You can tell the greatness or the opposite of the former president by what they do after leaving office
By Prof Munyonzwe Hamalengwa
This article is not intended to suggest that all African presidents or presidents the world over are made of the same fibre and brawny.
It is simply to suggest that in general a measure of the greatness or lack thereof of the former president resonates from what they do after leaving office. The character of the organic intellectuals, if any, that organised these presidents’ intellectual firepower, if any, can be ferreted from the legacy of what these presidents do after leaving office.
There are so many examples to choose from of great former presidents and so many of their opposites. I shall only choose a few of what I consider to be great former presidents. The reader will supply examples of the opposite of great presidents.
I will choose firstly a non African former president, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. After leaving office he decided to write several books as a legacy for posterity to document the history of Singapore, what he intended to achieve before he came into power in 1965, what he did when he was in power in Singapore, the obstacles and opportunities he encountered while in power and what he hoped would be the future of Singapore.
The books in hand included, “The Story of Singapore: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew”; “From Third World to First: The Singapore Story, 1965 to 2000” and “One Man’s View of the World”. These and other books are in Lee Kuan Yew’s own words. He transformed Singapore from a third world country so-called, to the first world. He left a legacy of good clean governance that is the envy of the world. One may not agree with the excesses of this or that under his rule but one has to agree that he transformed Singapore economically and politically and one of the strongest legacies he has left are the books for all to read and learn and compare. You can’t doubt what he did and it is documented. His organic intellectuals have also not been sitting idle. They have written.
Let’s now move to Africa. Mandela has been rated as a great president by many. One of his greatest traits is what he did after leaving the presidency by way of a legacy that will keep on shining and giving. After leaving the presidency, Mandela decided to document in book form what he did in various areas as president. The book is entitled, “Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years”. Chapter one is entitled, The challenge of Freedom; chapter two, Negotiating Democracy; chapter three, A free and fair election; chapter four, Getting into the union buildings; chapter five, National unity; chapter six, The presidency and the constitution; chapter seven, Parliament; chapter eight, Traditional leadership and democracy; chapter nine, Transformation of the state; chapter ten, Reconciliation; chapter eleven, Social and economic transformation; chapter twelve, Negotiating the media; and chapter thirteen, On the African and World stages.
Just look at what Mandela looked at in his book, isn’t that what any Zambian leader has been grappling with? Would one not say that our leaders owe us a duty to write and explain what they did in these areas when they came into power, the obstacles and opportunities they encountered and the end-game? Over the years I have published in various forums a recurring theme, “KK Where is the Book?”. When I met KK in person on June 26, 2018, I asked him that question directly but of course diplomatically. I told him that it would be great if he put his historic experiences in book form for posterity and to answer his critics and to leave a legacy. I could see that he understood what I was saying.
Olusegun Obasanjo is a great former president. His book in hand is appropriately entitled, “The Presidential Legacy1997-2007”. It is preceeded by Volume one. Chapter eleven of volume two is entitled, Finance-domestic and international; chapter twelve is Privatisation; chapter thirteen is Infrastructure; chapter fourteen is The power sector; chapter fifteen is Oil and gas; chapter sixteen is Local government system; chapter seventeen is Separation of powers; chapter eighteen is Civil society; chapter nineteen is Women affairs; and chapter twenty is The media.
Apart from the chapter on Oil and Gas, haven’t all Zambian presidents been talking about the same exact issues? Compare the chapters in Mandela’s book and those in Obasanjo’s: they are exactly the same. These two leaders have documented these common African and world issues and detailed how they went about to deal with these issues from which future leaders could benefit. This is a living legacy. These are great leaders who think more about solving their countries’ problems than about themselves.
How many leaders after leaving power, pose to document what they tried to do for their countries? How many leaders try to come back to power without posing to document what they did while in power? Therein lies the difference between great former presidents and their opposite ilk.
The author teaches Criminal Law and Law of Evidence, and writes imaginary movie scripts. Reach him via:
munyonzwe.hamalengwa@zaou.ac.zm
Truth be told former Zambian Presidents know deep down their hearts that there is nothing to write home about their presidency, they know that there is nothing significant to write about. The challenge with books is that if you claim something in writing, it can be disputed . Only very high achievements can be document in a good and if you have non, you would not bother to write a book about yourself
To envy to be a leader starts early in life. This is because one must first appreciate the country is going through or has gone through and then also the parti on to attend to those challenges that the country has gone through. By going through I mean what the people have gone through. Mandela, oof course I agree is a great leader, KK, Nyerere etc. To cut the story short in Zambia it is not the case. Most of the leaders we have been receiving are from the cold, meaning they came into power unconsciously. They never ever dreamed of becoming leaders. To most of then it was just accident that they found themselves as leader. Even in their ordinary life they were not people that communities talked about, in other words they never had any agenda for the country or the society. These are the presidents who came into squander the resources. They had no integrity in their operations. How an such a person be able to write something on the country when there was no agenda. In Zambia ia I can mention a few who had such notable visions such as KK, CHILUBA, MWANAWASA SATA and now HICILEMA. you literally see their trajectories in their leadership. Wring is is an expensive venture, you write about what you know and done and also seen.
Be a president one of these days and write about yourself than talking about presidents who are already dead and never ever wrote any book about anything.