24/06/2024
Intelligent people learn from historical mistakes. Fools perish.
Idi Amini Dada as he was popularly known, tried to eliminate all his opponents to consolidate absolute power. The more he killed them, the more opposition forces mobilised themselves. He created enemies such that he reached a point where he could be awake the whole night fearing that his opponents would visit him with an assassination - history records. The pressure on him mounted to the point that he fled the country and died in a desert in Saudi Arabia. This is an example of mistakes which politicians make. It is a serious mistake to suppress opposition. If anything, you must manage the opposition. A group of hyenas may look like foolish creatures, but even the fierce lion cannot withstand their attack.
Once upon a time, there was a man called Mobutu Sese Seko in the thick forests of Congo. He ascended to power after eliminating his opponents with the help of Belgium and the USA. He ruled the country and continued to suppress his opponents/opposition. He did this for over three decades but later reality caught up with him. He built a very magnificent house in DRC which he never enjoyed or lived and now there are ruins. He was about to be assassinated when he left the country for fear of his life and exiled himself in Morocco where he died. This man never died in peace. He died in hell. And am sure the time he was dying, the ghosts of the people he murdered appeared to him including the spirit of Patrice Lumumba who was cut into pieces and dissolved in sulfuric acid. If there is hell now in heaven as us Christians believe, then he must be there, I am sure. It is a serious mistake to suppress opposition. If anything, you must manage the opposition. A group of hyenas may look like foolish creatures, but even the fierce lion cannot withstand their attack.
There was once a man known as Michel Micombero in Burundi. He was charismatic in plundering the country and taking power by force. The guy stole government money and suppressed his opponents. He, without mercy, eliminated his opponents. He later fled the country when the people started to beg for his blood. He exiled himself in Somalia where he died at the age of 42. It is a serious mistake to suppress opposition. If anything, you must manage the opposition. A group of hyenas may look like foolish creatures, but even the fierce lion cannot withstand their attack.
I can write a whole book about the presidents and leaders in Africa and the entire world who tried to suppress political opposition to the point of killing them but they never succeeded. They ended up punishing themselves by exiling themselves or shooting themselves as Adolf Hi**er did.
We know that some leaders are good, they don't mean any harm to anybody but the followers who are greedy and want to protect their positions act as mercenaries. They don't care about the future of a country or the direction of their country. What they care much is about owning a wealthy which, unfortunately, will live in less than 30 years. They care about the sausages and tea they take each morning and they don't care if some people in a corner of a country are starving or dying of hunger. They are virtuous wolves ready to surpress anyone on the way. Unfortunately, leaders in positions don't see these people acting. The president may believe that things are happening naturally not knowing there are hands from their offices working on the tragedies.
The unfortunate part is that the image which people see is of the leader who sometimes is innocent and doesn't know anything about the plots which people or followers have made. This is the sad part. However, when time comes that the poor will have mobilised themselves to remove him from power, he takes the shame with him. The sins are placed on his head. This is the sad part. He dies a sad person as the blame is placed on his head.
I wish political leaders would get wisdom from what happened to other people on similar positions in the past in their countries and even beyond. Leaders must not underestimate the power in large numbers. Zambia may seem a calm country with poor people. But there is time when the anger of the poor people will manifest. They will not fear anyone They will mobilize themselves and say "enough is enough". We saw this Leaders must know that Zambians are watching and the pain and anger will one day spark a flame that will never be extinguished.
May the spirits of all those who lost their lives due to political suppression rest in peace.
