Why Rupiah Banda Should Come Back By Jonathan Mulenga To say Zambia has a serious leadership crisis is no longer news. Apart from Rupiah Banda, all presidential candidates are amateur politicians who have no political grounding in the intricacies of governance. Lets face it, politics is a career that calls for experience and maturity if one has to deliver especially in Africa which is fraught with tribalism, corruption and other social ills. Since Michael Sata’s death the focus has been on his sinking party the Patriotic Front (PF), and who it will put float as its candidate in Zambia’s presidential by-election that’s meant to be held in January. However, what is clear at the moment is that the PF has no credible candidate who can be floated to win the presidential seat. Even the much lauded Edgar Lungu lacks the drive and charisma to salvage the embattled party that is synonymous with its founder the late Michael Chilufya Sata. Among other political amateurs in PF is Miles Sampa who has an inflated ego that has convinced him that he can lead Zambia despite the former banker-turned politician being visibly politically incompetent. The over ambitious politician has given a very feeble reason to aspire for the Patriotic Front presidential position. According to Mr Sampa it is time for him to be rewarded for the sacrifices he has made for the party. The braggart further argues that he has been around the ruling Patriotic Front in very difficult times and even gave late President Michael Sata his car for campaigns. Isn’t this the epitome of childishness? “I made a lot of financial sacrifices I have put a lot of money. If you remember the big black car that President Sata used to drive. It was my car,” he said. Sampa, who is believed to be sponsored by the cartel of one crooked Asian Rajan Mahtani who was jailed by the Kaunda government for fraud and self-appointed king maker Fred M’membe, is one of the contenders for the PF presidency. Then we have the former Defence minister Geoffrey Mwamba , an equally incompetent but puffed up politician who has also officially launched his candidature for the PF presidency. And people in the ‘Team GBM’ have disclosed that the Kasama MP will demand that Edgar Lungu should quit his position as PF secretary general to attain neutrality among candidates. Looking at the three candidates Lungu, Sampa and GBM, one can conclude that the PF wont agree on any candidate since already the party is irreparably divided along factions. What is saddening is that even opposition leaders don’t have a chance to make it to plot one considering that they lack political clout that is needed for the top most job. Among the political upstarts is former clergyman-turned politician one Dr Nevers Mumba who is the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) leader who was recently controversially adopted as MMD President for the upcoming presidential by-election. The decision to adopt Mumba is hotly being challenged by MMD members of parliament and NEC members. If the MMD go with the decision to adopt Mumba as their candidate then the party will be doomed to the political archives. The other political nonentity Elias Chipimo the leader of the National Restoration Party is in the race despite failing to transform NAREP into a serious party since it was formed in 2010. One might count on Hakainde Hichilema the President of the United Party for National Development (UPND) who replaced Anderson Mazoka after an interparty election, organized by functioning party president Sakwiba Sikota, which followed Mazoka’s death in May 2006. The Tonga-dominated party hounded Sikota on tribal grounds and since its formation the party has had support from southern province. I should hasten to say that the PF is also a tribal party dominated by people from the Bemba grouping. Though Hichilema has proved to be a forceful politician, he lacks national appeal that can make him president of the country. The only contender who is better placed in this race to plot one is the former president Rupiah Banda who is a central figure in the race. His biggest advantage is that everyone knows who he is, and that matters when there’s only about 75 days to go until people vote. If Banda wins in January it would count as his second term – and therefore his last. This successful comeback to the presidency will be very short-lived. As President, Rupiah Banda was focused on economic development, travelling abroad to promote Zambian trade to other world leaders. In December 2010 he travelled to Egypt to meet with President Hosni Mubarak. After taking office, Banda dismantled much of the anticorruption effort put into place by his predecessor, Mwanawasa. Dr. Rupiah Banda has all the reasons to make a comeback considering the way the party that defeated him in the 2011 polls is handling national affairs. The economy is in a crisis. National security is now just a wiretap away. Zambians should know that it is Rupiah Banda who planned all the infrastructure development we are seeing today, though the PF has hijacked the credit. In many ways, the PF government has failed miserably and any leader such as Rupiah Banda is highly justified to bounce back and bring sanity to the country. Considering his good leadership, it is not surprising that there is a growing chorus of some “concerned Zambians”, who are calling for him to make a political comeback. Indeed, no one in Zambia should be stopped from expressing their opinion to call back Banda to deliver us from this clueless don’t kubeba mania that has died with Sata. Rupiah Banda’s 2011-concession speech is perhaps one of Zambia’s greatest political speeches. I would put it on the same level as President Kaunda’s Independence speech and the late Frederick Chiluba’ inaugural address. In that conceding speech, Rupiah Banda asked for peace to prevail in the nation. He counseled the victors to treat the vanquished with dignity. He then encouraged the young people to take over the leadership of the country. He also availed himself to provide guidance and counsel to the nation. A few months after that loss, Banda relinquished his MMD presidency and the party found a new leader. In confirming, Banda’s foresight, the MMD found a younger leader: Nevers Mumba. What a democrat!But as expected, Nevers’ leadership has lamentably failed to be the magic wand for the MMD. Rupiah Banda still has huge clout in the MMD and the nation. This should be expected. To date, MMD campaign materials being used in by-elections still bear his portrait. In the East, where MMD is the strongest, it is clear that the party remains strong there due to RB’s influence. I can safely conclude that looking at the leadership crisis in Zambia, Rupiah Banda is the right man to guide us to the political Canaan that has eluded us for years. zambiareports/2014/11/17/rupiah-banda-come-back/
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:22:40 +0000
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