Bill 10 & FTJ's Third Term Gymnastics

In November 2000, Chiluba introduced the office of District Administrator (DA) which he said was aimed at creating a closer link between government and the people. He bought all 72 of them Mitsubishi pick-ups. Had something up his sleeve.

Come February 2001, just three months on, calls arose for Chiluba to go for a third term. Guess who was in the forefront campaigning for this? The DAs. With their newly acquired authority and pomp, they mobilised marketeers/vendors, pseudo pastors and other charlatans to say the

man had done so well that he deserved more time to complete what he had started. What the law said on eligibility was an unnecessary inconvenience to them.

Several GSIs as in government sponsored individuals - the ones we now call bamushanina bwali - took to various platforms to defend the idea. One man & his nephew (if you know you know) went on TV claiming they had done an opinion poll showing "Zambians" wanted FTJ to continue.

To give it a religious tinge, some 300 GSIs gathered in Lusaka under the title of pastors, saying the Almighty had spoken to them that Chiluba should continue.

On the other side, civil society coalesced under the banner of the Oasis Forum which was formed at a landmark gathering at the Oasis Restaurant in the Lusaka showgrounds. They resolved to take on Chiluba, who would later be deserted and denounced by his own ministers

Chiluba lost, even though he insisted he had no intentions of another term.

The tactics Chiluba & Co. used in his failed bid are no different from what promoters of the fallen #Bill10 deployed. First, they appropriated for themselves the role of deciding what is good for us as if we were hopelessly incapable of doing so ourselves.

He's a good leader, heaven sent, the pro-third term group said. The #Bill10 crew preached how Zambia would miss out on youth and women empowerment if #Bill10 failed, as if we didn't know all that could be done without it.

Second, they engaged in all shades of propaganda including Christianizing the debate - how God would be angry with us if we rejected 'His chosen one'.  The #Bill10 crew turned to their favourite tar - one MP said the opposition didn't like the Bill because it had no gay rights.

Third, Chiluba & Co. lined up GSIs to lend credence to their scheme. Similarly, #Bill10 attracted its own class of chancers and fortune seekers who worked hard only to be shown where power lies, leaving them fuming, rejected and dejected.

Fourth parallel to note is how the civil society of 2001 and of 2020 stood for constitutionalism to the hilt. Kudos to them. Lastly, in both cases of the third term and #Bill10, the question was: if it's so good, why aren't people buying it?  #HistoryRepeatingItself