THE WISE PRESIDENT: LEVY MWANAWASA
The Moth Media
The “Cabbage” Controversy,
Politics has a dangerous trap:
Spending so much time fighting your opponents that you forget to develop your country.
President Levy Mwanawasa understood a lesson every leader should learn.
During Zambia’s fierce political campaigns, Michael Sata and other critics mocked Mwanawasa over his speech and physical impairments which resulted from a near-fatal road accident.
They called him a “cabbage.”
Mwanawasa reportedly responded with a witty retort:
“I am not a cabbage, I am a piece of steak!”
“… And I will show you that I am meat”
But his greatest lesson was not the comeback.
It was the importance of refusing to let political insults consume his presidency.
When your opponents throw stones, do not abandon the construction site to throw stones back. Keep building!
Roads are not built with insults.
Jobs are not created through political revenge.
A nation cannot develop when its leaders are permanently trapped in political battles.
Fist fights of revenge and the “I will deal with them mentality”…
Then came the real test.
In 2008, when Sata suffered a serious heart attack, Mwanawasa reportedly helped facilitate and fund his medical evacuation to South Africa. A bad leader could have prayed for death and celebrated….
But look at Mwanawasa…
Imagine that:
Helping a man who had fiercely opposed, mocked and challenged your presidency.
That was leadership beyond politics.
Their subsequent reconciliation demonstrated a profound truth:
You can disagree with someone politically without denying their #humanity.
Mwanawasa also reportedly recognised the value of having a strong rival who kept him alert and challenged.
At one point, he hugged Sata and said … ” This the fellow who has given me a good run in my leadership”..
A wise leader asks,
“What can I learn from my critics?”
An insecure leader asks,
“How do I destroy them?”
One strengthens the nation.
The other protects an ego.
Mwanawasa died in August 2008.
Sata went on to become President in 2011.
Politics changes.
Power changes hands.
Today’s opponent may be tomorrow’s Head of State.
So why destroy every bridge?
A government must hold wrongdoing accountable through the law, but it must never confuse accountability with persecuting people simply because they belong to the opposition.
Let the opposition oppose.
Let the government govern.
Let development speak louder than political insults.
Each and every country has wise people and fools… But we can’t decide to silence all the fools, because we all know that the wise are few.
The true measure of a President is not how many enemies he defeats, but how many lives he improves—even among those who never voted for him.
That is leadership.
That is maturity.
That is the power of reconciliation.
ARE THE LEADERS OF TODAY AWARE THAT THEY WILL BE NO MORE IN LESS THAN 35 YEARS FROM NOW…?
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