The resignation of Zambia’s Defence Minister Geoffrey Mwamba from
his position should not astonish
anyone and should not be taken as a ‘choice of family over politics’ as he has
portrayed it. It shows a feat of courage, but it is more to do with retribution
for President Sata’s ingratitude to disrespect him for Justice Minister Wynter
Kabimba and Post Newspaper Owner Fred M’membe
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| President Michael Sata and Former Defence Minister Geoffrey Mwamba |
By Nyalubinge
Ngwende
According to
Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, his resignation as Zambia’s defence minister was a choice of family over political allegiance
after a telephone altercation with President Michael Sata. This is after the defence
minister visited his grandfather Paramount Chief-elect Chitimukulu, Henry
Sosala, whom Sata does not want to ascend to the throne.
However, it
appears completely a calculated retribution against Sata by GBM, as the big man
is fondly known among political colleagues and those in the streets who revere
him for his business acumen.
His resignation
should not astonish us, and should not even be seen as a complete action of
‘blood is thicker than water’ stance.
There is more to
it than meets the eye emanating from deteriorating relationship between the
former defence minister GBM and his counter party at the Ministry of Justice
Wynter Kabimba, who seems to be President Sata’s henchman.
GBM was the last
person expected to ditch a top job in the Patriotic Front government barely two
years in office. The opulent politician bankrolled President Sata’s 2011
election campaign including chartering a plane and rescuing the PF leader from
being arrested for money laundering when he told authorities that the money with a questionable
source found in Sata’s Finance Bank account was in fact a gift from him.
For some time
the public has seen GBM as a close confidant to Sata. He has been linked to a
number of contracts that have overlooked tender procedures, including a tender
to transport controversial hundreds thousands of litres of government fuel to
Malawi to help that country mourn its President Bingu Wamutharika who died of a
cardiac problem. Apparently Wamutharika had hounded Sata out of Malawi,
declaring him a persona-non-grata, when he went to meet his Taiwanese
financiers from that country. The fuel donation for your enemy ‘s funeral could
only be a cruel joke from President Sata, maybe mockingly saying ‘rest in peace
to Bingu and welcome Joyce Banda’. Whatever, it still provided an opportunity
to repay GBM. When people raised concern over the granting of GBM a contract to
transport fuel without any tender procedures, State House insiders said Sata’s
retort was: “let GBM recover his money”.
That is the kind
of relationship Sata enjoyed with GBM.
But there has
been a fallout. In the last few months leading to his resignation that came two
days before Christmas, GBM organised a premature, but controversial campaign,
endorsing Sata as the sole PF presidential candidate for 2016.
While he might
have thought this was a show of loyalty to President Sata, it created serious
tensions within the ruling PF that left GBM and Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba
embroiled in a cold war, leading the ‘difference in opinion’ or is it motive
between them degenerate into violent street fighting among their supporters.
In the middle of
the heat, President Sata told GBM and his team that was endorsing him to stop.
Sata’s retort ridiculed GBM.
“Maybe
you do not understand English and the meaning of the word endorsing. You can
only endorse someone after he has been proposed and seconded” Sata said at a
meeting that was supposed to settle the tiff between the endorsers and the
anti-endorsement.
In short, the
side Sata took rubbished GBM as not being sensible and gave Wynter Kabimba a
pat on the back as reasonable. The bitterness between the two leaders
continued, with the group of endorsers behind GBM calling for the expulsion of
Wynter from the party. Wynter reacted accusing GBM and his followers as tribalists
and corrupt elements that had ganged to hound him out the ruling party. Vice
President Guy Scott, siding with Wynter, also joined in the implosion.
All this comes
on the heels of another bitter quarrel early this year between GBM and Wynter
when they accused each other of dishonesty over government tenders. GBM accused
Wynter of making dirty money out of fuel deals. In counter accusation, Wynter
said GBM had been arm-twisting ZESCO to award his company a tender to transport
ZESCO poles from neighbouring Zimbabwe. It took President Sata to intervene and
stop the national anti graft institution ACC from proceeding with
investigations into the allegations.
The Post
Newspaper’s Fred M’membe stood on the side of Wynter and apparently enjoys some
good relationship with President Sata. Contrary the newspaper was merciless
towards GBM in all the travails they are having with Wynter.
Unfortunately, in
his usual naive style or lack of seriousness, President Sata ignored the depth
of differences that had pitted GBM and Wynter against each other.
Last week, faced
with a question from Luwingu MP Maximas Ngonga about what he was doing to
settle the violent divisions in the party, President Sata asked Wynter and GBM
to go and campaign alongside each other during the pending by-elections to show
that there were no differences in the ruling party.
Sata chose to
joke about the violence that left one member of the GBM camp dead and another
badly injured that ‘it is a sign that the party is alive’.
In all this GBM
feels disrespected or sees ingratitude by President Sata. It is like “I
financed your campaign, hired a plane to fly you around to make you President,
but ridicule in the face of my enemy is what you reward me for my sacrifice!”
This is obviously GBM’s arrogance.
And it is this
arrogance that made him walk out from Sata’s cabinet on that night. The good
man Sata that GBM had helped so much in his last ditch to become Zambian
President was flirting with Wynter Kabimba, an obvious enemy.
 |
| Henry Sosala Chief Chitimukulu-elect |
GBM’s visit to
his grandfather, Henry Sosala, was not even about the family values he holds,
but a deliberate move of revenge. GBM showed so much loyalty to Sata that he
wouldn’t have chosen to go against the wishes of the principal. That is why he
endorsed Sata and, had Sata reciprocated by patting him on the back instead of
Wynter, GBM was going to increase his measure of loyalty to the President—even
choosing to steer clear of the troubles the head of state was having with
Sosala.
But because Sata
chose to respect Wynter, who is his archrival, GBM had to look for the symmetry,
and that was standing with an enemy that gives Sata sleepless nights. Who else
could have been a perfect choice for GBM’s ploy other than Henry Sosala?
Knowing how
exactly it feels for a person you consider an ally to betray you for an enemy,
which Sata is doing to GBM by protecting Wynter, GBM did not have to guess the kind of effect his action of arrogance to
visit Sosala would produce in Sata. Evident to the altercation between the two on
the mobile phone after his visit to Henry Sosala, GBM had hit Sata where it
hurts most.
That is why no
one who has followed the events in the ruling PF can get astonished about the actions
and resignation of GBM as Defence Minister. Other than the respect for family
values GBM claims, his action is a retribution for betrayal.
The Brutal
Journal feels the political consequence of his resignation might not be
significant, but in the long term the huge hole of the Bemba votes caused by a fall-out
with President Sata by a man of the size of GBM closer to the Chitimukulu might
prove fatal come 2016 elections.
NN
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