WHEN he was alive, President Michael Sata attracted multitudes of people everywhere he went. In death he has brought a grieving nation together, including those who had a different opinion from his.
As an opposition leader, the late Mr Sata divided opinion by drawing followers from all classes which could have been the bedrock of his ascension to the presidency at the fourth time of asking after bridging the gap between the poor and the rich.
The long winding queues that have characterised the Mulungushi Internaional Conference Centre since body-viewing started for members of the public tell a story, but so do the tributes that came pouring in from all corners of the world.
The nation will today be been drawn to Mr Sata for the last time albeit he will not be able to speak to them in his usual unmistakable voice he used in his acceptance speech on the Supreme Court terrace on that historical September 23, 2011 afternoon.
Such is the gallant son of Zambia that will be put to rest at Embassy Park today. The body of Mr Sata, who died on October 28, 2014 at London’s King Edward VII Hospital, lay in state at State House ahead of burial today in what will be his final trip out of the coveted Nkwazi House.
Ironically, the last time Mr Sata was at Embassy Park was during the World War Remembrance Sunday when he went to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph at Cabinet Office and on the tomb of the only other Zambian President to have died in office Levy Patrick Mwanawasa.
During that trip, Mr Sata was not happy with the pace at which former president Fredrick Chiluba’s mausoleum was being built, as if to get the Ministry of Works and Supply to quickly complete the works so that they start working on his own adjacent to Mr Mwanawasa’s.
Looking back at the life of the departed Head of State, who was 77, it is very clear that he left an indelible legacy everywhere he went -the Lusaka City Council, Ministry of Health, MMD, UNIP, the Catholic Church and, most importantly, his family hold fond memories of Mr Sata.
In the SADC region, Mr Sata made friends with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe with whom they coined the notion that Zambia and Zimbabwe were geographical Siamese twins sharing the same heartbeat.
An international eulogy could not be more personal than Mr Mugabe’s.
The strong partnership between Mr Sata and Mr Mugabe grew from strength to strength and it seems no coincidence that both their political parties are called Patriotic Front with a clenched fist as the party symbol.
“As you’re aware, we’ve lost one of our outstanding leaders, President Michael Sata. Zambia and Zimbabwe are geographical twins and what happens across the river — good news, bad news — we rejoice if it’s good news, we share sorrow on this bad news, and so there is that reciprocation, you know the twin relationship.
“Sata is of the stage of KK, we worked with Kenneth Kaunda, thank God he’s still alive. In SADC, he has been the only one I could talk about the private little things we used to do when we were still boys. I can’t do that with the rest of the others, they’re too young for me to tell the secrets I never told you about,” Mr Mugabe eulogised.
It is probably his political life that impacted so much on many lives countrywide through the various public offices he held until rising to the presidency. Yet God had different ideas by getting him away from earth at the pinnacle of his political career.
For us mortal beings, it is difficult to understand the mystery of death. As we take the Biblical walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we hope the First Lady, Mr Sata’s extended family and the nation at large will be strengthened by the fact that God’s time is the best.
Farewell Michael Chilufya Sata, you have run your race!