THEY ALL TOUCHED OUR LIVES
Chiluba, Mwanawasa and Sata
MISSED: ZAMBIAN PRESIDENTS PASSED AWAY, BUT LEFT MARKSIN OUR HEARTS.
By walusungu silweya,
Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
MILLIONS of Zambian may not have had a personal encounter with these celebrated
presidents but nevertheless they left a footprint in their hearts. Mitch Albom reminds us that
death ends a life, not a relationship. Indeed as kwacha magazine we take a look at these
people.
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| Dr Chiluba |
Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba
(Born: April 30, 1943, Kitwe, Zambia –Dead: June 18, 2011, LusakaZambia
Our first was second republican president of Zambia since it got independence. Chiluba was
personable man with oratorical gifts. He was the first democratically elected President of Zambia in 1991 after ending 27years of Kenneth Kaunda’s rule with nearly 76 percent of the votes.
Indeed he was a defender of civil liberties. Chiluba was a born-again
Christian and often used biblical references in his speeches. He was also a passionate advocate of democracy. According to history, Chiluba worked as a lowpaid bookkeeper when he joined a union, until
he became chairman of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions in 1974.
In 2001, Chiluba anointed his former vice president, Levy Mwanawasa, as his successor and
he can be said to have left both an economic and a political legacy. Economically he started the process of ending Zambia's socialist command economy.
He presided over various economic reforms. There are mixed feelings in Zambia on the effectiveness of the economic transformation initiated by the Chiluba government. Lastly, Chiluba also helped broker a peace agreement to end the war in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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| Mr Mwanawasa |
(Born: September 3, 1948, Mufulira, Zambia—Died: August 19, 2008, Paris, France)
Our second president is a former lawyer; Mwanawasa was regarded as one of the Africa's
most progressive leaders. His efforts to tackle corruption helped win Zambia widespread debt
relief.
He was third Republican President of Zambia. He ruled the country from January 2002 until
his death in August 2008. He is credited for having initiated a campaign to rid the country of
corruption.
Under his leadership, Zambia's economy grew at 5%, helped by the buoyant copper price,
while inflation dropped to the lowest level in three decades.
Mwanawasa freely admitted, however, that the benefits had not trickled down sufficiently to
the poor.
He read law at the University of Zambia from 1970 to 1973 and became an assistant in a law
firm in Ndola in 1974, qualifying for the bar in 1975. He formed his own law company in
1978.
It is public knowledge that late president Levy Mwanawasa had health problems during the
entire period he led Zambia. In fact everybody knows that the man who became president of
Zambia in 2001 was sickly. Prior to his election, Mwanawasa served as vicepresident
from 1991 to 1994 whilst an elected Member of Parliament for Chifubu Constituency.
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| Mr Sata |
(Born: 6 July 1937, Mpika, Zambia – Dead: 28 October 2014, London, United kingdom)
Third and last is Sata. He was the fifth President of Zambia then popularly known as "King
Cobra", from 23 September 2011 until his death on 28 October 2014.
He led the Patriotic Front (PF), a major political party in Zambia. Under President Frederick Chiluba, Sata was a minister during the 1990s as part of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) government; he went into opposition in 2001, forming the PF.
As an opposition leader, Sata emerged as the leading opposition presidential contender and
rival to President Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election, but was defeated.
Following Mwanawasa’s death, Sata ran again and lost to President Rupiah Banda in 2008.
After ten years in opposition, Sata defeated Banda, the incumbent, to win the September 2011
presidential election with a plurality of the vote. He died in London on October 28, 2014, leaving Vice President Guy Scott as Acting President until a presidential byelection was held on 20 January 2015.
Chiluba, Mwanawasa and Sata,
History has showed the virtues of trio late presidents of Zambia and common thing about
them, they hated imperialism and nepotism. They were Zambian moral compass.
Today, what stands about them is candid and integrity to the people of Zambia in the face of
temptation and threats. It’s indeed sad that some in our country still continue to dishonour
their role they did to them.
They fail to give credit where it’s due. The trio played unique role in their regime, under the
guidance of God they created a nation of people who are free and don’t fear anything. They
are known globally for their awesome intelligence and strange sense of humour. Anyway
Rest in peace all.
Youth Activist
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