FORMER State House special assistant to the president for project implementation and monitoring, Jack Kalala has said Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata’s utterances over late president Levy Mwanawasa are childish and immature.
Mr Kalala said in Lusaka yesterday that Mr Sata’s character was not commensurate with his age and described it as capricious and unstable for a person aspiring to be a national leader.
He said it was unfortunate the PF leader had failed to appreciate the gesture from Dr Mwanawasa that narrowly saved his life.
He said the value of late Dr Mwanawasa’s decision to evacuate Mr Sata to South Africa for medical treatment in 2008 should not be undermined by any reasonable person.
Mr Kalala said it was shocking that Mr Sata could describe the assistance rendered to him by the late president as a public relations gimmick.
“How else can one explain such as irrational and absurd statement from a person of great status?” he asked.
Mr Kalala said Mr Sata had failed to distinguish anything wise done to him in good faith such as his evacuation to South Africa by Dr Mwanawasa.
He wondered whether Mr Sata really thought of issues to talk about or he just said them without any analysis.
“Mr Sata cannot even remember what he said or did yesterday. He was only some millimetres away from death and was saved by a whisker,” he said.
Mr Kalala said since Mr Sata was married to a qualified medical doctor, he should have obtained an explanation from his spouse of the gravity of his illness when he was evacuated to South Africa by the late president.
“The decision by president Mwanawasa was a mark of responsible and magnanimous leadership that was above partisan politics,” Mr Kalala said.
He said president Mwanawasa lived up to what the people of Zambia expected him to do and did not attach any personal interest to the decisions he made, especially regarding the evacuation of Mr Sata.
He reminded Mr Sata that his recent criticism of Dr Mwanawasa would not dent his image in any way as he had dealt with the matter with integrity.
“Next time Mr Sata may not enjoy the divine grace again because he is not appreciative,” he said.
Times
