The world watched as instruments of power switched hands almost flawlessly. This is one small step for Africa and a giant leap for Zambia!
Celebrate with us not because you like Zambia, but because we did it right for ourselves. This is about us.
I shall return....
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
When Parents Exchange Obscenities in Public, Children Take Notes
Many years ago in my seedy neighborhood, across from my home, there lived a family that was notorious for picking fights with just about anyone. No week went by without a fight-fest from some pub, some playground, some bus stop, to the house. The haggard-looking man on stilts drunken old para-loony father and the sack of potatoes-looking fire-spitting mother were no bystanders. They would slight, shove, push, chip-shoot, mock and torment their sons' adversaries as the fighting frenzy escorted by the block mob entered their yard. Armed with sticks and pebbles they would throw in a punch, stab and whip with great caution. Through the high pitched choruses of wanu-eeh-wanu! you would hear the mother hauling obscenities at the sons' opponents.
What I found particularly intriguing was the fact that all these ba shimabungi were mooching on this one poor elder sister. Shonse ntalamisoke shi, these fighting bobs had no jobs. They were not much of anything out a street fight anyway. And school to them was like a walk on hot coal. The oldest male who challenged himself to run the academic marathon met his demise prematurely when he got murdered in cold blood by his live-in girlfriend. It was rumored that she bludgeoned him using some heavy object. While he was lying unconscious, she drilled two straight holes into his chest, from shoulders down, using a 12 inch steel and poured hot water into them. Then she tied his head between his bent knees, kept him in a sitting position with hands tied to the back for eight weeks. Gradually the body began to decompose letting off a very disturbing stench but the girl continued to live mulya mwine mu kabini. The death of the only male who would have made something out of himself drove the older sister into a depression. When she passed away, all her assets were pawned off. Poverty reigned in the family once again.
But this family is not what this piece is about. Today I want to give an Irrational Thinker's Award to a group of public figures who always remind me of this family. Each time these politicians pen their mouths, a wrong combination of words come out. A colleague of mine in Atlanta wonders why Zambian politicians think they can operate the crowds and excite their base without a script. They either think every Zambian is naive or they don't know any better. My colleague adds that, campaign stop is a crucial time. It is synonymous with an elevator moment when you are allowed only 30 seconds to do your shtick. If you have anything worthwhile to say, according to the 30-second rule, you better deliver a well buffed no-nonsense presentation in that space of time. The rest of the time you would spend explaining what it may mean to different interest groups.
I have observed with utter disappointment the manner in which some of the politicians present themselves and how they feed off the excitement of their rowdy audiences. In place of managing that energy and excitement, they get drunk on it to the point of losing their heads.
This article, Sata is mad, says George Kunda, is essentially akasamuna nkunge.
I have always wondered where the Ng'wang'wazi, Eagle-eagle, and Kaponya get their training from to insult each other umoshacela. Little did I know they are subconsciously tutored by George Kunda, Michael Sata, Ronald Shikapwasha, Wynter Kabimba, Daniel Munkombwe, and a whole host of unscripted vile-tongued politicians who are old enough to be parents to these unemployed rolling stones. For some reasons, these guys have conditioned themselves to believe that they can deliver an earth shaking off the cuff impromptu speech.
If you attempted to go back in time, you would be hard squeezed to find a time when you would hear shikuluBanda and siBwalya trading obscenities pa katande mono. So you would wonder what their parents would say if they heard them and whether they would be, like Kacepa would say, doing sit-ups in the grave upon seeing their sons' insult slinging in public every time a mic is placed in front of them.
Desmond Tutu once said, his father advised him and his siblings not to raise their voices but the quality of their arguments. Based on this one-sentence piece of advice, one can begin to analyze the content of the speeches of the Zambian politicians for quality. Truth be told, politicians miss an opportunity to educate the electorate on important national issues. But then again, you can only educate another on something you have educated yourself first. What politicians seem to have taught themselves well is not the ability to articulate ideological and and policy issues but obscenities. Consequently, their children are learning nothing from them but the art of self denigration.
Folks these politicians are unwittingly developing a culture of politics that is devoid of respect and while we stand by and look. We must stop them. Challenge them that there is no message too difficult to deliver without wrapping it in obscenities. What they ought to realize is that as a nation, we will be respected only to the degree that we demonstrate respect for ourselves.
So, when somebody tries to put somebody down we should remind them that insele fiko. We should encourage them to learn Mama Inonge Wina's style of debate and manner of presentation - well thought out, succinct and enlightening. I am yet to see a politician rival that calm yet firm style of public presentation.
This month's Irrational Thinker's Award is bestowed on George Kunda on behalf of himself and his fellow self deprecating politicians.
What I found particularly intriguing was the fact that all these ba shimabungi were mooching on this one poor elder sister. Shonse ntalamisoke shi, these fighting bobs had no jobs. They were not much of anything out a street fight anyway. And school to them was like a walk on hot coal. The oldest male who challenged himself to run the academic marathon met his demise prematurely when he got murdered in cold blood by his live-in girlfriend. It was rumored that she bludgeoned him using some heavy object. While he was lying unconscious, she drilled two straight holes into his chest, from shoulders down, using a 12 inch steel and poured hot water into them. Then she tied his head between his bent knees, kept him in a sitting position with hands tied to the back for eight weeks. Gradually the body began to decompose letting off a very disturbing stench but the girl continued to live mulya mwine mu kabini. The death of the only male who would have made something out of himself drove the older sister into a depression. When she passed away, all her assets were pawned off. Poverty reigned in the family once again.
But this family is not what this piece is about. Today I want to give an Irrational Thinker's Award to a group of public figures who always remind me of this family. Each time these politicians pen their mouths, a wrong combination of words come out. A colleague of mine in Atlanta wonders why Zambian politicians think they can operate the crowds and excite their base without a script. They either think every Zambian is naive or they don't know any better. My colleague adds that, campaign stop is a crucial time. It is synonymous with an elevator moment when you are allowed only 30 seconds to do your shtick. If you have anything worthwhile to say, according to the 30-second rule, you better deliver a well buffed no-nonsense presentation in that space of time. The rest of the time you would spend explaining what it may mean to different interest groups.
I have observed with utter disappointment the manner in which some of the politicians present themselves and how they feed off the excitement of their rowdy audiences. In place of managing that energy and excitement, they get drunk on it to the point of losing their heads.
This article, Sata is mad, says George Kunda, is essentially akasamuna nkunge.
I have always wondered where the Ng'wang'wazi, Eagle-eagle, and Kaponya get their training from to insult each other umoshacela. Little did I know they are subconsciously tutored by George Kunda, Michael Sata, Ronald Shikapwasha, Wynter Kabimba, Daniel Munkombwe, and a whole host of unscripted vile-tongued politicians who are old enough to be parents to these unemployed rolling stones. For some reasons, these guys have conditioned themselves to believe that they can deliver an earth shaking off the cuff impromptu speech.
If you attempted to go back in time, you would be hard squeezed to find a time when you would hear shikuluBanda and siBwalya trading obscenities pa katande mono. So you would wonder what their parents would say if they heard them and whether they would be, like Kacepa would say, doing sit-ups in the grave upon seeing their sons' insult slinging in public every time a mic is placed in front of them.
Desmond Tutu once said, his father advised him and his siblings not to raise their voices but the quality of their arguments. Based on this one-sentence piece of advice, one can begin to analyze the content of the speeches of the Zambian politicians for quality. Truth be told, politicians miss an opportunity to educate the electorate on important national issues. But then again, you can only educate another on something you have educated yourself first. What politicians seem to have taught themselves well is not the ability to articulate ideological and and policy issues but obscenities. Consequently, their children are learning nothing from them but the art of self denigration.
Folks these politicians are unwittingly developing a culture of politics that is devoid of respect and while we stand by and look. We must stop them. Challenge them that there is no message too difficult to deliver without wrapping it in obscenities. What they ought to realize is that as a nation, we will be respected only to the degree that we demonstrate respect for ourselves.
So, when somebody tries to put somebody down we should remind them that insele fiko. We should encourage them to learn Mama Inonge Wina's style of debate and manner of presentation - well thought out, succinct and enlightening. I am yet to see a politician rival that calm yet firm style of public presentation.
This month's Irrational Thinker's Award is bestowed on George Kunda on behalf of himself and his fellow self deprecating politicians.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Zambian Economy through the lens of Ms. Nawakwi
One major reason the Zambian economy is not doing very well is, it is being run by people who are not strong enough. What an interesting observation by former minister of Finance and now president of an opposition political party.
I have always doubted the accuracy of the stroke of the pen of the news scribes regardless of who they work for. There is always that personal effect that cannot be ignored. In following the logic in Ms. Nawakwi's arguments, I see a few flaws that underpin her claim that the people running the country are not strong enough. These words, having been uttered by a presidential aspirant, need to be examined a little closely.
Ms. Nawakwi does not say what kind of strength is not enough in the people leading the country. Whether she purposely overlooked that part or not, the lack of clarity on that part alone weakens her subsequent arguments. Let me preface what I am about to do here with the statement. Every time you set out to criticize somebody, outline the points of disagreement and then, one by one, assign reasons why you disagree. That way, even if your argument turns out to be weak, you would have demonstrated that your thought process was logical, you knew what you were talking about except you did not just have the necessary expertise to give a foolproof solution.
I will follow that same line of argument here.
1. Ms. Nawakwi says, "ideally, the mining companies were supposed to bank their monies locally and only externalize dividends and profits." Ideally? This is a policy matter that should be in place and applicable to all foreign companies wishing to do business in Zambia. What we may not know, however, and might very well have escaped Ms. Nawakwi's memory, is that there may not be sufficient low risk short-term investment vehicles for companies to put their operating capital in. Having been minister of Finance and having been involved in some of similar investment negotiations, she should have known that an element such as that is likely to be the cause. Outside environments may be quite attractive.
Foreign banks deposit their operating capital locally in Botswana because it is a policy, non-negotiable, in Botswana. We need to apply the basic concept of elasticity to our business environment when we are setting policy. One fundamental question we may want to consider is, "What would be the responsiveness of foreign investors to the formulation and implementation of policy X?"
2. Ms. Nawakwi says, "investors are nothing but people who are looking to maximise profits..." Ms. Nawakwi is right. People invest in various ventures in pursuit of profits. But that has always been the definition of an investor. And when foreigners come to Zambia with sacks of money, they are not there to spend their money, but to sow and reap. People who usually go to other countries to spend money with a different motive are either terrorists, money launderers, or tourists.
3. Ms. Nawakwi says, "unless we as Zambians realise that to create wealth, we need to create a wealthy middle class in this country and without this, the country is going to be perpetually toiling to support foreigners.” Ms. Nawakwi may have been wrongly quoted here but I think it is only fair for me to work with what we have. We do not create wealth by creating a wealthy middle class, but by creating an economic environment in which Zambians are set up to succeed. Most domestic policies we have in place are inconsistent with that ideal; from regulatory to taxation. The rules of the game and deplorable conditions of the communication and transportation infrastructure exacerbates the situation. Enforcing property rights, low interest loan guarantees, competitive commercial interest rates, and tax incentives would put us on a the path toward creating a Zambian middle class. Environmental conditions are essential.
4. Ms. Nawakwi says, “In this particular case of the exchange rate policy, the only way to address this imbalance in the trade pattern which does not favour Zambians but foreign capital is for us…specifically the minister of finance…to dollarise this economy even for one month.” Three things are wrong with her suggestion. First, the use of the word ONLY. That makes one think Ms.Nawakwi is floating the best thinking there is, a vocation that is a preserve of gurus. No disrespect but Ms. Nawakwi is no guru. Second, it is not in the purview of the minister of Finance to manipulate the currency in any color or form. In my experience and training, I have always understood this to be an integral component of monetary policy and the preserve of the Central Bank; in our case, the Bank of Zambia. It is important to keep the lines of responsibility straight and clear. Third, dollarizing the economy further erodes the respect of the Kwacha. A managed float, fixing the Kwacha to the dollar at a certain rate, might help. A few things need to be examined before this option is appealed to.
5. Ms. Nawakwi says, “Now these mines are earning dollars, let us have these mines pay our workers in dollars.” I disagree. Ms. Nawakwi, if we want the Kwacha to regain its respect, we must demand that the monies earned by the mines through copper sales must buy the Kwacha to effect domestic payments. The Kwacha will appreciate against other currencies including the dollar when there is an increased demand for it by other currencies.
6. Ms. Nawakwi laments over the trade imbalance. She says, “Now these mines are earning dollars, let us have these mines pay our workers in dollars.” I would suggest a policy that is inward looking. The drive to earn foreign exchange to enable us get what we can't produce domestically puts our economy in perpetual dependency. We need an import substitution policy that promote domestic manufacturing to meet domestic demand. An import substitution policy for a period ranging from 5 to 10 years would Zambia's self sufficiency. Simple logic in trade has it that we export when we have met our demand and excess of production over demand is what we export. We can switch policies from import substitution to export promotion when we have a solid and sustainable manufacturing base aimed at satisfying local demand. This means, trade controls have to be in place to protect certain industries and their pertinent markets.
Final Note: Perhaps the strength Ms. Nawakwi was referring to is the political will to formulate and implement policies that are Zambian centered. It is time we started looking after our interests seriously. The copper tide we are riding will last but for a number of years. It would be wise of us to think and work like copper would lose its value tonight. Efforts must be made to convert our copperdollar, if you like, to capital. Zambia is not the first country to go through this phase. What makes a difference, however, is how well it comes out at the end. If the economic growth we seem to be excited about is reflected and in the production of seasonal crops, we may very well be strong enough to formulate for ourselves policies that favor us instead of the foreigner. The growth of an economy in a less industrialized country should be measured by the extent to which it enables individuals to produce middle class incomes. Anything short of that is meaningless.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zambia not being run by strong leaders - Nawakwi
By Patson Chilemba The Post Sun 20 Mar. 2011, 04:01 |
 |
Nawakwi |
In an interview, Nawakwi said ideally all the mining companies were supposed to bank their monies locally and only externalise dividends and profits.
“But it is just the problem that we have had in this country where we are not strong enough. This country is not being run by people who are strong enough,” Nawakwi said. “Look at Botswana which has diamond. Where is their money (proceeds of diamond sales) banked? The answer is Botswana. Even if you go to Angola, to create business you have to have a local partner.”
Nawakwi said when the kwacha started depreciating, those in government said it was because of the global crunch and declining copper prices.
She said the copper prices had risen considerably yet the kwacha had continued to depreciate.
“I have repeatedly said that investors are nothing but people who are looking to maximise profits…unless we as Zambians realise that to create wealth, we need to create a wealthy middle class in this country and without this, the country is going to be perpetually toiling to support foreigners,” Nawakwi said. “In this particular case of the exchange rate policy, the only way to address this imbalance in the trade pattern which does not favour Zambians but foreign capital is for us…specifically the minister of finance…to dollarise this economy even for one month.”
Nawakwi said in this case foreign investors would begin to cash in their dollars.
“If you go to Zimbabwe you don't hear of Zimbabwe dollars, you hear of the US dollar and the rand, and the inflation rate is far lower there than Mr finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane's,” Nawakwi said. “Inflation rate, why? Because there is parity in the trade.”
Nawakwi said the kwacha could only be managed if the mines cashed in more dollars in the economy.
She observed that all the money that was earned from copper by the mining companies was banked out of the country with only a few dollars being brought back to pay Zesco electricity bills and wages.
“Nothing is paid locally,” Nawakwi said. “Even the subcontractors in the mines are from India if it is KCM Konkola Copper Mines. The Zambians are just given jobs of supplying paper. How can you then expect the Zambian kwacha to have any respect on the market?”
The kwacha was now trading in the range of K4,700 to K4,900 against the US dollar but was in the range of K3,600 when the global crunch started in 2008.
Nawakwi said since the 1970s the economic policy was tailored to support the copper mines.
“It made sense at the time when we as a country owned these copper mines. When I was minister of finance we borrowed US $6million from a private bank to pay wages. It made sense for us to ask for more kwachas because we were paying our millions in kwacha,” Nawakwi said. “Now these mines are earning dollars, let us have these mines pay our workers in dollars.”
She said the inflation rate was rising on account of several factors but key among them was the almost US $2 price for a litre of petrol.
“To resolve the problem over the exchange rate, let us dollarise the economy, get all those infesters investors, these tourists investors to bank their turnover profits locally and only externalise profits and dividends. Let us create a middle class,” she said.
Nawakwi said Zambia had been dubbed as one of the leading trading nations in Sub-Saharan Africa that was not a pleasant label for any country.
“We can't even manufacture tooth picks, except for toilet paper by Softex. We can't even manufacture salt, even if we have salt pans in Mpika. We have to import everything,” said Nawakwi. “Now I can assure you that as long as we do nothing about our current disadvantaged position and you have a currency which is locally generated like the kwacha, you are not going to see your currency improving at all.”
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Love Lives
There was a program that used to run on PBS in not too distant a past when I used to have a little telly time. It started with one of the most powerful yet simple phrases ever made by hue-man.Yes, pun intended. Folks, evidence is crystallizing around the basic fact that everyone else descended from Africans. It is not that I did not know, but I was reminded of this fact today by a colleague of mine. He is a professor of biology.
The phrase has found permanent abode in my mind:
Today I want to borrow the strength and thrust of that epigram to talk about one topic whose essence has escaped even those once thought to be the wisest of men.
Quite close wouldn't you say? Well, Love has been mentioned in poetry, sonnets, and many a song. When it blossoms between two people, it is the most powerful force known to hue-man. Wonderful stories have been written about ancient lovers who were magnetized and bound together by love. And upon reading those stories, they conjure in our minds images of blissful experiences, the form and texture of which no special words exist for its ultimate definition. Many have tried to describe it, define it, and even deconstruct it to make it easy for those who find thinking to be quite a chore.
Still confusing. If not to you then see how much sense you can make out of the following.
There are as many ways to do the love thing as there are lovers.There is no known way of describing a feeling in succinct terms because everyone feels it in a very personal way. I mean, there is no school where love is a discipline or at the very least an outline in the curriculum of a known course of study. Or we would have seen eggheads of both men and women being protected from the scotching sun by crooked motor-boards fitting the accolade - Dr. Love fimo fimo. But there are none. The sad part is there may never be any person qualified to be an authority in matters of the heart. No man of any importance who came before me or will ever come on my hills should ever claim to know more about love than another. Doubt my words at your peril
In this piece I make my first attempt at helping us understand what love should not be.
Love is the master of mimicry. Love is not finite. Therefore, it fits any configuration of the kind of hearts in which it is assigned residence. For instance, it fits in your heart following the exact form of your heart. Your heart being the white-water environment of constantly changing tastes and preferences, highs and lows of tolerance, with no fixed frame of reference but that which is presented by the day - whatever that may be.
So then, what is love to one, and the determinants of it, is a totally different animal from that of another. I said doubt my words at your own peril. Because if what I have just said were not true, people would be able to connect in the plainness of love and remain stuck like glue for at least a century. One's desire and honest effort to learning to experience the same intensity of love and appreciation that the other puts one in a customized and personalized university . And when they sit to learn, word should be unambiguous, there should be no double meaning, and perceptions should not be of mirages but impartial feelings, solid enough for one to rely on.
Those who truly loved would not let, not for a single second, allow the once green garden of love turn into a desert full of rolling balls of dry rootless shrubs. For such situation prevail only when hopes, and perceptions are diametrically opposed to reality. This is how it is with everything else in life, though. Nothing is borne exactly in the manner it is initially conceived. Because life, as is known to mortals, is a constantly changing white-water environment.
In love as in life, the success of a relationship is not enough. Happiness is everything.
So then, again, because the environment is constantly changing, the success of a relationship between two people is predicated on each person's skill to train the other to understand the terms of happiness. Each of them should ask, what about me presents happiness to the other, is it the person of me or is it what I can do? Evidently, the questioner would not know until he or she is told. This is one instance where assumption becomes a root killer. Meaning, what one person does should not be misconstrued as an act whose intention is to deceive, dupe or disappoint. In the Zambian lingo ati amasetting. All efforts must be made to avoid entertaining the idea that the other lacks discernment as regards the partner's expectations. Nothing should be left to imagination. If you can do the heavy lifting, teaching the other person how to love you must be a weightless dumbbell.
That interaction between two people, who are predisposed to processing information in a wide a array of ways, it must be understood, and who's rate of response to the changing outer environment, and indeed their own, creates another being which must be fed well by both parties. Times and areas of congruency are few and far between. Love is separate and independent being from the two people involved. The health of this love-being depends on how well both parties understand its proper nutrition.
The form and shape of this new being is like the hearts of the two people involved tied together. It is uninsulated. It can potentially wilt, weather, atrophy, and die when it is forced to serve the interest of just one instead of both. However, it can be revived by improved communication. It's health improves when expectations are openly discussed and not assumed. Consequently, it bears happiness when what is discussed is taken seriously no matter how jokingly presented.
Let me see if I can outdo myself here. I want to distill all I have said above into one short paragraph. Here goes:
Love is only defined by the circumstances two people find themselves in. How it grows from that point forward is not dependent on what other people say or think, but what is communicated between the two. They can choose to communicate honestly and allow love to blossom and bear happiness, or they can assume things and obliterate all possibilities. I don't want to downgrade the importance of love by simply saying, it is communication. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Communication is quite essential and comes in many shapes, among them is what is said and how it is said, too. The most important question one should ask to get to the bone of love is, How do I feel when I am with him or her? The varying array and granularity of the response(s) to this question would discharge love from the ICU or condemn it to death. Oh, yeah, Love is mortal. It can die too.
I end this note by saying, the more there should be to love depends on what is cast on and shared from the canvass of honesty. Illusions of romantic poetry and melodious sonnets are a luxury of aristocrats.
Lest I be misunderstood; I am not trying to be a love guru but a student of it.
And I take a little bow.
The phrase has found permanent abode in my mind:
Africa, the place where we first became human!
Today I want to borrow the strength and thrust of that epigram to talk about one topic whose essence has escaped even those once thought to be the wisest of men.
Love, the master of mimicry!
Quite close wouldn't you say? Well, Love has been mentioned in poetry, sonnets, and many a song. When it blossoms between two people, it is the most powerful force known to hue-man. Wonderful stories have been written about ancient lovers who were magnetized and bound together by love. And upon reading those stories, they conjure in our minds images of blissful experiences, the form and texture of which no special words exist for its ultimate definition. Many have tried to describe it, define it, and even deconstruct it to make it easy for those who find thinking to be quite a chore.
Still confusing. If not to you then see how much sense you can make out of the following.
There are as many ways to do the love thing as there are lovers.There is no known way of describing a feeling in succinct terms because everyone feels it in a very personal way. I mean, there is no school where love is a discipline or at the very least an outline in the curriculum of a known course of study. Or we would have seen eggheads of both men and women being protected from the scotching sun by crooked motor-boards fitting the accolade - Dr. Love fimo fimo. But there are none. The sad part is there may never be any person qualified to be an authority in matters of the heart. No man of any importance who came before me or will ever come on my hills should ever claim to know more about love than another. Doubt my words at your peril
In this piece I make my first attempt at helping us understand what love should not be.
Love is the master of mimicry. Love is not finite. Therefore, it fits any configuration of the kind of hearts in which it is assigned residence. For instance, it fits in your heart following the exact form of your heart. Your heart being the white-water environment of constantly changing tastes and preferences, highs and lows of tolerance, with no fixed frame of reference but that which is presented by the day - whatever that may be.
Love is the master of mimicry!
So then, what is love to one, and the determinants of it, is a totally different animal from that of another. I said doubt my words at your own peril. Because if what I have just said were not true, people would be able to connect in the plainness of love and remain stuck like glue for at least a century. One's desire and honest effort to learning to experience the same intensity of love and appreciation that the other puts one in a customized and personalized university . And when they sit to learn, word should be unambiguous, there should be no double meaning, and perceptions should not be of mirages but impartial feelings, solid enough for one to rely on.
Those who truly loved would not let, not for a single second, allow the once green garden of love turn into a desert full of rolling balls of dry rootless shrubs. For such situation prevail only when hopes, and perceptions are diametrically opposed to reality. This is how it is with everything else in life, though. Nothing is borne exactly in the manner it is initially conceived. Because life, as is known to mortals, is a constantly changing white-water environment.
In love as in life, the success of a relationship is not enough. Happiness is everything.
So then, again, because the environment is constantly changing, the success of a relationship between two people is predicated on each person's skill to train the other to understand the terms of happiness. Each of them should ask, what about me presents happiness to the other, is it the person of me or is it what I can do? Evidently, the questioner would not know until he or she is told. This is one instance where assumption becomes a root killer. Meaning, what one person does should not be misconstrued as an act whose intention is to deceive, dupe or disappoint. In the Zambian lingo ati amasetting. All efforts must be made to avoid entertaining the idea that the other lacks discernment as regards the partner's expectations. Nothing should be left to imagination. If you can do the heavy lifting, teaching the other person how to love you must be a weightless dumbbell.
That interaction between two people, who are predisposed to processing information in a wide a array of ways, it must be understood, and who's rate of response to the changing outer environment, and indeed their own, creates another being which must be fed well by both parties. Times and areas of congruency are few and far between. Love is separate and independent being from the two people involved. The health of this love-being depends on how well both parties understand its proper nutrition.
It's alive!
The form and shape of this new being is like the hearts of the two people involved tied together. It is uninsulated. It can potentially wilt, weather, atrophy, and die when it is forced to serve the interest of just one instead of both. However, it can be revived by improved communication. It's health improves when expectations are openly discussed and not assumed. Consequently, it bears happiness when what is discussed is taken seriously no matter how jokingly presented.
Let me see if I can outdo myself here. I want to distill all I have said above into one short paragraph. Here goes:
Love is only defined by the circumstances two people find themselves in. How it grows from that point forward is not dependent on what other people say or think, but what is communicated between the two. They can choose to communicate honestly and allow love to blossom and bear happiness, or they can assume things and obliterate all possibilities. I don't want to downgrade the importance of love by simply saying, it is communication. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Communication is quite essential and comes in many shapes, among them is what is said and how it is said, too. The most important question one should ask to get to the bone of love is, How do I feel when I am with him or her? The varying array and granularity of the response(s) to this question would discharge love from the ICU or condemn it to death. Oh, yeah, Love is mortal. It can die too.
That is why when communicating,
it is important to take time to
say what you
feel.
I end this note by saying, the more there should be to love depends on what is cast on and shared from the canvass of honesty. Illusions of romantic poetry and melodious sonnets are a luxury of aristocrats.
Lest I be misunderstood; I am not trying to be a love guru but a student of it.
And I take a little bow.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
Remember when the measure of a child's approbation included going to church on Sunday?
I remember back then as a child when we looked forward to going to the celestial Sunday rendezvous of the meek and the devoted. I remember my older siblings bathing me up and applying an imperceptible film of Vaseline Petroleum jelly to my little round face. But for my sausagy legs, a bit of lather from a bar soap helped bring out that natural mocha color. They would then slip me into an outfit maintained holeless for the express purpose of weekly special occasion. During the week, it was folded and tacked away in a suitcase, all the while drenching in the concentrated aroma of kambolokonya. You had to be a little bit eccentric child for your little nose to stand the nose-shriveling strong whiff of your clothes taken out of kambolokonya-filled suitcase. I hated it! But my mother it was allright. According to her, kambolokonya did not only give clothes a fresh scent but also kept utusumi at bay. I have to give it to her, my mother (peace reign upon her spirit) was one of the most witty women I knew.
Allow me to boast about her for just a second: My mother practically proved the theory of natural selection independent of Darwin. She did not know Darwin from Adam, yet what she did in her spare-time was such a marvelous display of differential reproduction of genotypes in action. I did not understand it until my second year in college. Imagine a woman who had never even seen the inside of a primitive lecture room conducted experiments year after year and came up with results that everyone who came into contact with them, wanted a piece. That was only one of my mother's strong points; what she missed out in school, she made it up in her personal undertakings. You could not help but be fascinated by her dedication and self application. She strove for excellence in everything she did. Her other strong point was, she raised me. I was not the easiest child ukukansha, but my mother excelled once again.
My mother also made me believe that to be umawana musuma, atemwa ukukula na mano, it was absolutely essential that you attended church on Sunday. Evidently, I loved my mother and so I went everywhere she said I needed to. I was umwana musuma, you would say or, mayo ali nkushishe bwino. She did a great job, if I may say so myself.
But that only lasted as long as I was under her watch. Ilyo twafumine pang'anda, twaliya ikata iciila and bright lights. Some of my siblings got tossed and battered by the violent waves of life. Unfortunately, they passed on a little too early. Others did pretty much follow mu nkasa sha mufyashi. I took a turn and got to be different from everyone else in may ways. The consequences of that are a topic for another discussion. Suffice to say, many who knew me as a child think there is a complete disconnect between the child they knew and the man he bore. I have grown, I say. Not in girth, mukushishinkana. This piece, however, is not about me. Neither is it about my mother. It is about what has happened to the sublime celestial groves I once craved.
To my mother's dismay, I drifted from the once sublime groves. I think houses of worship used to be places to be, to escape from the excessive daily toll we pay both consciously and otherwise. Not anymore! They are just as taxing and as corrupting as any trendy night club. Some are comparatively sicker than famous Chez Ntemba.
When we patronized them, even as children, we humbled ourselves before the gods. We paid homage to the gods in appreciation of the harvests and the good health. Those we perceived to be messengers spoke about being clean and wholesome. They advised the adherents to abandon worldly pursuits and seek righteousness. Some of them actually walked the walk too. Not all of them, though. Just some of them. In fact, few of them led exemplary lives. But the rest of them were stinking dirty rotten scoundrels - deceptive and cunning ba kateka, balelya nokuputilisha.
In today's churches, being humble and seeking atonement is not the aim. Rather showboating is encouraged. Congrgants are preoccupied with what used to be "ifya kunse." Now efya mukati. Ifilimba, ma-wee! There is no difference between icongo ca mu mashebeen ne ca mumacalici. Kuti banjo nga nailila, niteka fitalale. Abene ati tushanine ba YHW. Tufwenkwile ba YWH. Mwe benashikulu mwe! Ukufwenkula nsele nsele, cumi? Which wrong exit did the church take and when?
Another thing is, the talks are no longer about seeking righteousness. Talks are about umutulo and ways to generate more so that uletula uukulu. Those who can't meet the expectations, like myself, choose to stay away, because we don't want to embarrass ourselves again and again. But some who choose to stick in, steal.
I know people who fleece the government and tithe big. They even boast about it. They shamelessly claim that 'it is god who gave them the ingenuity' to fleece the government. Each time I hear such ridiculous words get sent out of their mouth, I ask myself, 'did the gods listen to humans more before than they do today?' I have been grappling with that question for a while and I am very close to accepting it as a fact.
I am actually beginning to believe that the gods are upset with us; they may have gone away and left us to our own vices. We have turned the sublime to the ridiculous and that is why we are having what seems like an endless stream of insurmountable problems. It is not only the Zambians, but all humankind.
I am here suggesting that to be well again, against incredible odds, we must go back to our ways - ku fishilano fyesu.
I remember back then as a child when we looked forward to going to the celestial Sunday rendezvous of the meek and the devoted. I remember my older siblings bathing me up and applying an imperceptible film of Vaseline Petroleum jelly to my little round face. But for my sausagy legs, a bit of lather from a bar soap helped bring out that natural mocha color. They would then slip me into an outfit maintained holeless for the express purpose of weekly special occasion. During the week, it was folded and tacked away in a suitcase, all the while drenching in the concentrated aroma of kambolokonya. You had to be a little bit eccentric child for your little nose to stand the nose-shriveling strong whiff of your clothes taken out of kambolokonya-filled suitcase. I hated it! But my mother it was allright. According to her, kambolokonya did not only give clothes a fresh scent but also kept utusumi at bay. I have to give it to her, my mother (peace reign upon her spirit) was one of the most witty women I knew.
Allow me to boast about her for just a second: My mother practically proved the theory of natural selection independent of Darwin. She did not know Darwin from Adam, yet what she did in her spare-time was such a marvelous display of differential reproduction of genotypes in action. I did not understand it until my second year in college. Imagine a woman who had never even seen the inside of a primitive lecture room conducted experiments year after year and came up with results that everyone who came into contact with them, wanted a piece. That was only one of my mother's strong points; what she missed out in school, she made it up in her personal undertakings. You could not help but be fascinated by her dedication and self application. She strove for excellence in everything she did. Her other strong point was, she raised me. I was not the easiest child ukukansha, but my mother excelled once again.
My mother also made me believe that to be umawana musuma, atemwa ukukula na mano, it was absolutely essential that you attended church on Sunday. Evidently, I loved my mother and so I went everywhere she said I needed to. I was umwana musuma, you would say or, mayo ali nkushishe bwino. She did a great job, if I may say so myself.
But that only lasted as long as I was under her watch. Ilyo twafumine pang'anda, twaliya ikata iciila and bright lights. Some of my siblings got tossed and battered by the violent waves of life. Unfortunately, they passed on a little too early. Others did pretty much follow mu nkasa sha mufyashi. I took a turn and got to be different from everyone else in may ways. The consequences of that are a topic for another discussion. Suffice to say, many who knew me as a child think there is a complete disconnect between the child they knew and the man he bore. I have grown, I say. Not in girth, mukushishinkana. This piece, however, is not about me. Neither is it about my mother. It is about what has happened to the sublime celestial groves I once craved.
To my mother's dismay, I drifted from the once sublime groves. I think houses of worship used to be places to be, to escape from the excessive daily toll we pay both consciously and otherwise. Not anymore! They are just as taxing and as corrupting as any trendy night club. Some are comparatively sicker than famous Chez Ntemba.
When we patronized them, even as children, we humbled ourselves before the gods. We paid homage to the gods in appreciation of the harvests and the good health. Those we perceived to be messengers spoke about being clean and wholesome. They advised the adherents to abandon worldly pursuits and seek righteousness. Some of them actually walked the walk too. Not all of them, though. Just some of them. In fact, few of them led exemplary lives. But the rest of them were stinking dirty rotten scoundrels - deceptive and cunning ba kateka, balelya nokuputilisha.
In today's churches, being humble and seeking atonement is not the aim. Rather showboating is encouraged. Congrgants are preoccupied with what used to be "ifya kunse." Now efya mukati. Ifilimba, ma-wee! There is no difference between icongo ca mu mashebeen ne ca mumacalici. Kuti banjo nga nailila, niteka fitalale. Abene ati tushanine ba YHW. Tufwenkwile ba YWH. Mwe benashikulu mwe! Ukufwenkula nsele nsele, cumi? Which wrong exit did the church take and when?
Another thing is, the talks are no longer about seeking righteousness. Talks are about umutulo and ways to generate more so that uletula uukulu. Those who can't meet the expectations, like myself, choose to stay away, because we don't want to embarrass ourselves again and again. But some who choose to stick in, steal.
I know people who fleece the government and tithe big. They even boast about it. They shamelessly claim that 'it is god who gave them the ingenuity' to fleece the government. Each time I hear such ridiculous words get sent out of their mouth, I ask myself, 'did the gods listen to humans more before than they do today?' I have been grappling with that question for a while and I am very close to accepting it as a fact.
I am actually beginning to believe that the gods are upset with us; they may have gone away and left us to our own vices. We have turned the sublime to the ridiculous and that is why we are having what seems like an endless stream of insurmountable problems. It is not only the Zambians, but all humankind.
I am here suggesting that to be well again, against incredible odds, we must go back to our ways - ku fishilano fyesu.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Emotion is the enemy of wise music craft
The first time I heard the saying in ciBemba that "Bakolwe basekana ifipato," I thoguht it was restricted to our arboreal cousins.
I grew up in a komboni on the Copperbelt. I did not choose that seedy neighborhood for my nursery. This is the one time when I unknowingly ceded responsibility to the hands of other people and say, "the decision was made for me." I have not regrets though. Most importantly I worked hard to change things. As I say, "Every devastating blow carries with it the seed of strength." You can see, I lived to talk about it.
Others did, too. But most of those that I grew up with have passed on. This piece, however, is not about me. Rather it is about those that are coming on my heels. Those who are suffering the same belittlement as the komboni kids always do by the kids from ku mayadi. At the time I thought they were snobs. But in retrospect, I think they did not have much of a choice either.
I am not quite sure but entertainer Dandy Krazy could be one of those coming on my heels. In Krazy's view, the Award things are not working well for him. They fall short of meeting his expectations - whatever those expectations were. And using the best means available to him, he lashes out at them all!
I was about to label Krazy's outbursts as irrational when I noticed some other dude who sounded like a kid from ku mayadi decided to reduce Krazy to a mere caricature of a performer. As you will soon notice, Krazy did not mention a name. Instead, he, in no uncertain terms, indicated that he had an axe to grind with the organizations. But the dude who sounded like a kid from ku mayadi personalized the whole issue. He went for Krazy's jugular and tore the poor Komboni young man apart. This is not an attempt to stand in solidarity with fellow Komboni survivor, but to highlight the poverty of thought in some of our young men. This lack of tolerance for one another and patience to try and understand first before acting is a blight that is likely to be carried through to public office should these young men decide to run for office.
One can argue that the fussing and fighting we are forced to witness in public figures is rubbing off to the young generation. Those aspiring to and holding public office of any magnitude ought to realize that emotion is the enemy of wise statecraft.
I have highlighted with blue what I thought were incendiary comments and inserted my comments in brown.
...........................................................................................................................
FOLLOWING Dandy Krazy’s outbursts against the Ngoma and Born and Bred awards at a performance held at Breakpoint in Lusaka recently, the Zambia One Comedy outfit have expressed their disappointment with the singer’s behaviour and charged that he is ignorant over how much the organisers put in to come up with the awards.
In an interview with the Weekend Post, Zambia One director of productions Derrick Kondowe said the behaviour exhibited by Dandy Krazy is unacceptable. Having read the comments in yesterday's paper and assuming they were true, I will agree with Kondowe.
“First and foremost, I want to appeal to the executive of Zambia Association of Musicians to discipline the boy for embarrassing the entire music association. I am wondering who really is an ignoramus here. But I will let you be the judge. I should mention however that his term, boy, does tend to carry derogatory connotations when used in the context that he did. We need to educate these artistes before they go on issuing useless comments about the local awards because they have misunderstood the essence of the awards,“ Kondowe said.What kind of education would that be ba Kondowe, if I may ask?
He said the awards are meant to recognise artistes' efforts in order to motivate them to do more in their careers.
“Coming to Born N' Bred, an initiative by Innocent Kalaluka the producer of Smooth Talk, it came about to encourage musicians to produce videos that are internationally accepted. There seems to be this insatiable desire to please the 'international.' What manner of beast is this thing called 'international' that wants to be fed at the expense of the local Zambians? Born N' Bred was made out of personal sacrifice by Kalaluka and maybe they make money out of advertisements. And for them to even offer K1m prize money it should be commended. I would appreciate if this came from seasoned artistes like Danny ‘Kaya’ Siulapwa or the Sakala Brothers because these play live music on stage, not some chaps who board a Marco Polo bus to Lusaka with a scratched disc to come and play here in Lusaka and make disparaging remarks against the local awards,” he said. Up until this point, I was thinking Kondowe was concerned about the nature of the comments and not the the status and economic condition of the person who uttered them. Should it matter what mode of transportation Krazy used to travel? It is beginning to crystallize in my mind that Kondowe may not after all be a kid from ku mayadi.
I am beginning to suspect Kondowe is one of those kids we called "fuzi." The term, Fuzi, was used to describe a Seyfert who was always a step behind somebody but was always in the frontline protecting the image and the body of he that they envied. I love Danny and I think he cranks out some unique tunes all the time, but he does not always play live music while the Salaka bothers do. But be that as it may, not all musicians are going to have the luck of leading a band. There will always be somebody struggling on the fringes who would fit the description of a "starving musician." But it may not be by choice. Not every one was born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Some are born na mabula ya nkonde mukanwa.
Kondowe appeal to Dandy Krazy to apologise to the organisers of the Born N' Bred and Ngoma awards.
“ZAM is of the musicians’ organisations that can hold one of the most prestigious awards in the country but for one of the artistes to come and insult the existing award(s) is an insult to all the artistes, including myself. He (Dandy) should focus on improving his poor musical and video works rather than insulting the awards,” Kondowe said.
He said currently the music videos being shown on local television channels could not match or compete at international level.
“Our brother Jordan Katembula (JK) has improved on his works, therefore Dandy should emulate him because JK can attract corporate organisations to sponsor his music because he has made us proud. In all fairness, Kondowe should speak for himself. Some people feel JK does not not really measure up. Therefore, Dandy Krazy should not get excited over nothing when he performs in these bars and make bad comments, he only rubbishes ZAM…Let him behave like a role model because many people are looking up to him. Even the organisation that is sponsoring him cannot like to be associated with insults. What he is simply telling us is that when you drink the same sachet of ‘Krazy Berry’ he was advertising at Breakpoint, you become violent and begin to insult other people,” said Kondowe. So, Krazy has a corporate sponsor! And Kondowe knows there are people looking up to him? Kondowe is contradicting himself here.
At a performance at Breakpoint a fortnight ago, Dandy Krazy said he did not believe in the Ngoma and Born N' Bred awards because the prize monies they offered to winning artistes was insufficient and only belittled artistes.
He described the Born N' Bred Awards as useless and the Ngoma Awards rubbish.
Final Note: Let's learn to listen well, think rationally, and speak right. And most of all, let's learn to be tolerant of one another. We must not always push each other under the bus in a bid to please a foreigner. All foreigners have imyabo, no kubwekela balabwekela. Imyesu is you me and every Zambian looking out for each other.
I grew up in a komboni on the Copperbelt. I did not choose that seedy neighborhood for my nursery. This is the one time when I unknowingly ceded responsibility to the hands of other people and say, "the decision was made for me." I have not regrets though. Most importantly I worked hard to change things. As I say, "Every devastating blow carries with it the seed of strength." You can see, I lived to talk about it.
Others did, too. But most of those that I grew up with have passed on. This piece, however, is not about me. Rather it is about those that are coming on my heels. Those who are suffering the same belittlement as the komboni kids always do by the kids from ku mayadi. At the time I thought they were snobs. But in retrospect, I think they did not have much of a choice either.
I am not quite sure but entertainer Dandy Krazy could be one of those coming on my heels. In Krazy's view, the Award things are not working well for him. They fall short of meeting his expectations - whatever those expectations were. And using the best means available to him, he lashes out at them all!
I was about to label Krazy's outbursts as irrational when I noticed some other dude who sounded like a kid from ku mayadi decided to reduce Krazy to a mere caricature of a performer. As you will soon notice, Krazy did not mention a name. Instead, he, in no uncertain terms, indicated that he had an axe to grind with the organizations. But the dude who sounded like a kid from ku mayadi personalized the whole issue. He went for Krazy's jugular and tore the poor Komboni young man apart. This is not an attempt to stand in solidarity with fellow Komboni survivor, but to highlight the poverty of thought in some of our young men. This lack of tolerance for one another and patience to try and understand first before acting is a blight that is likely to be carried through to public office should these young men decide to run for office.
One can argue that the fussing and fighting we are forced to witness in public figures is rubbing off to the young generation. Those aspiring to and holding public office of any magnitude ought to realize that emotion is the enemy of wise statecraft.
I have highlighted with blue what I thought were incendiary comments and inserted my comments in brown.
...........................................................................................................................
Kondowe urges ZAM to discipline Dandy
By Lovely Kayombo Fri 21 Jan. 2011, 18:00 |
 |
Dandy Krazy |
In an interview with the Weekend Post, Zambia One director of productions Derrick Kondowe said the behaviour exhibited by Dandy Krazy is unacceptable. Having read the comments in yesterday's paper and assuming they were true, I will agree with Kondowe.
“First and foremost, I want to appeal to the executive of Zambia Association of Musicians to discipline the boy for embarrassing the entire music association. I am wondering who really is an ignoramus here. But I will let you be the judge. I should mention however that his term, boy, does tend to carry derogatory connotations when used in the context that he did. We need to educate these artistes before they go on issuing useless comments about the local awards because they have misunderstood the essence of the awards,“ Kondowe said.What kind of education would that be ba Kondowe, if I may ask?
He said the awards are meant to recognise artistes' efforts in order to motivate them to do more in their careers.
“Coming to Born N' Bred, an initiative by Innocent Kalaluka the producer of Smooth Talk, it came about to encourage musicians to produce videos that are internationally accepted. There seems to be this insatiable desire to please the 'international.' What manner of beast is this thing called 'international' that wants to be fed at the expense of the local Zambians? Born N' Bred was made out of personal sacrifice by Kalaluka and maybe they make money out of advertisements. And for them to even offer K1m prize money it should be commended. I would appreciate if this came from seasoned artistes like Danny ‘Kaya’ Siulapwa or the Sakala Brothers because these play live music on stage, not some chaps who board a Marco Polo bus to Lusaka with a scratched disc to come and play here in Lusaka and make disparaging remarks against the local awards,” he said. Up until this point, I was thinking Kondowe was concerned about the nature of the comments and not the the status and economic condition of the person who uttered them. Should it matter what mode of transportation Krazy used to travel? It is beginning to crystallize in my mind that Kondowe may not after all be a kid from ku mayadi.
Kondowe appeal to Dandy Krazy to apologise to the organisers of the Born N' Bred and Ngoma awards.
“ZAM is of the musicians’ organisations that can hold one of the most prestigious awards in the country but for one of the artistes to come and insult the existing award(s) is an insult to all the artistes, including myself. He (Dandy) should focus on improving his poor musical and video works rather than insulting the awards,” Kondowe said.
He said currently the music videos being shown on local television channels could not match or compete at international level.
“Our brother Jordan Katembula (JK) has improved on his works, therefore Dandy should emulate him because JK can attract corporate organisations to sponsor his music because he has made us proud. In all fairness, Kondowe should speak for himself. Some people feel JK does not not really measure up. Therefore, Dandy Krazy should not get excited over nothing when he performs in these bars and make bad comments, he only rubbishes ZAM…Let him behave like a role model because many people are looking up to him. Even the organisation that is sponsoring him cannot like to be associated with insults. What he is simply telling us is that when you drink the same sachet of ‘Krazy Berry’ he was advertising at Breakpoint, you become violent and begin to insult other people,” said Kondowe. So, Krazy has a corporate sponsor! And Kondowe knows there are people looking up to him? Kondowe is contradicting himself here.
At a performance at Breakpoint a fortnight ago, Dandy Krazy said he did not believe in the Ngoma and Born N' Bred awards because the prize monies they offered to winning artistes was insufficient and only belittled artistes.
He described the Born N' Bred Awards as useless and the Ngoma Awards rubbish.
Final Note: Let's learn to listen well, think rationally, and speak right. And most of all, let's learn to be tolerant of one another. We must not always push each other under the bus in a bid to please a foreigner. All foreigners have imyabo, no kubwekela balabwekela. Imyesu is you me and every Zambian looking out for each other.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Politics of Poverty: "I hold this truth to be self evident"
This is one time that I could not resist the urge to read a lot into what somebody said. Judge me if you must but don't blame me. Mike's words were carefully selected and uttered repeatedly in what seemed like a rare moment of courage.
Mike is telling us, assuming the scribe quoted him accurately, that Zambian politics is about the self and not service to the people. "...advantaging yourself," he insists. Whatever happened to the reasons we engage in politics in the first place? Has differing on the methodologies and subsequent techniques of addressing concerns of a public nature taken on a different descriptor? I thought politics was it.
professor Mike Mulongoti just gave us a new definition for the word politics - advantaging oneself - (by any means necessary?) and, in my view, is the number one reason the majority of Zambians is poor. Ours is indeed Politics of Poverty. As one of my mutola nkhani friends once said, "...if everyone who is guilty of a crime were to be locked up, the entire government would be behind bars". I thought that was a profound statement. And why aren't they?
Anyway read on:
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I'm better than Kunda - Mulongoti
By Patson Chilemba Thu 17 Feb. 2011, 04:02 |
 |
Mulongoti |
Reacting to Vice-President Kunda’s remarks that he was the best candidate for the MMD vice-presidency because he was one of the principal legal advisors to the government and was better placed to serve with President Rupiah Banda, Mulongoti, who is works and supply minister and MMD vice-presidential aspirant, said he had explained about his proven track record in the party, and others should do the same.
“I do hope they can give us the opportunity to debate so that the public can begin to pass judgement on us. I am not averse to debate. I am not averse to the people passing judgement on me because after all I am accessing myself to public scrutiny,” he said.
Mulongoti said Kunda should show his achievements in the MMD rather than talking about his performance in government.
“We are talking about elections. I do not think we should now bring government work into the party because the party exists as an entity. So the party also requires support. So I made a declaration and indication of what I have done in the party and I am sure everybody can see what I have done,” Mulongoti said. “If the basis is performance in government, we will all start talking about government. All I can say is I welcome him Kunda in the arena. He is my brother and I hope he can compete in a very brotherly manner.”
On Vice-President Kunda’s apparent reference to Mulongoti to stop making insinuations against other party members, Mulongoti said politics was about advantaging oneself.
He said politics was about competing at an intellectual level.
“I don’t know what type of politics they are thinking of where we have a dialogue of the dumb. Politics is not a dialogue of the dumb. Politics is about advantaging yourself. Everything you say is about advantaging yourself,” said Mulongoti. “If now everything you say becomes a crime, who is going to compete with who? Politics is not for the faint-hearted.”
Addressing the press and cadres at the Lusaka province party headquarters on Tuesday, Vice-President Kunda said he understood how the MMD operated having provided legal guidance to the party and government since he joined politics.
He said he worked well with President Banda and that relationship should not be interrupted.
Vice-President Kunda said party members should not experiment with leadership but go for tested leadership.
Adopted from The Post. February 17, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Politics of Poverty? Or not.
In a responsive and responsible government, as in any efficient and effective organization, the architectural design is dictated by enormity and complexity of work to be done, and not by the number of imposa mabwe seeking position and title. Most rational thinking Zambians appreciate the fact that Zambia is a country populated by poor people, not because there are no resources to be converted to goods and services to meet their needs but victims of lack of political will to do the right thing. Their cultural value of contribution and service are overtaken by their overwhelming concern for pain in their belly. Doing the right thing, though, does not take much. All one has to do is pick out and prioritize the pressing issues, and look for people with knowledge, skills, abilities and proven experience to effectively address them.
A person vying for head of government should demonstrate to the electorate, beyond a shadow of doubt, that they have the skills of a selector of (wo)men, an absolute ingredient of a competent administrator. Subsequently, the chosen individuals need to be supervised. This means that the administrator must know what constitutes good performance, and lay it all out in no uncertain terms to those he or she hires to address the known recurrent societal issues. Additionally, a competent administrator would set up a schedule of meetings when he or she would be receiving status updates on work done toward achieving defined milestones. I call this step, receiving bundles of goods on behalf of the people. The quality of these deliverables would determine the level of competency the head of government has. To continuously enhance the quality of service, the administrator must sign compacts with his posse that clearly states that those who exceed expectations deserve a pat on the back. And those who fail to hit their marks, deserve a kick on the butt!
While kicking butt may sound like a therapeutic exercise for one's arthritic foot, avoiding it by hiring the right people for the right jobs would definitely increase the administrator's credibility. One can almost be guaranteed re-election if one did a good job of addressing, in time, the concerns of the majority, stealing notwithstanding.
This is the point, I think, old man Saunders is making in the article below. And because of his words of wisdom, I confer upon him the the title of Rational Thinker of the Week.
Political Activist Dante Saunders has observed that the problems that have rocked the UPND/PF pact are being caused by the party members at lower organs. Mr. Saunders says from the meetings that he held with both UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and PF’s Michael Sata, it is clear that the two opposition leaders are still interested in the Pact and that all the wrangles in the pact are being caused by the leadership at lower organs.
The veteran politician says it is evident that some members of the two parties in the Pact are scared of losing their positions in their respective parties once the Pact leader is announced hence the misunderstandings.
Mr. Saunders has told QFM news that there is need for all the leaders in the two opposition political parties to reach a compromise and ensure that whatever decision they make is for the benefit of the nation.
Mr. Saunders adds that there is need for the political leaders to prioritize the interests of the entire nation before their personal interests.
Meanwhile, Mr. Saunders has urged all the political parties to consider empowering the youths in their parties instead of using them to ignite violence during elections.
Mr. Saunders has suggested that each political party reserve at least 30 percent of their parliamentary adoptions for the younger generation.
He says this will help in grooming the youths for future political responsibilities.
[Qfm]
Adopted from Lusaka Times, Feb. 14, 2011.
A person vying for head of government should demonstrate to the electorate, beyond a shadow of doubt, that they have the skills of a selector of (wo)men, an absolute ingredient of a competent administrator. Subsequently, the chosen individuals need to be supervised. This means that the administrator must know what constitutes good performance, and lay it all out in no uncertain terms to those he or she hires to address the known recurrent societal issues. Additionally, a competent administrator would set up a schedule of meetings when he or she would be receiving status updates on work done toward achieving defined milestones. I call this step, receiving bundles of goods on behalf of the people. The quality of these deliverables would determine the level of competency the head of government has. To continuously enhance the quality of service, the administrator must sign compacts with his posse that clearly states that those who exceed expectations deserve a pat on the back. And those who fail to hit their marks, deserve a kick on the butt!
While kicking butt may sound like a therapeutic exercise for one's arthritic foot, avoiding it by hiring the right people for the right jobs would definitely increase the administrator's credibility. One can almost be guaranteed re-election if one did a good job of addressing, in time, the concerns of the majority, stealing notwithstanding.
This is the point, I think, old man Saunders is making in the article below. And because of his words of wisdom, I confer upon him the the title of Rational Thinker of the Week.
Zambia: Members at lower level causing pact problems – Observer
UPND supporters
The veteran politician says it is evident that some members of the two parties in the Pact are scared of losing their positions in their respective parties once the Pact leader is announced hence the misunderstandings.
Mr. Saunders has told QFM news that there is need for all the leaders in the two opposition political parties to reach a compromise and ensure that whatever decision they make is for the benefit of the nation.
Mr. Saunders adds that there is need for the political leaders to prioritize the interests of the entire nation before their personal interests.
Meanwhile, Mr. Saunders has urged all the political parties to consider empowering the youths in their parties instead of using them to ignite violence during elections.
Mr. Saunders has suggested that each political party reserve at least 30 percent of their parliamentary adoptions for the younger generation.
He says this will help in grooming the youths for future political responsibilities.
[Qfm]
Adopted from Lusaka Times, Feb. 14, 2011.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
What Lessons can Zambian Politicians Draw from The Events in North Africa
It is getting increasingly harder for me to restrain myself from continuing to believe that there is an unholy baptism that occurs between the campaign platform and the door to political office. Why else would people of good conscience go barefooted on a selfish path. They exhibit indisputable signs of good nature, inter alia, thoughtfulness, compassion, intentional, hardworking, purposefulness and discerning. They say the right things and those attractive characteristics cease to exist the moment they step into their new political portfolio. They quickly slide down the forget them hill. Thereafter their job description gets reduced to one sentence, "Filya bacenjele."
After analyzing the political stench, you can't help but begin to wonder why nations organize governments at all.If all they would do is defend their ideology, in the case where they have some, or shamelessly hop from one political party to another, where they have none, the usefulness of government is brought into question. This conduct may be the reason why some people think and say politics is a dirty game.
I am not quite sure that characterization is fair. Is not politics simply a divergent of views of how to address a societal concern? in some countries, increased dependence on government to find solutions to such concerns creates an ideological rift between people giving birth to political parties. In other countries, however, divergence of views does not exist; political opponents emerge because they too want to be called "leaders."
So they lie, cheat, steal, scheme, and kill if they must, just to be called "leader" of some sort. They turn into this cunning beast which casts spellbinding smiles upon the electorate by the day and turns around and spew mind numbing pungent smelling manure by the night. In the privacy of their own minds, they are not responsible to any one but themselves. They have a chance of a lifetime; put an end to their poverty on the backs of the hardworking men and women in their countries. We don't have to get into the specifics but each one of us has questions about how people go into politics and no sooner do they open the door to their new office than they amass so much wealth. And there we are thinking politics is not supposed to be a business.
To fully appreciate why politicians find it hard to let go of their positions, go to the extent of lying, cheating, stealing, scheming, and killing when they deem it necessary we must demand full disclosure of their pays and pecks. We need to know what makes Zambian politicians so stubbornly arrogant to the point that they feel they hold title to the piece of real estate called Zambia. We must know first whether they are qualified for the job. Then we need to know how many automobiles they get from the government, how many domestic staff they are allowed to hire, where they live and how much they get in housing allowance if they live in their own houses and how much rent the government pays on their behalf if they don't have their own, how much security detail and how much does it cost the taxpayer, do they get a percentage of loan or contract they negotiate on behalf of the people of Zambia, who puts gasoline in their assigned automobiles and how often, how many cell phones they have and who pays for their talk time, how much they get per trip and who approves them, where do they take their kids for education and who foots the bill, if they have a home that they did not have before how did they acquire it and can such an acquisition be supported by their pay, what do they do to deserve such a pay anyway?
As you can see, I can go on and on about waste and lack of self respect and responsibility and responsiveness in government. Would I be wrong if I stated that our government is top-heavy and therefore unable to live up to its expectations? How may ministers and how much are we wasting on them? As if there was no shortage of jobs in the country, some of them are both cabinet ministers as well as members of parliament - which is a conflict of interest in and of itself. But nobody seems to care! They go about their fake duty like we don't matter, we are only there to generate revenue for them to they can live comfortably on our backs!
The people of Tunisia had been pushed to their last thread and had no choice but to push back. Eguptos felt they had enough of that political garbage, they pushed back. Niger just caught the fever and people there too are saying they can't take it anymore! I hope Politicians in Zambia are taking notes.
The rate of unemployment in Egupto is 40%. Zambia's is 60%! It would not take much to bring the country's economic machine to a halt. The cost of living in Zambia continues to escalate, the gap distance between the rich politicians and poor Zambians is vast. Many Zambians are hungry and by extension angry. Again, it would not take much to ignite the Zambian population into furious mob of protestors.
Many people would like to see a similar fire alight in Zambia. But I don't and I have a good reason for that. My late parents taught me that "Uwa mano asambilila pa cipuba." I may be naive about this one, but I have a strong feeling that Zambian politicians will look at the events in north Africa and choose to stop being arrogant. They don't own Zambia. If they want to last long and continue to receive a salary for the work they have not done, they need to start listening to the concerns of the people. Here are some of the issues that they need to begin giving a serious thought:
1. Sell off ZNBC - it has been a political mouthpiece for politicians in office. Plainly it costs a lot yet it yields no benefits to the people.We can do without reading/watching the adventures of fat cats.
2. Sell off Times of Zambia - Zambia Daily Mail and ZANIS. Like ZNBC, these institutions are being run at the expense of healthcare and education services. We need all the children to go to school.
3. Reduce the size of government - Some ministries are not necessary. We have made these recommendations over the years and politicians act as if they are the ones that make the money which fuels the government machinery. What arrogance!
4. Reduce the power of the President - That position has too much power. The president has more power than the whole government system. This has to stop. For instance, it must not be up to the president to decide when elections would be held. We need a fixed day when we will be holding elections every five years. That can't cost money to change.
5. Make housing allowance an integral part of the civil servant's pay - An employer's responsibility should end with remunerating a person consistent with their pay. Unless under special circumstances when a person works in less than normal settings, the employer is not supposed to dictate the cost of a person's abode. This practice is paternalistic and has to end.
6. Keep cabinet ministers out of parliament - they don't belong there. It is conflict of interest!
7. Reduce the number of ministers to 12. - Only 12 ministries have relevance in Zambia.
8. Rein in Fringe Benefits from ministers - stop wasting taxpayers money on people who do not add vale to the quality of life of Zambians. Impose a pay cut, one automobile for office use only, no security detail, no rent, one cell phone, limited travel and more importantly - have a semi-annually performance evaluation.
9. Don't increase the number of MPs - what is the current crop failing to do? The question, you may want to ask is, WHY? Increasing the number of ineffective people is not the solution. And in fact when you increase the number of MPs, you will be taking resources away from services. We need improved services and better delivery methods.
10. Fix Roads - Have you no shame?
11. Unbundle ZESCO - It is about time the inefficiency and ineffectiveness that is impeding economic growth was eliminated. Why are you forcing us to accept interrupted power supply (IPS) as normal? The government's failure to recognize the catalytic importance of electric power in Zambia defies commonsense.
12. Post government spending against budget on the internet - we want to take part in monitoring who is performing and who is not.
The intent of the above recommendation is to make politics unattractive to lethargic thinkers, keep good for nothing politicians out of government. Zambia has serious problems. She needs serious people to solve them.
After analyzing the political stench, you can't help but begin to wonder why nations organize governments at all.If all they would do is defend their ideology, in the case where they have some, or shamelessly hop from one political party to another, where they have none, the usefulness of government is brought into question. This conduct may be the reason why some people think and say politics is a dirty game.
I am not quite sure that characterization is fair. Is not politics simply a divergent of views of how to address a societal concern? in some countries, increased dependence on government to find solutions to such concerns creates an ideological rift between people giving birth to political parties. In other countries, however, divergence of views does not exist; political opponents emerge because they too want to be called "leaders."
So they lie, cheat, steal, scheme, and kill if they must, just to be called "leader" of some sort. They turn into this cunning beast which casts spellbinding smiles upon the electorate by the day and turns around and spew mind numbing pungent smelling manure by the night. In the privacy of their own minds, they are not responsible to any one but themselves. They have a chance of a lifetime; put an end to their poverty on the backs of the hardworking men and women in their countries. We don't have to get into the specifics but each one of us has questions about how people go into politics and no sooner do they open the door to their new office than they amass so much wealth. And there we are thinking politics is not supposed to be a business.
To fully appreciate why politicians find it hard to let go of their positions, go to the extent of lying, cheating, stealing, scheming, and killing when they deem it necessary we must demand full disclosure of their pays and pecks. We need to know what makes Zambian politicians so stubbornly arrogant to the point that they feel they hold title to the piece of real estate called Zambia. We must know first whether they are qualified for the job. Then we need to know how many automobiles they get from the government, how many domestic staff they are allowed to hire, where they live and how much they get in housing allowance if they live in their own houses and how much rent the government pays on their behalf if they don't have their own, how much security detail and how much does it cost the taxpayer, do they get a percentage of loan or contract they negotiate on behalf of the people of Zambia, who puts gasoline in their assigned automobiles and how often, how many cell phones they have and who pays for their talk time, how much they get per trip and who approves them, where do they take their kids for education and who foots the bill, if they have a home that they did not have before how did they acquire it and can such an acquisition be supported by their pay, what do they do to deserve such a pay anyway?
As you can see, I can go on and on about waste and lack of self respect and responsibility and responsiveness in government. Would I be wrong if I stated that our government is top-heavy and therefore unable to live up to its expectations? How may ministers and how much are we wasting on them? As if there was no shortage of jobs in the country, some of them are both cabinet ministers as well as members of parliament - which is a conflict of interest in and of itself. But nobody seems to care! They go about their fake duty like we don't matter, we are only there to generate revenue for them to they can live comfortably on our backs!
The people of Tunisia had been pushed to their last thread and had no choice but to push back. Eguptos felt they had enough of that political garbage, they pushed back. Niger just caught the fever and people there too are saying they can't take it anymore! I hope Politicians in Zambia are taking notes.
The rate of unemployment in Egupto is 40%. Zambia's is 60%! It would not take much to bring the country's economic machine to a halt. The cost of living in Zambia continues to escalate, the gap distance between the rich politicians and poor Zambians is vast. Many Zambians are hungry and by extension angry. Again, it would not take much to ignite the Zambian population into furious mob of protestors.
Many people would like to see a similar fire alight in Zambia. But I don't and I have a good reason for that. My late parents taught me that "Uwa mano asambilila pa cipuba." I may be naive about this one, but I have a strong feeling that Zambian politicians will look at the events in north Africa and choose to stop being arrogant. They don't own Zambia. If they want to last long and continue to receive a salary for the work they have not done, they need to start listening to the concerns of the people. Here are some of the issues that they need to begin giving a serious thought:
1. Sell off ZNBC - it has been a political mouthpiece for politicians in office. Plainly it costs a lot yet it yields no benefits to the people.We can do without reading/watching the adventures of fat cats.
2. Sell off Times of Zambia - Zambia Daily Mail and ZANIS. Like ZNBC, these institutions are being run at the expense of healthcare and education services. We need all the children to go to school.
3. Reduce the size of government - Some ministries are not necessary. We have made these recommendations over the years and politicians act as if they are the ones that make the money which fuels the government machinery. What arrogance!
4. Reduce the power of the President - That position has too much power. The president has more power than the whole government system. This has to stop. For instance, it must not be up to the president to decide when elections would be held. We need a fixed day when we will be holding elections every five years. That can't cost money to change.
5. Make housing allowance an integral part of the civil servant's pay - An employer's responsibility should end with remunerating a person consistent with their pay. Unless under special circumstances when a person works in less than normal settings, the employer is not supposed to dictate the cost of a person's abode. This practice is paternalistic and has to end.
6. Keep cabinet ministers out of parliament - they don't belong there. It is conflict of interest!
7. Reduce the number of ministers to 12. - Only 12 ministries have relevance in Zambia.
8. Rein in Fringe Benefits from ministers - stop wasting taxpayers money on people who do not add vale to the quality of life of Zambians. Impose a pay cut, one automobile for office use only, no security detail, no rent, one cell phone, limited travel and more importantly - have a semi-annually performance evaluation.
9. Don't increase the number of MPs - what is the current crop failing to do? The question, you may want to ask is, WHY? Increasing the number of ineffective people is not the solution. And in fact when you increase the number of MPs, you will be taking resources away from services. We need improved services and better delivery methods.
10. Fix Roads - Have you no shame?
11. Unbundle ZESCO - It is about time the inefficiency and ineffectiveness that is impeding economic growth was eliminated. Why are you forcing us to accept interrupted power supply (IPS) as normal? The government's failure to recognize the catalytic importance of electric power in Zambia defies commonsense.
12. Post government spending against budget on the internet - we want to take part in monitoring who is performing and who is not.
The intent of the above recommendation is to make politics unattractive to lethargic thinkers, keep good for nothing politicians out of government. Zambia has serious problems. She needs serious people to solve them.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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.
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 |
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:
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.
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?
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.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
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!
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.
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