Sata Forgot to Pass the Baton

A president dies and the political leadership of an entire country is thrown in disarray. The death of the late Zambian President Michael Chilufya Sata on 28 October 2014, led to the tail spin of this political chaos that we are in and we are unsure where it will land. The intra-party fighting in the Patriotic Front and the resurrection from the tomb of old guards such as former president Rupiah Banda in the Movement for Multiparty Democracy, is a sign. The leadership baton was not passed.

The late Dr. Myles Munroe may his soul rest in peace, gave a striking interview in which he spoke about the current leadership dilemma in the world. In the interview he mentioned that he had a dream in which a track athlete was in the coffin clutching on the baton. According to Dr. Munroe it meant, "It was about people dying with the baton. Instead of passing it on, I was thinking the young person whose supposed to lead next would have to go that casket. Pry the baton out of the dead man's hands just to take it to the next leg.... This is what we are struggling with here, people would rather die with the position than pass it on."

After watching that video I can definitely relate to it on a personal level. Whether we like it or not, Michael Sata, died with the baton in his hand. He did not pass it to the next person to lead this country. We may never know the reason why, but in that aspect he failed Zambia. Now we have all these leaders having to have to wrestle the baton from his hand. The sad part about it is some of the people trying to get hold of the baton were never in the relay race in the first place. Perhaps inspired by the wind, a truth or dare joke, or sheer disillusionment some people believe they can lead Zambia.

 

Passing on of the baton

It is a shame that we were never able to spot future leaders while Sata had the baton. The leader who would take this country forward. Focus it on the issues that we need to deal with, such HIV/AIDS, poverty, education, and health care. Instead we find ourselves discussing whether someone is an alcoholic or not, was kind enough to buy Sata a car or to honour a family name. We have leaders who retired and now in remembrance of the life they had see an opportunity to be taken advantage of. And then there are those leaders who instead of inspiring me with words, choose to offer me eggs and milk. Ala.  We should never have got to this in the first place.

By time January 2015 is winding down, we shall have a new president. I pray the person will be a good leader. Someone who is willing to serve and not make up for lost time in filling up their personal bank account. I hope it will be a leader who will inspire future leaders, someone who refuses to use the word "I" but instead uses "We" for they know that it is the "We" that will take Zambia to the skies. Finally, I pray that we shall have a leader who will know when their leg of the race is done, and gladly pass on the baton.