Husband Snatchers Beware

It seems that people are getting to grips with their mobile phones and making videos to send via Whatsapp. Recently a video has popped up of a woman stripping another woman who she accused of having an affair with her husband. Apparently, this video shows the woman being stripped in the presence of men who decided to take advantage of the situation too. This inhumane mob justice has been noticed by the police and they are after the culprit. However, even after dangling a K5, 000 reward for any information no one has come up with the details. It is either the people of Luanshya are wealthy or they take the mafia code of Omerta (Code of Silence) too seriously, because had it been me that money would have been in my account already.

 

I must confess from the onset that I have not seen this video and I am not anxious to even see it. Therefore, the knowledge I have is what I have read, heard from people who have seen it and also from what I heard on radio when it was played. From the audio that I heard of the incidence, the wife who was stripping the woman was ironically threatening to take the lady to the police. The poor woman could be heard crying in the background while various men hollered at her. The men are also seen pulling out their phones and attempting to get pictures of the whole fiasco. Yes, this woman may have been sleeping with her husband but did she deserve to be treated in such a manner?

This woman in attempting to deal with the "Husband Snatcher" indirectly made an excuse for her husband. She just indicated that he was not the problem but the woman she was stripping. Therefore, instead of dragging him by his feet into the street and shaming him for his philandering ways, she decided to deal with the symptom and not the root cause of the problem. According to what I have heard the husband is nowhere to be seen in the video and goes unmentioned as the humiliated lady is begging for mercy. Does the wife really think that she will be stripping every woman her husband might go out with as a way of deterring them, then she might be stripping a whole lot more women.

 

It is humiliating enough to be stripped naked but then how does one describe the feeling when the video of the incident is floating around social media. In as much as we may be sympathising with the lady, isn't society perpetrating this abuse by casually distributing the video from one phone to another. On the other hand, it can be argued that it is only through the sharing of the video that brought attention to victimisation of the woman. It is through the same Whatsapp that she may have some form of justice even if it may thrust her into the spotlight. We definitely tread a delicate line with social media with all the good it can do, it is also capable of unleashing its venomous evil.

 

In this case, there may be some people who will applaud the woman for her actions believing that the stripped woman got what she deserved if not less. Then there are others like myself who feel that such inhumane degradation should never be applauded in any form or fashion. The person she should be sorting out her marital issues with is the husband. The wife needs to be answerable for her actions. Luanshya is a small town, it is no New York. Surely someone knows her, they just have to be brave enough to break the Omerta.

#BringBackOurGirls Now!

Over 250 girls were kidnapped from their school on 14 April 2014 by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. The world decided to forget about them for about two weeks because, until we felt that it had become worthy enough for our attention. I mean even their very own president Goodluck Jonathan only made an official statement two weeks after the girls went missing. This is nothing short of an utter shame, what was the world expecting? The girls would be delivered back with ribbons in their hair. These girls may have been kidnapped kilometres away in Nigeria, far from Zambia and yet we have a reason why we should care.

I have a young sister of similar age to the girls who have been kidnapped and like them she too is at a boarding school, I cannot even begin to imagine what I would do if I was told the next morning that some militia had kidnapped her. It is this very thought that to a small degree I am able to empathise with the hundreds of fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who find themselves in this predicament. The Nigerian school girls were kidnapped by a group that has become notorious for bombing attacks in Nigeria on several occasions. It must have equally been painful for the parents of the girls to cry for the return of their daughters and yet no one paying attention to their plight. It was as if the world had grown tired of their problems.

There is a sense that the world is getting, if it is not already fatigued by all of the problems in Africa. Every day brings with it the same old problems over and over, even the news networks are running out of novel ways to present the challenges. What is further frustrating is that even after decades of independence African countries are still unable to render any assistance to their neighbours and other countries on the continent. African countries decided to add their voices to the plight of the girls when countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom decided to get actively involved. Our government has sent a message of solidarity to the Nigerian government in the recent week.

I may never be in a position to understand what it is like living in a country that has Islamist extremist like Boko Haram, or to be afraid to go to the market for fear of what will blow up in my face. I may live in a country that does not witness kidnappings and hostage situations. I may also be getting tired of hearing of the world’s problems. However, now is not the time to forget these girls, we cannot believe that 200 girls somewhere in the forest is an unfortunate case. The girls did not ask to be kidnapped; they should not be punished for seeking an education.

On the other hand we should be angry at the Nigerian authorities for doing nothing earlier on when the girls were taken. We should be angry at our own African authorities for not saying a word or offering solutions to our brothers and sisters in this position. We should be angry at ourselves for changing the channel each time the story of the girls appeared on the news. I should be angry at me that it has taken one month before the girls story has featured on my blog. Until the girls are back home, may we not grow tired of requesting our authorities to do something and let the noise only get louder. You may begin by joining the Facebook Page Zambia Cares .

So it's Okay for a Woman to Hit a Man?

If I was ever a professor of Psychology the Solange (Beyonce’s young sister) attack on Jay-Z would be a case study. There are so many dimensions to the attack and the mere fact that we are not currently privy to what it was about, we are left to speculate. The setting of an elevator with nowhere to run or hide was a setting that Solange must have thought about before her onslaught. Perhaps the upsetting issue about all this fiasco is that why the rest of the world is not upset about Solange’s attack on Jigga man. I can only imagine the backlash and wrath that Jay-Z would have had to deal with if it was the other way around, just ask Chris Brown.

Solange assaults Jay-Z and you have some quarters of women praising her instead, “Way to go sister!” This is absolutely ridiculous; this was a woman with heels, kicking someone with all the strength she could muster despite being held back by a bodyguard. Okay, she has one hell of a kick. Solange abused Jay-Z in that elevator with her punches, insults (I presume) and above all she bruised Jay-Z’s ego. Unlike the Chris Brown and Rihanna bust up where we did not have video footage, in this case we have hardcore evidence. Solange cannot deny that she did not attack Jay-Z and he can proudly claim that he did not hit back. Awe kwena, he deserves a trophy. Human instinct would be to retaliate when threatened but Jigga man kept his cool. I can only imagine how many brothers would have been as calm as he was, because trust me if it was others in that situation Solange would have begged to be let out of the elevator.

When Chris Brown beat Rihanna, Obama said something, Oprah said something, women’s groups said something, other musicians said something, and Chris Brown’s sponsors dropped him. Solange viciously attacks Jay-Z and Obama is quiet, Oprah is quiet, the women’s groups are not marching and above all no one is calling this gender based violence. This silence is annoying and very upsetting, Solange is not feeling any wrath for her actions and in fact it is Jay-Z who is becoming the laughing stock of world. This attitude of silence gives the impression that it is okay for a woman to beat up a man and it is a sin for a man to hit a woman.

Jay-Z had the capacity to put Solange in her place and prove to the world that he is “Macho”, but I guess he did the most “Macho” thing by stepping away and let raged Solange unleash whatever was burning in her heart. Like we are always told that there is never a reason why you should hit a woman, in the same vein it should be said that there should never be a reason why a woman should hit a man. In this instance talking about it over a family dinner was not an option.

Now back to the case study and Beyonce in particular who was in the elevator while her sister attacked her husband appears to back away and watch the action. She did not attempt to stop her sister neither did she try to shield her husband. I reckon the thought that was rushing through her head was the paparazzi are going to have a field day when that elevator door opens. There should have been audio in that elevator, yaba.

 

Jay-Z, Beyonce and Solange leaving the elevator

At the time of writing this piece, we still do not know why Solange went all crazy on Jay-Z. However, whereas we are happy to demonise a man who lays his hands on a woman, we must equally do the same when the tables are turned. The excuse that men are able to protect themselves therefore cannot be victims is rubbish. Yes, men can protect themselves and instinct tells us that we do that by hitting back. However, if we begin to assume that it is acceptable for a woman to hit a man because she is angry then we are losing the plot. Solange should not be glorified in any way rather she must be condemned with as much venom as would have been spat Jay-Z’s way if he was the one throwing the punches.

The Police, Photocopying and No Transport

Last week I was a victim of a theft. The bloody burger got away with my car battery, while I was asleep. I don’t know whether I should say thankfully the battery was all he got away with because he could have gotten away with much more. Thieves can be such an unnecessary inconvenience and for a moment I could empathise with all those individuals who perform mob justice and want burn them alive. I mean here is a fellow who is able bodied to be capable to climb a wall fence, remove and carry a car battery and have the audacity to return for the car radio can find something to do. Then what added further to my frustration was the service I received from the police, I even wondered why I bothered going there.

I must be brainwashed by watching all these CSI series where I think that the police will come dust the car for finger prints, check the scene for any eye lashes, or footmarks, interrogate the neighbours and then voila catch the thief. Snap out of it frustrated brotha.  When I went to report the matter at the Manda Hill police post, I knew I was far away from any CSI scenario when the police officer began to write my statement in a big record book. In the age of computers, our police posts are still writing details in a record book. So if the book gets stolen or it rains, then all the records are gone for good. I was then asked to return later if I wanted to open a docket because there was no stationery. For one reason or another our police posts seem to be in the habit of running out of stationery and often we are asked to go photocopy police report sheets. I mean seriously, someone just stole my car battery and the last thing I need to hear is that a docket cannot be opened because of lack of paper. Cry my beloved Zambia. I was then told that when I return then if I am lucky they may visit the scene if it is not disturbed. Slowly I realised that my CSI wish would not be coming true. I returned home with no police officer coming to check the crime scene and without a docket in hand.

I returned later for my docket, but while I waited for it a gentleman came into the station claiming that his phones had been stolen. He narrated his story and the officer got down his statement once again in the big black book. Then the officer mentioned that once the formalities had been done that she need to take the form to Northmead but there was no transport. So here was a police post that had no stationery and had no transport, just my luck. The gentleman quickly offered to provide transport as long as he could get his phones traced and handed back to him. I too was capable to provide transport, so what would the poor person do in such a situation.

The police service is supposed to serve every Zambian citizen regardless of race, tribe, or economic status. However, in this nation we have various people at various economic levels. Where is a poor person who is barely making ends meet supposed to find the money to start photocopying a police report sheet when that money could be used to buy bread. Or where is he supposed to find transport to ferry the police officers to the scene of the theft, by the way our officers do not use buses they need a taxi. The officers use the taxi to take them to the scene and back to the police post. Taxis are not cheap and depending on the distance can be quite expensive. The taxi fare alone could be the cost of a bag of mealie meal. This simply means that if you are poor you might not be able to report the matter to the police for it to be adequately handled.

There are certain aspects of police investigation that I can accept that we do not have the resources for things such as forensic labs but lack of no stationery and transport is not one that I can accept. The police need to have the basic minimum to handle the cases that are presented to them. It should not be dependent whether someone can provide transport or not. It is important for the relevant authorities to ensure that the police posts have relevant resources to carry out their duties otherwise police posts might as well put a poster that we will only attend to you if you come with your own stationery and transport. In the meantime, I need to watch more of Muvi TVs The Constables rather CSI to get more proper representation of my reality.

Shall We All Get Naked and Wait for Hyenas

“Even if I have lost some important parts of my body, I still want to get rich,” these are the words that were uttered by Chamangeni Zulu. This is a man who just had his manhood and three toes eaten by a hyena after a witchdoctor advised him to do so. The witchdoctor apparently told him to go into a bush, strip naked and wait for a hyena to come and eat part of his body. Ku nkala chipuba siti lesa koma chipubidwe. This is a story that borders on the ridiculous if not the insane. In the quest for riches, I guess some people sail the seas looking for lost treasure; others strip and wait for a hyena to chew what they wish.

Hyena

                Now that I am done venting, there is a small portion of me that is trying to empathise with Chamangeni. He is originally from Malawi and for the past four months had been working in Chipata before he decided he had it will all this poverty nonsense. The man had probably tried all avenues available to him but he saw no hope of escaping the chains of poverty that are gripping many. I know it is easy for people who bought the newspapers to read his story while sipping coffee in an air conditioned office to find Chamangeni mad. Some would say that why didn’t he work hard if he wanted to be rich or just be content with his portion.  It could be easy for someone like myself to say that, after all my parents were able to educate me, I have opportunities at every corner, I type this blog on a laptop and I have access to the internet anytime I please. Dreaming of being rich is not a farfetched.

                Here is a man who perhaps only has primary education at best, maybe not because he did not want to go school but his parents could not afford to keep him in school. Then he is taken to work the fields so that his family can get food on his table. Hypothetically he marries early and has two children one year in between because he does not know what family planning is. He finds a job working on a farm just to prevent his family from starving, yet he still dreams of becoming rich. He does not know how that will happen because life did not give him an easy hand. He knows he cannot till the land fast or strong enough that his labour will be rewarded to make him live the lavish life he envies. He will even be lucky if he even gets the crumbs of the rich.

                There was no one available to offer him a solution on how to become rich. I have Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad to read, there is a Mubita Nawa motivational conference I can attend, I see GBM get his wife a Range Rover on Facebook to emulate and I have the qualifications to help open doors. Chamangeni does not have this privilege. Therefore, should we blame him for taking a solution offered to him by a witchdoctor? When no one was showing him the path to the riches that he desired the witchdoctor showed him a way. Chamangeni may have tried the conventional route and it failed, so it was about time he used the unconventional route- Strip and wait for a hyena.

                Chamangeni’s story is that of many people in poverty in Zambia, even though some may not push the boundaries like he did, they too still dream to be rich. For us who read the story in the papers and posted it on Facebook may consider ourselves lucky. We too could also have been in Chamangeni’s position, wishing to be rich but not knowing how. We would have shouted in Marie Antoinette fashion, “Why doesn’t he just work hard if he wants to be rich.” Yet we forget that we neither provide the tools nor the show him the route to get to wealth. Still on his hospital bed no one was able to show him the first steps towards riches, hence he boldly declared his determination, “Even if I have lost some important parts of my body, I still want to get rich.”

The Battle for NAC: Chiduku vs Saboistas

What 2Pac and Notorious BIG, Muhammed Ali and George Foreman, or even Slap Dee and Macky 2 can do, Mulenga Kapwepwe and Saboi Imboela can do too. In this case in what has come to be known as the battle between the Chiduku vs the Saboistas is turning into quite a cat fight. Gone are the days when people used to settle scores on the streets, these two have taken it to Facebook. This is all because of one little thing called the National Arts Council (NAC).

I am not exactly sure when this whole feud between the two started, but it is almost certain that fuel was added right after this year’s Zambia Music Awards. Media outlets started reporting that Saboi Imboela of the Shatel Fame had launched a campaign which in her words was meant to, “Hound Mulenga Kapwepwe out of the National Arts Council.” According to Saboi, Mulenga Kapwepwe has overstayed her reign as Chairperson of the NAC. Saboi further launched a petition at the Lusaka Playhouse that would get signatures of artists which would be presented to the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Honourable Sylvia Masebo.  Among the people who signed the petition are well known musicians such as JK, Mampi, Mozegater, Sista D, Diffikoti among others. On 3 March 2014, the day the petition was launched, Saboi and Brian Shakarongo (Veteran Musician) further went on Hot FM to discuss the reasons why they want to hound Mulenga Kapwepwe out.

The next day after Saboi’s petition launch, Mulenga Kapwepwe joined Facebook and attempted to respond to Saboi. She answered some of the questions Saboi asked of her, which was what she was doing at NAC instead of looking for a job. Mulenga said she was working on various projects which included an animation pilot, a poetry project and a record label. As for the record label she had no name for it until Saboi’s reference of the attire Mulenga is well known for the Chiduku, hence, the label has been named Chiduku Beats. This sparked the beginning of the Facebook spat between these two artists. Each response was longer than the previous, and weaved their words as though they were writing a bestselling novel.

In all the thousands of words I have had to read through, this whole fiasco is perhaps about five cardinal issues. Saboi is claiming that Mulenga Kapwepwe has hang around far too long- 14 years, she has done nothing during her reign, she is not making it possible for Musicians to earn a living, there is no strategic plan at NAC and she is running NAC as if it is personal to holder. She cited the Zambia Music Awards as a classic case where NAC did not compensate musicians adequately for winning the awards. She explained that the judges got K15, 000 while the musicians got K3, 000. It was no wonder the musicians were suffering. Therefore, it was time kick her out of NAC and place someone new. She did categorically say that she would not stand for the position of chairperson as it would be perceived wrongly.

Why Mulenga chose Facebook to respond to Saboi’s allegations is beyond me. In her response she clarified that she has been Chairperson of NAC for 10 years and not 14 years, during her reign she assisted in obtaining funding from the European Union, lobbied to increase funding from government, developed policy for the arts, supported various artists through workshops and other capacity building activities, and this is the legacy that she has created. She also stated that her term as NAC chairperson ended in November 2013. However, NAC is being transition into a commission, Mulenga was requested to stay on in the interim which is within the authority of the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts to do so.

Mulenga Kapwepwe (left) and Saboi Imboela (Right)

This Chiduku vs Saboi bouts are very difficult to call because none of them is presenting sufficient facts and evidence to help us the public and I as an artist to choose a side. Saboi is basing her petition on the fact that Mulenga Kapwepwe has overstayed. However, the NAC constitution does not limit the number of times that someone can be chairperson, as long as they continue winning the elections they continue. Further the FIFA president has been in his position for more than 10 years and he is doing a pretty good job, it is nothing new. Therefore, the length of time that she has been there should not have been an issue but Saboi should have been telling us Kapwepwe’s failing. For some reason she is so fixated on the fact that NAC does not have a strategic plan something that she must have acquired from her academic classes. It is not cast in stone that every organisation should have a strategic plan; it is just recommended that it has one.  Then she has successfully managed to ostracise the other artists, even though she uses the words artists she is implying musicians. She has failed to articulate the challenges that other artists such as writers, filmmakers, painters, poets, sculptors, etc., are facing and how Mulenga being at the helm has failed them. All she has been speaking of is how Mulenga has failed the musicians. It appears as if Saboi wants a Chairperson who will make life better for musicians or put money in their pockets. Saboi in her arguments has failed to mention a single success that NAC has scored. In her opinion NAC has been a selfish and greedy organisation run by a dictatorial leader. I find this hard to believe as definitely there must be some good that NAC has done. The 14 years she is claiming under Mulenga’s reign could all not have been wasted years. Lastly, Saboi is an intellectual and having previously served as a member of NAC, she knows the mandate that NAC has. However, she is appealing to people’s pockets and anything that does that is likely to generate support. By claiming that the musicians need to be earning a decent livelihood and NAC is one of the hindrances to this is kind of misleading. It is not the mandate of NAC to make sure musicians are rich.

In regards to Mulenga Kapwepwe, I believe that she made the right decision to join Facebook. However, to solely respond to issues that are raised on Facebook is not appropriate. What about the individuals or my parents who are not on Facebook. They are only getting a one-sided story. Mulenga should have taken the opportunities availed to her by going on radio and television to discuss this row before it reached the levels it has. It was her duty as Chairperson to set records straight, and encourage dialogue. We have well established discussion shows such as Let the People Talk on Radio Phoenix, The Assignment on Muvi TV, Sunday Interview on ZNBC to mention but a few. However, for reasons best known to herself she did not take these opportunities, instead we have been going back and forth reading long narratives on Facebook. Mulenga did mention the numerous achievements that she has scored while at the helm of NAC on her Facebook Page. I was disappointed that I could not find the website for NAC in this present age, it would have been a wonderful platform to publicise its achievements and what its role in the arts arena is. This is where all the rumours and misconceptions about the operations about NAC are coming from, because it seems to operate like a conclave. No one knows what they are doing. All this petition and hounding cries would not have happened had Mulenga as leader of NAC made it know what the achievements were and what the role of NAC is. People would then be able to make up more informed and rational designs on whether calls to hound her out are justifiable.

There is so much that can be said about this debacle, I admit this is only a fraction of it. However, the longer this Facebook feud continues, the more it shreds into the legacy and respect people will have for these two individuals. If they cannot both appear on a TV or radio platform to debate the issues and clear the air, then perhaps we should try getting them into a boxing ring. Until that happens, I can neither support a petition to hound Mulenga out or support her to continue her reign without having valid and concrete reasons presented before me. At the moment all I can ask for is that the debate continues until we get to the facts and evidence we desire. In meantime, please keep your replies short.

Don't Buy VIP Tickets

Whenever I am attending a concert or any other show, I have one simple rule. Never buyVIP tickets. When I attended the Loyiso Gola comedy show at Government Complex this past Friday, it only validated my simple rule- Never buy VIP tickets. It would be in your best interest too, to follow this rule. It is not that I am against having VIP tickets, but experience has shown VIPs are not appreciated much.

VIP (Very Important Person) is usually a category that you have at concerts and other shows. It is to separate them from the ordinary masses. The VIP tickets are often twice the price of the ordinary tickets and it is believed that you will receive preferential treatment. It implies that you will not have to queue up, sit closer to the stage, and have a complementary drink (if you are lucky) but that is it. Quite frankly, if I am going to be paying double the price then it better have some additional perks than just that.

There have been countless horror stories of people who have paid for VIP tickets only to be mixed with the rest of the ordinary ticket holders. South African comedian, Loyiso Gola’s show at Government Complex was no different. An ordinary ticket was K100 while a VIP ticket was K200. It was organised by Rock FM and they did a terrible job at marketing it if I may add.  Both the ordinary and VIP tickets holders did not have to queue up to enter the building due to the poor turn out, then the VIPs had a complimentary Dragon energy drink the ordinary tickets holders had nothing. The VIP ticket holder could sit closer to the stage while the ordinary tickets holders were farther away from it. However, by the time Loyiso came on stage which was two hours later than indicated on the ticket, the MC had told the ordinary ticket holders to move closer and occupy the VIP ticket seats. Hello, what the hell, that was not right. The difference between an ordinary ticket and a VIP ticket could not just be the complimentary drink in my hand. VIP ticket holders absolutely felt cheated in a major way. Even if there were empty seats, they should have remained empty and the ordinary tickets holders should have remained where they were, otherwise the VIP ticket holders should have been refunded.

Loyiso chatting to the crowd

Now, people have introduced VVIP tickets which are more expensive than VIP tickets, over my dead body before I purchase one of those. VIP is usually not VIP. It is just a nice initiative for event organisers to dupe us into parting away with our hard earned cash. There should be more appreciation for those who are paying for a VIP ticket apart from the fact that they do not have to line up to enter the building. They should be rolling out the red carpet, we should have backstage access, the performer should be high-fiving us, the ordinary ticket holders should wait for us to walk out when the show is over, and the organisers should dish out autographed memorabilia. I know I am pushing the limit on some of the requests but you get the picture.

Event organisers really need to read up on the meaning of VIP before they decide to print and price their tickets. It is unfortunate and tantamount to stealing for someone to pay for a VIP ticket only to be mixed with ordinary ticket holders. Based on my experience and tales of others, on the ordinary ticket line is where you will find me because I know I will subsequently wind up in the VIP section. Oh by the way, this article is dedicated to those people who bought VIP ticket to Loyiso Gola’s show. I really would not spit sufficient venom in this piece because like I said I don't buy VIP tickets. The one I had was given to me, lucky it was free because Hell Hath No Fury like a Frustrated Brotha.