There are men who use microphones to inform, and others who use them like incendiary devices.Thabo Kawanabelongs firmly in the second category. He is not a minister. He is not a special adviser.
He is not the official communications czar at State House. One can only imagine whatCornelius Mweetwa, the actual Minister of Information and Media, must have felt watching a subordinate command the national spotlight with a move he himself has never attempted. Power is rarely stolen; it is often surrendered in silence.
On this occasion, silence belonged to the minister. Then there isClayson Hamasaka, the officially titled communications specialist at State House. He has never staged such theatrics, preferring the safety of prepared statements and institutional restraint.
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His approach is dignified, cautious, and mostly invisible. He thrives on familiarity, on collapsing the distance between office and audience. Calling the President live on air as ifHakainde Hichilemawere a personal acquaintance from the neighbourhood rather than the Head of State was not accidental.
It was deliberate, choreographed, and designed for maximum effect. In that moment, the President of Zambia was reduced to a supporting prop in his own spokesperson’s performance. The show belonged to Kawana.
The President merely appeared in it. I say this advisedly, having served as a newspaper CEO and Editor-in-Chief. This was a calculated act.
There are clear advantages. Kawana displays courage, visible loyalty, and a willingness to absorb public heat on behalf of his boss. In that sense, he resembles high-profile loyalists in other systems, figures who made themselves shields for power rather than its distant interpreters.
But loyalty, when over-performed, becomes dangerous. Africa has seen this before. UnderRobert Mugabe, spokespersonGeorge Charambaoften projected such dominance that the presidency itself appeared diminished, breeding resentment within Cabinet and confusion about where authority truly resided.
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