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Raphael Nakacinda MMD Spokesperson
The Opposition MMD says the positions of the two party vice presidents including other positions will be filled in at an appropriate time.
MMD Presidential Special Advisor, Bernard Nakachinda, says the party has got other serious matters to address as opposed to filling in vacant positions of the party structures.
He says the position of vice president was an elective one and can only be filled in at the national convention.
ZANIS reports that Mr Nakachinda was speaking in an interview in Lusaka today but could not give a timeframe.
“The Position of vice president in our party is an elective one but it will be filled in at an appropriate time because the party has got serious matters to address. You recall that the MMD has been having conventions in the recent years,” Mr. Nakachinda said.
He said those calling on the party leadership to fill in positions are being mischievous.
Mr Nakachinda advised the media not to entertain Youth Wing leader, Bowman Lusambo, who is calling for an immediate action to fill in the positionsof vice president and others in the former ruling party.
Mr. Nakachinda explained that his party has distanced itself from Mr Lusambo’s alleged clandestine activities with the ruling PF.
“Ignore Mr Lusambo at all costs and I don’t know why you journalists entertain this man. We in the MMD doubt the activities of the young man. Our party has distanced itself from him,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Nakachinda is confident the MMD’s candidates will scoop both the Lubansenshi and Solwezi West parliamentary seats.
Mr Nakachinda said the candidates were sellable to the electorates and that the party has done a lot of ground work to guarantee victory on September 24 polls.
He appealed to all the political parties to adhere to the Electoral Code of Conduct by not engaging their members in barbaric acts of violence which have got no room in modern politics.
Biology Department – UNZA
The University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers and Union-UNZALARU- has resolved to release the students’ withheld examination results following an agreement with government over the payment of outstanding contractual monetary dues.
UNZALARU President Eustone Chiputa has confirmed this in an interview with ZNBC news in Lusaka.
Dr Chiputa says government has undertaken to pay 150 million Kwacha before the end of December towards the 320 million Kwacha accrued dues.
According to Dr Chiputa, the academic staff will be paid the balance of 170 million Kwacha after December.
He told ZNBC that management will now be availed the students’ examination results for processing before the Acting Vice Chancellor officially releases them.
Dr Chiputa is hopeful that the financial commitments will be fulfilled to allow for smooth runing of the university.
UNZARALU members had vowed to withhold examination results until they were paid their dues.
File:A Chinese lodge owner with his Zambia workers making preparatory works for the hosting of the UNWTO general conference in Livingstone
The “White man still rules after 50years because of it
As I left Mopani Copper mine in Mufulira yesterday, completing an engineering job there, I could not help getting caught up in the sadness that engulfed the mine after some individuals were handed retrenchment letters. I watched as some knelt before their “white” bosses, pleading for a chance because their families would be thrown into serious anguish if the lost employment.
Why are we always begging the “white man”. It is estimated that up to 12000 jobs will be lost by the year end.
So how did we get here?
Why do we have such little say about how what is ours is run?
We talk of independence, but how many establishments are actually owned by Zambians?
How many times do we see Chinese contractors blasting Zambians at a construction site? Its far too familiar.
We have talked about solutions to these problems for the greater part of the last two decades, but nothing changes.There have been proposals for legislation that allows government some control over the mines but nothing gets done, all because someone somewhere is benefiting.
[pullquote]as it stands, we are more colonized now than we were pre 1964[/pullquote]
We sold the mines because some individuals wanted kick backs, the foreigner knows in Zambia , if you service the right people business is good for you.
The issue of loadshedding, I wouldn’t be surprised that the reason the new Chinese turbines installed at Kafue gorge that require more water to generate an equivalent output as the turbines before is because someone somewhere is benefiting. How disgusting are we as a people? You are willing to put so many individuals at risk just because you want to benefit?
We really need to revise our laws and make CORRUPTION punishable by DEATH so as to deter would be offenders. And we further need to develop legislation that supports indigenous peoples, like the Black empowerment laws in South Africa, because as it stands, we are more colonized now than we were pre 1964.
We talk of malls, mines etc, who owns those things ? Is it indigenous zambians or foreigners ?
The money we used to spend on the tutembas of our fellow Zambians we now spend at these malls. Making Zambians even poerer. How many times have we heard about the need to diversify into agriculture. But have we actually made any effort in that area? We stick to NON INCOME generating ventures like roads because we need to reap from kickbacks? And also for political gain so we can secure another term to make proceeds from CORRUPTION.
People in hospitals are dying because of CORRUPTION. People are dying of poverty because of CORRUPTION. We are still colonised because of CORRUPTION. This cripples our nation and CORRUPTION should be a capital punishment crime. We need to deter people from this vice.
Members of the Grand Coalition on the Campaign for a People Driven Constitution in Zambia today, 17 th September, 2015 lodged a petition before Minister of Justice, Hon. Ngosa Simbyakula, demanding for an immediate stop to plans to table the Constitutional Bill in Parliament when it assumes sitting tomorrow, 18th September, 2015.
This is according to the statement signed by Grand Coalition Spokesperson McDonald Chipenzi.
The Grand Coalition and its constituents are concerned that the government, has deliberately disregarded the citizens’ views submitted to the Technical Committee on the constitution making process during its consultations at individual, district, provincial and national levels, and trashing all the efforts, time and public resources invested into this process since November 2011.
“We, the signatories below, representing a cross section of citizens from all sectors and all walks of life, write to you to demand that the Government of the Republic of Zambia, through your office, immediately stop your plans to table the Constitutional Bill in Parliament” reads the petition in part.
The petitions submitted today were signed by 1,009 citizens. At the time of the presentation, more signatures from the provinces were on the way to be delivered at the Ministry of Justice and the signature submission to the Ministry will be ongoing
The Grand Coalition petitioners were led by Vice Chairperson Sara Longwe, Spokesperson McDonald Chipenzi, as well as Steering Committee members Guess Nyirenda, Pamela Chisanga, Lewis Mwape and Shadrick Chembe. The submission of the petition was also witnessed by more than 60 students and youth activists, and members of the various coalitions that make the Grand Coalition.
Below is the fill petition:
Grand Coalition petitions Justice Minister to stop plans to table Constitution Amendment Bill
Dear Hon. Ngosa Simbyakula, Minister of Justice,
We, the signatories below, representing a cross section of citizens from all sectors and all walks of life, write to you to demand that the Government of the Republic of Zambia, through your office, immediately stop your plans to table the Constitutional Bill in Parliament We, as representatives of citizens, are concerned that the government, through your office, has deliberately disregarded the citizens’ views submitted to the technical committee on the constitution making process during consultations at individual, district, provincial and national levels, and trashing all the efforts, time and public resources we have invested into this process since November 2011.
The constitution is the supreme law of this land. It is our only tool as citizens for determining the way we would like to be governed, and to hold to account leaders like yourself.
Honourable Minister, the Patriotic Front while campaigning for election in 2011 promised us a NEW CONSTITUTION that “reflects the will and aspirations of the people which would be adopted through a referendum within 90 days, and which could stand the test of time has once more eluded the Zambian people”. This, Honourable Minster is contained in your party manifesto on page 42, Clause 22.
Now 45 months on, we still do not have a new constitution. Instead, you want to amend the constitution leaving out the fundamental issues that give rise to a new constitution. Why is the Government, through your office and at the expense of public interest and in defiance of the people’s will, anxious to take a risky route to enact an amended constitution using your in-built majority representation through parliament?
Please find below some of the people’s demands:
i. We demand that the Constitution Bill should not go to Parliament.
ii. We demand that you immediately present a clear legal framework to protect the constitution making process.
iii. We demand that the government stops tampering with the people’s final draft constitution as released by the Technical Committee that drafted the document.
PLEASE STOP THIS DECEPTIVE PARLIAMENTARY ROUTE TO DELIVERING AN AMENDED CONSTITUTION FOR ZAMBIA.
The origin of graffiti art can be traced to the ancient Egypt and Greek empires.
In early years graffiti was initially engraved on rock surfaces and seen as a sign of ancient civilization.
Today the art form has taken a new twist and flourishes on western hip-hop street culture.
Contemporary graffiti is usually spray-painted on the sideline of public and unkempt city spaces where it is normally seen as a nuance.
In some European cities graffiti is notoriously sprayed on the main stream city walls and on moving trains.
Although this art genre is not common in Zambia, some traces of it with vivid western influence can be spotted in some isolated areas of Lusaka and some Copperbelt towns.
Being an art form that flourishes on the wrong side of public space most graffiti artists work under the cover of the night.
But there is one local graffiti artist who seems to be determined to put his work on canvas and share it with his fans at conventional platforms. Dwain Whitaker, Zambia’s likeness of America’s Barry McGee, has already exhibited his works at Henry Tayali and Alliance Francaise art galleries in Lusaka.
To further defy graffiti traditional trends of tagging on public walls and unkempt surroundings, Dwain has a clean online portal where he shares his creative passion.
The emerging artist is one of the few local artists utilizing the social media to showcase their work.
In one posting on his face book page, Dwain, shares a picture of a carton box full of spray cans with a caption; “The excitement that comes with a new paint shipment is unbearable, the possibilities are endless. 16 square meters of canvas and a 50 can rainbow of spray paint…”
Indeed, they seem to be endless possibilities with Dwain’s graffiti works.
Take for instance the series of works including a large graffiti done four panels which he painted during the 3-day Street Cultural festival that took place at National Sports Development Complex ground in Lusaka last week.
Dwain’s graffiti works radiated some unique creative energy and laterally gave the backdrop of the whole street cultural event.
Street culture was an ideal of Elijah Zgambo and Kapambwa Siame to create a platform for the youths to celebrate dance, rap and skate boarding.
This year’s festival attracted some 2000 youths who celebrated the hip- hop culture.
Ambassador Eric Schultz met the two young finalists from the ZNBC Junior President Program. He congratulated these extraordinary students for advancing so far in the Junior President Program and for being great role models to other young Zambians. Ambassador Schultz also emphasized how important education is to the development of Zambia and its economic growth.
File:Delegates at the COMESA Council of Ministers conference in Lusaka
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) will construct a new secretariat at a cost of US$47 million on Great East Road in Lusaka.
The new state-of-the-art COMESA secretariat will be built on a four-hectare piece of land about two kilometres from the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport round-about and works are expected to start as soon as funds are available.
Speaking during the site visit yesterday, COMESA Secretary- General Sindiso Ngwenya said surveyors have already started works on the land.Mr Ngwenya said COMESA was growing and it was important for the regional body to move to a bigger location because the secretariat in the central business district was becoming small.
“We will have a state-of-art secretariat, which will be near the airport and will be a magnet for other investment,” he said.And COMESA Council of Ministers chairperson Ahmed Shide thanked Government for allocating a huge piece of land to the secretariat.
Mr Shide also thanked Government for hosting the COMESA secretariat.
“This project will ignite more investment opportunities as it will be bigger and will house other structures which will create other benefits,” he said. Mr Shide, who is Ethiopia’s state Minister of Finance and Economic Development, said the new secretariat would also strengthen the operations of COMESA.
Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Margaret Mwanakatwe said Government was excited by the new site for COMESA.
Mrs Mwanakatwe said Government hoped to see more developmental activities at the site.
“We are grateful that our country has been given an opportunity to be the headquarters of COMESA,” she said.
Mrs Mwanakatwe said Zambia has accrued many benefits for hosting the COMESA secretariat and is hopeful that it will continue doing so in future.
SANTIAGO, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Codelco and Antofagasta PLC suspended operations at two major copper mines in Chile, the world’s top producer of the metal, after a powerful earthquake struck off the coast on Wednesday, threatening over 600,000 tonnes of annual capacity.
Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange rose to two-month highs in early Asian trading as worries about supply disruptions offset lingering concerns over demand from China, the world’s No. 1 consumer, amid copper’s longest rout in years.
State copper miner Codelco halted open-pit operations at its large Andina mine and evacuated workers at its smaller Las Ventanas refining and smelting division, as well as at the two northern ports of Mejillones and Barquito, as a precautionary measure. Andina produced 232,000 tonnes of copper last year.
Antofagasta said it had temporarily closed its flagship Los Pelambres mine, which produced over 400,000 tonnes of copper in 2014, and would wait until daybreak to assess the damage. There were no initial reports of damage to personnel or equipment.
Other producers in the region Anglo American PLC and BHP Billiton, said they were unscathed after the magnitude 8.3 earthquake hit off the coast, shaking buildings in the capital city of Santiago and generating a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru.
The quake is the latest natural catastrophe to roil mining in the resource-rich South American nation, which accounts for a third of global copper output.
Heavy rains caused flooding and shut many mines in the north of the country in April.
Analysts previously estimated that between about 1 million and 1.5 million tonnes of annualized global mine supply has been lost due to flooding, droughts, power shortages and low ore grades from Chile to Zambia this year. That is about 5 percent of global annual consumption.
“Anything that has potential to restrict supply will have more of an effect on the price when things pick up,” said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Sydney’s Ayers Alliance.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Anthony Esposito in Santiago, Chile and Melanie Burton in Sydney; Writing by Josephine Mason in New York; Editing by Richard Lough and Ken Wills)
Patriotic Front Deputy National Secretary,Mumbi Phiri with Members of the party doing what they know best during the rally in Luwingu
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) deputy secretary general has denied ever mentioning United Party for National Development (UPND) vice-president Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba in her discourse about men with potbellies, Mumbi Phiri has said.
Mrs Mumbi said her statement was deliberately being misinterpreted by some sections of the media and opposition political party leaders to destroy her moral standing in society.
Mrs Phiri said it was not surprising that her statement and political discourse had been blown out of context because some media houses had an agenda to politically and morally scandalize citizens they viewed as obstacles to their political aspirations.
She said during the interview with Radio Ichengelo in Kitwe, at no point did she ever mention Mr Mwamba or referred to his belly because she was a cultured political woman who respected her husband.
Mrs Phiri said she did not care about the deliberate misinterpretation of her discourse because her moral reputation and standing in society could not be destroyed by rehearsed political attacks against her persona.
She told the Daily Nation yesterday that she was not bothered by the negative statements from the UPND national chairperson Mutale Nalumango because her moral character could not be destroyed by the political innuendoes against her.
Mrs Phiri said while she did not want to comment on her criticism by the opposition, it was important for the leadership of the UPND to realise that their moral and political standing were questionable because some of them had amassed wealth through dubious deals.
She said she was not going to tire in reminding Zambians that their economic and social problems were partly as a result of the the UPND leaders who had presided over the privitaisation of many government institutions including the sale of the mines to private investors.
“I know that they are waging a war against me and they are employing the most shrewd of strategies to damage my moral and political standing in society. Let them know that I am a strong woman with a strong moral background and the potbelly story that are capitalizing on to gain political mileage is not going to destroy my moral character.
In fact let me make it clear that I did not mention Mr Mwamba in the entire interview I had with Radio Ichengelo and those who attributed my potbelly discourse to him have an agenda of twisting the truth.
I am not bothered about the malice from the UPND and some media houses and I will continue reminding Zambia that some UPND leaders dubiously acquired their wealth,” Mrs Phiri said.
FILE: Then PF presidential candidate Edgar Lungu (r) confers with MMD national secretary Muhabi Lungu during the press conference where Rupiah Banda announced his support for the PF candidate
Former Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) national secretary Muhabi Lungu has decided to retire from active politics.
Mr. Lungu said he had decided to leave politics to the champions.
“I have decided to go on a quieter side, I am semi-retired until further notice but for now I have decided that let others be champions,” he said.
Mr. Lungu said the decision to retire was his personal choice.
He said he just decided to take a different side of life away from politics.
“It is just a personal choice, we all make those personal choices sometimes, I have done this before, so it’s just a personal choice for me to take a different side of life for a little while,” Mr. Lungu said.
And when asked whether the MMD current leadership was the reason for his decision to retire from politics, Mr. Lungu said he did not want to comment on anything pertaining to politics.
“I don’t want to comment on anything to do with politics at the moment; I just want to watch,” he said.
Mr. Lungu however said he would announce his comeback if he decided to return to active politics.
“When I am ready to get involved, I will let you know but as for now my intentions is just to be a normal private citizen,” he said.
Hakainde Hichilema addressing the media
THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has described as political harassment the arrest and detention of Patriotic Front (PF) Chongwe Member of Parliament Sylvia Masebo who on Tuesday attempted to escape from lawful custody at Woodlands Police station.
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema it was sad that Ms Masebo had been arrested for only walking from court to her house with her sympathisers and was harassed by the police at Woodlands Police station for telling them that she wanted to go to her home to collect her medication.
Mr Hichilema said the political persecution Ms Masebo was being subjected to, the hate speech and vulgar language including violence only served to increase political tension in the country and scare away investors.
Mr Hichilema said in a democratic country like Zambia, differences in opinions should always be encouraged because it was a platform where the best alternatives and policies to manage the economy were advanced.
“Persecuting political opponents, hate speech, vulgar language, violence only serve to increase tension in the country and scare away potential investors. This creates political instability and in a democracy like Zambia, differences in opinions must be encouraged based on who has the best and superior alternatives and policies to fix the economy and not to fix perceived political opponents. We are praying and stand with Ms Masebo and the people of Chongwe in these trying moments,” Mr Hichilema said.
And UPND presidential spokesperson Edward Mumbi said Ms Masebo was being politically harassed because she had differed with her political party, the Patriotic Front (PF) over the manner they were governing the country.
Mr Mumbi told journalists at the Magistrate Court yesterday that Ms Masebo was nothing but a victim of political persecution, stating that the culture was only promoting disunity in the country and should therefore be condemned.
He said if Ms Masebo had committed any crime as the police were claiming, they should have allowed her to appear before the court so that she could be heard.
“Ms Masebo is a PF member of Parliament and she is being treated like a common criminal purely because she has differed with her party in the manner they are governing. She is a victim of political persecution and this has been the culture and the nature of our politics in the last decades. We cannot continue with vengeance and retribution based on political differences and this culture is just destroying our unity and oneness. We have been reliably been informed that there is political interference in this matter because if Ms Masebo had committed any crime, she should have been allowed to come to court to be heard,” Mr Mumbi said.
Mr Mumbi said the UPND had been informed that the police had received instructions from high command ordering them not to take Ms Masebo to court for her attempting to escape from lawful custody case.
Ms Masebo was however released from police custody after appearing before magistrate Lameck Mwale and given bail of K10 000 in her own recognizance and will appear in court for mention on 1st October, 2015 and trial will commence on 9th through to 10th November, 2015.
SOUTHPAW tells the riveting story of Billy “The Great” Hope, reigning Junior Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World . Billy Hope seemingly has it all with an impressive career, a beautiful and loving wife (Rachel McAdams), an adorable daughter (Oona Laurence) and a lavish lifestyle. When tragedy strikes and his lifelong manager and friend leaves him behind, Hope hits rock bottom and turns to an unlikely savior at a run-down local gym.
PROS
Excellent performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams.
Interesting and gripping story line.
The boxing scenes were shot very well and did a good job of really putting you in the shoes of the fighters.
CONS
The movie was a bit predictable .
FAVORITE QUOTES
Billy Hope: When I was twelve years old there was this little girl, she was skinny, she had ratty hair, she had been through it. She stuck with me when I was incarcerated a couple of times, and I knew she was there. I wouldn’t be here without my wife Maureen.
Maureen Hope: Billy Hope knows how to take a punch, but he also drops bombs.
CONCLUSION
SOUTHPAW is an incredible movie about a man who goes from having nothing ,to having everything he desires ,only to have it all taken away. At its core it is a boxing movie , but it goes deeper into the life and trials of Billy Hope .
Jake Gyllenhaal was fully committed to this character , To get into shape for his role he underwent a grueling training routine, working out six hours a day, and completing 14,000 sit ups every week ,he gained 15lbs (33kg) of muscle!
Southpaw may be a little predictable , but that is not a bad thing . You will really get emotionally invested in the main character ,Billy Hope, and go with him through his tough journey .
Mwinelubemba Chitumukulu Kanyata Manga II after being crowned at Mwenda ngombe during the installation ceremony . The ceremony was attended by president Edgar Lungu.
By Henry Kanyanta Sosala
Questions are the beginnings of discoveries in life since questions can introduce you to answers. And therefore its most important in the current power crisis that our nation is experiencing to pose questions which can lead to answers. We are at the moment being bombarded with an overload of distorted information on the current power load-shedding from every angle.
The question is : is the power crisis we are experiencing the result of gross inefficiency, neglect or some other human failures or is it a natural calamity and far beyond human control? My simple research has revealed that the Meteorological Department had predicted normal rainfall and which means the rain shortfall caught us as a nation by surprise which then means, that the power crisis we are facing falls in the category of natural calamity and is therefore far beyond human control.
On the other hand, who could have had even the slightest idea of the calamity since we have had good rainfall all along and we had even to open floodgates and the excess water had even to destroy the people’s maize fields. I suppose anyone who could have suggested of water cropping before the disaster could have been declared a candidate for Chainama Mental Hospital.
And with the amount of information infiltrating into our brains on a daily basis, we definitely need a filter to sift through the all gamut of information since some people would love the negative weightiness of information to sit idle on the minds of the people. And we are actually being fed with disinformation, misinformation, lies and rumours.
And those information manipulators know that the image of the human mind is infinitely malleable, capable of being reformed, transformed and rectified without limit and thought patterns can be directed to desired ends and whoever controls the mind, controls the man.
On the face value, it seems a lot of Zambians are very highly educated, however, to me it appears that the greatest amount of intelligence exists in that country where people are best able to defend their rights and their liberties as against those who are desirous of undermining them.
[pullquote]But to my great amazement and surprise I have now learned that the Zambian Republican President is also endowed with supernatural powers[/pullquote]
But to my great amazement and surprise I have now learned that the Zambian Republican President is also endowed with supernatural powers. And it is very unwise to doubt since this revelation about President Lungu’s supernatural powers came from one of the prominent and distinguished Members of Parliament and he is also among the famous and self-professed ‘’wise men from the East.’’
Honourable Levy Ngoma rebuked his fellow tribesman for the failure to perform the miracles even among his own kith and kin: ‘’People are dying in hospitals because of power outages and there is no one else to blame but the President. It is under his watchful eye that people are being sent to an early grave.’’ (Sunday Post 13th September 2015).
One of the key problems we are facing is capitalism which teaches self-centredness. Has capitalism become a faith which engenders such blind dedication that it can override moral values? And if so, does it destroy integrity and inherent human sentiments i.e., love of extended family, friendship, kindness or charity? The objective temptation capitalism offers is to provide an ‘’easy’’ route to everything as an individual.
The so-called Zambian modern era is marked by the individual; his autonomous conscience; his psychology; his personal conflicts and interests. The type of ‘’homo oeconomious’’ emerges whose egotism and hedonism are the driving forces of society and whose individual gain becomes a measuring rod for what is regarded as socially acceptable. Consequently, those who have neither riches nor wealth are devalued, considered worthless and useless. Hence the 1991 political change is just a shadow of a failed revolution __ it’s a parody
Why have we as a nation not just accepted this disaster which has so greatly affected the very fiber of our lives, whether it was human fault or natural catastrophe and go forward together to try to find some solutions to cushion the situation? Unless we reform on our own free will, nature will reform us by force, as nature always does.
The Black American activist, Malcolm X once said: ‘’Every defeat, every loss contains its own seed; its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.’’
In his thesis: Multipartism and Matrilineal Governance System of the Bemba-Speaking People of Zamba: An African Theological Perspective, Dr. Simon Muwowo wrote:‘’Our hypothesis question in this regard is ‘is there a chance for a solution?’’
The answer to every question in African society lies in the concept of ‘Ubuntu’ and that is, ‘human beings have the ability to cut through their differences to the rock bottom identity of interest.’’(Wiewdu 2000). And, on this view, ‘the means to that objective is simply rational discussion (M.Mutiso, 1975:478).
On the capabilities of this means, our African society is very explicit, they say, ‘there is no problem of human relations that cannot be resolved by dialogue (ibid).
This is what Dr. Kaunda, former President of Zambia meant when he said, ‘in our African society solutions were arrived at through consensuses (ibid). Dialogue, of course, presupposes not just two parties, but also two conflicting positions as the ‘Multi-headed hydra’ metaphor describes the nature of a homo Afrikanus. ‘one head does not hold council, nor was any suggestion that one voice might be entitled to be heard to the exclusion of others countenanced for one moment.’ (WIredu, 1996)
Amano mambulwa kabili yafuma mwi fwesa yaya mu culu’ (ibid) [meaning: words of wisdom are from one man to the other even more wisdom can come from a pot stand to an anthill].
These Bemba parables presuppose the idea of the principle of consensus as a basic foundation of any successful concept of governance in an African society.’’
Our political luminaries do not seem to understand one great lesson: that all the difficulties and complex problems of each country can in no way be solved by another country’s formula, though it may somehow try to help and only to a certain extent. And I repeat ‘’only to a certain extent.’’ This is because reality does not conform to logic.
For example, the western development programmes that are deliberately imposed upon docile Africans fail to transplant successfully in Africa, just because no gardener would ordinarily transplant a fully grown tree to a new site. Rather, he would plant a sapling or a shoot and be content to bide his time until it grows to its full dimensions. In fact, this is one of the major problems in Africa, since the accumulated foreign ideas to which we hold dearly are not related to the real problems facing the continent.
Chairman Mao related to the vision of the will as all-powerful, even to the extent that (in Mao’s own words) ‘’the subjective creates the objective.’’ That is, man’s capacity for both undergoing change and changing his environment is unlimited once he makes the decision for change the entire universe can bend to his will.
But again the controlling image is the sense of revolutionary immortality that confers these vaulting capacities upon the mind. And during the Great Leap, Chairman Mao declared that there was no poor soil but poor thoughts.
For example, Clifford Spencer, one of the UN Foundation experts said:
‘’Africa as a continent could theoretically produce all the energy the world needs, but only 16% of the continent is electrified as at now. However, in the Sub-Saharan Africa it is 8% while Africans spend up to 70% of their household income on energy (diesel, kerosene, charcoal), showing that there is a pressing need to remedy the situation.’’ (New Africa No 490 December 2009)
And indeed, Zambian politics does not induce and sense of reality and one current notable feature is that politics is based on reactions to issues and not on principals or on sound reasoning.
[pullquote]politics is based on reactions to issues and not on principals or on sound reasoning[/pullquote]
I believe that political intellectuals lacking the revolutionary Marxist concepts are not a match for political activists. Marxism is not a dogma, but a guide to action. And Herbert Aptheker writing on Max and American Scholarship said: ‘’Indeed, the greatest American intellectual figures — and this is part of their greatness — not only to uphold the right to study Marx, but insisted upon the necessity to study him if one was to have some grasp of reality. They acknowledged in Marx as one of the outstanding geniuses in world history and therefore knew that any ‘university’ which barred Marx could only be a place of mis-education; that any ‘teacher’ who ignored or caricatured his ideas could only be a fraud and any student who was kept from those ideas was being cheated in his efforts to get at the truth. And they held to this notwithstanding vituperation and persecution. All the great scholars repeatedly referred in their lectures and writings to the ideas of Karl Marx….. they were not themselves Marxists, but they dealt with Marx respectfully and with a sense of responsibility. They did not use Marxism as an epithet, rather they treated it as one of the great seminal systems of world thought.’’ (The Era of McCarthyism pp. 216/217).
The political scenario appears to bear hallmarks of simple blind and personal struggles and hence with no ideology to sustain it except the monotonous recitation of insults and the use of political thugs to bulldoze innocent people during election campaigns.
Ngande Mwanajiti wrote: ‘’Those who resort to unpalatable language and insults are just not capable of dealing with issues at hand in a reasonable manner. It is not any different from the case of war lords or terrorists who measure success by the number and level of destruction.’’(Daily Nation 1st July 2015).
It is far beyond normal human comprehension for blood-thirsty political leaders of competing parties to deliberately and purposely create combustible atmosphere in which they delight to see the spill of human blood when they send trucks full of desperate and unemployed youths to go and maim, kill each other and other innocent villagers just for the sake of gaining parliamentary seats. Have you ever taken time to look critically at all those characters vying for the presidency? The majority of them have absolutely nothing to offer, but for their appetite for the fruits of power and the way I see it, we shall definitely end up with the most formidable, elusive, unrestrained, impersonal and cruel tyranny the country has yet seen.
The reality is that the entire nation is on the same intellectual and political wave-bands which was easily identified by the South African Communist Party Secretary-General, Dr. Blade Nzimande, when he visited this country and met the leaders of different political parties and the civil society groups in separate meetings:
‘’What is disappointing in Zambia is the extent to which virtually all the major political parties that will be contesting elections this year (i.e., 2006) are effectively committed to a path broadly similar to that of Chiluba.’’ (Sunday Post 9th April 2006).
And Alpheus Mason in Politics: Art or Science wrote: ‘’Politics is a struggle for power among men who do not respect power. It results from the effort of each human being to do his will and, conversely, not to be himself induced, persuaded or compelled into doing theirs.’’
And Henry Demarest Lloyd in Wealth Against Commonwealth wrote:
‘’We have given the prize of power to the strong, the cunning, the arithmetical and we must expect nothing else, but that they will use it cunningly and arithmetically…… and until the people take their proper place in the seat of sovereignty, these pseudo owners – mere claimants and usurpers– will, by the very falsity and iniquity of their positions, be pushed into deceit, tyranny and cruelty ending in downfall.’’
The most unfortunate trend in our nation is that we are not ready to sacrifice for the common good. In fact people are ready only to sacrifice if the cost of avoiding it is higher than the cost of the sacrifice.
