Dropping Truth Bombs

In an otherwise banal article from The Post about Patriotic Front MPs voting against the party line for salary increases, opposition leader Michael Sata drops a bomb.

Asked if he was disappointed that members of parliament went against his position on the issue of salaries, Sata said he could only be disappointed if he was not a Christian. He said the members of parliament were depriving Zambians representation because they were interested in serving their pockets instead of people.

"It's good that we have passed Easter because if not, we would have remembered Judas Iscariot. Jesus was betrayed by a Jew," Sata said.

I'm often baffled when the Zambian political discourse inevitably turns to bible verse but this one is particularly confusing. The tradition is that whoever quotes the book wins the argument, no questions asked. This leads to dodgy biblical analogies that rarely get challenged. In this case, I wonder, is Sata Jesus and the rebel MPs traitorous Jews or are the MPs Jesus and their constituents Jews. Who is betraying whom?

It doesn't really matter does it? Citing the Bible in politics is not meant to clarify, but to muddle. Mel Gibson would be proud.

Photos From a Patriotic Front Rally

The Zambian Elections: nothing to worry about

As you're all trasfixed by Obama's million dollar ads I'm watching the Zambian chief of police on state television warning the electorate not to riot while images of policemen doing kung fu appear on screen and creepy music plays.

I attended a massive Patriotic Front rally on Wednesday which despite the warnings all that happened to me was having shake-shake spilled on my camera bag and later having my phone pick pocketed. Through the wonders of technology I'm going to get my old number back but for the time being you can find my temporary number on "friendster." The good news is I got some rather hilarious pictures which I'll post when my internet is up and running at midnight tonight.

They're currently counting the ballots and everything is peaceful as can be. I went to a polling station yesterday afternoon and there were no voters; only a fifty percent turnout overall. That means since voter lists weren't updated since 2006 and 3 million were registered, only about 1.5 million people voted in total for a country of about twelve million people. Nobody under the age of twenty was allowed to vote yet out of the ten thousand inspired young men at the rally wednesday I'd say most of them were in their late teens. Sata is already declaring the election void. We're all waiting to see if there'll be any unrest in the coming days. Most people think it will be well contained. It's certainly never been more peacful as it is right this minute.

Awkward close up of Zambian opposition leaders

Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front is incredibly funny in person. He kept riffing on the idea of MMD members handing out condoms to their own kids. I understand why everyone on my corner loves him so much.

Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND party has a real burdened superhero look about him. If he wasn't so subdued all the time I could really see him wining.

I got caught in a press scrum outside the electoral commission with just my tiny point and shoot. They were there arguing against the printing of 600 000 extra ballot paper which the ECZ argues is needed for spoiled ballots and everyone else thinks is just an example of the MMD rigging the elections again.