THE BATTLE LINES HAVE BEEN DRAWN

President Mwanawasa has been buried. I guess this is the right time to discuss his successor.
Well, there have been many of them. Others have been hiding in their cacoons, while some openly came out and defied the cultural norms that obstruct us from any form of discussion on a dead person who has not been buried yet.
With the burial of Dr Mwanawasa and subsequent adoption of Mr Rupiah Banda as the MMD presidential candidate, the battle lines have been drawn!
The opposition Patrotic Front has endorsed Mr Micheal Sata, the United Party for National Development is expected to field Mr Hakainde Hichilema. The United National Independence Party (UNIP) is not expected to participate in these elections because of confusion and intra-party wrangles that have left the former ruling party into a shell of its former self. These four are the three major political players on the Zambian scene.
A lot said been said and analysed about the possible winner in the political parties and as politicians in general.
As for the MMD ( and I am not a sympathyser of the ruling party or any other opposition), I would like to say that Mr Rupiah Banda is a better candidate than the others contestants who seem to be hell bent on attaining the presidency. For instance, I would have been an emotionally depressed person to have had one Ng'andu Magande to lead this country because he just has no such presidential traits.
This man is a good economist. He is good at counting our assets and I think he is better serving us in that capacity.
What about the Zambian Airways imbroglio that has been unearthed? What other things has Mr Magande done in the dark corners that we have not heard or seen yet. I have little or nothing to say about the other presidential aspirants in the MMD because the fact that they have not been adopted speaks miles of them. Some of them were pure clowns and overestimated their abilities.
As for Sata and Hichilema, the dye has been cast and may the best candidate win although mad throwing has already started already.
I have heard some people saying Mr Sata is an old man whose age is not suitable for a President.
"Do you want another bye-election before 2011 again," I heard some ask. On that, I simply say age is nothing but a number. Ask John MCcain, Abdulaye Wade of Cameroun, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and our very own Mbingu Wa Mtarika of Malawi and in case I forget even Robert Mugabe from across the Victoria Falls. They also say Sata is a pure clown who cannot practice the good things he talks about. They say Sata is a good politician who can tell you what you want to hear and he can never do for you what you want done.
Some people are also saying HH (Hichilema) is a 'baby' in politics. They say he is a tribalist who took up the leadership of that party on tribal lines.
I only pray that this campaign trail will not trun ugly. I pray that there will be no violence and the elections will be free and fair. However, one thing is for sure-there will be bruises.