AFRICAN DREAM

African Dream, Kadoko chanda  was born in Lusaka ,but spent his childhood in Mozambique, South Africa and Angola.

His poems and music are influenced by the different cultures he has experienced and the need for change to improve lives of people in the African continent. This has influenced him to recite poems and rap in English, Portuguese, Bemba and Nyanja.

He has been writing poems for over 10 years, but only recently started performing on stage.

Most of his music comes from the poems he writes. He has worked with a few artist such as Ariel, Ceeceefied, Jesse, T.C. From Nigeria, Shenzi, Lee, Multi, just to name a few artist.

“My dream is to make music and poetry that people will relate, enjoy, dance to, and get influenced or motivated to do bigger things.”

KAPA187: What does being creative mean to you?

AFRICAN DREAM :. Umm, well its about opening your own mind to possibilities that do not exist without putting boundaries for yourself. Doing things that have never been done.

 KAPA187: When did you first start writing, what made you feel the need to express yourself in this way?

AFRICAN DREAM :. I started writing when I was about 10 years old when I went to boarding school in South Africa. Poetry was a way of expressing my feelings to this new culture I had found. It was also the first time i learnt that race was an issue and people had been segregated because of being black in the past, and having a father who worked in a humanitarian organization in Mozambique before and after the war, it made me experience poverty first hand and question why some people would go to certain extremes to destroy the destiny of success of their own people.

KAPA187:  What kind of work are you most drawn to reading yourself? Do you find yourself reading work similar to your own, or completely different?

AFRICAN DREAM :.I try to read just about everything though African material stands out, but it usually depends on the state of mind am at, at a particular time.
 KAPA187:  What style of poetry do you prefer?  Freestyle, Rhyming …

AFRICAN DREAM :.Umm, i like free verse because it lets me express exactly how i feel without any rules.

 KAPA187:  Who are some poets that inspire you and why ?

AFRICAN DREAM :.Yooh, thats a difficult one man, but Agostinho Neto and Che Guevara do it. I get inspired at how they thought and saw the world at that time, and how their poems still relate and reflect to the life we live today.

KAPA187:  How did you feel the first time you performed your poetry.

AFRICAN DREAM :.Mmm, i was nervous at first man, but, once the poem was finished, it felt really good.

KAPA187:  You also rap. Are you lyrics centered on the same subject matter as your poems?

AFRICAN DREAM :.Up to a certain degree, though i feel comfortable rapping about certain issues which i cant with poems, especially if you talking about chilling and having a good time.hehe
KAPA187:  What has been your biggest achievement?

AFRICAN DREAM :.Helping my parents build their dream house, and seeing the joy it brings to them.

KAPA187: If you could have any super powers what would it be and why?

AFRICAN DREAM :.hehe. Read womens minds.hehehe wouldnt it be great man? Neh just kidding, i wouldn’t mind being as fast as light, so i could go anywhere in the world within a flash. Love travelling and experiencing new cultures.

KAPA187: Is there something about you that people will be surprised to know?

AFRICAN DREAM :.I started learning how to speak english when i was 10 years old. Bemba was my prefered language to speak.

KAPA187: Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years ?

AFRICAN DREAM :.ish, thats a tough one. I see myself running my own business and also participating in charitable organisations to help the people in need in our society. Plus still doing what i do with a bigger platform

 KAPA187: Is there a poem that you have written that you will never forget , if so what was it about.
AFRICAN DREAM :Yeah i have, its called One Zambia One Nation. Its a poem about being proud to be Zambian, and embracing the people in our past, believing in the zambian youth that they have the power to make things better. It talks about uniting people together as one no matter what tribe you are, because we can achieve anything we want if we work together as one.

POEM

MUSIC

HAVE A GOOD TIME

A feel-good track that you can put on repeat and just “have a good time”

Follow him on twitter ( @african_dream) and find him on facebook , to get more of his music and poetry.

BY KAPA187

SOME clergymen have described as an act of desperation by the Patriotic Front (PF) to claim that it will uphold the Christian nation clause in the Zambian Constitution if voted into power.

The church leaders said it was surprising that the opposition party could make such a statement a few days before the general elections, when they were widely known to favour a secular State that tolerated gay rights.

Life Gospel Church Fellow Ministries International overseer, Joseph Kazhila said it was suspicious that the PF had left it so late to make a stand on the Christian nation matter and subsequently attempting to shed off its soft spot for secularism.

Bishop Kazhila said the PF had not been straightforward on the matter so a long time and that the u-turn did not help their cause much because the public could not be easily convinced. “It’s quite suspicious because it maybe part of their ‘don’t kubeba’ strategy of not telling us what they really stand for,” Bishop said.

He said it was even more worrying that the statement came from the party’s secretary general Wynter Kabimba, and not its leader Michael Sata. Bishop Kazhila said it was difficult for citizens to accept the position because Mr Kabimba could have been making his personal view known on the Christian nation issue.

“This party should have made their position known when reports came out over its support for homosexual rights and not to wait till now,” he said. He said the party would have to do more to convince the electorate on their position and that it would not be through a mere statement.

Bishop Kazhila said however that it would be encouraging if the party was being sincere and that it would be a starting point for them to restore some credence. He the PF needed to exhibit Christian values such as the rejection political violence so that it reflected their acceptance of the Christian nation clause.

The bishop said there was a lot of apprehension that the PF would only accept the September 20 elections results if they were declared in their favour but that all political players should accept the outcome whether they won or not.

And Global Training Network (GTN) Central and Southern African coordinator Barney Mulenga said the PF was desperate because they had no campaign issues to address and were now hoping to repair their image.

Apostle Mulenga said the PF was trying to win the support of Christians, who were the majority of voters in Zambia, by promising something that they could not guarantee to protect if they won the elections. He said the opposition party had realized that the MMD government had done well in its governance of the country and was implementing most of the activities contained in both the MMD and PF manifestos.

Apostle Mulenga said having failed to discredit the electoral process through various accusations on the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and the MMD, the PF had realized that it had run out of time and was now making promises that it was sure would attract Christians. “The current republican president has delivered beyond expectation and a lot of people are happy that he was able to do it in such a short time,” he said.

And Bishop Kazhila urged political parties continue denouncing violence in the run up to the elections and beyond. He appealed to both the ruling and opposition parties to deal with any of their members who went against this ideal.

[times of Zambia]

NATIONAL Movement for Progress (NMP) president Ng’andu Magande has pledged to reverse the exchange rate from the current K5, 000 to a United States dollar below K3, 000 if the people of Zambia gave him chance to lead Zambia after the 2011 presidential elections.

Mr Magande also said he would not address public rallies in the townships to avoid causing accidents when ferrying people to the rallies but would use radio stations to popularise his policies and convince the people that he was the right candidate to rule Zambia.

In an interview in Lusaka on Monday, Mr Magande, who is a former minister of Finance and National Planning, said time had come for the people of Zambia to vote a leader who had experience in the management of economic affairs. He said he would also use his skills as former secretary general of the African Carribean and Pacific Group of States to influence development.

Mr Magande said around 2005, the exchange rate was at K5, 000 to a US dollar but he ensured that it dropped to below K3, 000 in 2007 because of the policies he introduced as minister of Finance. He said he was not saying that as a way comparing his abilities with other leaders because such an approach was wrong since leaders had difference types of experience in governance.

Mr Magande said in planning for economic development of the country, he would involve ordinary citizens to achieve maximum results. He said he would go to townships to address small groups of people and raise issues that affect them.

He cited Kuku Township in Lusaka which was prone to flooding while Chelstone needed roads and Kanyama required an improved drainage system. Mr Magande said he was confident that NMP parliamentary candidates would campaign for him to secure victory and as such, there was no need of organising people for big rallies.

He said the party had only managed to field 20 candidates in all the provinces except Northern and Western provinces where it would use the provincial committees to win popularity. Mr Magande said the NMP constitution had a chapter that dealt with promoting national unity and identity where all citizens would be involved in managing the affairs of the nation.

[Times of Zambia]

By A Zyambo:-

Dont kubeba,popularly said as donchi kubeba is a slogan the PF have come to embrace originally embraced by the PF leaders Michael chilufya
Sata,a mixture of a bemba and English word to mean DON’T TELL or DON’T SAY A WORD, the meaning behind this term is that PF party members can go and collect campaign materials intended for other political party members such as UPND,MMD,FDD,etc when ever these particular party members are at a rally.PF members are encouraged to collect these materials and keep their hearts the term “donchi kubeba” a principle that is highly applied when an evil deed is
being carried out by either a person or group of persons.

It is a term that as we have seen in many court cases, child defilers say to the victimized children when they defile them, it is a term that money launderers use when they are committing their crime, it is a term that drug traffickers use when carrying out their deeds, indeed it is also a term that adulterers use when they cheat on their husbands or wives. I can go on, the list is endless every wrong doer embraces the “don’t say a word” term.

What scares me about this donchi kubeba theory is not that PF sympathizers embrace it, what scares the hell out of me is that an entire party president such as Mr. Sata can embrace such an evil slogan and encourage his members to practice it.[pullquote]Have you ever wondered how it will be when it comes to that time of the year when they have to reveal the Nation’s Revenue, have you ever thought that the donchi kubeba theory will apply there, when it comes to PF ministers over seeing projects in their various ministries, have you ever thought that they will donchi kubeba you on government resources[/pullquote].

It reminds me of a term OMERTA embraced the Mafia by the Italian (and still do), mostly in Sicily Omertà implies “the categorical prohibition of cooperation with state authorities or reliance on its services, even when one has been victim of a crime.” Even if somebody is convicted of a crime he has not committed, he is supposed to serve the sentence without giving the police any information about the real criminal, even if that criminal
has nothing to do with the Mafia himself.

Within Mafia culture,breaking omertà is punishable by death (Wikipedia).It became so strong that crimes such as murder as murder remained unreported. Let me not bore you with this “omerta code” issue, but my point being this donchi kubeba theory may appear to be a joke for now and many may take it so lightly yet it has a very negative effect on the moral standing of an organization, school, and nation at large,even homes have been torn apart due to such terms as donchi kubeba (she don’t have to know kind of attitude).

It is sad that it is officially advertised now and as the old saying goes “charity begins at home”, seeing a political party embrace such slogans at party level simply implies that even at national level they will have no difficult in doing likewise.

Have you ever wondered how it will be when it comes to that time of the year when they have to reveal the Nation’s Revenue, have you ever thought that the donchi kubeba theory will apply there, when it comes to PF ministers over seeing projects in their various ministries, have you ever thought that they will donchi kubeba you on government resources.

And now mr.Sata who is such qualified a politician stands up and proudly says donchi kubeba,he stands up and proudly places a huge advert of himself in the Post(“PFOST” as it has come to be known in the cyber word) saying donchi kubeba.

Sadly for the PF, this donchi kubeba slogan will cost them much of the student vote and the so called intellectual vote mainly comprised of people who analyze and look through issues critically.

Now before you vote, before you cast that precious vote of yours ask yourself how many things you don’t know, how many things the PF government will come and implement that they have “DONCHI KUBEBAd” you.

Be wise and think before you cast your vote

The opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) has called for reconciliation between Republican President Rupiah Banda and Chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamabo the second of the Soli people of Chongwe District.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Qfm in Lusaka, FDD deputy national secretary Bishop Anzanga Mbewe has described as unfortunate the ongoing differences between the two leaders.

Bishop Mbewe says the two leaders must lead by example in promoting peace and reconciliation in the country especially as people go to the polls on September 20th.

He says political and traditional leaders play a very important role in fostering peace and unity in the country adding failure by the two leaders to reconcile will have a negative impact on the people they serve.

Bishop Mbewe has also condemned the violence that ensued between suspected MMD cadres and Chongwe residents and further calls on the Zambia Police command to ensure that perpetrators are brought to book.

During a public rally in Chongwe on Saturday, President Banda openly denounced Chieftainess Nkomeshya and further warned her to stop intimidating her subjects for supporting their preferred candidates.

Chieftainess Nkomeshya is reported to have refused to meet President Banda on Saturday before he addressed a public rally in her chiefdom.

QFM

LUSAKA MMD information and publicity secretary Greenock Lupambo has refuted reports in the media that provincial chairperson William Banda incited violence at the party’s rally held in Chongwe last weekend.

Mr Lupambo said it was not true that Mr Banda physically attacked villagers in Chongwe Waterfalls area on Saturday in full view of more than 40 police officers because he was not at the scene where the alleged harassment of the villagers took place.

He also said it was not true that President Banda threatened to dethrone Chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo II if MMD won the September 20 elections and that he had accused her of intimidating sub-chiefs and village headmen over their political stance.

Mr Lupambo said President Banda in his speech called on the chieftainess to embrace all her subjects despite their different political affiliations because they were her children.

“It is not true that President Banda is going to take away the chieftainship from Mukamambo II if he wins the elections. The media should avoid blowing issues out of proportion,” he said.

Mr Lupambo said it was not true that the police tolerated the harassment of Chongwe people by MMD cadres because they were a formidable side which could not be overpowered by any group of cadres.

He said having been among the organisers and supervisors of the rally, he was not aware about any violence perpetrated by MMD cadres. He said Mr Banda was not at the scene because he was in the presidential entourage.

Meanwhile, more than 300 Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) members in Lusaka Province yesterday defected to the MMD, citing better service delivery in the ruling party.

[Times of Zambia]