AS Zambia prepares to bury former President Michael Chilufya Sata in Lusaka next Tuesday, I am reminded of Apostle Paul’s farewell message to his son Timothy saying, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
Hate him or love him, Mr Sata has indeed fought the good fight, and finished course design for him by his Creator.
It had been a long and rough journey but he was able to perform wonders for the country in the three years that he had been in office after winning the September 2011 elections, defeating former president Rupiah Banda of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) which had ruled Zambia for 20 years.
His political rivals, including separatists, do agree that Sata really meant to develop the entire country for the benefit of all Zambians irrespective of tribe, race, region or political party affiliation.
His decision to appoint former arch-rivals and opposition members of Parliament (MPs) to Cabinet posts, the foreign-service and top to civil service jobs was unprecedented.
Not only that, President Sata has left a monumental challenge for everyone not only in Zambia but also in other parts of the world.
In a move previously unheard of, ‘King Cobra’ struck the right cord, when he, out of conviction, appointed Guy Scott as his Republican Vice President, the first ‘white man’ in post-colonial Africa to hold the post.
In my opinion, there is no comparison between Dr Scott and former South African president Frederik de Klerk because the circumstances, under which he (de Klerk) worked with Mr Nelson Mandela after the 1994 all-race elections, were totally different from the situation prevailing in Zambian at the time the Patriotic Front (PF) defeated Rupiah Banda in 2011.
Mr Sata and Dr Scott campaigned and worked closely together as PF president and vice president (respectively) for a considerable period of time.
Many serious people will agree, too, that President Sata named Dr Scott as Vice President not to merely impress the West nor to thank him because he (Scott) had, as some academics are quoted as saying, had ‘bankrolled his presidential election’ campaign, but to demonstrate that he was a nation-builder of  great renown.
Sata demonstrated to the rest of the international community that if you are willing to serve the people with all your heart and all your soul, there is absolutely nothing that will stop you from being appointed to any post in Zambia regardless of your skin colour, tribe or station in life. Wasn’t that remarkable?
President Sata has set the tone and it is to be hoped, therefore, that whoever takes over from him after the January presidential by-elections will not deliberately embark on a ‘de-Satalisation’ of his sound policies, many of which have already had a discernible impact on the lives of the people across the nation.
I say people appointed to various posts by Mr Sata should be allowed to serve their contracts, providing, of course, they are able to deliver an efficient service. Diplomats should not be recalled and retired simply because they were appointed by the late President.
The same goes for other Zambian workers, professionals and expatriates engaged on various infrastructure projects designed to develop the county.
No one should be victimised if Zambia is to remain a united and coherent nation.
So let’s not seeds of discord I remember Mr Sata spoke about things like this as far as 1991 when he, Mr Simon Zukas and Mr Levy Mwanawasa addressed the Ndola Press Club at the Savoy Hotel in Ndola in the run-up to historic multiparty elections that saw MMD oust UNIP from power.
New provincial headquarters like Choma (Southern) and Mpika (Muchinga), for instance, should have all their projects completed – and not abandoned.
The construction of the proposed ultramodern sports stadiums in Mongu (Western Province) and Livingstone must go ahead as envisaged by the Sata administration.
Despite limited resources (including finances) every project he initiated in all the districts and provinces must be professionally and efficiently executed.
That will be the best way to honour and remember this great son of the soil Zambia has lost.
Have your say:
Hello Mr Mulenga: What a coincidence: I have a special love for these 777 numbers for some many reasons.
Most importantly my daughter passed to go into the next grade at St Mary’s with three 7’s.
And I do a lot with the 7s.
So I decided to write.
I want to say something on our late President Michael Chilufya Sata.
My first encounter with him though I did not meet him in person (as President) was the time when there was a clean-up campaign in Lusaka which carried the slogan “Keep Lusaka Clean”.
I used to stay in Libala Stage 4A and the house which won was in the same township, Libala Stage 4A.
Our house was by far not near to what that house had in terms of cleanliness. I used to see this house from outside – it had some green clippers all over, the yard was nicely kempt  and the inside was also nice and that is what the governor (Mr Sata) was looking for (in the 1970’s).  The winning prize was K50.  Second winning house was in Olympia Park.
The campaign was actually meant to change the Zambians’ mindset to be clean and appreciate their environment.
My second encounter was when I lost my house (it became my house when my mum left it in my name for non-payment of rentals. I had given money to my sister to pay for the rentals but she opted to pay for water.
So they (Lusaka City Council) gave to someone else. I remember someone telling me to go and see the town clerk.
And the town clerk then was Wynter Kabimba. I explained to him but I remember him telling me to go to the minister’s office.
The late President was minister of Local Government and Housing then.
When I got there I was with my husband. Once there we were directed to the floor where his office was and he come out of the office and found a long queue and said, “I do not want anyone in this queue to go back without seeing me; I want to hear all your complaints that is why I was put this office.”
Upon hearing that my husband and I quickly gave a chance to anyone who seemed older than me and my husband on the queue. So my husband and I were the last ones to see the minister.  He seemed to be a chain smoker at the time because the office was clouded with smoke.  The other thing was his table was filled with the MMD symbols.
He asked us to sit down and asked “What can this minister do for you?”
I started narrating the issue to him. He said “this is what I have been talking about; I don’t want people to be inconvenienced this way”.
He immediately picked up the phone and spoke to Wynter Kabimba, directing him to give us back the house.
He (Mr Sata) told us “to go back to Wynter’s office”.
When we got there we were told that the people to whom the house had been given were not to be disturbed.
So Wynter Kabimba mentioned that there was a house in Chelstone where a widow was staying but she was to be evicted as she could not manage to pay rentals.
I and my husband refused to accept that house. We had the conviction of not unconvincing the widow. And the rest is history.
When all this was happening I was working for Zambia Airways. I thought he (Mr Sata) had forgotten about us.
One day I was alighting from a Zambia Airways bus and he said “I am looking for Kachikolesha”.  That was my maiden name then.
He grabbed my hand and asked me to go and buy some scones and would eat them together in my office.
My office was in the station manager’s office where I was privileged to meet so many VVIP and VIPs.
We have lost a gallant man of Africa who knew many people by name.
He never, never forgot the names of the people he met with.
As long as you told your name he would not forget it. He also had an eagle’s eye. No matter how much you may want to hide in the crowd he would fish you out. The man had an insurmountable memory.
He never forgot to sort out issues affecting the people. As long as you told or complained to him he would do it.
He might have been firing people anyhow because he could not relate himself with some.
He was looking for people who could read his mind.
He needed people to be like him in order to move with him on the same line, but alas.  He was also a very, very clean person.
If you take stock of the development projects he embarked on, there are countless to say the least.
He needed things to be done with detail and zeal. He never believed in passing the buck.
May His Soul Rest In Peace.
We pray that we pick one who would fit his shoes.
RUTH KABWEBWE
Lusaka
Have your say at email:alfredmulenga777@gmail.com