SO many eulogies have been televised on the President Michael Chilufya Sata but none is as eye-catching as the humorous side of the late Head of State known for the hard talking candour that earned him the monicker ‘King Cobra.’
I watched the eulogy of many comedians and other artistes who are paid to make people laugh and what they thought of the late Mr Sata who would be admonishing someone one moment and throwing his audiences into fits of laughter the next minute.
The late Mr Sata was undoubtedly a man with a wicked sense of humour that drew laughter at his rallies or even in parliament where he lit up the mood during his speeches that he punctuated with multilingual jokes.
Particularly during the 2012 ceremonial parliament opening speech when the late President engaged Parliamentarians with a rich sense of humour that even the opposition side could not resist like when he challenged Kalomo MP Request Muntanga to go for bungee jumping.
Watching the report packaged by Yotamu Mugara last week, one could fully understand the humourous side of Mr Sata’s person was as seen in the eyes of the artistes.
Comedian Henry Phiri interestingly drew comparisons of Mr Sata and the artistes who are paid to make others laugh. While the out and out comedians always follow a script, Mr Sata went to Parliament without preparing who to have a go at but still did it with exceptional par excellence.
Aubrey Luo, aka Mutale in the Muvi TV drama series Constable extolled President Sata for recognising the role of artistes by creating a portifolio for them in the Ministry of Tourism. Partrick Salubusu and Chibwe Katebe were also full of praises for Mr Sata.
Salubusu pointed out that a sense of humour, like the one Mr Sata possessed, was the best way to communicate a message because everyone easily remembers words laced with laughter than with words spat out with stinging anger.
As a person who loves comedy myself, I appreciated the package Yotamu compiled, especially the closing part which after showing clips of Mr Sata cracking his usual jokes showed the Head of State receiving the 2012 South-South Global award with one big bow as if it were a grammy or an oscar.
So while everybody thought the late Mr Sata was a hard-talking man, there was this light side of the man with his unparalleled sense of humour.
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ZNBC has done a tremendous job with the packages of eulogies of the late President and so has Muvi TV by running away from the usual bore of playing of solemn music to interactive programmes where people from various walks of life share their experiences of Mr Sata.
I was a wee bit uncomfortable though with the comparison of the situation in Zambia to that of Burkina Faso by the veteran Voice of America presenter Shaka Sali. Clearly the Burkinabe president Balise Compaore was hounded out of office by an uprising which is different from what has befallen Zambia.
Luckily the programme featured a Zambian Kenneth Mwenda who drew a line over the comparisons and explained a bit about the constitutional issues surrounding the handover of power when a vacancy arises as it happened following the demise of Mr Sata.
Back home, the church choirs have soothed the grieving nation with solemn songs but it is the people who are not musicians who have caught the eye with their attempts at singing.
During this period, most people have hastily composed songs some of which have brought out the youthful exuberance and the haste with which some songs have been composed, if not the amateurish productions will have seen.
With Government declaring that the late President’s body would not be taken round the country for body-vieweing, the television statsions have done well to broadcast the paying of last respect at Mulungushi.
I have my own reservations though about the reasoning behind some people I have seen on television carrying young children to go and view the body. In my opinion, the little ones could be spared the agony of body viewing, it would suffice to educate them what the loss means to the nation.
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From the mailbag, I drew out this contribution.
Dear editor,
I hope this letter will be published in your newspaper before the burial of our beloved Great Leader the late president Michael Chilufya Sata.
I have seen an attempt by ZNBC to air some of the interviews the late President gave before he became Head of State and some afterwards.
This is the best way to bring viewers up to speed with Mr Sata’s journey to the presidency.
The previous interviews have brought out some of the footage ZNBC had of the late President but for some reason never used to air when he was in the opposition. This should be our lesson to the media industry in this country to give fair coverage to all political parties. If we had been watching Mr Sata the time he was in the opposition, we would have known the vision he had for this country.
Since those days ZNBC was showing 30 second clips of Mr Sata, let them run all the footage. The best way to honour his legacy will be to uphold the peace he treasured when he stopped his supporters from rioting after the Patriotic Front was robbed of the 2006 and 2008 elections.
Mwansa Chilubula, Kalulushi
For more comments manchishi@gmail.com