By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
Vienna was just voted in as the best city to live in. It has held this rank before several times.
What makes Vienna so peaceful and liveable are the ethics and aesthetics appreciated by its people.
To develop a country, people are not supposed to have a 5 year or 10 year plan. The country needs a 100 year plan in which everyone fits in. Various players can argue in terms of ways to achieve a 100 year plan but not change the 100 year plan.
Now we can’t plan as a country when the majority of citizens are illiterate. When people are not educated, they are unable to plan because they don’t have an overall grasp of what it takes to move a country to greatness.
In a society where the majority remain uneducated or are not exposed, you can’t a an effective democracy because citizens can make a well informed decision on which candidate is better placed to represent them at any level. Democracy in Zambia therefore does not produce the best political leaders. For this reason, the majority of educated Zambians shun politics because educated people can’t make sense to the uneducated in most cases because they are simply at different wave lengths. For educated Zambians who brave it to go into politics, they drop their narrative to suit the narrative of an average voter but immediately change once they get into office.
Democracy as practiced in Zambia also creates a polarised country. People simply don’t understand that have different political views is normal. Supporting different political parties doesn’t make people enemies. But in a democracy like Zambia, people from different political groupings are rivals ready to even kill each other! So countries like Zambia forever remain divided on party lines. A divided country cannot develop because to develop, everyone has to come on board with the 100 year plan that never changes!
If I may ask today. Do Zambians know what democracy is? What is our 100 year plan? Even if we put street lighting in all roads, the uneducated section of the population will vandalise the lighting. But when you live in Vienna for example, the number of people that are likely to vandalise public property are fewer. So their infrastructure remains intact. In a society where the majority are educated and are exposed, you don’t even need conductors on public transport as the case is in Vienna. People themselves pay to use the transport even when checks for tickets happen once in a long time.
We cannot have fountains in the CBD, clean streets because our population won’t simply appreciate those things. Imagine we even have a relatively large educated population now than at independence but we still think it’s normal to have open sewers, soak aways instead of central sewer systems among other things.
When you look at the discourse ok social media ok Zambia, what gets public attention is gossip, one is arrested, shenzo is drunk, etc. Important things in Zambia don’t trend.
The illiteracy among our educated population is also very worrying. We need an exposed educated population. Imagine educated Zambians think that knowledge from school doesn’t make sense and what is important is practice. Therefore because of not following guidelines, we build substandard infrastructure and half baked economic solutions to the country.
Europeans, Americans, the Chinese travel to much. Learning about Shaka’s cow horn formation or the geography of Canada can never be a waste of time. History repeats itself and knowing the world helps you easily get by. If you have no background about a people, you can’t lead them because you won’t know their nature. That’s why we have to know history.
Unless and until 99% of our population get education and are exposed to the whole world, we are not going to go anywhere. Unless we unite, we shall never go anywhere!!
Keep this message for me and remind me after 20 years! We shall still be in the same place because we are very ”SERIOUS ABOUT MEDIOCRE THINGS AND MEDIOCRE AT SERIOUS THINGS”!
Development doesn’t come by accident. It needs to be achieved!!!!
A very accurate description of what is pertaining under the mediocre upnd government. My brother lubinda is very wise. We are long overdue family dinner.
Shurrub
Does it mean that for ten years you did not realise this, and you were parroting what PF was propagating and even landing us into this deep trouble of UNSUSTAINABLE debt we are in. That is the reason I don’t listen to any Zambian economist whether locally or foreign trained, these guys are just a disaster,and a serious one for that matter but very loud and very partisan as if economics calls for that
The cadre is back
Talking sense for once !!..well said sir!..its all about insults on social media instead of analysiing and discussing rationally…alas!!
I rest my case.
Whilst the message is something I am inclined to agree with, I am appalled at the grammatical errors this paper has! And this is supposed to have been authored by a PhD in economics?
My word.
I’m inclined to agree with you. Also the learned scholar has flaws in his argument. Being literate is not what makes one responsible. You can be literate and still be a vandal or rogue. At times you could even lead fellow literate rogues to self destruction: Donald Trump.
Also, africans need to stop thinking that education is obtained only in Western institutions. Tundanji and plenty of our cultures is education. By the way Zambia has a relatively high literacy rate so why doesn’t it show in our progress vis a vis our neighbors?
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@Musole, that’s one of many pieces the author leaves out.
I am fortunate to have had an opportunity to travel to 4 continents and I do appreciate the author’s viewpoint when he says there is need to travel.
I personally feel like there ought to be a requirement for potential leaders to have been outside of the continent for two months at the most. It helps the country.
Francisco u are unfair in your comments.A question arises are u not paying attention to new dawn government where the current president is an economics ad is ruling u and me. What is your view?
This article sounds like an ESSAY by a 12 year old, the very definition of mediocrity
Tell me about it!
The only problem I have with this article is the author…this is the guy who hijacked ECZ an organisation of economists turned it into an extension of PF media wing.
Why doesn’t he go and stay in vienna???
Is it academic education or socialised/ cultured? Zambians get least preference ie Lusaka international airport we use jammed lane while foreigners get better service at passport stamping. Joburg, Dulles, JFK their citizens get better service. WHY?
KZ remember the mediocre PF gov’t allowed street vending for Zambia’s uneducated masses and what happened? Yes attracted CHOLERA in 2017/18 bcoz their stoopid decision was just to get votes.