WHAT else would anyone say after what has happened except to echo what leaders like Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said at the burial of President Michael Sata?
‘‘This African giant and courageous man; he was a great man indeed who sought to change the local arena for the better.
“Let’s bow our heads and allow tears to drop,” said President Mugabe who was among many heads of State and Government leaders who converged on Lusaka’s Embassy Park to attend President Sata’s State funeral on Tuesday.
First Lady Christine Kaseba Sata, comforted by President Mugabe’s wife Grace, said, “Farewell my president” while thousands of mourners wailed uncontrollably as one of President Sata’s sons, Gerald sang Luther Sandross’ song, Dance With My Father. It was emotional and sobering.
What does the future hold for mother Zambia?
Scenes of people sobbing uncontrollably at the Kenneth International Airport when the President’s body arrived from the United Kingdom (UK) where he died on October 29 at King Edward VII Hospital in London; scenes of tens of thousands of mourners who packed the 50,000-seater Heroes Stadium as well as thousands of others who flocked to the Mulungushi International Conference Centre for body-viewing, reminded me of scenes witnessed in Cairo when Egyptian president Gamar Abdel Nasser died in 1970.
Like presidents Levy Mwanawasa and Michael Sata, Nasser also died while still in office.
In the case of the former Egyptian leader, who had a great influence not only in the Arab world but also in Sub-Saharan Africa, he had called an Arab heads of State summit in Cairo.
At the end of the meeting on 28 September 1970, hours after escorting the last Arab leader to leave Cairo for home, Nasser suffered a massive heart attack. He was immediately transported to his house, where his physicians tended to him. Nasser died several hours later, around 6:00 P.M.
It is recorded that some of his aides, including Anwar Sadat (who later succeeded him), and Nasser’s wife Tahia were at his deathbed.
According to his doctor, al-Sawi Habibi, Nasser’s likely cause of death was arteriosclerosis, varicose veins, and complications from long-standing diabetes. Nasser was a heavy smoker with a family history of heart disease – two of his brothers died in their 50s from the same condition. The state of Nasser’s health (like President Sata’s) was not known to the public prior to his death.
Following the announcement of Nasser’s death, Egypt and the Arab world were in a state of profound shock.  His funeral procession through the Egyptian capital on 1 October was attended by at least five million mourners and perhaps even as many as seven million.
The 10km -procession to his burial site began at his party’s old headquarters with a flyover by Egyptian Air Force Mig-21 jets. Nasser’s flag-draped coffin was attached to a gun-carriage pulled by six horses and led by a column of cavalrymen. All Arab heads of state attended, with the exception of Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal. Jordanian King Hussein and then Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat cried openly while Muammar Gaddafi of Libya fainted from emotional distress twice.
World leaders who attended Nasser’s funeral included then Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin and French Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas.
One of Nasser’s main domestic efforts was to establish social justice, which he deemed a prerequisite to liberal democracy. During his presidency, ordinary citizens enjoyed unprecedented access to housing, education, jobs, health services and nourishment, as well as other forms of social welfare.
I see similarities in policy between Nasser and Mr Sata because by the end of his presidency, employment and working conditions improved considerably, although poverty was still high in the country.
The Egyptian national economy, after the devastating 1967 War with Israel, grew significantly through agrarian reform, and major modernisation projects that he initiated to improve the people’s living standards. In fact, historians have recorded that Egypt even experienced a “golden age” of culture during Nasser’s presidency.
Why am I saying all this? I don’t know, but may be the Holy Spirit is saying if we (Zambians) are not careful Zambia, after Sata’s demise, could go the way of Egypt, which has never been the same from 1970 when Nasser died, triggering an outpouring of grief.
So this is not a time to engage in petty political-point scoring by our political leaders, especially among the Patriotic Front (PF), the governing party. Theirs is no easy task – they cannot afford but remain united and select Mr Sata’s successor who will lead Zambia as a united and peaceful nation that it has been for the past 50 years.
Zambia is certainly at the crossroads: it’s either we swim or sink, but swim we must. Zambians are blessed in that God has kept our independence icon President Kenneth Kaunda so that he can provide wise counsel to the new generation of leaders. Of all the founding members of the Organisaton for African Unity (OAU) in 1963, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and indeed many other multilateral organisations, Dr Kaunda is – from what I can remember – the only survivor.
He came to power at the age of 40 and was able to rule for nearly 33 years. At 90 he is old, but he has much experience. Rather than ignore him our leaders, both in government and opposition, should try to consult him where necessary.
In fact, former Botswana president Sir Kitumile Maseru (who was in fact among leaders and diplomats that attended a memorial service in honour of President Sata held at the Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King on November 10), President Mugabe, Nigerian former head of state Olusegun Obasanjo and Festus Mogae of Botswana, and other men and women of goodwill, would be ready to help if approached.  This is not in any way to suggest that Zambian leaders are incapable but it does not cost anything to consult a willing friend.
All presidential candidates for the January by-elections, must meanwhile, be made to appear before the House of Chiefs and explain how, if elected, they plan to develop the various parts of the country. They should also be made to appear before the Christian Council of Zambia and other religious organisations and explain their manifestoes to the clergy.
One thing that has become internalized is the fact that Zambians want a leader – man or woman – who can deliver and even improve upon the legacy of that “great and courageous man of Africa who sought to change the local arena for the better”.
That will be the best way to treasure President Sata’s legendary accomplishments for the next 50 years and beyond.
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