ZAMBIAN politics have always been marred by insults, character assassination, defamation and all such invectives. It is the people who have suffered at the end of the day, because our leaders focus on in fighting instead of working for the masses.
Look at Kenya and Zimbabwe for instance. These countries are troubled largely because opposing politicians.
To avoid the myriad of instabilities that have rocked many African countries, Zambia’s opposition leader Micheal Sata is pushing for dialogue between the ruling party and his faction. This man is optimistic that Zambia would be like Zimbabwe or Kenya once politicians continue in this fashion.
Mr Sata said the Zimbabwe crisis would have been avoided if Mugabe and Tsvangirai were meeting to dialogue. The Kenya deal was struck after opposing factions sat to dialogue.
I agree with Mr Sata’s sentiments to an extent. But I think his words must be matched with action. We have known our politicians to say this today and do the opposite tomorrow. We shall only believe what Mr Sata has said after he puts action to it and we demand that he does.
Mr Sata must redeem himself and prove the he is a responsible and reasonable leader in Zambia and beyond.
His words must be wake up call for politicians to realize the impact of the actions in having on the African continent.
For a long time, Mr Sata and Dr Mwanawasa have been playing cat and mouse games. They have always been at each other’s throat.
The two men behaved like light and darkness. They never met or exchange greetings. The only time they met in the last eight years was before the 2006 general elections and the scene was simply a spark.
I think this is a direction that has been missing in Zambia’s politics for decades. Our country lacks development because leaders are busy settling old personal scores.
Politicians must be noble, truthful and trustworthy. They must also trust each other and serve the people who elected them.