Like Hichilema, Zuckerberg is into ranching; what’s your take?

Do you still want to insist mututu (unsophisticated) or kamushi (villager) simply because of his passion for keeping cows? Of course, you know whom we’re talking about; how dare you want to pretend!

He grew up in the village in Monze going to school in threadbare clothes devoid of shoes! And instead of playing around during his spare time like any ordinary kid, he would be keeping a watchful eye on the cattle to ensure they didn’t go astray or invade other people’s maize fields. Once he made to the cradle of knowledge in the land – the University of Zambia (UNZA), he would use his savings to acquire cattle while his peers invested their allowances in places such as Moon City or Valentino’s night clubs and “urinate it in the toilet,” if we may quote him correctly.

This devout believer who would later excel to the position of elder in the Adventist church eventually “graduated” into a second largest supplier of beef to the local market and one of the biggest exporters of beef products in the nation!

Today, this man is sitting in State House as President. However, the excruciating weight as of head of state has not curtailed his love for animals – cattle, to be specific! During his free time, he makes forays to his ranches doted around the remote areas to help out with work. You would see him jump into a kraal in his gumboots and grab the bulls by their horns to have them dipped as his protocol and security detail watch in awe. That’s Kachema for you!

How often has this man encouraged us to venture into farming…..or better still ranching? What has this economist cum farmer seen in it that most of us are blind to see? It’s obviously cool cash!

Instead of taking it in stride by encouraging our citizens to get involved in productive activities, political leaders have gone to town bashing and deriding him.

“We can’t all be cattle herders! Why’s he asking people to go back to the village? What sort of reasoning is that?” You would hear them ‘parrot’ in their obvious disdain. Secretly, some of these individuals are busy developing their own ranches.

Even before he became President, folks would pour scorn on him…..”If HH becomes president, he’d take cows with him to graze the grounds of State House!” Have you seen any cows at Plot 1 apart from monkeys that once peed on the head of a former president? Embiciles; aren’t you! Well…..well, well! Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of this same platform you’re enjoying has just made startling revelations! Taking to his Facebook page, he shares:

“Started raising cattle at Ko’olau Ranch on Kauai, and my goal is to create some of the highest quality beef in the world. The cattle are wagyu and angus, and they’ll grow up eating macadamia meal and drinking beer that we grow and produce here on the ranch. We want the whole process to be local and vertically integrated. Each cow eats 5,000-10,000 pounds of food each year, so that’s a lot of acres of macadamia trees. My daughters help plant the mac trees and take care of our different animals. We’re still early in the journey and it’s fun improving on it every season. Of all my projects, this is the most delicious.”

For the uninitiated ones, Kauai is one of Hawaii’s islands which is at times referred to as the “Garden Island.” It’s not our intention to delve into painting a picture of how exotic the island is at this juncture; that’s a topic for another day. We are here to talk ranching!

Ba Edith Nawakwi, Fred M’membe, Harry Kalaba, Sean Tembo, Chishala Kateka……forget about Chishimba Kambwili for now; does your opinion on President Hichilema regarding his choice of hobby remain the same after reading this? We’ll share with you what we think.

We expect our leaders of any kind to at least play a leading role in inspiring citizens to get involved in productive activities such as the one alluded to as opposed to frequenting Casinos and imbibing outrageous amounts of Jameson or indeed promoting promiscuity in the nation by operating brothels camouflaged as lodges! Mulekutika?

Prince Bill M. Kaping’a
Political/Social Analyst