Zambia Hunts for Successor 58 - Cabinet Crisis: Time to defang and cure Sata

As the Honorable Minister shut the door to his official car, a sense of worthlessness threatened to overwhelm him. He closed his eyes and felt anger rising in tandem.

"This is too much," he said. "It's not worth it."
    
His driver shot a glance in the view mirror and caught him shaking his head.

"Something wrong, sir?" he asked.

"The president just called us useless. According to him all of us are useless. No one has ever called me useless. I am what I am today because I am not useless. Do you think I am useless?"
 
"No sir, you're very useful," the driver replied with a little smirk.

There was a brief silence. The Honorable Minister knew the statement made by President Sata on the steps of State House in full view of the press would hit headlines in a matter of minutes. He recalled how back in 2013 a friend of his son had posted a picture on the Internet of him kneeling before the president and had written: "Kneel you sycophant, kneel and kiss the dictator's feet! The bright lure of power diminishes your pride to shameless submission."

It was in Livingstone the Honorable Minister and some of his colleagues including Given Lubinda (then Minister of Foreign Affairs), Wilbur Simuusa (then Minister of Environment), and Obvious Mwaliteta (Southern Province Minister) were humiliated by the president in full view of people who had come to the rally. It was the lowest moment of his political career; a feeling worse than death, according to him.

As the car sped on Independence Ave, his mind took him to that Livingstone day:

A knot formed in his stomach as he visualized Sata speaking: "You all join them!" 

The crowd cheered and laughed as, like lamb, the ministers filed out to join Joseph Akafumba, Fred Sikazwe, and Janki Chrispine Sepiso who were kneeling at the bottom of the dais.

"You kneel too," Sata ordered them. "Kneel before these people."

The crowd cheered.

The Honorable Minister thought he heard someone say "get down you thieves," in Tonga. He remembered muttering "this is nonsense. Sata is going too far." The sharp pebbles on which his knees had landed dug into his skin and alleviated the feeling of degradation. He was going to get up and leave, but couldn't. He dare not. He had a big loan with Zambia National Commercial Bank. His house in Little Kasama was at roof level. The company that erected the wall fence had issued a bill of $3,789.63. There was also a London trip pending. He was hoping to use the imprest to buy a 70-inch Panasonic flat screen to fit in the space above the chimney. Oh, and he had just moved his children to Chicago…

He sighed and stole a glance at Given Lubinda and wondered what he was thinking, his new suit trousers bought in New York doused in soil. It is possible similar thoughts were running through Lubinda's mind. 

Sata, standing on the dais was enjoying the feeling of power and authority that was surging through his veins as he watched his ministers in a submissive stance, their heads bowed piously. The kneeling position rendered them subservient, docile, defenseless, and complaint. What a better way for Sata to display his power to the nation. Each time the crowd laughed at the ministers, he relished the moment.

With the ministers in such a state of obeisance it was easy to tease them and enumerate their inadequacies. By doing so, he was sending a message that he was the only one who was able to deliver the people into a bright future; that without him the transformation of a better life was impossible.

The Livingstone incident was a clear indication that Sata was suffering from a messianic complex and was using crowds to create an idealized, heroic, and worshipful cult of personality.  This has been generally the justification for cults that arose in dictators like Muammar Gadhafi, Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko, and Kamuzu Hastings Banda who called his ministers "my boys."

In the car the Honorable Minister spoke: "Do you remember him calling us fools?"

"Yes, sir," the driver said. "He said you were all very dull, sir. Ati nimwe ogona, sir."

"He's such a…" he hesitated.

The driver smiled.

"He's what, sir?" he asked.

"Never mind," the Honorable Minister said.

The driver continued: "I remember we were in Luapula that time. I felt very sorry for you, sir, when you were down on your knees and the president called you ignorant, ati mulibe sikopo, sir. Now he is saying that you are all useless. Ati onse naimwe bophunzila palibe zamene muziba, ba Scott, ba Dr. Kasonde, ba Dr. Phiri, ba Dr. Katema, bonse muli viswaswa." 

"What does that mean?" the Honorable Minister asked.

"Rubbish, sir." 

There is no time in Zambian history cabinet ministers have been rendered so inept, ignored, publicly ridiculed, dressed down, referred to as ignorant, foolish, and useless by a head of state.

"There's nothing we can do about it," the Honorable Minister told his driver. "All those people you have mentioned…Guy Scott, Dr. Phiri, Dr. Katema…they are afraid to stand up to him."

The driver shook his head: "Naba Scott sure, monga siba zungu."

"Yes, Guy Scott is no different," the Honorable Minister said. "Our cabinet meetings are like nursery school. We are treated like kids. He screams and threatens us. It's a nightmare going to State House. We don't know what to expect. When he walks in, our hearts sink." He paused.

All sorts of thoughts ricocheted through his mind. He again pictured himself in the cabinet meeting.

He continued. "Being in the same room with Sata is like coming face-to-face with a snake. He's always walking in with an inflated hood like the cobra he is. We can hear him hissing as soon as he walks in. And when he opens his mouth his sharp fangs release the venom. It does not matter who is in the way, even charmers are struck."

The driver simply shook his head.

In this dialogue with his driver, the Honorable Minister gives us an insight into Sata's cabinet meetings. It is no exaggeration. Every Zambian defines Sata as a confrontational man with a short fuse. We all know that he is a dangerous person, paranoid, eerily unpredictable with a fearsome reputation; that he exhibits symptoms of a dictator that include delusions of grandeur, propensity to violence, pathological lying, and little regard for consequences of behavior. In all his meetings or public appearances these indicators are for all Zambians to see.


One can therefore only imagine Sata's cabinet ministers always in the presence of terror. And yet they are supposed to be his advisory body. They are supposed to counsel and consult the president. It is out of cabinet meetings that star-ministers emerge. Alexander Chikwanda rose to fame in the Kaunda government out of such meetings, and so did the likes of John Mwanakatwe, Rueben Kamanga, Elijah Mudenda, and Wesley Nyirenda.

In every meeting, Kaunda's ministers of the early times, shared matters of national importance and kept the citizenry informed. They jumped into their official cars and toured schools, hospitals, factories, and appeared in the media. For that they were held in high esteem. Some like Vernon Mwaanga of UNIP, and later Ronald Penza of MMD became superstars. They were not afraid to defend their position and put pressure on the president to consider their point of view.

In the PF cabinet, on the other hand, Dr. Guy Scott, Wynter Kabimba, Professor Luo Nkandu and others are famous for the wrong reasons. They have fallen for Sata's totalitarian ideology, surrendered their pride, and allowed him to chip away at their self-esteem, mystique and prestige in "the bright lure of power." They know they are playing with fire, but still, it is their conviction that they beat Sata's chest, lie and die for him. Like they say "blind allegiance is the mother of tyranny." They would rather shamelessly encourage his messianic complex and facilitate his rise to dictatorship. How can they not? He has made it possible for them to walk in the corridors of power and experience a mammon heaven in which they are immune to prosecution no matter the crime. 

But thank goodness the tide is slowly but surely beginning to rise. There are some educated and intelligent ministers in the Sata cabinet that are driven to politics by their passion to genuinely serve their constituents and make Zambia a successful democracy. They know where Sata is heading and they don't like it. They are afraid that at the pace he is going, they might find themselves kneeling at his feet in perpetuity.

With the recent installation of his son Mulenga as Mayor of Lusaka they now clearly understand why Sata is subverting the constitution. They know that he is a selfish leader clothed in the ceremonial trappings of monarchical dictatorship; that he is in it alone—and his family. They now understand why he treats them like dirt. He believes they are little more than desperate stooges.

Rumors that a breakaway PF is emerging could not have come at the right time.  With two years to the 2016 elections, it is time to begin to apply back-breaking pressure on Sata. Let me reiterate, although he may appear rough and gruff, he carries with him a rather placid disposition. As much as he rules us, fear rules him. His fractured traumatic past puts him in such a dilemma—his betrayals, infidelities, manipulative tactics, and falsehoods, trigger in him a state of insecurity and make intimidation his chief weapon. 

There are some brave and intelligent men and women in his cabinet that know there is something seriously wrong with him. They know that his strategy of "repression to gain loyalty" is synonymous with leaders who suffer from Dictator Personality Disorder. They intend to do something about it—to defang and cure him. The proper treatment is to vote him out of power. It is now up to all first-rate minded Zambians who dream of a least-corrupt democratic non-violent Zambia to rally behind such ministers. Please understand that Sata's style of rule is not only deceptive, dangerous, divisive, and destructive, but a detrimental to the development of our country; Sata's rule is a waste of our time and a dagger-stab in the future of our children.  

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Field Ruwe is a US-based Zambian media practitioner, historian, and author. He is a doctoral candidate at George Fox University. ©Ruwe2012