Background
Michael Chilufya Sata was born in1937 at Chitulika village in Mpika in the Muchinga Province of Zambia to Langford Mubanga Sata and Harienta Bukali Kabuswe both of the Bisa tribe.
President of the Republic of Zambia
Michael Chilufya Sata was born in1937 at Chitulika village in Mpika in the Muchinga Province of Zambia to Langford Mubanga Sata and Harienta Bukali Kabuswe both of the Bisa tribe.
In 1941, at the age of 4, Sata attended Mpika Education Authority School. It must be mentioned that before independence full primary course lasted 8 years. This was followed by two years to Junior Certificate (Form 2), and three years to Form 5’s school certificate (“O” levels). Some schools provided a higher school certificate (“A” levels) in Form 6. To obtain a primary school certificate one had to go through Sub A and Sub B [pre-school and kindergarten], and then Standard 1 to 6. Sata was at the afore-mentioned school from 1941 to 1947, which means that he attended Sub A to Standard 4.
In Bembaland, the White Fathers and the Protestant missionaries of the London Missionary Society were fighting for converts; both used education as bait. The White Fathers offered Catechists schools and encouraged their followers to enroll their sons in priesthood. Between 1947 and 1948, Sata entered Katibunga Seminary for a year. Records show that he was moved to another Catechists school called Kantensha in Isoka close to the Tanzanian border where he spent three years from 1948 to 1951. By this time some missionary schools had established secondary school courses, many up to Form 2. In 1951, Sata passed on to Lubushi Seminary near Kasama where, on top of clergy training, the school offered an unaided (by correspondence) Form 2 external examination.
Sata left Lubushi in 1956 at the age of 19. Some people speculate that he absconded, while others say he was expelled while some say he failed. Again, this is only hearsay. The office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kasama would be in a position to confirm or deny the rumors. One thing certain is that he did not become a priest. It is also evident that he obtained a Junior Certificate (Form 2). The acquisition of a Junior Certificate was confirmed by his friend Phinias Makhurane.
Michael Sata worked as a police officer, railway man and trade unionist during colonial rule. He spent time in London working on the railway sweeping the platforms. Among other things, he was a porter at Victoria railway station. Sata began actively participating in the politics of Northern Rhodesia in 1963. Following independence, he worked his way up through the rough-and-tumble rank-and-file of the ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP) to the governorship of Lusaka in 1985. As Governor, he made his mark as a man of action with a hands on approach. He cleaned up the streets, patched roadways and built bridges in the city. Afterward he became a member of parliament for Kabwata constituency in Lusaka. Though once close with President Kenneth Kaunda, he became disillusioned by Kaunda's dictatorial style and he left the UNIP to join the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) during the campaign for multi-party politics in 1991.
After Frederick Chiluba defeated Kaunda in 1991, Sata became one of Zambia's most instantly recognisable faces. Under the MMD, he served as minister for local government, labour and, briefly, health where, he stated that his "reforms brought sanity to the health system".
In 2001, President Chiluba nominated Levy Mwanawasa as the MMD's presidential candidate for the 2001 election. In frustration, Sata left the MMD and set up a new party, the Patriotic Front (PF). He contested the 2001 election but did not do well—his party only won one seat in parliament. Sata conceded defeat and continued campaigning.
Sata ran for President for a fourth time in the election held on 20 September 2011. In the early stages of the campaign he was more vitriolic in his anti-Chinese rhetoric, but he later toned down his rhetoric. Results showed him receiving about 43% of the vote against 36% for Banda, and Chief Justice Ernest Sakala accordingly declared that he had won the election in the early hours of 23 September 2011.
Michael Sata was a devout Catholic. He is best known for his stance against the legalization of homosexual in Zambia.
Mr. Sata acquired a reputation for intolerance to political challengers. For instance, an opposition leader, Frank Bwalya, faced defamation charges after likening Mr. Sata to a kind of potato that in local slang denotes a person who does not listen to others.
But Mr. Sata’s style seemed far less despotic than that of some other African leaders, including President Robert G. Mugabe in neighboring Zimbabwe, with whom he cultivated friendly relations. Though at times Mr. Sata praised Mr. Mugabe’s anti-white policies, he nonetheless worked closely with Mr. Scott while in the opposition and chose him as his vice president.
He was married, and had eight children
