Point Blank: God forbid Ebola in leadership vacuum

Patrick Sikana

By Patrick Sikana

A few days ago, a taxi driver from Entebbe to Kampala, Uganda, struck up a conversation with me. When he tried and failed to guess where I was from (“Sierra Leone” – was his final guess!)

I helped him out. Zambia, I said. He looked visibly relieved to know that he wasn’t sharing a car with a possible Ebola vector. But he wasn’t done with me. Zambia? he queried. Isn’t that where the President is missing? ‎
I got the point.

Zambia is still prominent on Africa’s current affairs map, only, this time, for the wrong reason. I mean, I remember how, after February 2012, whenever asked to declare where I came from I would begin by teasing my strangers with a haughty question: “Who are the current AFCON Champions?” I would pompously ask. Not anymore. In fact a decade ago it was beer drinking that was associated with the name Zambia until 2012 happened.

Now it’s the “missing” President. Of course I made sure the taxi driver understood (as a precondition for me to pay the fare) that the President of Zambia was not missing but the taxi driver’s innocent question was a poignant commentary on the gaping vacuum created and sustained by President Sata’s conspicuous absence from the international stage and his muted leadership at home. It conjured in me the imagery of an orphaned nation. It left a sour taste in my mouth.

Without strong coherent leadership, the country is exposed. God forbid the deadly Ebola virus strays into Lusaka tomorrow, the damage would be dreadful! A dysfunctional parliament, a decapitated cabinet and sluggish population are a perfect recipe for a chaotic response and untold carnage. The price would be devastating, the anarchy unprecedented.

What we need is top gear alertness. In the circumstances, the Minister of Health must bear the torch and lead the way. Assuming that Kabimba’s recessive outbursts on the constitution have not been infectious, the Minister of Health must make with a clear statement on Ebola in parliament. We don’t want to hear an argument about how Zambia is not at risk of Ebola. We don’t want vague assurances that the government is “on top of the situation.” We want more than a plea to the “citizens” to be calm in the face of this dastardly scourge. We want honesty, sincerity – and concreteness.

Too, as citizens we have an important role to play. This is not the time to start peddling miracle cures (‘Ebola Anointing’, etc) or advancing arguments that might work to dissuade people from adopting proper preventive behaviors or seeking medical attention. If we must insist on displaying religious faith then let it be done in tandem with proven best medical practices.

Any Pastor or traditional healer who believes they’ve got the cure for Ebola would make their God/gods happy by being sensible. Perhaps the government should consider setting up a body to admit and manage all claims of prevention/ healings, and make it mandatory for all self-professed healers and miracle workers to formally notify it before they begin smiling their way to the bank with their claims.This is the time to show that as a country, we have learnt from both cholera and AIDS.