Why HH Should not Stand in 2011

I love the man and expected him to be different from Zambian politicians like Mazoka was. Unfortunately, he has ended up being a mere third placed loser all the time! So what happened to this man?

I realized this was a case of one being so over-shadowed by issues which don't matter and a failure to see his time will come later. You can't shoot thieves with clean clothes! You need a full time packed gun. Then clean up the mess with a clean cloth - to say it in dramatic terms.

I love the comparison he always make with Obama, but seriously, Obama did not stand up and start saying we want people who are young to rule and the rest retire. He cam out with substance! That is the mere difference. Not I was one year old when this one started politics!

Here is the simple magic wand he should have used – logic! He can't beat Sata on any day. Maybe after this election he can beat him. But he stands to make sure if he doesn't win, at least Sata wont win. Seems a good idea to him. However, he misses the simplest logic in the arrangement. Hes standing and turning the tables does not go well with the people. This is because, that standing frustrates the people's desires and wishes.

I once told someone that HH will not rule, not because people hate him, but because he works against the people. HH has no right (like anyone else) to determine what people want! His desire should basically be (like all politicians) to offer himself to us, not determine who we should choose. This has been a big problem in Zambia. People stand and want to show people what the other person is, not what goodness they offer! Seriously!

People know what Sata did or did not know. MMD has politics of undressing every little dirt in a house. So for Sata to stand in elections and come out “second” means the people like him, regardless of what his age is, what he did in 1962, what work in did in 1978, etc! These are facts of life which people know about him. So it really does not work in HH's favour to tell us or remind us of the age or year Sata was born!

If HH wanted to rule this country, he can simply follow the easy steps and not make it impossible for him to rule.

1. He should work with the people not against the people. If he withdrew from this race and fielded MPs, “in order to ensure MMD goes out of power”. Do you think he will fail to win the next election? Honestly by my own judgement, Sata cannot withdraw from an election to give chance to someone who lost to him. Can HH give Miyanda the chance? That simple logic is what led to the failure of the pact! The one simple thing which would have ensured HH and Sata in government. To me, they simply needed to look at this and make a binding contract to have HH as vice president for the whole 5years. That is how people work to ensure removal of a government. But HH thought he should over take Sata and stand. Sad news, he stands, he comes out third again, and loses popularity with the people. He even eliminates his own chances of taking power in the next elections. Typical Zambian politician. Look at Nevers Mumba – once regarded as the “next president”. He killed his party to be vice president and then got himself fired. Now he is a political begger! The same can be of HH.
   
   
2. If the people want Sata and he does not want to be president, he can stand aside and wait. Unlike all these politicians, he can be a president for the next 15years if he wants. But he makes appear that he only has this chance! No wonder people get frustrated with him. He has followers yes! But he does not have all the people. Collectively with Sata, they have the people. But they have fallen to the tricks of MMD of divide and rule. Thats the problem.
   
   
3. He has taken the blame for the failure of the pact. So he can do better by standing out. Surely people say Sata is arrogant and so on. When the pact died. HH was on the streets condemning Sata and the pppt on the failure. They on the other hand said, it is still working. We just have disagreements! Who seriously appeared mature! The people totally look at it and say he wanted power! Thats why the pact failed. Pppt came out of that with a clean slate.
   
   
4. He should stand out of the noise. If people of the same grade are arguing, do you join them or stand out to show maturity and uniqueness? He has jumped in and has become part of the noise. For example, if he stands aside and later says, “People you want a leader, here I am”! For next elections, why would I not vote for him? Now he knows what he is talking about, but has no means of selling it! You can't talk economics! You can talk politics. Sata is talking politics, HH is an elite economist! Who would pull people to his side? Be honest to yourself!
   
   
5. He should not think he lost because he is Tonga! Mazoka was Tonga, we all voted for him. Why? The answer to that will tell HH why he has not won an election up to now. And if not careful, will not win any.
   
   
6. He should put interest of the country first and not his! Regardless of the ideas he has. People know and have seen Sata work. So if they want him to rule, there's something they have seen in him which they want. Be it a chance to stop MMD with a serious and tough person. A chance to lock up all those who messed the country up, a chance to give them a thorough re-adjustment in the country – whatever! They want him! So HH in having interest of the country, he should trust the people to make a choice and a better one at that by staying away!
   
   
7. Age aint nothing but a number! HH should never think he will only be productive when he is young. I'm sure his Bachelor degree economics is further less of substance than his later works. Thats what it means. His work now, will be less than what the country will need him for. I follow all his talks and he should not think Kaunda did better things when he was young and in the early days of his rule. Kaunda gave the Zambians one thing no other president has ever done – FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS. That was at the end of his rule. When he was over 60years! When we see Kaunda, we want to shake his hand not because of what he did in 1969, but because he was a states man in the last days. Do you think he would have failed to rig the elections? But he knew it benefits no one if he rigs and wins and yet the people lose. Thats why Chiluba never even came close to half the man Kaunda was. Can HH give us that?
   
   
8. See himself as a hero! He will win by withdrawing. But him standing 4 elections and coming out third is not good for his record. He should be above that. Obama did not stand in three elections before he won – if that will help his comparison with him.

The day he will put these in his decisions, he will be a wiser man. And a president for sure. The day he will stand to win, not “even if I don't win I will ensure Sata wont win”. Seriously, you can't tell me we should vote for a man who grades himself as a “spoilure” just to make sure some else does not win!!! Be practical and principled for people to consider you worth of the seat.

If this election is lost for the people, regardless of you winning, someone will be a candidate to win 2016. So far you are the only candidate, but what you do between now and then, determines your chances. May God bless us all!!