Ms. Inonge Wina: A consistent Rational Thinker

The hard and fast rules of open intellectual debate demand that a participant stays focused on the topic, demonstrate clear understanding of the other party's point of view, present their areas of disagreement and subsequently explain their point of view. If it seems like a lot of work, it is because it is. For this reason alone, those who feel too weak to do the work turn to irrational thinking, the demonstration of which is demonizing the other party. Any debater who aims to prop their image at the expense of others simply because they hold a view that is at variance with theirs exhibits nothing but ignorance and immaturity of the highest order.

A rational debater will weigh his or her remarks and where they believe their brain would be a weak slave when it came to maintaining consistency in their thoughts and subsequent pronouncements, they use notes. Also, they would develop a technique to default to when they are asked a question about an issue on which they have not had to time to reflect. 

Today I pay tribute to Mama Inonge Wina for consistently keeping a cool head on contentious national issues. Each time she makes a public statement she appears to have had done her thinking. Her thoughts seem clear and words weighed. She tempers criticism with respect. It is easy for one to see that all her arguments are underpinned by objectivity. Although she may be partisan her quest for reasonableness comes through every word she makes. One cannot help but appreciate her unique political style - it does not struggle, but radiates the supremacy of thought on the Zambian political arena - unique skill of articulation of the issues and concerns of the masses. It is not personal - it is not about VP Kunda, and it is not even about P Banda. It is about work - the degree of legitimacy of the Constitution. She identifies the shortcomings of the review process and then explains why she believes so. That is the epitome of intellectual debate.

Mama Inonge, once again, I confer upon you the crown of a rational thinker.

Zambia needs more people like you.

Kunda’s constitution will be of limited legitimacy - Inonge

By George Chellah The Post  Tue 30 Nov. 2010

Inonge Wina

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda's proposed constitution will be a document of very limited legitimacy and without authority, says Inonge Wina.

In an interview yesterday, Wina, who is PF national chairperson, said Zambia's history had been dogged by chronic instability in constitution making.

"This is a recipe for conflict in a multiparty democracy. It creates a lot of dissatisfaction among people. People feel this is not their constitution and it’s not part of them," Wina said. "George Kunda's new proposed constitution will unfortunately be a document of very limited legitimacy and will therefore lack authority."

Wina said the amendments to the 1996 constitution announced by Vice-President Kunda fell far short of the people's expectations. She said Zambians wanted the new constitution to address substantive issues such as the Bill of Rights and other fundamental freedoms.

Wina said Zambians were also concerned about the performance of members of parliament hence their submission that non-performing parliamentarians must be recalled.

"People brought about issues of crossing the floor, that it's bringing a lot of by-elections. The issue of the 50 per cent plus one presidential requirement and indeed many fine recommendations from the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC), which include matters of gender equality and all these have been left out," she said.

Wina wondered how long Zambia would continue being a nation that specialises in aborting constitution-making initiatives.

She said the current administration had yet again demonstrated its disdain for people's aspirations by ignoring their recommendations. Wina said the government was set to alienate Zambians from the state and its institutions.

"That's why my strong conviction is that this country needs a government that will listen and respect people's aspirations, a government capable of providing a stable solution to the challenges of constitution making," Wina said. "Above all, a government that will create a conducive environment for a much broader consensus. Otherwise, we will continue making piece-meal amendments regarding a very important law of the land and which every subsidiary law of the country depends on."

Essentials of Rational Thinking

We descend from a lineage of great thinkers who never thought education required a formal setting. In the same way that there is no formal school to teach bees how to make honey from an assortment of fluids, there was no need for a formal school in the lives of our forebears. To them experience was school; one learned the ropes through experience. One was initiated into the circle of men or women through the rites of passage. Such an admission availed to one a certain set of infundo essential for rational thinking and conduct. Therefore, more often than never, age conferred upon one, certain rights, responsibilities and expectations.

Each time one utters a word, one is responsible for its effects; intended or not. That made conversation an art. Great conversationists were known for their skillful choice and use of words.  It has been argued that in some societies, free speech is a right. But then again only a fool would play ignorant to the responsibility that comes with an uttered word. It could destroy, just as much as it could built. If what one says does not have a damaging effect on another when it was intended to, it would, at the very least, have a reverse impact on he who uttered it. It then follows that one cannot hurt another unless one contains hurt. In other words one cannot give what one lacks.

Our forebears had values. They also had principles. Their spoken words were guided by the congruence between their values and their principles. When the difference between values and principles is obliterated, one achieves inner peace.

The purpose of this piece is to help Zambians to align their values and principles. Before we draw a contrast between values and principles, it is important to state here that the benefit is simply that one becomes a rational thinker. 

You may be familiar with the cliche, "think before you speak." It actually means, tontonkanishisha, langulak, etetula, elyo no kucilisha, shikatala mukusosa. After heeding the advice of the ancient, it will quickly dawn on you that our forebears were not only masters of conversation but before that, great thinkers. This is how their minds guided their thought process:

• Purpose - Why am I speaking? What am I trying to accomplish?  What is my central aim? My purpose?
• Question - What point am I making? What question am I raising?  What question am I addressing?  Am I considering the complexities in the question?
• Information - What question am I using in coming to that conclusion? What experience have I had to support this claim? What information do I need to support this claim? What information do I need to settle the question?
• Inference/Conclusion - How did I reach this conclusion? Is there another way to interpret the information?
• Concepts - What is the main idea here?  Can I explain this idea?
• Assumptions - What am I taking for granted? What assumption has led me to that conclusion?
• Implications/Consequences - If someone accepted my position, what would be the implications? What am I implying?
• Points of view - From what point of view am I looking at this issue? Is there another point of view I should consider?

The stack difference between the lives of our forebears and ours is the great rift between our values and our principles. Very few Zambians can claim to have a specific set of principles that they use to guide their daily decisions. Most of them are constantly walking in the shadow of those that they hold in high esteem. By this I mean they don't think their own thoughts. They simply regurgitate what they heard somebody else say. The only differentiating characteristic between them and the other person is either the side of town he or she lives, the car he or she drives, the complexion of his or her skin, the level of education that their idol has attained, or simply being a foreigner.

Zambians have a tendency to cede their control of their mind to the person they hold in high esteem. However, the most important lady in my life would argue that it is not only a Zambian thing, it is everywhere. She might have a point. But I am not concerned with everywhere else. My concern is Zambians.

It is from the Zambian thinking process where words such as ukwetetula, ukutontonkanishisha, ukupelulula, ukulangulaka and ukushikatala have escaped. Faced with a situation that does not resemble the ordinary, most Zambians would default to fikaisova, finshi ndeculila, wafwa walemana, awe ifwe ni fino fine, twalibelela, nasangamo ukufilwa, nani akansunga, ngafweniko fye, etc. One of my late friends used to call that the defeatist attitude. I call it second class thinking. He could not bring himself to understand how a normal thinking person would declare themselves a cultural ignoramus when they hail from abundance of wisdom.

The purpose of this piece is to repackage the mind. Because much of the thinking people are doing, left to itself is evidently biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or downright stupid. Am I being judgmental? Perhaps. Because to refuse to stand aside and watch while Second class thinking is ferociously boring the core of the Zambian mind. Second class thinking is the root of all evil, I think. Leave the love of money out of it. And don't blame it on the devil either. Second class thinking is costly, both in monetary terms and quality of life.

The antidote to Second class thinking is Rational thinking. It can be achieved by self-direction, self discipline, self-monitoring, and self-correction. In the absence of the support system that our forebears had, rational thinking requires rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use and a commitment to overcoming our internalized oppression which holds that we are inferior.  We are not. We are great people! We are the natural great thinkers. Impanda mano mu cinecine. If not you, then who?

Zambians, now more than ever before, are in need of rescuing from Second Class Thinking.

In defense of the Third Dimension

Whether educated, or not, whether traveled or not, there is one retrogressive habit by which the majority of Zambians is identified. As matter of fact in the first republic, the then president, impalume Kenneth Kaunda, got a little worked up about it and ordered a study of the volume of pombe Zambians guzzled in a year. I was not imbibing at the time, as I don't now, but it turned out to be enough to evenly cover the entire Zambian landscape by an approximate height of eight centimeters. I doubt that study accounted for lituku, kancina, amantalakwa, sikokiyana, katankamanine uko, cipumu, imbamba, katubi, imbote, ifiseke, katata, umunkoyo, seven-days, to mention but a few. Because all these brews have the potential to knock one out cold. Interestingly, the population was about 5 million. That must have been some serious quaffing people did. Impalume Kenneth Kaunda was right to be concerned. It makes one wonder by how much the volume has risen, considering that the population has more than doubled and the rate of unemployment is relatively high.

If one cared so much as to convert even a fraction of that time spent on boozing into a series of coordinated economic activities, probably some of the problems we are grappling with today could have been prevented. Imagine if all drinkers in Zambia gave up an hour of their monthly drinking time, instead of using their hands to nurse a cold one or swirl icikale of opaque brew, they would commit them to a pick and shovel and in a flood zone, the extent of the flooding problem would be a little less than we experiencing today. Admittedly the hands technology would not yield a permanent solution but more than drinking beer, it would beget us a culture of solving problems by any means necessary.

A culture of thinking rationally and solving problems by any means necessary, is a strategy resorted to by those who are dealt a bad card many a time, pushed to a tight corner and cannot take it any more. I am talking about having the ingenuity and courage to put our resources to great use. Most Zambians lack the drive to do just that, be they educated or not, traveled or not. But then again, there is a special breed of Zambians who will not take it, regardless of their education, or international exposure. To them foolish pride is a refuge for irrational thinkers. Instead they pursue their goals with the precision of a brain surgeon, the focus of a smart-bomb, the speed of a heat-seeking missile and the courage of a wounded buffalo. A little information is all they need to get started. These people are like a needle in the haystack, they don't come by but once in a lifetime. Let's call them the turn tabs.

Their counterparts, the third dimension, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen. They want to feed well, sound sophisticated and more importantly dress well. I once met this young lady in my lawyer's office who had a mirror on her desk strategically positioned to give her feedback on her appearance at a glance. The frequency at which she consulted that mirror, I would swear, stroke me as someone who doubted the honesty of the instrument. If by chance the mirror convinced her to ask me for second opinion, I would have sided with the mirror. The reflection she saw in the mirror was a true image of her and no one else. Now, had she put all that consulting time and effort; checking and double checking, into reading a book to improve her inner-self, to improve the perception of herself, boost her confidence, and develop a positive mental attitude, she probably would have gained much more.

But reading, committing her mind to rigorous introspection, developing her governing values, sculpting her philosophies and refining her principles was not in her culture. She was not even a conversationist because had she even an inkling of what that is, she could have engaged me, the rough looking visitor, in some intellectual discourse. What the mirror image was not able to tell her, "more than you are, but less than you want to be," I would have told her. But engaging in conversations that are exploratory in nature, informative and perhaps enlightening was not one of her cultural practices. It used to be but it died when somebody subliminally convinced her that there was something wrong with her natural hair, her flat nose, her complexion, etc. She might have been thinking by constantly checking herself up in the mirror, she would experience the Pygmalion effect. That unrated thought, though, did not stop me from wondering, like I do each time I walk the streets of Zambia, about who would suggest those practices for her and many other youths like her. Because, sometimes that's all it takes - a suggestion.

A suggestion, not a threat, in an opportune moment can set off a domino effect ultimately turning a person's life for the better. The recipient of that input, if they appreciated it, would quit doing things that are ruinous to themselves. When they are given the right input and feedback, they have reason to begin seeing themselves in a much more positive light. They begin to resist the temptation to permit their imagination to slide into overdrive when simple words such as abroad, overseas, ubulaya, amangalande, kufyalo, are spoken. They would begin to differentiate truth from hype. That is what most of the stories they hear about ubulaya are - untainted hype.

When some of those living ku fyalo visit/return home, they take with them bunk. Lies-filled stories of how large they live. They would have prepared a thing or two to impress their admirers; it may be a t-shirt with some funny print, a pair of funny tailored jeans, icisapato or some foul smelling scent. To their admirers, it's all good because it came from ku mangalande. What a croak of nonsense!

That initial change in the quality of input provides an incentive for them to become turn tabs.
Mwe bakufyalo, be truthful, twapapata. Tell the truth. Help your friends and family understand the truth. Cishinka, ku mangalande, like anywhere else, there are no money trees and everyone who has any works hard for it. Stop lying ati "I get isaka na half per mulungu." Wenye! "And ...er...and I have set aside enough money to buy mazembe. Manje apa so nifuna kumanga nyumba double decker." Mwebaume mwe! Nyumba inkale double decker? What would Paul Ngozi say?


Very few Zambians who end up in foreign lands actually make something of themselves. Most of them spend time drinking Heineken, checking every hood they can find, and discussing politics, just like they did in shebeens before they crossed the pond. They would pause behind stretched limos and send pictures back home and lie. "This is how I roll," they would say, pointing at the gargantuan of a car. Really? And when their daring cousin fleeces them for change while they are nursing a cold one or swirling icikale ca opaque brew in the name of, "I miss this stuff, you know," don't blame him. Batila "mumbwe aitile mpashi, impashi nasho shaisa, elyo shamububa!"

The trouble that some Zambians living in foreign lands face, malibu yakuilombela for the most part. When they have been lying about theirs and their friends' economic status all along, when time comes to substantiating their claims, they perpetuate the lie by extending the web of lies - lie again to cover the lies told earlier. And some unsuspecting bystander begins to create castles in the sky about their sibling who got a scholarship to China. What you are forgetting is that your lies are like a pile of poop. If you dump and run, remember that when you return, it will stink just as bad.

It is an uphill battle to debunk some of these myths when they have been safely deposited in the corner of the subconscious mind of a third dimension operating under the influence. A sincere person, a transplanted turn tab, seeking to create a means of earning an income from a critical set of assets becomes the victim of this indistinguishable long drawn senseless hype. This may be a case of umusuku ubi utushe mpanga, I think. And it has to stop.

Let's help ourselves and our people, let's share the truth,  the pure, the powerful, and the positive. Te cikale ca opaque beer nangula a cold one. Evidently, that has taken us nowhere. But if we freed enough of our people from the shackles of the third dimension to turn tab, there is no doubt in my mind that we will get where we want to be in good time.

We can move up and forward together mu cishinka.

Zambian professionalism personified

Polygamy is just a selfish matter for men - Kalyalya

By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe and picture by Collins Phiri

The Post   Wed 10 Nov. 2010, 09:30

Wait an everlasting minute Chiwoyu Sinyangwe! 

You can't misrepresent Dr. Kalyalya's professional life by giving it a wrong title. That is totally unacceptable. The title you unwittingly assigned it, albeit sensational, was just a small part of the conversation. It made little sense because the man had made quite an effort to share with you and your readership his private life and his swath of contributions to Zambia. I take exception to this kind of misrepresentation.

My interest in Dr.Kalyalya's abridge version of his life story, as he puts it, is not about the misrepresentation, though. I want to weigh in on his take on the two issues that I toy with in my spare time. For the records, the story does not start from the question below but if you click here, you will find out exactly where.

And by the way Chiwoyu, yours was supposed to be the Q, and his the A. Dr. Kalyalya attributes our nation's inability to move forward to poor work ethic which, in my view, includes simple missteps like these. As for the rest of the readers, please follow the line of thought by Dr. Kalyalya as he responds to Chiwoyu's question on mining taxes:

A: What is your take on increasing tax revenues from the mining sector through imposition of the windfall tax?

Q: Although it is not my area and I should be cautious, there is the issue called policy credibility. You can’t just be changing policies from one to another because when investors come, they look for a horizon… I would like to think that within the variable profit tax regime, there is still a lot that can be done perhaps which we are not doing. How is profit made? Profit is made from two things; the revenue side and there is the cost side. I think there is a big scope to a lot on the cost side. Are the costs that are being allowed for tax purposes supposed to be allowed? That’s one of the key issues. Is the cost regime transparent that we are taxing what we need to tax? I have my doubts on that. And that is where a lot of energy to push this regime to the levels of transparency… let’s not kid ourselves, these mining companies employ top-notch tax accountants, tax lawyers. So, we have to be able to match that because these mining companies always look for legitimate ways by which they avoid companies to pay tax. Now, are we strong enough to pierce to that? That is where the challenge is for colleagues in ZRA and government. Really equip our people to have the systems in place which can ensure that certain costs are not allowed so that there is enough revenue above cost which can be taxed. Now, we have a difficulty, the growth in the mines is growing but revenue to Treasury…it’s not nice we don’t raise enough revenue locally then we go to donors to ask because at the end of the day they will say ‘but you people you have enough resources. What are you doing with them?’ Because at the end of the day, what they also give is tax revenue from their own nationals. What we need, whatever regime we are in, is to ensure that it delivers to the full. Until we get that, mere changing will not deal with that problem because you might frustrate the other side and then they don’t invest.

  This man is crafty. That is my first impression. He straddles between the political and business flimsy branches with the skill of an orangutan, yet he takes a calculated shot at the core of the issue with an incredible degree of humility. Let this be a lesson to some, if not all, Zambians. When discussing national problems, do not be economical with the truth. It will not help any of us. This is what I am referencing:

1. Policy credibility. One of the major consideration in deciding where to plant huge sums of cash is sovereign stability followed by policy credibility. The revision of tax regime must be done in a manner consistent with the original contractual agreements. Knee-jerk reactions to a booming economy can be disastrous. Dr. Kalyalya skilfully deconstructs the systemic problems with the mining taxes from the formulation phase through implementation. The first part of the equation begins with the percentage which yields revenue (Revenue Side). That is done from a weak point. It is formulate in haste, with a view to feed our insatiable appetite for money which, when we get, we don't know how to manage. In other words we take a short-term view on a longer-term matter. The reason, according to Dr. Kalyalya is, we start out without a plan. Although I would take a slightly different path on that one; we do have plans, they are just not the kind we confidence in to guide our decision making.

The second part of the equation, also negotiated from a weak point, is the number and nature of allowable costs for tax purposes. Admittedly, we don't do a great job here either. From my outsider's point of view, we either don't have a comprehensive business picture of the mining business or we are simply poor at making our case. Dr. Kalyala says, "...let’s not kid ourselves, these mining companies employ top-notch tax accountants, tax lawyers. So, we have to be able to match that because these mining companies always look for legitimate ways by which they avoid companies to pay tax. Now, are we strong enough to pierce to that?" I bet I can answer that for us. We cannot, for the simple reason that we don't have a sufficient stock of qualified professionals who are brave enough to look a politician in the eye and offer an alternative view, "...we are getting shafted here, bwana." Most of the individuals positioned to speak for Zambia are feeble-minded and corrupt. They spend countless hours figuring out how to steal public funds. And as they get to be good at that, they lose their professional edge. They get a little rusty. ask anyone of them when they last wrote a professional paper, not as a requirement for their job but their profession. When they sit before the small boys who graduate from my classes, they are already defeated. But Dr. Kalyalya would not spare the ZRA and the administration, he recognizes the gravity of the situation and calls them on it. Lack of seriousness is killing Zambia! It is a serious matter and calls for frank talk. What a guy!

 2. Forward looking. Dr. Kalyalya bluntly distributes responsibility over institutions for reasons we appear to be poor. I will tap on the serious absence of a plan issue once again. We need a national plan assembled by professionals whose lives would not be negatively impacted if it focused on the pressing issues facing the nation, medium and long-term. Because we seem not to have that right now, Dr. Kalyalya observes, "That is where the challenge is for colleagues in ZRA and government. Really equip our people to have the systems in place which can ensure that certain...." No serious person can argue with that. It's that simple yet not easy, for a reason. We seem to be conditioned to think, because we are weak in the planning, the negotiation and the implementation areas, we will simply prostrate before the donors and our budget shortfall will be made up. Dr. Kalyalya saw that coming too. So he advises, "...donors to ask because at the end of the day they will say ‘but you people you have enough resources. What are you doing with them?’ Because at the end of the day, what they also give is tax revenue from their own nationals." Yes indeed, Dr. Kalyalya. For how long shall we remain shameless panhandlers?

Good job, Dr. Kalyalya, for your candid responses to not so difficult problems.

Now let me switch gears. I always say learning begins where agreement ends. Up until this point, I have agreed with everything Dr. Kalyalya said. He held his own, rather remarkably. But the inflation issues was either not properly decoded or the good Dr. had the inflation edges in a serious state of disrepare. I have inserted my comments. Part two:

Q: While the current low inflation is one of the achievements that can be associated with you at Bank of Zambia, people are saying the benefits are not being felt by ordinary Zambians and bank interest rates still remain high. What is your comment?

A: Inflation is the rate of change in the price level from one period to another. It doesn’t mean when inflation has come down, prices have gone down. The missing word here Dr. Kalyalya is "all." Not all prices go down. So one can actually think of Inflation as the net change in the price level.  It does happen in certain cases, when mealie meal prices come down, everybody sees it. But when airfares come down, do you see that? Inflation is a basket that includes all these things which you are not interested in but are happening but we look at the rate of change from other things. Actually, Dr. Kalyalya, the contents of the basket ought to be revised from time to time to reflect the consumption interests of the majority. This is where the regular Kawayawaya gets to be included. Inflation should be understood by as many people as possible if the fiscal and monetary policies are to be deemed effective and meaningful. Needless to say, the type and number of contents of the basket are not etched in stone. Interest rates are now at 20 something…but what we have seen is that in the banking sector, there are two types of interest rates because the market is segmented. Big players can negotiate. It’s the small players who are not able to negotiate and that’s the group we are speaking to… when we talk to the banks, they say cost of doing business is very high. But we are also quick to point out that the cost of money is also contributing to this. You are looking at another person to make the adjustment. What we are saying is that everybody should be making adjustment. It is very tricky because we cannot dictate, (Time out!) we had done it in the 1980s, and what happened? Money become scarce and inflation went  up (Time out!) and interest went higher.

First, Yes Dr. Kalyalya, you can dictate. You dictate by setting interest rates. Every banking institution licensed in Zambia should adhere to the set rates. This is what monetary policy is supposed to be about. 

Second, how did you do it that reduced the volume of currency in circulation and consequently drove inflation up? Did the Zambian seller become so creative all of a sudden as to factor tight money supply in the price of their wares? Dr. Kalyalya, when the volume of M1 (currency) goes down, in an economy as ours was in the 1980, inflation falls simultaneously. I think we can both agree that it was the second half of that decade when the Zambian economy began to tank. And tank it did, irreversibly. This cost KK an election. Talk of a blind policy having tiered effects. Any way, the natural response of an organ such as BOZ, depending on where you are on the business cycle, in the given scenario is to lower interest rates.  And it is wrong to say, interest rates went up as thought they were an auto-variable. Interest rates are changed. For this you and BOZ ought o take responsibility. Looking at the structure of the economy at the time and the income levels, lowering interests would not have made dramatic impact although one would argue that it would still be an absolute necessary move.
But more importantly, your pronouncements underscore the point I made earlier this month that Zambia does not have mechanisms in place to effect monetary and fiscal policies. If anybody is better informed than Dr. Kalyalya, please step forward, this student is ready to learn. 

My final question is, what exactly did you do to make two opposing forces to go in the same direction at the same time - reduce M1 and drive up inflation?

The fact that inflation has come down to where it is now, believe me, it is feeding into other areas. We may not see it from the personal point of view unless you are doing business…

Final note: For handling the mining taxes expertly, I confer upon you the rational thinker of the day. You have gone where no one dares go. And those in the corridors of authority who attempt to speak to that issue only demonstrate irrational hubris.

Good luck on you next expedition.

You Can Avoid The Proverbial Potholes

One feature that characterizes Zambian motorways is potholes. Driving a low base automobile like a Cooper, Corvette, Lamborghini, or Cadillac Eldorado on a Zambian road, never mind the exceptional engineering that went into those distinguishable names, would feel like taking a ride on an ox-drawn cart mukashila ka tondo. That may be why those who drive prestigious toys such as these confine themselves to inner city roads. And on occasion, like proud owners of any version of Ford Model-T, they would take a cruise on airport road. Former Minister Peter Magande once described this Zambia's premier highway, the stretch between international airport and town center, as evidence of development in Zambia. Can you believe that?! 

Something does happen between a campaign stump and when one is sworn to ministerial office. They put on a dunce and join the irrational thinkers' club.

But that is not what I am belly-aching about. It is nothing new considering that in post-independence Zambia, very few ministers have honestly earned their wages and perks. Most of them have been as worthless to the Zambian people as most potholed roads are. In fact some of them nauseating. If you don't believe me try this on for size. Approach one of them and ask them this question: "Minister Chiteni, pardon me please. I was wondering, er, say15 years from now, er, what evidence would there be that you were minister of this ya portfolio?" Now stand back and watch as empty-ness begins to unfold.

What I want to cast light on today are amaswau-studded potholes that belie the real estate transaction in Zambia. In our recorded past, Chiti, imfumu ya baBemba, sent imondo to his brother Nkole. Apo ninshi Chiti ba limusangule ntonko. Consider this to be imondo from me to you.

I am peeved by these leeches who call themselves lawyers and think that drawing a contract of sale which in effect only constitutes an offer and an acceptance, should pull in to them a couple of hundred Benjamins.  What is even more petrifying  is the incessant demand for money by these perverted low grade lawyers masquerading as real estate professional for doing absolutely nothing but waste your time and money. 

Umo shacela you would be the one to chase after them, in person, na pa lamya. These mailo-mailo people don't take their jobs seriously. They want to enjoy the title but they fail to live up to its expectations. You want to yank those stupid wigs off their potato heads and ....

Any way....you probably have heard calls from tutali na vifupi, to yina na voyonda to go back home and buy some land. You would be wise to heed the calls. Whatever reason they give you, I am here to tell you they are all real. However, when time comes to fork out the cash, proceed with caution. Remember, thieves will be navigating the purchasing terrain for you. You are likely to hit potholes if you let them do all the leading while iwe uli cete. Take to your heels especially when you run into somebody who upon meeting you begin by lacing their shtick with born again mantra. Iwe ati pamene apa napeza anthu a mulungu. Uza vina gule wa m'kulu, uza mbuwa! Whoever declared Zambia a Christian nation forgot to remind Zambians that the declaration was not be used as an ofoloshi to mask one's criminal mindedness.

So oo, I have prepared a quick cheatsheet for your reference. If the ownership transfer process does not fit this profile, know that your lawyer has thrown you under the bus or is about to:

[Real property is generally defined as land and the things permanently attached to the land. Things that are permanently attached to the land, also can be referred to as improvements, include homes, garages, and buildings. Substances that are beneath the land (such as gas, oil, minerals) are also considered permanently attached. I wish! Other items which can be attached to the land, such as sunka mulamu and tool sheds, are not considered to be real property.]

1.It starts when a seller accepts a contract you've put in on their home or land. 

     You might put down a deposit check to prove you’re serious about the offer. At that point, your settlement agent (often a lawyer, and also sometimes referred to as closing agent, escrow officer or escrow agent), gets the ball rolling, deposits any funds you’ve submitted into a special trust (escrow) account and puts in requests for title work, or an examination of the home's ownership history.

     Don't leave this part to your lawyer.  If this is not done properly, it is time to hire another lawyer.  If the one you fire asks for some form of payment, ask him for a contract and refer to the terms of that contract, in which you should have had the foresight to included that he or she will be paid upon delivery of a clean deed of title to you in your name; specifically on the closing day. Neglect this step at your own peril.

2.Lawyer begins reviewing the title. 

      Each property has a series of documents recorded at the Ministry of Lands or Civic Center (whichever is applicable) that reflect prior owners, lenders and other parties who have or had an interest in the home you’re buying. These documents are examined to identify all outstanding interests (liens).  Then, that paperwork is forwarded to you.  You want to be certain you are buying that property from a legitimate owner.  You want to review the documents and jot down questions about anything you don't understand.  You, must understand!   Once again, you neglect this step at your own loss.

      This is what you pay the lawyer for, not to draw the contract of sale, ati kwamana ndipe mali. Huh?!  The contract of sale is nothing but an offer/acceptance document. In any case you want this step completed in one week.  Should there be encumbrances,  walk the paperwork yourself if you have to.  If your lawyer speaks like he has a speck of sand in his eye, drop him.  Get another one! 

3.Mortgage issues are addressed. 

      Your lawyer works with your lender to verify kwacha figures and other important details of the transaction. In addition, if prior mortgages have to be paid, or if a loan is being assumed, that’s worked out by your lawyer as well.  But if I were you, I would want to examine the documents raise every minute inch of the way.

      This only applies when you are borrowing to purchase your property.  Please note that Zambian banks don't give low interest mortgages. That is why most people would rather save and build/purchase. Again, this is what you hire a lawyer to do for you.  If this section does not apply to you, lawyer fees should be considerably less (if you are lucky!)

4.The property is inspected. 

      In Zambia there are no professional inspectors. Even if they were there, you would be hard squeezed to find one that would be willing to earn their money.  This is one are your eye would be more dependable than that of pseudo professional. This applies to land surveyors.  After mid January 2011, I will provide names of surveyors that would do a great job for your time and money.  

      Most properties, especially settled subdivisions, in Zambia have annexes. Dishonest lawyers would not tell you the property next door is yours as well.  Instead they will fraudulently get it for themselves and sell it off. You want to witness the survey yourself.  Go to the site and walk the land. You will be glad you did.

      And one other thing, surveyed or not, make sure you have your own survey conducted.  Most Zambians have a tendency to build a few yards into other people's property, if not on the property, and claim ownership. You want to make sure you are getting your whole property.  Avoid the pothole.

5.The closing  statement is prepared. 

      Your lawyer prepares this document which shows all costs that will be paid at your closing. Besides the lawyer fees, trust me, it will be a lawyer of a kind, that will ask for money after closing. If you find one, let me know. But anyway, ask let them show you the paid ZRA fees receipt and the registration fee. Your obligation should be the registration fee only as should be noted out in the contract of sale.   Check with your lawyer to confirm the amount you need to bring to the closing. 

      Insist on having a closing date when all due diligence will have been conducted and ownership will exchange hands in one room with both principals in attendance.  You have to understand, you don't own the property until a deed of title is legally processed and has your name on it.  Contents of this statement and the contract of sale should jive, otherwise you would be short changed. Cutting corners here would mean loss of Benjamins. Avoid the pothole.

6.You close on your property. 

      If you did not deposit the funds in the escrow account, smart move, provide the amount that your is included in the closing statement you’ll need to complete the closing. During the closing, you (and whoever else is buying the property with you) will sign the application forms for deed of title, which will be explained to you by the lawyer.  After your closing process is complete, your lawyer should then file for your deed of title. So, you are not done with your lawyer until you have a clean deed of title delivered to you in your name. 

     At that point, my dear friend,  the property is yours. 

    

Remember at all times that you are the only one who is going to part with cash. All eyes are on you. Even the property sales tax that would be a contractual obligation of the seller to ZRA will ultimately come from your pocket. The more careful you are with the steps the less chances you will have of losing out. Wileka ba kusangule ntonko!

Unless the property has heavy encumbrances, the whole transaction should take no more than 6 months. I have factored in, court proceedings to cure unspecified power of attorneys, if and where applicable.

Avoid the proverbial potholes! 

Welcome to property ownership!

[Mwata Chisha is a member of the National Association of Realtors]  

True Leadership

Natural knowledge - native ability - is superior to paper knowledge.

The superiority of native ability is demonstrated in the manner one processes information. The level of sophistication of one's internal thought process influences the choices one makes and the actions that flow from them. Extendedly, all forms of human interaction in which he or she is involved are guided by what one ultimately accepts as own governing values.

For most people, governing values are developed for them and are adopted without question. In any society, therefore, only a considerably small group of people emerge as true leaders. They don't claim to be leaders but they are called upon to lead. They are like a candle that produces the light which others mirrors reflect.

Superior native leadership is intrinsic rather than extrinsic. Its primary occupation is refining the inner self, front-loading the character, intentionally and thoughtfully on a regular basis, with the clean, the positive and the powerful. Native leadership neither dictates nor dominates. Native ability is not haste. It is contemplative and exudes quiet confidence. Native ability is radiated through conduct; does what is right, based on facts presented, and commonsensical. Native leadership does not teach, rather it educates.

Native ability is not manipulative; it is not compromising either. Native ability is decisive not because it has no fear - but has the fear of losing its purpose.

True leadership produces for own consumption insights, thoughts, ideas and things. Therefore it is sought, not sold, and not imposed.

True Leadership is continually reviewing own experiences, taking in both the good and the bad, and getting enriched by both. True leadership gleans lessons from own experiences and those of others, always refining the self. Native ability dwells on the positive, feeding on abundant universal substrate with intent to become the best one can be, in thoughts and deeds. It is these thoughts and deeds about oneself that makes one a leader; being the the producer of craved unique outputs.

Everything else, but humans, depend on natural knowledge.

TRUE leadership is SELF leadership.

Copyright 2006

I Disagree With Sata, And That Is The Point

Countdown: Sata’s campaigns in Mpulungu

By Lusaka Times on Wednesday 20 October 2010 


PF president Michael Sata has accused the MMD government of causing the death of the late Mpulungu Member of parliament, Lameck Chibombamilimo by neglecting him during his illness. Mr. Sata who is in Mpulungu to drum up support for the party’s candidate Freedom Sikazwe ahead of the October 25, 2010 parliamentary by-election, said President Rupiah Banda hated the late MP even after his death. “Rupiah hated Chibombamilimo, he told MMD cadres that ‘Chibombamilimo is a useless young man, and vowed to sack him as minister and remove him as an MP through a by-election,” Mr. Sata said.

There may be a difference between not liking somebody and hating them. I want to think that Banda may have been right in pointing out that his MP was a useless young man. But Banda did not specify why he felt so. If when he said that, Sata was suggesting that because Banda did not qualify his statement therefore it was reasonable to conclude that Banda hated his MP, then Sata would be guilty of irrational thinking. A rational thinker does not arrive at the conclusion from insufficient information. 

He accused government of delaying Chibombamilimo’s evacuation to India, saying the late MP was treated like an animal because during his illness, government officials did not visit him in Hospital. “When Chibombamilimo finally died the government brought his remains in a coffin, which looked like those in which they bury prisoners. That’s how Rupiah hated Chibombamilimo,” he said.

Two issues here:

• I have not seen a clause in the constitution that deposits the responsibility of caring for sick politicians on the backs of the people. It is not in the budget either. At one time I thought it may be in the budget, you know - tucked in somewhere under some creative allocation - I have checked all budgets dating back to 1992, and all of them contain nothing of the sort. I mean there is not appropriation for "special health care service for politicians."

But what evident is the fact that each time the Budget is approved, it essentially becomes a law. The process of modifying the budget rises to the level of  amending a bill. No organ of the government can do it unilaterally. That being the case, I think it is not irrational for me to suggest that any spending that occurs outside stated parameters, are a contravention of the law and therefore criminal. I expected Sata, who seems to be sympathetic to the squalid status and condition of the regular Zambian, to acknowledge and speak strongly against the criminality in evacuating politicians to foreign health care facilities. But then, he too has a pebble in his shoe. Condemning the act would make him a big hypocrite. Sata, like any other politician, sees this criminal act as an entitlement.

• When poor Zambians fall sick, no politicians makes it an issue unless it is their relative. Yet it is the poor Zambians who pay taxes which provide housing, servants, vehicles with free gasoline, cell phones and talk-time, and innumerable allowances in addition to a hefty monthly salary.

Zambians must begin to call out politicians on this issue; they must stop behaving like they owe these lazy shiftless bureaucrats a debt. It is irrational for a Zambian to clam up when Sata, or any other politician, tells them, in a roundabout way, that they do not deserve first class health care obtainable only outside Zambia.

Does it not make you wonder why no politician has ever run on the issue of making evacuations accessible to all Zambians.       

The outspoken opposition leader also capitalized on the beating of former finance minister at the funeral house by some suspected MMD cadres. He said when PF members went to mourn Chibombamilimo at the house of mourning they were beaten by MMD cadres.

Bushe ama Cadres ni cinama nshi? Are they not the unemployed Zambians of all ages, stampeding for crumbs from the tables of politicians. I am laying this one back on Zambians. Stop supplying manpower to politicians on the cheap. You are being irrational in your thoughts as long as you remain subservient to politicians. Get your power back, make politicians work for you. Why do you settle for poverty in a rich country like ours?

He further accused President Banda of not having the interest of the people of Mpulungu at heart because he was taking developmental projects to Kasaba Bay where he had personal interests. Meanwhile, Sata confirmed that he had been blocked from holding a rally from a named School in Mpulungu because the Head Teacher had allegiance towards the ruling MMD."We wanted to hold a meeting where George Kunda was holding a rally recently but the headmaster said he could not allow us because we are PF,” he said.

This one rises to the top! Politicians, all of you. Listen to me: 

Talusheni ifyongo ku bana! We know you don't send your children to public schools. Mumimwene yenu, as long as it is not your child that is being disturbed, for you it is okay. Well, natwisuke mitwe. Kaneni tumfwe, Is this not your way of growing a stock of kadaz for your children when you hand over the political reigns to them? If you want places to hold meetings/rallies, go ku fibansa fya mangalo. Let schools remain institutions of learning. Yangu!

Mr. Sata complained that his youths were being victimized in Mpulungu for no apparent reason. He said the youths who were arrested for moving with a boat were fined by the Courts.

That not withstanding, the Irrational Thinker of the week Award is conferred upon Mr. Sata. Congratulations for failing to recognize that health care is the most important issue in the lives of Zambians ukulundapo ne ncito. 

The Value of the Life of a Zambian Miner Measured In Chilean Units

ICISAPATO

During their trials and tribulations our forebears devised ways of preserving themselves. When calamity befell them or any member of the their community, they assembled pa nsaka not to lay blame or belittle each other but ukupandashanya amano. For instance when they lost their crop to swarms of locusts, which was more frequent than never, they found out that mulenge, sepa, icifulu, etc., would prevent loss of life. Through consultations and ukwetetula, they discovered that makanta which ate their food was actually edible. They added makanta to ifinshonko ne nyense.

Responding ku cipowe flowing from crop failure or invasion by makanta required sober minds; rational thinkers. Had there been insufficient flow of creative juices in their heads, they would have died of hunger and we would not be here to tell of their triumphs. They were methodical in their approach and surgical in their execution. Specifically, they devised what today's management gurus have termed the ABC's of decision making. Notice how creative they were; they used imisanse to prioritize issues and weight the individual perceptions of urgency applying the following framework:

A: Critical - Life sustaining (must be done)
B: Important - should be done
C: Relatively trivial - could be done

All activities falling under category C were the preserve of ba kalume. All issues of significant importance in category B were done by impalume. Ever heard that never send a boy to do a man's job? Our forebears had it in practice before it was reduced to words on paper. If ba kalume did not do their jobs well, their parents, impalume, scolded them. And when impalume missed a target for whatever reason, they had some serious explanation to do before the elders. It was the responsibility of imiti ya mpako and mpalume to find solutions and outline the modus oparandi for issues falling under category A.

Apparently most managerial concepts that are being repackaged and peddled in seminars all over the industrialized world, we can say with confidence, have their origins in our heritage. To this day, scholars, politicians, and philosophers are continuing to harvest from our rich indigenous cultures very powerful success concepts (Jacks, 2006). At the time Mrs. Hillary Clinton was selling her universal health care proposal, she used insoselo ya kuti, "It takes a village to raise a child." Some people thought she coined the phrase. But that is how some of us were raised; by women who knew that "every child is my child." As a child, you expected that any woman would feed you when you were hungry. Conversely, any woman would pich your cheeks if you acted silly in her presence, just like your mother would. And you knew it.

At another time Dr.Peter Senge popularized the concept of ubuntu, which simply means "ndi muntu pa mulandu wa kuti uli muntu." What a powerful way of acknowledging and valuing each other! Affirming the strength of the spirit of togetherness and actually seeing the good in everyone. People had responsibility to themselves and to each other. And each time impika arose, they all put their arms around it no kuikaulula. Collective action and individual responsibility were an ideal by which everyone lived.

But somewhere between then and now, we lost our sense of self importance. In today's lingo, akuti "ti naitaya." Back then, impika were umwando that bound us together. Today, the same impika are used as excuses for exclusion and factors of divisiveness. Political stripes determine whose voice will be heard and who should clam up.  The voices of Rational thinkers are drowned in the milieu of retrogressive diatribe. Is there a chance that we can recapture or reconstruct our ability to think rationally and live our lives that way? What would it take, really?

Events around the world are a constant reminder of what we have lost. The Chilean mine accident and subsequent rescue operation could not hit more closer to home. It is a well known fact that Chileans and Zambians share a common characteristic. Their economies are based on mining. And one thing one can be sure about regarding mining is that it is prone to accidents. However, the manner in which a nation responds to an accidents defines it's character.

The big world watched with keen interest as Chileans struggled to find the sure-fire method of getting 33 miners from the depth of roughly 700m where they had remained for 68 days. As our forebears would have thought, this is a critical issue calling for swift response. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera understood the gravity of the matter; it was not something a responsible and rational president would commit ku minwe ya mabuta mputi. Lives were in danger. He realized that was something he needed to work on with impalume ne miti yampako, wherever he could find them. So, he na kabungwe, consulted wide, deliberated and ultimately selected an option, among many, that had high probability of success. The operation was surgical; all 33 men were reunited with their families and Pinrea was there to make sure the operation was done according to plan. He hugged everyone of them as they emerged from the cage.

One would have expected Zambian politicians of all stripes to take lessons from the Chilean experience. Chile was not deterred even after being hit by a devastating quake. You can easily speculate somebdoy in the group must have declared, "icalo bantu and if abantu are at risk, we will spare no effort." Because that was a category A situation, they had to abandon everything that weighed relatively less on the list of priorities. Lives had to be saved.

It is not that Zambia has never faced a situation of that nature since the first copper mine, Kansanshi, was commissioned in 1908. Musuku (2005), reported that the first major mining disaster in Zambian history happened in 1940, when 16 miners, 13 indigenous and three 3 whites met their demise in a violent current of air-blast. In the years that followed, a series of minor accidents occurred but the next major one one occurred on September 25, 1970, in which at least 89 underground miners perished from in-rush water and flurries. The Kafironda Explosive disaster, a year later, claimed a significant number of Zambian lives. Recently, 51 people died in the Bgrimm explosion, in Chambishi. In the same space of time six miners perished at Mopani Mine, in Mufulira, when the rollers of the cage got off the rails.

In his conclusion, Musuku suggests that "Zambia needs mining names associated with legendary mining grand master, the likes of Harry Openheimer and Ronald Prain, whose mining legacies still remain hard to match nor to better." I understand what Musuku is trying to say.

I see Musuku's recommendation as being a direct result of loss of confidence in ourselves. A suggestion to call somebody else from outside to solve our problems turns us into Cannot-Do-People. But that is not who we should aspire to. When we are faced with situations that fit the profile of category A issues, as a matter of necessity, we must drop everything we are doing and pay attention to that issue. Find a lasting solution. It is normal to suffer another blow but it is a stupid nation that suffers the same blow twice.

Some incomparable but equally life threatening situations have arisen in Zambia many a times. Where and what were the politicians' responses? President Pinera did not jump on the presidential jet to some worthless function after being informed of the accident. It would have been not only irresponsible of him to do that but also insensitive. He became actively involved in coordinating the efforts, gathering ideas from all sources, consulting with NASA personnel, evaluating the options, etc. No idea was good enough until it was ratified by the president and his team of experts. There was no time for experimentation. Every detail of the operation was analyzed with a microscope and executed with surgical precision until all 33 miners were hoisted to the surface. It was a moment of pride for Chileans everywhere. After hugging the last man, Pinera made a short speech and then led the audience in a spirited anthem.

In that short speech, Pinera promised very radical changes to affect the health and safety of workers in mining as well as the transportation, fishing and construction industries. The areas of concern, once again, are similar to Zambia's.

The only difference is, Zambia has always responded to concerns in these areas with kid gloves. Initial partial privatization of the mines in Zambia, in 1970 and total nationalization in 1980, was meant to bring the rightful owners of the mines into the control room, to keep a watchful eye on the safety of their people. They both did nothing. The latter actually made things worse, managerially. It was followed by a spate of declining production levels, poor forecasts, apparent dysfunctional operations, giving lip service to the importance of health, safety and environmental impacts.

Folks, time for change is upon us. We need to stop trivializing life and life threatening issues. We need to take ourselves serious. Our economy depends on the mines and the safety of miners is category A issue. Because when the miners go underground to work, they are presumed dead as long as they remain under there. By the way the mode of lowering them in a cage, down to underground burrows, in a manner and solemn tradition is similar to lowering a coffin into the grave. This is not something our forebears would assign kuli ba kalume to address. It calls for the attention of imiti ya mpako, ba mpandamano - people whom time has prepared to think and source rational ideas in times of need.

In Chile, the 33 miners were pulled from the bowels of earth. Like babies from the womb of mother earth, they came out one at a time and one after the other. They came to life again.

Zambia reads instructions from the wrong pages of history because she seems to have no solution to recurrent problems of cholera, floods, inadequate  and substandard health care system, unemployment, political violence, street children, and HIV AIDS related diseases. These issues, our forebears would have thought, are category A and are devouring the nation while people who are supposed to find solutions to them are taking jolly rides in the sky. Zambians whose lives were negatively impacted by the Bgrimm explosion were given a mockery of compensation. The government has done absolutely nothing!

Latest
Three Chinese managers shot at protesters at a coal mine in Sinazongwe. Big deal, right? Not in Zambia. Where are imiti yampako? There is a crisis in Sinazongwe and the minister of Home Affairs was in parliament, representing whom? The vice president was in there too! It had to take deputy speaker of the House to compel the duo to go and find out what was happening. Parliament was now giving executive orders, but where was ba mwine mishi? Is this not a case of assigning ba kalume to critical issues?

Zambia Sambilila.     Zambia Sambilila.

Two UNZA problems, One simple solution

The University of Zambia, popularly know as UNZA, faces a disruption of classes and closure almost every year. Of well known causes, student protests precipitated directly or indirectly by political interference ranks highest. Those who were genuinely smart enough to get a spot on the program rosters at UNZA in the late 70s and early 80s, would remember the numerous times when the administration would be worried upon noticing silence in the student community. The UNZA administration would provoke the student by delaying their allowances or cutting back on their meals.

Considering that the majority of students at that time hailed from humble backgrounds, it was easy to show solidarity with the students. Students likened themselves to the downtrodden, the oppressed and the helpless workers or simply the proletariat. And that they needed to rise up and defend themselves against the tyranny of the bourgeoisie. They might have very well been right because, most of them came from the mining townships where their parents bali ni ba Chimbamabwe. They had a short life expectancy; you know ku malaisha, working hard and long awkawrd hours ne ncombolo. Others were sons and daughters of government workers. Now mwaKaunda, unlike nomba, government workers na ba Chimbamabwe earned peanuts. Except the apamwamba, ba Minister, na ba Makobo. These formed the group that Riki Ililonga sang about, Olemekezeka. Of course the track was banned after burning the airwaves for a couple weeks. That is how Kaunda and his unsophisticated shiftless bureaucratic Central Committee ran the show - very personal.

So, anyway, for the most part, students were on the edge. They learned to react to any slight provocation by politicians and the UNZA administration.They would block roads, smash widnshields in anger, overturn cars, and every once in a while burn a vehicle or two.As expected, Kaunda reacted to that kind of behavior with gusto - he curse a few times, 'stupid idiots,' (like there was ever a time when an idiot was not stupid) then he would deploy and a full load of an Ifa truck, armed police clad in riot gear to disperse the crowds. They would fire teargas canisters, mixed in with live bullets, at students and all hell would break loose.

If you really come to think of it, rebellion was not a Zambian practice until the self appointed chancellor of the great University of Zambia, Kaunda, embarked on a crusade to conscientize students, preaching about his newly discovered bombastic terms - Scientific Socialism. You had to know Kaunda as well as I did or better to appreciate how much he believed he was on to something. He literally shoved Sicentific Socialism down the throats of unsuspecting students until they choked on it. I hold him personally responsible for the behavior unbecoming of a learner, bordering on stupidity exhibited by UNZA students. It was not an easy sale. Did you know that UNZA students were required to memorize the Das Kapital like their life depended on it? For those of you who are spring chickens or who resemble them, look it up. Kaunda's communistic philosophies were not an option; they were a law and woe to he who would dare disobey. Very few people could afford to be rational in his day. So much for being THE father of the nation.

But I am not here to hold on to your coattails and drag you down memory lane about Kaunda and his vigilante boys he purposely denied education and enlightenment. Rather, I wanted to set the stage so you would understand the genesis of the kacha of turmoils that has has latched on UNZA like a smudge of umulembwe beta abati pimpo mwefu. The seed of trouble was sown in the Kaunda era, by his hand. Some rational thinking students did put up a fight, though. I will not mention names. But I will tell you that they ended up being expelled from UNZA and subsequently being blacklisted. It meant that they would never get a job in Zambia. Well, as long as Kaunda was president. And he wanted to be there umuyayaya. That is Kaunda for you.

Today's UNZA is relatively calm. The calmness flows from the incident where the police, who were supposed to be maintaining peace, shot and killed one student at Great East Road Campus, in cold blood, the frequency of provocation from both the political and the UNZA administration has since subsided. However, politicians have not gotten smarter. It is like they have nailprints of irrational thinking in the palms of their hands. They behave the same way their predecessors behaved in the 70s and 80s; doing basically the same darnedest things - being irrational with some of the quickest thinkers in the nation. That is what they spend time doing, buffing their thinking wheels. Whether what their minds bake at the end of the day is useful or less than useful is inconsequential.But one can count on the actions of the politico to prostrate naked before the eyes of the students each time they try to outsmart them. Look at this garbage:

Forgo one trip and pay for students, Mumbi Phiri urges Rupiah

By Agness Changala Tue 12 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT

PATRIOTIC Front Munali member of parliament Mumbi Phiri has asked President Rupiah Banda to forgo one trip and pay fees for the affected students at the University of Zambia (UNZA).

About 1,132 students have been withdrawn from 2010-2011 academic calendars due to non-payment of tuition fees as required by the 75 percent payment policy.

Phiri said even the money that President Banda used to pay for Amayenge Band to go and dance in Nigeria could have been used to pay for the troubled students and enable them to continue with school. She said among the students who were withdrawn, 38 paid half of their fees and were attending classes.

“So you can see that these students actually complied and some of them have remained with six months to complete. Honestly, how fair is it that one should be withdrawn?” Phiri asked.

“I am speaking as a parent and talking to parents. If that was their son, how would they feel?”

Phiri said some of the students were children to lecturers who retired as far back as 2004 and had not been paid their money, adding that it was not easy for them to pay for their children.

How can all three organs of the government fail to solve the financial problem of our two small universities? The Judiciary would scream, 'hey that is the purview of the Executive and the Legislature!' Well, learned ladies and gentlemen, when an irrational politician says the government this and that, it includes you. You may want to argue that the appropriate term is not government but administration. Well, why don't you make that argument. When will you for once quit being stiff necked and say something in defense of the people? As long as that term is used and you learned men and women in those Halloween-like gowns and, symbol of subservience to the British crown, blonde wigs stand idly by, you are co-conspirators and guilty as charged.


Solution

But seriously, the problems of allowances and unnecessary closures can be resolved permanently by taking the government out of the equation. I mean, all vestiges of the government including the ministry of Education. To them, UNZA should be a no go area. Unjustifiable closures would then become a thing of the past. But first the following has to happen:

1. Make UNZA autonomous;
2. Hire an accounting/management firm to administer bursaries; and
3. Make funding for UNZA cost-based.

The government should add a special expense line in it budget to cover the operating costs of UNZA or better still, all post secondary institutions. Such an addition should be enacted into law and subsequent appropriations made a responsibility of a parliamentary subcommittee.

Upon qualifying to an institution of higher learning, including UNZA, students would be expected to apply for a scholarship to the scholarship/selection committee of a private accounting/management institution. The management entity would lay out terms of eligibility, ratified by the parliamentary subcommittee. The government would not be involved in the day-to-day issues of UNZA, Evelyn Hone, etc. The UNZA administration would know its roles and responsibilities - chief among them to facilitate learning. And students would have one deterministic objective when they get to their various campuses - to learn and build professional networks. The accounting/management entity being private and apolitical, will be paid based on performance - defined simply how well it responds to the issues of the students. In other words, Expediency will be the name of the game for all involved. They will have to be perfect or they lose the contract.

My fellow Zambians, we cannot continue to condemn imiti ikula to the pit of poorly educated citizens. We cannot continue to dance cintako around simple issues like this. It's just unacceptable.

When A Slow Thinking Brain Can Be A LiabilityTo Its Owner

Before my grandpa passed away, in 1966, he said to me, "Man, it was not given to all mortals to think. Even when facts are lined up in front of them, some people don't have the ability to recognize that there is an order to their arrangement."

Since my man passed away, I have put his words to the test. And each time they prove to be true. This brings to mind a saying in my mother tongue that, "Pansaka ta pabula ciwelewele." It is with the realization of the same fact that Hitler managed to hoodwink the weak minded and rode on their backs for a long period, exactly 33 years earlier. Saying you don't know what he did with weak minds is suggesting that you don't know the suffering of Semites at the hands of one of the most vicious dictators in recorded history.

Not too long ago, the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, got a beating for recognizing Hitler's "ingenuity." His critics argued that the actions of such brutes as Hitler should be pushed to the fringes of human history. Arnold's critics may have had a point. Suggesting that actually in the mix of Hitler's crimes, one ca find a leaflet of lessons, may sound insensitive especially to the Semites, Gypsies, etc. Well, and all people of darker shade, especially myself. But dismissing the fact that there were a multitude of lethargic thinkers, on whose backs Hitler rode to pursue the objectives of the Third Reich is denying the fact that the Holocaust was perpetrated by thousands of people, if not millions, who were at least 6 degrees removed from him.

In a world where some people fail to count empty insupa lined up on the wall in front of them, Hitler managed to mobilized millions of people with slow cranking brains to incinerate people who had done nothing to him. The only crime they were accused of, which in fact they had no hand in shaping, was being of a darker shade. He hated them and he wanted them wiped off the face of this earth. But from an organizing angle alone, Hitler could be thought of as a genius. Hitler is actually said to have had remarked, "Good for leaders that most people don't think." There was nothing genius about what he did. He only recognized the abundance of slow cranking brains Germany and put them to work. Any idiot can do that. All it takes is a little boldness.

Politics aside, Hitler had a point. The same point that my grandpa, who had never seen the inside of a primitive classroom, let alone take a lesson in European history, had made. I will venture to say, however, that lethargic thinking is not a preserve of some Zambians. It is an attribute that one can find in the community of puritans as well.

Therefore, as long as that remains a fact, the world and Zambia in particular, will not be in short supply of individuals who will take refuge in lethargy in thinking.

Enough of philosophizing. As my cab driver once said, "take a straight shot to it." In one of my jaunts on Zambia Online, Dear Mr.President forum, a year or two ago, I encountered many MMD hardliners. One of them used my first name for a handle - Mwata. Whether he knew me or not is inconsequential. He responded to my postings and we locked horns in what ended up being a protracted debate. Did it feel awkward to debate someone who uses your true name for a pseudonym? Absolutely. Sometimes I felt schizophrenic because I was calling another person by my name.

Anyway, it quickly dawned on Mwata that I was neither on his side nor the side of those he despised. That did not deter him from unleashing flurry of his nuclear power packed political punches on me. Each time I exited the forum my mental lips would be split and nose bleeding. I would try to reason with Mwata but he was hellbent on convincing me that sitting on the fence would only expose me to shots from either side. He suggested, his side was safer. He may have had a point, but then that was looking at things only through his prism. Needless to say, debates on ZOL don't get to the conclusion, instead they recede into hibernation only to resurface later. My debate with Mwata was no exception.

Mwata and I got fatigued by the hard punches to our philosophical bodies. We respectfully said our farewells and vowed never to cross paths again.

As fate would have it, I was informed recently that Mwata was defending me in another forum when a bunch of slow cranking brains, in another forum, actually ascribed his postings to me and poured profanity on my name. This was brought to my attention by a colleague of mine who had read the comments on Lusaka Times. Some of these lethargic thinkers even went to an extent of characterizing my article on the Association of Zambians in Atlanta website as below modern first grade standard.Honestly I would like to meet a first grader that would analyze issues better myself after being on earth for only 6 years!

Now, you are thinking Mwata Chisha was upset because he was abused in an episode of mistaken identity. You cannot be farther from the truth. The assault on my person even when the person whose postings argued that he and I were not the same did not bother me at all. I would not give another person the power to hurt me with words. Elenore Roosevelt once said, "No one can hurt you unless you give them permission."

What bothered me in that debate between Mwata, who is not me, and those many Zambians with slow cranking brains is the poverty of thought. Not a single one of them said, wait a minute, 'Just because the poster's name is Mwata, it does not mean it is Mwata Chisha.' Not a single one of them thought about that except the same person who they were arguing with. He told them he was not Mwata Chisha, but they unwittingly continued feeding off each other. Now, one would think, their thinking had been challenged and that an indicator placed in front of their face, they would take a step and connect the dots. No, not them. They dug up stuff on Mwata Chisha and brought them back to the discussion to perpetuate their myth.

I, Mwata Chisha, have my own gig: THIS ONE RIGHT HERE! I don't visit Lusaka Times unless I am told that there was something worth reading; as was the case here. If I wanted to debate issues I would go back to ZOL. Although ZOL is busy, I think the proportion of lethargic thinkers on ZOL is less than that found on Lusaka Times.

What happened was that one overzealous self-righteous partisan misled a whole bunch of supposedly educated Zambians into believing the Mwata of Lusaka Times and Mwata Chisha are one and the same. Sadly, they believed him and without even a word of instruction from him, they started abusing my name.

Doesn't it remind you of the time when you were little and somebody would tell you, "Icimbwi co! And you get all scared, you almost pee in your pants? You would not have even seen a hyena before, for crying out loud. Yet the mention of it puts you on spaghetti legs.  But I can understand that; you were young and gullible. We all go through that. Little brains are imaginative, and trusting. One wonders how such busy minds get tired so early.

Mwata Chisha, here, is not partisan! I am not on the side of politicians. I am on the side of the people.

I lost both my parents and a number of my siblings in the Zambian hospitals, in a short space of time, not because they could not be helped but because this and the previous administrations shared a common element - slow cranking brains. They did not and still don't believe health-care is a priority. They would rather spend money on promoting ideologies, custom tailored suits and heels, physicals in London, and globetrotting, while taxpayers rot in poorly equipped health facilities at home. Only people with slow cranking brains would refuse to make health-care a priority in a nation with a low health profile.

With that much pain in my heart, I cannot possibly be hobnobbing with the administrations which I hold partially responsible for my irreversible losses. I seek no retribution, I want solutions. I want lasting solutions. And singing praises to the administrations, regardless of who is at the helm, is not my style. I started this blog to call attention to the urgency of thinking. Thinking is one chore that most Zambians feel too lethargic to do.

If one slow cranking brain, a mortal to whom it was not given to think, can mislead a considerable number of bloggers at Lusaka Times, it is only fair to speculate that there is a large number of Zambians with significantly slow thinking brains, ingwilabulime, bacitongo, ba cipelelo, ba muselela kwakaba, ba musekela kali kwisaya, intonko. 

It is not healthy!

PS: I was going to bestow upon them the Irrational Thinkers' Award but that is okay. Kuti uleipushe mbwa ngeifwele?