Why You Need to See Black Panther More Than Once

There is a risk with watching a movie on a premiere night, especially one like Marvel's Black Panther whose marketing ships set sail months before its release. From the time the release date was announced in June 2017 to the first trailer, I knew this film was going to be epic. From the majority black cast, to the actors themselves ̶ Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker to mention but a few (can you imagine if Viola and Denzel were in this too, that would have been heaven). This was turning into a cultural event not only in the USA but in Zambia too, the early reviews were impressive and so were pre-ticket sales. The risk is that when you enter the cinema on a premiere night, there is this euphoria that sweeps everyone up and the wave carries you throughout the movie only to drop you when the credits roll.

 

Black Panther poster

If you have not yet watched Black Panther, this is the point you stop reading. SPOILERS AHEAD! When I walked into the theatre in my red dashiki print shirt (it seemed to be Dashiki Day), popcorn and drink in hand, I was ready for this movie to show as was the rest of the battalion in the auditorium. From the moment Okoye tells T’Challa, “Don’t freeze.” And he responds, “I never freeze.” Then drops from that plane, space ship machine, the audience roared and clapped. The atmosphere was infectious, and everyone joined in unison. This was only the beginning, in almost every other scene there was something happening among the characters of Killmonger, Okoye, Shuri, or T’Challa that whipped the audience into a frenzy.  When T’Challa appears on the battle front to face Killmonger, some people rose up to raucous applause. Under normal circumstances, this stadium like atmosphere would infuriate me while watching any other movie, but Black Panther is not just any other movie. It is a statement. This is a reference; it is the movie by which all other black movies will be judged by regardless of the genre. So, I went along for the Wakanda ride as I watched the African culture and pride shine through the screen.

Sometimes trailers can be false advertising; they can be like a bag of potato crisps full but once popped you realise the fullness was all air. As I walked out of the cinema I felt like going to join the queue to buy another ticket for the next showing. I replayed the movie in my head scene by scene but because of all the clapping, jeering, cheering, standing up and snickering comments some scenes come back vague. Later I discovered there was not only one post credit scene but two. I did the most logical thing of course, I went back to the cinema for my encore.

This time the experience was different; the claps were more reserved, the screaming to the characters non-existent and no one dared to stand up after any fight scene. What was striking with my encore viewing was I was still impressed with the visuals but this time I heard the dialogue word-for-word. My goodness the wisdom and truths in Black Panther, I wasn't ready. For instance, when Killmonger speaks to the lady in the museum, and she says the artefact is not for sale. His response is, “How you think your ancestors got it? You think they paid a fair price?” or when T’Chaka says this about Killmonger to T’Challa, “He was the truth I chose to omit.” And then the mother of all quotes drumroll please. Killmonger’s final words are, “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships. Because they knew that death was better than bondage.”

Black Panther has a lot of stunning visuals from the melanin, to the colours, landscape, and culture that the first time you watch it is difficult not to be awed. There is a chance you can miss the subtle and subliminal messages that underline the movie, which if picked up takes the movie to a whole other level. Trust me this Black Panther will continue to be dissected and stripped apart until the very last word on the credits because it is the type of movie that allows that to happen. At this stage the probability of a third viewing is high. #WakandaForever

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly & Not-So-Sure 2017 Budget Summary

On 11 November 2016, we had the 2017 budget presented by the new Minister of Finance Honourable Felix Mutati. This is perhaps the first budget in which the most important thing I wanted to hear was not the Pay As You Earn adjustments because I have been out of formal employment for over a year now. I was more interested on the impact of whatever pronouncements he would make on small businesses, or a start-up like the one I am in the process of setting up. So like I have done for the past few years, I present what I think were the interesting parts of the budget and as usual ignored quite a lot.

Let me begin by saying that the K64.5 billion 2017 budget begins with pretty much the same rhetoric we have heard year in year out and quite frankly it is becoming boring now. We are told that we need to diversify, agriculture is the 'holy grail' to our diversification agenda and this budget proved that. We are also told that the government aims to be prudent. The budget is spiced with low inflation aspirations, stable forex (which based on 2016, we need to put it in a straitjacket) and a warning of difficult times ahead. With that little preamble, I present to you the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Not-So-Sure 2017 Budget Summary.

The Good

• In the first nine months of 2016, mobile users increased from 11.5 million from 10.9 million in 2015. This is quite impressive considering we are a population of about 15 million that is 77% of the population people with mobile phones.

• It is about time the cashew nut industry was raised from its doldrums in Western Province. Government has launched the Cashew Nut Infrastructure Support Programme, valued at US$55.4million. The project will target 600,000 beneficiaries in Western Province.

• Government will by the end of 2017 move to cost reflective electricity tariffs to attract private sector investment while maintaining the life line tariff to protect poorer households. It will further, implement the phased removal of electricity subsidies. We must brace ourselves for electricity to become more expensive. I just hope that this devilish loadshedding will end.

• Youth Resettlement Schemes will be established through which land and start-up kits will be provided to the youth to enable them engage in agriculture and agri-business for their livelihood. If there is a place with no loadshedding, free wifi, and fuel is K5/litre sign me up.

• Most of the land in Zambia is not on title as only about 200,000 parcels of land are on title. Government will in 2017 commission a pilot programme in Lusaka that will commence the process of titling all land in the Province. It is about time.

• Government will in 2017 commence distribution of free sanitary towels to girls in rural and peri-urban areas. The minister should have even gone a step further by making them tax free.

• Timely and quality statistics will be critical in order for us to monitor and evaluate the progress we are making. The minister implores all Government Agencies to compile and maintain credible statistics. The minister should have also told them that they should share the statistics. Does he know how painful it is to get data from government ministries?

• If you needed any more evidence that the agriculture sector is the most loved, here it is. It has been proposed to increase the capital allowance for plant, equipment and machinery used in farming and agro-processing to 100 percent from 50 percent. Farmers should be mightily excited

The Bad

• The key sectors have been identified for intervention as agriculture, industrialisation, tourism and mining. This is in the bad section because we now need to start asking the tough questions. Are we getting our policies right? Mining still accounts for 70% of export earnings what are the other sectors doing nkanshi. From the days of Kaunda we have known we cannot depend on the copper mines. But still here we are as dependent as ever.

• There is yet again the creation of other funds. The Agricultural and Industrial Credit Guarantee Fund, Skills Development Fund and the Tourism Development Fund. The principle of these funds is awesome; however, often these funds rarely reach the intended targets. There are questions around the disbursing of funds and who actually receives it.

• It's been proposed to increase the exempt threshold for Pay As You Earn (PAYE) from K3,000 to K3,300 per month and increase the top marginal tax rate from 35 percent to 37.5 percent. This will hardly make a dent on the low income earners. That additional exemption has been swallowed up by inflation. I feel even a K500 difference would have been worth talking about.

• Customs duty on plastic shopping bags will increase from 25 percent to 40 percent. This is one tax I am a little disappointed was only increased by 15 percent. I would have loved it increased by say 50 percent. Supermarkets give plastics for everything, a toothbrush in its own plastic, toothpaste in its own plastic, imwe. No wonder our streets are littered with plastics because they are so cheap and carelessly dished out.

The Ugly

• The annual inflation which reached a peak of 22.9% in February 2016 has declined to 12.5% in October 2016. The minister expects inflation to fall to single digit by year end (boza is not a good thing). How? Just how is inflation expected to reach a single digit by year end when fuel prices just sky-rocketed to close to 40% increase. Ask for forgiveness for lying.

• Government to stop policies on export bans and it will refrain from using these instruments to regulate agricultural markets. My concern here is that so many subsidies go to the agricultural sector, aren't we just subsidising other countries? Until I am convinced otherwise this will remain in the ugly.

• Excise duty on air time will increase from 15 percent to 17.5 percent. Just great, as if airtime and bundles are not already expensive. This will make us resume sending text messages instead of calling.

The Not-So-Sure

• The theme of the 2017 Budget is "Restoring Fiscal Fitness for Sustained Inclusive Growth and Development”. This theme sounds like a PhD or master's degree thesis. I feel the words 'sustained inclusive growth' have been over used. Couldn't they have found an edgier theme like "Get Off Your Behind and Work"?

• The minister announced that he wants to support the creation of 100,000 jobs. He was sharp here. He did not say what type of jobs are to be created. Is it low skilled jobs like sweepers, grave diggers, or formal high skilled jobs like astronauts, marine biologist or neurologists?

• It will now be required that every person changing ownership of a motor vehicle to obtain a tax clearance certificate from the Zambia Revenue Authority. This will most likely make second hand vehicles more expensive and this is more administrative work.

• Vehicle carbon tax has been revised upwards. Owning a car will further becoming a liability. There are just too many things to be paying on it. The expected increase in spare parts and now carbon tax.

This budget had one central theme which I can liken to the movie, 'Taken'. This is the government telling us that, "If you do not pay your taxes, we will find you and you will pay." It is about the government raising revenue and squeezing us for every ngwee possible. As always the people with the widest smiles are the people in agriculture, their incentives just keep getting better. Overall, I was rather disappointed in this budget because there was very little in it that inspired me, especially when it came to the diversification agenda. At this point I will not be surprised if once again next year we have a similar budget.

So what things in the budget would have made your The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and Not-So-Sure list?

I strongly encourage you to read the full budget here >>> http://www.parliament.gov.zm/node/6051

Are We All Tribalists?

These past few days have been exciting, nerve-wrecking, challenging, and depressing all wrapped in a box as we waited for the 11 August 2016 election results. Zambia was waiting to know who would lead Zambia the next five years. Social media both Facebook and Twitter were lit with various commentaries as the results began to filter in. Some results were predictable while others not so. One constituency, however, opened a can of ugly worms that might be very difficult to put back. Dundumwezi.

When the results for Dundumwezi which is a constituency in Kalomo were announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), they showed that Hakainde Hichilema (HH) from the United Party for National Development (UPND) had obtained 30,810 votes while the incumbent and current president Edgar Lungu (EL) got 252 votes. Almost instantaneously, social media erupted with tribalist accusations and most of this targeted towards Tongas who primarily hail from Southern Province. The hate speech that was targeted towards Tongas was filled with such venom that not even a cobra would have stood the sting. The things mentioned will not be dignified by having them reprinted in this blog.

This is the elephant in the room that has appeared that many people do not want to discuss but discuss it we must. It is sad that an entire tribe gets to be victimised, marginalised and insulted based on a voting pattern. Many of us were not present when the people in Dundumwezi were voting. We do not exactly know why they voted the way they did and were they not within their rights to vote as they wanted. Shouldn't elections be a personal decision? Who are we to tell them how they should have voted? Also at what number would it have not been considered tribalism, 300 votes, 750 votes or 1001 votes? The subjectivity in this matter is one that is up for debate.

Whether we want to admit it or not we shall support the person we most relate closely to. If your brother and a stranger were in an Olympic race, of course you would be expected to show support for your brother and no one would condemn you. However your allegiance would change if your brother spat, shunned and kicked you, where the stranger called showed you love and compassion. In a sport where no Zambian or African is participating, the chances that most people will support the next team closest to Africa are high. Most Africans are likely to support the African American or individual from the Caribbean. This is not necessarily wrong everyone is entitled to their preferences. It is a known fact that a number of African Americans voted for Barack Obama purely based on the fact that he was black and not that he had better policies than John McCain or Mitt Romney.

The depressing part about the aftermath of the Dundumwezi results is how some people saw it within their senses to vilify an entire tribe and assault them with all manner of filthy words. Generalisations can be dangerous and this is one point where it is. People cannot assume that Tongas, Bembas, Lozis, Tumbukas or any other tribe are a homogenous people who think alike, do similar things and have same patterns. We need prayers. Some of my closest friends are Tonga, my mother is Tumbuka but speaks Tonga because she grew up there and let me not forget the in-laws. Trust me they are very different people and never would it cross my mind to think just because of an action they have done, I can then assume that definitely that is how all Tongas are.

Election time can be a very emotional and polarising period because individuals have invested time, resources and have vested interest in the candidates they support. It is not the wisest thing to speak when one is emotional because things might be said that cannot be taken back. Some Politicians perpetually continued to draw tribal lines as they have noticed the best way to appeal to voters is through kinship to remind the voters that they are a brother, sister, son or daughter or come from the same province. This appeals to the electorate because once again they feel some kind of connection. This method can also be a weapon used to marginalise, discriminate and paint a certain group of people as selfish, greedy, uncouth and tribalistic. This further, breeds a mentality of us against them. Some people believe they have more right to be Zambian than others. This is disappointing because we all have friends or family who belong to other tribes. We celebrate weddings and mourn at funerals together, then how dare we turn on them just because of an election.

It is not my duty to explain or rationalise what happened in Dundumwezi. But it is by duty to call out anyone who attempts to marginalise, discriminate and hurt others based on their tribe. We did not go to a shop to choose a tribe or race we were born into it. By keeping silent, we are telling the people who wish to spread such ideas that it is ok and applaud from the sidelines. By keeping silent we tell victimised groups that there is no place for them. Never should it be acceptable that one individual or a group of individuals should be used as a barometer for all others. Human beings are complex people. Many people have been hurt and wounded during these election results and we need to heal. A good place to start is by addressing the elephant in the room and not pretending it is an inconveniencing fly that can be swatted away. 

How best do you propose we can address the problem?

I Finally Figured Out Louise Lie-ton

You know, we Zambians love attention. Even though we will not openly admit it. As such we enjoy reading about ourselves in magazines, or newspapers. Watch ourselves on satellite television on the hundreds of channels. Once in a while hear Oprah gush about how she had a wonderful vacation in Mfuwe. Ok I am lying about the Oprah bit. So you can imagine when I got wind that there was an article on Zambia in the Telegraph UK.  My timeline on Facebook and Twitter feeds were buzzing with some Louise Linton apparently the person who wrote the piece. I decided to read the famed article to discover the awesome praise that my nation was receiving from yet another visitor to Zambia. Manje,  what ba Ru-eese wrote, iye imwe.

First, of all let me ask how on earth the Telegraph agreed to feature your article in their newspaper? Had they run out of stories or there was not enough bad news coming out of Africa for them. Anyway, I blame whoever, let you near a computer in the first place. They need to read the warning next time 'NOT FOR USE FOR CHILDRED UNDER 3 YEARS OLD'. All the same, I am keeping an open mind about your article and will try my best and I stress my best to understand it.

Ba Louise where did you find the jungle? I have been looking for the same jungle for ages. Kindly drop me an email I go see it. This is such wonderful news, contrary to popular belief I had always known Zambia had a jungle somewhere.

'Skinny white muzungu with long angel hair' kwena you are have some descriptions. But just a correction muzungu means white person. So what you have essentially said is 'skinny white white person with long angel hair'. So I advise you to remove the first white. Out of curiosity what does long devil hair look like?

Heheheehehehe, twelve inch spiders, really Louise. This is the problem with watching Arachnophobia one too many times. Your brain begins to imagine stuff. Do not worry it happens to me too. Sometimes, I see huge twelve inch lice in my bedroom too.

Wow! Louise you are one special human being. You travelled thousands of kilometres, left your country got on a plane just to come plant a vegetable garden, just to start a school under a tree. You forgot to add also used a pit latrine to tick off your to-do list.

Ba Ru-eese once again you have been watching too many movies like Tears of Sun or Beasts of No Nation. I would like to find out why did you go to the national park if you had no intention of encountering lions, elephants, crocodiles and snakes? Hello, that is what a safari is supposed to be. In Zambia, we only have three seasons- June, October and rainy season. I think global warming is causing the monsoon to start reaching Zambia now.

Oh you poor soul. I know nightmares have that effect on people. You went into hiding thinking the Boogie Man was out there to get you. I just want to give you a long, big hug and let you know that it was all in your head.

You should have mentioned earlier on that you are an actress. It much makes sense. Now I have a clearer picture of the parts you wish to play in movies. Almost like Angelina Jolie roles in Tomb Raider or Beyond Borders. I am baffled by one thing though, how come Zimba did not teach you another beautiful word. Bufi. Yes Ru-eese it has one simple meaning LIES. I think it would have been very helpful to add to your vocabulary. In the mean time we shall catch up on #LintonLies. Bye.

Why AfDBs CSO Forum Matters

This year Zambia will have the privilege of hosting the African Development Bank Annual  Meetings. The meetings will take place between 23- 27 May 2016 in Lusaka. During this event, there will be a special Civil Society Organisations (CSO) Forum, which will be held between 26-27 May 2016. The aim of the CSO Forum is to engage CSOs  and AfDBs senior management on the Bank's strategic focus on three priority areas- energy, agriculture and jobs for youth. We are becoming quite accustomed to hosting these international conferences in Zambia.

CSOs encompass a broad spectrum of organisations, which include community groups, nongovernmental organisations, labour unions, charitable organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, and foundations. The question that many might be asking is what exactly does AfDB hope to achieve with this CSO Forum and why should we care? For one, the strong statistical data shows that Africa has challenges regarding energy, agriculture and jobs for youth. Over 645 million Africans have no access to electricity services, and approximately 730 million people rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating. Africa is the continent with most of the remaining arable lands of the world (about 65%) and basic conditions for growing crops; Africa should hence be able to feed itself, create jobs for youth and women and enhance incomes from agriculture. Africa has an estimated 60 percent of its population between the ages of 15 and 24, with 10 – 12 million youths entering the job market each year resulting in more than half of them unemployed, underemployed, or inactive.

The continent has many challenges yet at the same time possesses so much potential, which needs to be exploited. AfDB knows that there are a variety of stakeholders required in order to achieve the goals for their three priority areas. CSOs are one of the stakeholders whom AfDB wants to collaborate with in order to achieve their goals. CSOs play important roles within our society. AfDB recognises that CSOs amplify the voices of the poor and marginalised, partner with governments to provide social services, are a hub of technical expertise, increase public accountability among others. During the CSO Forum for each of the thematic areas, the round table groups shall come up with issues to be addressed by each of the players (CSOs, Bank, private sector, and collaboratively) and prepare a road map stipulating specific tasks and outputs.

When the forum is over it is hoped there will be a set of identified general themes and points of agreement on areas of collaboration between the Bank and CSOs. Key issues will have been identified to be taken forward in pursuant of the Bank’s evolving agenda focusing on the three focus areas among the High 5s. Groups or individual CSOs shall have been recognized with their comparative advantages in various ways such as technical and technological know-how, proximity and geographical location and factors that make them an appropriate and cost effective organ for delivering economic development. 

Now, what would a forum be without bloggers? Therefore, during the meeting you will be able to follow proceedings and take part through social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr. I look forward to the CSO Forum where I am one of the official bloggers, and I will be updating with all the information you need to know. Of course, I will be letting you know if the outcomes were achieved.