Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Don’t look to the West’

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Dr Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth Kaunda waving his handkerchief

Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika has said Africa should not wait for the West to prescribe solutions for its problems.

And Zambia’s first president, Kenneth Kaunda has said Africa’s journey to prosperity needs prudent and decisive decisions for the continent to attain sustainable economic and social development.

Speaking yesterday in Lusaka when he paid a courtesy call on Dr Kaunda at his Kabulonga office, President Wa Mutharika said Africa’s future depended on cooperation by its leaders.[pullquote]I believe that the memoirs Dr Kaunda is writing are really not addressed to Zambians or Africa but to the entire world[/pullquote]

“We shouldn’t wait for the West to come and tell us what we should do. I have told Washington that I know my problems and we know the solutions.

“I want our children to know that while there is an Africa of hopelessness, an Africa of hunger, there is also another Africa, an Africa of opportunities,” he said.

He said five years from now, issues of food shortages would be history for Malawi and Zambia, given the good performance of both countries.

“We do not have to go overseas to beg for food, Malawi and Zambia can actually feed some parts of SADC,” he said.

Prof Wa Mutharika said he was happy to learn that Dr Kaunda was writing his memoirs.

He said he has been inspired by Dr Kaunda’s writings on humanism.

“I believe that the memoirs Dr Kaunda is writing are really not addressed to Zambians or Africa but to the entire world,” he said.

Dr Kaunda said African countries were on a journey to prosperity, and that time had come for the continent to rethink its economic strategy.

He said agriculture should be considered as the mainstay of the economies of African countries.

[Times of Zambia]

53 COMMENTS

  1. Well said Prof.I watched a documentary on BBC about how you have turned Malawi from a country of food deficit to that of surplus.Iam equally happy Zambia is on the same path.Once food security is solved,our priorities will go else where.

  2. The problem is not with us the west but luck of good leadership amongist African leaders we need to teach them on how to serve the people who put them into power .

  3. ““We shouldn’t wait for the West to come and tell us what we should do. I have told Washington that I know my problems and we know the solutions.”

    Nowhere in the whole article has it been stated that the West is the problem. All that has been stated is that we should not look to the West to solve our problems. Let us not misconstrue facts.

  4. No.4 i know Africa in and out i have been to almost all the countries there through my work with the UN , I can asure you that i’m not on same level with you and not in the habit of insulting people i don’t know sorry.

  5. This realization is the only thing that will set us truly free.

    We should stop assuming that the West really wants us to move forward. Its naive because its a fact that a rising Africa will not give up its precious natural resources so cheaply anymore. The raping will stop and they don’t want that.

  6. It’s nice that many more African leaders of the independence epoch deeply understand and appreciates this provable fact. Nation-state building is inseparable from national food security. I’m personally thrilled that the Banda administration is spirited on realizing National food security. We see two broad approaches are taken to promoting domestic food security: one of these seeks to establish a sustainable food system; and the other aims to eliminate poverty. These two approaches correspond to the two main dimensions of food security: the production and supply of an adequate quality and quantity of food; and the ability of individuals to reliably access food. Both of these dimensions of food security are trigging National stability.

    Bravo RB and your MMD administration!

  7. we have enough food to feed even the lazy ones who run away from zambia to go and work as namazai kapipa amafi ku usa. shame come back you wont starve be proud how can you travel all the way to go and clean a white womans’ pamusula pamatako. at least ku europe zambians are doing decent jobs not ku atlanta naku chicago and texas.

  8. Zambia and entire SADC regional countries’ antipoverty, or social-justice, approach to promoting sustainable food security should start from the premise that stable Africa has an adequate food supply and that food insecurity in this part of the world results from people’s lack of support to stay productive which the Banda administration’s supportive role to farmers is arresting. Zambia is an ambitious country, opened to market economy principles, where most citizens have been transformed from a dependency syndrome. Any food insecurity should be a result of poor people’s lack of money to buy food and not availability.

  9. job nchito,

    My dear brother i can only presume that your personal experience in the USA must have been out of lack of education. The US values and handsomely rewards education. Anyone who has earned a college degree from vocational associates, bachelors, Masters to Doctoral degree with on demand skills will never get trapped in your experience. If a simple 2 year community college associate degree with licensure as Registered Nurse, Respiratory Care, Clinical Laboratory Science, pharmacy technician, Dental hygime, Electrical and such can rewards graduates not less than US $ 50,000 what of a holder of Bachelors, Masters, doctoral and other high skilled professional education?

  10. job nchito,

    I presume you belonged to those Zambian communities that did not value education. Zambians who have earned good education and applied themselves in the North America are building their financial security no different from folks at home. Their children are in good health, good schools, happy and on course despite the stress of staying on the edge of capitalism. Most Zambian you see blogging even here are highly skilled and in secured corporate America, private entreprises and consultancy vocations. On purpose most of them are staying the diaspora course and not because of failure as you have kept insulting them. Implore you to respect those who have chosed to raise their families in the Diaspora.

  11. Couldn’t have said it better, David Cameron, British P.M was recently in India to woo business and strengthen ties but the Indian people have expressed reluctance because they are on a path of economic prosperity and do not need the west per se. I think Africa should have ties with the East because of our mutual interest. The east needs resources for their economic growth while we need their investment and technology here in Africa.

  12. No.10 I don’t if you came abroad and had problems in getting a proper job but what i can tell you is that if you have gone to school and have a profession you will get a very good job well paid here, it is one’s choice’s were they want to live and how the want to bring up their kids you have no right what so ever to insult us simply because we decided to live out of Zambia it our life so let us do what we want with it even in Zambia you have so many people living there from different countries.Do not bring out your failures on other – sorry!

  13. I implore you to respect those who have chosen to raise their families in the Diaspora. Which country has no diaspora if i may ask you? Is it Ireland, Britain, America, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Tunisia, Ghana, Zambia, Namibia, Mexico, Australia, Uganda or Rwanda? Which country has no diaspora. And do you even know that most of the Zambian leaders and CEOs are products of the same schools today’s Zambian diaspora have been going through. Mazoka, Dean Mung’omba Nalumino Mundia were President Banda, his all his well educated children, Ichilema, Milupi, Sakwiba, Mbikusita Lewanikas, Tilyenji Kaunda and many more to mention but a few myself not being an exception are products of the Diaspora schools. Is it a sin to get education and live in the diaspora?

  14. London and Senior citizen thank you for counseling this job nchito. As you have excellently observed, he had a failed experience in the diaspora. Indeed education will never fail you in this part of the world.

    I advise him to browse through James Mwape’s “Zambia’s Brain Drain” website and see what Zambian diaspora means. You could also follow Mwape and team’s saturday hosted Diaspora Voice talk radio where Diaspora based thinking heads converge their brains.

  15. I totally agree with No.13 and No.15. Those people with good education like some of us with Masters Degrees have managed to get good paying jobs in our fields. We are even able to send our kids to private schools. I for one and my husband have decided to bring our children in a country where they will have many choices and opportunities. No. 10 it is none of your business. People are allowed to choose where they want to live and bring up their families.

  16. London and Senior citizen thank you for counseling this job nchito. As you have excellently observed, he had a failed experience in the diaspora. Indeed education will never fail you in this part of the world.

    I advise him to browse through James Mwape’s “Zambia’s Brain Drain” website and see what Zambian diaspora means.

  17. He could also follow Mwape and team’s saturday live podcasted radio talk shows on that same website, then he whill realise how many highly skilled think tanks the Zambian diaspora has.

  18. what brings development is good leadership and good constitution as long as we have leaders who say is non of the other business in leadership we still far because we donont know thier intentions.

  19. No.20 no he is not an issue we are önly trying to tell him how it is for us out here because he seems to be öne of those people who hate people who live out side Zambia we just want him to know that life is about making ones choices and minding your own business, respect other people’s opinions – that is the world normal people live in pretending to know it all.

  20. I for one thot LONDON is also in the diaspora. Well, carelessly attacked though by hoogehoges.
    coming to the issue at hand. I think its not a matter of telling washington that we know our problems & we can solve them. Albeit, five decades since african imancipation from slavery/independency, we still cant rule ourselves let alone breed dictators like Bob. Take for example Zim, look how our black skin has turned it into? Compare with RSA, most of those parts where white people live are as well developed as europe. But for black aboards/coloured worse, you may think is this colour a sign of a case? Just a thot though! Even though we have had blacks that have excelled greatly, that has not & may never translate in economic imancipation for africa. What is on the ground speaks volumes than…

  21. Job Nchito

    You are myopic.

    I guess you don’t live in the village you originally come from. You could be living in the developed Zambia.

  22. Job Nchito, I understand your Chinese employers are resorting to beating you up because you are too lazy. Please do not take it out on others. People on this blog are trying to have a serious discussion.

  23. job nchito says:
    July 31, 2010 at 11:45 amwe have enough food to feed even the lazy ones who run away from zambia to go and work as namazai kapipa amafi ku usa. shame come back you wont starve be proud how can you travel all the way to go and clean a white womans’ pamusula pamatako. at least ku europe zambians are doing decent jobs not ku atlanta naku chicago and texas.

    It seems ba brother bal kwata problem,Who tells you whoever goes to leave abroad are lazy?What is wrong no kupipa amafi if it is a job & is paying more than what a white collar is?It is ones choice and if one is happy and comfortable let the do like wise who the hell are you to judge others ?how much are you paid yourself if you are not busy stealing …atase
    By the way nda pipa amafi elo ndafola tai chelwa pay

  24. 16# Senior Citizen ( Spot On )

    There is nothing wrong living abroad. I came to the UK in 1999 as a student and did a diploma in Business Studies after finishing my program; I did all sorts of jobs in retail.

    In 2003, I bumped into a Zambian called **** ******** (Elder brother to the First Lady Thandiwe C. Banda ) from Lusaka who was working for MCI Technologies as an IT Systems Manager, he invited me to his office and I was so impressed and inspired to see a fellow Zambian exercising his profession and executing authority at his company. He told me that he came to the UK in the early 90’s as a student, worked hard climbing stepladder.

  25. Continued# … I did not hear him for a while, then suddenly I met him again in 2007 and this time he was working for Barclays Capital Investment Bank in London. He asked me what I was doing and I told him that I was still in retail. He took me for lunch and gave me some sound advice, inspiration and encouraged me to dream and reach the sky. I followed his advice and pursued with determination. Today, I can say that I got my rewards as I have a good job working for Accenture.

    If anyone knows his contact number please HELP ME and drop me an email at [email protected]

  26. Continued from 31 #

    Sorry!! .. If anyone knows Jack Chilongo ( Elder brother to The First Lady Thandiwe C Banda )
    If anyone knows his contact number please HELP ME and drop me an email at [email protected]. I want to thank him so much. I hear he is still working in London.

  27. Hey job Nchito haven`t you heard of “get rich or die trying” ? This is what we are doing baby and so far so good the account is promising.My advice to you bro is “live your life because it is yours, don`t look down upon others and respect other peoples decisions”.
    Now to the topic at hand i guess some things are easily said than done.What we need is our leaders to put up a good structure in place before they think of going down that road of “we know our problems and how to solve them”.We need a strong and well articulate plan that will help see africa out of the troubled waters.Let us learn how to walk the talk.Peace.

  28. People,(tho off topic) iam a keen follower Fred M’membe.I have read a few blogs from some of you like job nchito implying that Fred is gay-is it true or just character assination is going on. answer the following questions for those of you who think so;
    1. I was pa zed one day & as boring as ZNBC goes, Chanda chimba the bad debtor presented his documentary on Fred M’membe-He said, he knows that Fred shaggs some one else’s wife,is it true?
    2. Some people say he is gay-do the two statuses collide?
    3. Dont you think RB’s govt like they did to Sata(saying he was a police constable which he never vitiated) will make him pay for his solem and grave sins of unnatural plessure seeking? Even dogs, tho they dont see directly behind the female dog, their dicks goes for no anal but the…

  29. 34 georgeWbush

    1. True – Fred M’membe divorced his wife. He was having an affair with a woman who’s husband was dying with cancer, as soon as he died, he jumped married the woman – the current wife ( Who is Late Anderson Mazoka’s daughter ) founder of HH’s party.

    HH & Fred’s wife were business partners but they have now fallen out.

    2. True – Sata used to be a Policeman, records are there to show ( It’s not a lie ). Ask anyone from the old school. Sata does not hide this fact.

  30. The problem is with our constitutions, which gives more power to our presidents to become kings over the citizens, hence they abuse power;; Africans must know that presidents are just servants of people who elected them.. so they shouldnt fear them the they do. civil education is the ingridient missing in our nations hence these people take advantege

  31. SINIOR CITIZEN #,,,if you dont not have something sensible to comment just shut it up, becouse all you comments i can’t see any sense,,over farming you no nothing ,people in zambia are surffering and then you are out of your mind…try another comment and see if it will make sense.

  32. Job Nchito: In the diaspora, there are all sorts of people doing all sorts of jobs from all over the world Zambia included. It is also true that there are Zambians in the diaspora who are contributing very seriously to the advancements in human civilization including the internet that you are using to insult them. We carry the Zambian flag far much better than you, and our names appear on patents of the most advanced technologies around. We have competed for jobs that all the intelligent people from all over the world have competed for and we have won. You failed to penetrate the most challenging market for professionals – and all you are doing right now is sulking. Come to America for example and apply for a job commensurate with your “qualifications” and let’s see what will happen.

  33. The habit of calling non-academic personeel as Professors needs to cease. Professor is an academic title. There are professors who do not even have PhDs by the way, or got their titles by influencing a panel – typical in our institutions back home. Let’s not confuse the professor title to imply the most intelligent man around – he just a lecturer at a tertiary institution. Here in the US there are a lot of very intelligent individuals who have won Nobel Prizes in the Sciences but they are from National Labs and or Industry – they are not called Professor because they are not on the faculty of a University. Not “Professor” Mutharika please he is not a lecturer – he has a PhD though – the highest qualification you can attain.

  34. Imwe ba diaspora, whoever you, leave Job Nchito alone, that is his opinion. I’ll tell you mine. I am right now out of Zed in a country better than USA & UK, socially,i.e . but I have found can’t live here. What is alots of money when you are unhappy. Your children come home from school crying everyday, tell me if it’s not true, imwe ba UK. Nangula, enjoying that money after your wife had been uku pipa ifi bamu fya ba sungu.. I would rather earn lots of money in Zed and send my children to good schools locally or overseas. How about loss of tradition/culture in your kids, .ur boy being a gay

  35. #4 To all of you who resolve to insults and barbaric attacks on fellow bloggers: You are showing a serious lack of maturity and mental capability. Say what you want to oppose but don’t insult others. Respect others and they will respect you.

  36. # 10 you don’t reason, its only people like you, who used to dodge classes through windows that can do the stupid jobs you mentioned. *****

  37. #10 – For your information cleaning is a good job in Europe. A person like you can not be allowed to clean right away. You need special training to do so. You can be paid over 10 Euro an hour just for cleaning. How many professionals in Zambia can earn that much? In fact this is one of the problems we have in Zambia, everybody wants to work in an office and they look down on menial jobs. No wonder everybody wants to be a president! These jobs are well paying in this part of the world and the work is of high quality. So it is about time we changed our ATTITUDES and started respecting all types of work!

  38. There is no need to demean a fellow human being simply because they maybe doing a job at a lower echelon. We should instead respect such individuals who do jobs like collecting bins and what you term ‘ bottom wiping’. For your info, such jobs in developed countries like the UK are also done by University for example by Phd. graduants (white or black ethinicity), it does not matter. Most of us at one time had done such old jobs like working on a factory line but did not mean we were different from others. With 2 degrees currently and a very good job in a government institution, I can still do these jobs some of the bloggers may find unsuitable for them because may they are over qualified. “Umwana ashenda, atasha nyina ukunaya”. Wakeup you lazy chaps.

  39. #43 I agree with you… # 10 go out of African and look back at Mr Africa u will see that something is going into the wrong direction. I don’t have a white colar job but I own 7 seater vehicle my salary is above all ministers in Zambia. What we earn matters to what we are doing. Jobing :d

  40. It is good to tell this job tnchito that he is rong. Diaspora is better when we remember to take back home the knolage and experience the way Indians and chinese have done.Africa needs you.

  41. And I quote….” I want our children to know that while there is an Africa of hopelessness, an Africa of hunger, there is also another Africa, an Africa of opportunities “.

    These words give hope and I hope there can be the much talked-about cooperation between African leaders. Wa Mutharika is issuing the statement quite boldly and that is the kind of boldness that is needed by many leaders of our continent. KU KOSA.

  42. tiyowoye says:
    August 1, 2010 at 5:47 amImwe ba diaspora, whoever you, leave Job Nchito alone, that is his opinion. I’ll tell you mine. I am right now out of Zed in a country better than USA & UK, socially,i.e . but I have found can’t live here. What is alots of money when you are unhappy. Your children come home from school crying everyday, tell me if it’s not true, imwe ba UK. Nangula, enjoying that money after your wife had been uku pipa ifi bamu fya ba sungu.. I would rather earn lots of money in Zed and send my children to good schools locally or overseas. How about loss of tradition/culture in your kids, .ur boy being a gay

    My brother what are you still doing in dispora “that is if you are” If you are so unhabby y not go home,speaking of culture it is up to

  43. Problem mufwaya ukuba nga absungu Mebena zedi bambi nagu twamiposha kwati tule nunka! elo na pose rubbish, ulia mukushita umusalu na u toga( wearing your best) naka fake accent yah chalishupa sometimes I fear to say hello because some look too serious and want to make you feel they are better than you (without knowing who you are, what you do,how long you being there ‘of course that is not necessary’and how you came to be there,which is very sad indeed.when you are out there you see one that looks like you open up one zambia one nation

  44. I savor, cause I found just what I was having a look for. You’ve ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye

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