Zambia has an Airport named after Former Mozambique President, Samora Machel in Mbala. This is the Airport at which Machel was coming from in 1986 during a Frontlines State meeting when his plane crashed in Mpumalanga, RSA. Kaunda had maintained Kasaba Bay close by. Instead of meeting in Lusaka, African Presidents often landed in Mbala to Kasaba Bay in Mpulungu during the Frontline States.
But typical of us Zambians, once one President comes into power, he destroys and abandons works done by the President before him. Kasaba Bay was destroyed and abandoned by Chiluba and successive Zambian Presidents that followed.
Since 1991, our behaviour in Zambian politics is deeply rooted in political toxicity. We would rather abandon a project that helps our country grow, just for petty reasons, all because such a project was began by another President. The resorts around Kasaba bay were left to die, a whole resort bay area built over years is now dead and forgotten. Today, Zambians on the streets of Lusaka or any town don’t even know of Kasaba bay, its location or its history to our country.
This country i so love will never succeed if we keep on this political trajectory set forth in 1991. The behaviour and toxicity of our politics doesn’t just exist in the Presidents we have elected since Chiluba in 1991, it cuts deep to everyday Zambians as individual citizens. Party members of this President will accuse supporters of that President of using a road or hospital built by that President as though such a President used his personal money to build the hospital. In politics, there is what’s called continuity.
It’s a national duty of Presidents and citizens to continue the works and project began by another leader, no matter which party they belonged to. You don’t abandon building a University built by one President and cut funding because he was your rival. You build a country by successfully transferring roles and projects from one President to the next. That way, we will be able to pass this future safely to the next generation of Zambian leaders !!
Credit: Joseph Kalimbwe
That is dependent on someone’s interest, you remember Kaunda liked Mfuwe, even when he had taken his colleagues to Kasaba Bay, he was just trying to find a central place for the three leaders, Machel, Kaunda himself and Joseph Desirre Mobutu Seseseko. But more than any other president, Kasaba Bay was on Kaunda’s developmental agenda. When you say Chiluba ppppabandoned Kasaba Bay, you are right because the gentleman didn’t like Mfuwe either. I don’t know how often he visited Musangu Village in Mwense, Luapula. Then Mwanawasa tried to resume Mfuwe visits but not as often as Kaunda did them. From there, RB, Sata and ECL, I am not too sure if any of them ever visited Mfuwe. Mwanawasa started going to his Teka farm on the Copperbelt and HH would rather go to his Ranch seeing his animals rather than seeing game in Mfuwe. The Bible says where your treasure is, is where your heart also is. Even in other countries like USA, during the time of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, we used to hear about places like Camp David resort, but not any more, Trump goes to Florida, his home State for holidays.