and authorities and not political rally issues that are used to mobilise and incite political party supporters, some who cannot even read and write, to attack other citizens and private institutions in the name of defending their political party and leadership.

I must confess I am one of those who had hope, and still hold on to whatever is left of it that President Rupiah Banda can do better that what we have seen across the Zambezi, in Zimbabwe. Despite all its problems Zambia has this history of fairly mature political discourse that saw the former President, Kenneth Kaunda bowing out of office without a fight and indeed the subsequent political transitions in that country have, by African standards, been seamless. Zambia thus has played a political role of cooling the tensions in Zimbabwe and acting as a counter weight to the bulling by South Africa when it was necessary to do so. The Zimbabwe question again being one such case where Zambia demanded a tough stance despite the wishes of former President Thabo Mbeki. The utterances by President Banda are, however, unstateman like. Firing Ministers in front of a mob and calling a newspaper all sorts of names is hardly the stuff that great leaders are made of. The President is better counselled to conduct his business in private in matters that are private. If he feels that there are cases of corruption, criminality or whatever, then he has the relevant institutions to carry out this work and surely he cannot arrest M’membe or shut down the Post himself. What a day and spectacle will it be to see the President leading his supporters down the street, to effect citizen arrest on M’membe and shut down the Post himself.

The attacks on the newspaper serve to incite and galvanise hatred on civic institutions by political party supporters who might not necessarily understand the issues. Its mob lynching of some sorts. The worst example of this in Africa was Rwanda and we all know what happened thereafter. We have to use this extreme example as in my language we say kamoto kamberevere kakapisa matanda (a small fire is known to have destroyed forests).

President Banda in my view had started well. Promising to fulfil outstanding media policy issues, maintain the economic reforms of the late President Mwanawasa and also promising reconciliation with the opposition. All this is under threat of reversal should the president embark on a mission to deal with his enemies real or perceived. At the end of the day that is all we will remember him for and nothing else. The attacks on The Post newspaper by the highest office in the land are therefore uncalled for and unnecessary. The attacks might on the contrary show how state house is jittery and struggling to get a grip on the levers of power. A confident leadership does not need to be surrounded by a mob to pronounce policy issues. As Africans, mostly used to big man bestriding the political stage and snuffing political life out of the small man and women, the new Zambian leadership can provide a relive in that regard. The days of the African big man who announces appointments, dismissals, policy changes at airports and rallies should be a by gone era. Having followed the Zambia politics for some time, one of which included observing the last election, won by Mwanawasa I cannot say the media in Zambia has any entrenched positions. The Post I could tell was leaning towards Mwanawasa; its argument being that there is need for a continuation of his economic polices other than the mob politics of the Patriotic Front (PF). I shared that position silently lest I disappointed a Zambian friend who was rowing his body with his hands all the time (The PF party symbol is a rowing boat). That position might have changed in the 2008 Presidential by-election for reason best known to the newspaper. But that is the nature of media work, shifting social dynamics, loyalties among other issues. President Rupiah Banda is better advised that he needs more of The Post as a mirror to his tenure, as something to keep him on his toes, all for the benefit of democracy in Zambia and I believe in Africa. Posterity will judge him, not by what he does for his supporters and friends but what de does to his so called enemies. Whatever issues there are with either the paper or its senior staff, are better left to those who have been appointed and who have authority to deal with those matters within the laws of Zambia. The President and his mob are hardly positioned to address national issues of this nature, more so through rallies at state house and marches in the centre of Lusaka.//End//