The nation of Zambia is in mourning the late president, Michael Sata, who died in Britain on October 29, 2014, exactly six years after the nation lost another sitting president, Levy Mwanawasa. A critical review of the deaths of the two presidents will show that they both died under similar circumstances: They were both popular and unifiers of their parties when they died; they both had succumbed to long-term illnesses; they both died outside the country; they both raised issues with whether they could discharge the functions of their offices while they were still living; their parties refused to acknowledge that the president was too ill to perform his duties; they both raised controversies as to who would act as president in case of their demise; and they both did not groom a formidable successor in the event of an untimely death.
 
In the deaths of the two leaders, three if we mention the late president Frederick Chiluba who died shortly after leaving office, we find both the positive and negative traits that constitute the soul of the nation of Zambia. First – the positives. Zambians come out as a people who value order, democracy and the rule of law. Zambians have exercised restraint in solidarity with the men who have ascended to power after the incumbent`s deaths, even when those successors did not possess any definable leadership qualities. The nation has used the unfortunate events to foster a tenacious unity and resolution towards a one-nation under God. These two traits have, in the main, sustained a relative degree of peace and tranquility in the land.

Second, the death of the two presidents has exposed serious cavities in the governance structure and agenda as well as in the quest of the nation towards democratic maturity. In this regard few aspects can be identified, namely, a lack of national political vision for the ruling parties; an incoherent intellectual fervency devoid of a resolute constitutional interpretation; and last, a leadership gap.

Lack of National Vision or Agenda

On October 24, 2014, Zambia celebrated fifty years of self-rule from Great Britain. The nation is still reeling from the pangs of inadequate resource mobilization and lack of a comprehensible economic vision. Personality politics prevail over issue-based governance. Those who talk loudest are valued above those who do not. Most Zambians live on a dollar-a-day and unemployment has persisted. Since Mwanawasa`s development plans, no leader after him has taken any major economic trajectory to move the people from struggle to strength or from poverty to prosperity. Although Mwanawasa and Sata championed some magnanimous policies with prospects for tomorrow, their own poor health cut those intentions short.

Overall, however, the health of the president has everything, economically, to do with that of the nation. Mwanawasa and Sata died abroad in France and Britain respectively, in developed formations famous for the state-of-the art medical facilities. The problem is not in foreign-based health facilities as it is in the attitude of the Zambian aristocrats. For fear of being seen as fielding sickly presidential candidates, political parties hide the true health of populist presidential candidates and cannot divulge the real conditions until it is too late for even meritorious healthcare abroad to resuscitate.

The death of our presidents in power is an embarrassment to the nation. It indicates our inability to provide safeguards for our own people, including the most important persons in the country. If one president dies in office, the system is broken, if two presidents die in office, the system is sick and needs emergency healing. If the leader of the nation can die in office, what about the commoner in their homes? One needs not go further to know what is happening in the compounds and villages – here, they die in droves from curable and opportunistic diseases. The nation is sick and in need of serious post-mortem of its economic and political agendas.

Lack of Leadership

Zambian political fronts have serious deficiencies in leadership grooming and succession. In Zambia, persons rather than issues, dominate politics. It is erroneously believed that mere ascendance to political power is enough when it is simply the beginning. Leaders who become presidents think that they have achieved greatly, even when their legacies are worse than the ones they inherited. When a president dies in office, the national commentators and intellectuals begin to qualify the unaccomplished agendas of the deceased as successes.

It is ironic that even after years after the demise of the popular president/s those who succeed do not realize the agenda set up by their predecessors. However powerful or popular Mwanawasa or Sata was, their legacy dies with them. If they did not do anything when they lived, they cannot do anything when they are dead. More sadly, if they did not groom successors when they had the chance as living presidents, they cannot do so when they are dead.

In the developed formations, the office of the vice-president is highly regarded and is rarely changed. Barak Obama`s Joe Biden has been vice-president since 2008/9. Moreover, a vice-president should be intelligently and deliberately chosen because in the event of the death of the president, the vice-president becomes president. The choice of the vice-president should, therefore, be made with alacrity, dexterity and prayer. Both Mwanawasa and Sata failed the Zambian people in that regard. They anointed vice-presidents who cannot win a full-blown presidential election, and who are not qualified to be presidents, respectively. They left more problems than solutions. The MMD, for example, has failed to recover since the death of Mwanawasa, and the PF is headed for a breakup if the current trends set by the firing of Edgar Lungu (even before the body of Michael Sata has become cold) from the PF echelon by the care-taker president, Guy Scott, is anything to go by.

Leadership that is in the Interest of the People

Zambia is a nation of over 70 languages and many tribes and sub-cultures. A president who will unify these units is the perfect pitch for the continued strength of Zambia. After fifty years of independence, it will be foolhardy to accuse outside interests of the continued lack of good leadership in Zambia. Historically, people have credited the relative stability and peace of Zambia to former president Kaunda’s philosophy of Humanism and the slogan of One Zambia – One Nation. However, this was a philosophy befitting the spirit of nationalism. After fifty years, the people cannot feed on nationalism anymore; it’s time to move on and provide real economic agenda for development. Kaunda`s nationalism and Chiluba`s liberalism have not been saved with a competent leadership which is able to translate the slogans into real opportunities for the people.

It will be inimical and out of fad to think of the death of President Sata as a catalyst for soul-researching as a nation. But that is exactly where the nation of Zambia ought to be. Our blunder is our own making. The leaders we choose are perceived to be pro-Bemba, unconcerned with the material well-being of the Zambians in general. We opt for non-unifiers, men who are just content to be called “president” and do nothing else.

In some instances, as recent as 2011, we have been contented to vie for populism instead of leadership caliber, for Machiavellism instead of national management. It is imperative that presidential candidates and reigning presidents articulate in plain language the inherent united nature of the Zambian social mosaic. It is this miscellany which has been responsible for the relative peaceful and united character of the Zambian society. The perception that only people from northern and eastern provinces can become presidents in Zambia is phony and should not be entertained.

Qualities of a Great Zambian President
   
Presidential politics, like politics itself, is perception. In presidential politics, popularity at home does not necessarily translate into economic prosperity. We have also learned that a leadership code that is inclusive of all tribes in Zambia on its own is wanting; it must be satiated with a holistic economic policy and be keen on delivering in time on the policies that engineer change. Bemba presidents are no an advantage over any other tribes in Zambia – lessons so hard to chew.

Many Zambian politicians, especially from the Western and Southern provinces, continue to make this mistake today. Anderson Mazoka was perhaps the most intelligent politician to hail from the southern sands of Zambia. However, Mazoka’s political fortunes were gravely reversed by the tribal card. Most Zambians believe, erroneously or not, that the United Party for National Development (UPND) is the party for the Tongas and the Lozis. The PF is perceived, too, as the party of the Bembas, unless something is done in the next few weeks to quell that allegation. The time is now ripe in Zambia for the people to insist that a true leader, especially in the 2016 presidential elections is elected. This will mean that parties must invest in identifying men and women who are leaders.

It will be a mistake to think of the leadership of Zambia as a right; it must be a privilege. The media should not be left to dictate whom the people elect. Special interests should not “campaign” hard to float their own chosen who will not penalize them for misbehavior. Cadres should not just sing political halleluiahs for leaders who have no idea what national governance is all about. And those who can rule, should not slumber, and hope that the political parties will miraculously field people who are worth the salt.

Beginning in the upcoming presidential by-election, I propose, based on wide and workable formations of the stable and democratic states the following traits we should be looking for in the next Zambian leader. Psychologists have recognized eight personality traits of great world presidents. These are those who are dominators, the introverts, the good guys, the innocents, the actors, the maintainers, the philosophers, and the extraverts (extroverts). In other words, great presidents come in all shapes and sizes, and with divergent philosophical and personality nuances.

More traditionally, coveted presidential qualities befitting a leader who brings results, as articulated by Kyambalesa, include emotional stability, humility, patriotism, selflessness, impartiality, patience, compassion, tolerance, respect for the rule of law, ability to conceive of leadership as a temporary mandate to serve the people, ability to conceive of oneself as just another mortal with limited knowledge and aptitudes, ability to make compromises with people who have dissenting views, and the ability to accept criticism and dissent as necessary evils in public life.

Traditionally, all great leaders including presidents are expected to be visionaries, honest, credible and trustworthy. They must also have the ability to motivate others, be willing to accept mistakes and correction, and be dedicated and disciplined. The last two traditional qualities are charisma and consensus building.

Most of the research done on presidents before they were elected to office shows that most of them did not keep their offices tidy, were frequently unkempt and were visibly enraged with lack of progress. This, in essence, also shows that there is no one characteristic that foretells what a good president will be. Zambia requires someone who must unify the nation and build consensus among the people. Unfortunately, we have to look to the politicians, who by virtue of the nature of politics are devoid of espousing true leadership acumen. Many of the true world-shakers were not true politicians; they were men and women who believed in a cause larger than themselves. They were selfless, diligent servants of the state who put the good of the nation ahead of their own whims and caprices.

Zambia is at a critical moment. It is being faced with a political catastrophe, when there is a leadership vacuum in the land. It is a time of national anguish and emergency. It needs a leader who is, among the articulated qualities above, a good communicator, in touch with the people, and who moves incognito to assess and listen to the problems of the people. Such a leader, man or woman, must inform the nation about what is happening and must be decisive.

At the moment a good president is not an option; Zambia needs a great president. Herein is the distinction that sets great presidents from good presidents: In the problem of poverty and the challenge to safeguard the young democracy, the next Zambian president/s ought to be exceptional. They must strive to achieve with high aspirations for their own self and for Zambia. They must be ambitious and endeavour to perform their duties with personal competence. Such competence should include superior intellectual abilities as well.

There is no substitute for hard work for presidential success. They must set ambitious goals for themselves and move heaven and earth to meet them. They must be able to tolerate stress and adversity (this will call for a prioritization of good health for the president with transparency and dedication). This quality is translated into assertiveness, one of the most celebrated marks of presidential greatness.

Successful Zambian presidents should be open minded. Ideas are not a monopoly of a few. The presidents must be attentive to their emotions and be risk-takers; willing to question traditional values and try new ways of doing things. They must value matters of faith and morality. As much as possible, they should rely on leadership from religious establishments to help guide the nation into righteousness.

Inspiration is a great asset for successful leadership. The next set of Zambian presidents should guide and inspire the people, especially at critical moments. They should be persistent, resilient, and demand excellence. Moreover, they should be sympathetic and compassionate. Sympathy and compassion impugn upon corruption and lethargy and is a catalyst for economic prosperity.

By virtue of their office, the next president of Zambia must develop esteem and have the nerve or courage to face challenges. He or she must practice team leadership and share a common vision with the governed. Zambia needs a great president – one who, above all else, will lead from the heart by following acceptable values.

By Charles Mwewa

The writer is author of Zambia: Struggles of My People and King Cobra has Struck, Letter to President Micahel C. Sata. He is also professor of legal studies in Canada. http://www.charlesmwewa.com/