Entrepreneurship is Not A One Size Fits ALL

Six University of Zambia (UNZA) graduates were recently arrested for protesting because they were unemployed. The wore their gowns and were at Arcades Shopping Complex with cardboards with various words that expressed the views of their current situations. The public has not been too kind to them either, many have condemned their act and provided their various reasons why. They have been called lazy, dull, illiterate literates, stupid, and even foolish. Some have even offered them a solution to their problem, start a business. Unfortunately, if I were them I would be very sceptical taking this advice from a person who is an employee.

 

Graduates protesting being unemployed

I do not think that people who are employed  either in government or in the private sector are in the best position to dish out the advice of others becoming entrepreneurs. They cannot be  calling people lazy and request them to be entrepreneurial when they wait for the month end to get paid. They have the security of a job, their pension paid, some even have health insurance and other benefits that go with the jobs . It is like an alcoholic telling a fellow alcoholic how to stop drinking. If some employed people feel that they have a right to dispense this advice, I would suggest they hand in their resignation letters and join the hustle out there.  On the other hand if they were giving advice on how to get and keep a job then they would be in their realm of expertise. I am also against this idea of telling people who are unemployed, start a business. Duh!  If it is that simple wouldn't everyone be doing it. It is like Bill Gates asking the rest of the world why they are not billionaires, it is not easy.

 

There is a tendency to keep telling unemployed people, start a business and make money. They should  go to Kamwala and buy stuff to sell. They are told to think outside the box or even tear the box altogether.  We tell them that they are only seeking white collar jobs that is why they are unemployed. This type of prescriptions do very little to change anyone's situation. This is because there is always the 'How' element missing. People are told to start a business but we do not show them how. We do not show them how they should come up with a business, where to find capital, how to carry out a market research, how to keep their finances instead all we tell them is start a business. And when someone starts and the business collapses we wonder why they never try it again. Business is not a one size fits all kind of arrangement therefore it cannot be given like a painkiller to everyone who is unemployed.

 

The education system has been blamed for training people to be employees. To some extent that is their job isn't it. The universities and colleges are supposed to train people to be teachers, nurses, doctors, accountants, engineers. There are always people who have to work others. Perhaps where our education system has lacked is stretching one's ability to innovate, creativity is usually stifled and questioning is rarely entertained. In the situation of the graduates they have already gone through the education system, the 'damage' has already been done. We can talk about how wrong the education system is but we cannot ignore the big elephant in the room, the graduates are unemployed. It is the problem that needs sorting while we also attempt to rectify the education system.

 

The graduates that protested had a right to protest. There are many like them who are faced with the challenge of unemployment that many governments are still grappling with. Prescribing entrepreneurship as the mother of all solutions to their problems is wrong. Some people do possess the entrepreneurial spirit and others do not. We cannot be telling everyone who is unemployed to start a business and that will magically solve the issues. Maybe we should tell them how to be better job seekers too.

 

 

 

Thou Shall NOT Increase DStv Subscription

It is not every day in Zambia that you will find a group of people coming together for a common cause. The scene is even more rare when it is a campaign against a perceived injustice. Add the force that social media has become,  a campaign can be ignited in a matter of hours. Oh yes, since last week many have seen it necessary to summon the power of Facebook to right a 'wrong' that is about to befall the Zambian population. Unless the people stand united as one, many generations to come will suffer the consequences. This is a campaign of significant proportion that has to be taken. This is not a campaign to stop child marriages, or increase medicines in the hospitals. Neither is it to reduce road traffic accidents or reduce malnutrition. The campaign is against... wait for it.... Increase of DStv subscription. 

 

You know you are part of the middle class when your worries do not include putting food on the table or your children's school fees but the impending hike of the DStv subscription. Last week it was reported that the prices of DStv would be hiked. It was initially rumoured that premium bouquet  would cost K710 however, DStv confirmed that the price would be increased to K631 from K520 as of 1 April 2015. There would also be increases in the other packages. This news was not kindly received by many DStv subscribers, many calling it exploitation by a monopolistic organisation that keeps on showing repeat programmes. The vicious attack was so venomous that the passion oozed out of the words on social media primarily on Facebook. People called it an outrage, despicable, disgusting and just about every deplorable adjective under the sun.

 

Then to translate the distaste for DStv's decision a Facebook page was created called 'Zambians Against High DSTV Rates'. Talk of someone being proactive. In a few days it has over 10,000+ unhappy customers who are determined to take this bull by the horns. Many are calling for the a boycott from paying subscriptions in the month of April. They have vowed to squeeze DStv where it hurts. The boycott has continued to build momentum that the Minister of Information, Hon. Chishimba Kambwili wants to have a meeting with DStv management.

 

I am also quite disappointed at the pending increase in DStv subscription. However, I am not one of the 10,000+ who has liked the page against DStv neither will I be supporting a boycott. The simple reason is I have not been given a convincing reason why I should do it. Many people are arguing Zambia has the highest DStv rates in the region and some have even been bold enough to compare them to South Africa. It is ridiculous. Zambia and South Africa should not be mentioned in the same sentence period. DStv is from South Africa, its subscriber base is miles ahead of what Zambia's is, so surely you cannot compare the two. We have different tax systems in the regions whether it is Zambia, Malawi or Namibia. Therefore, even comparison with other countries outside South Africa is a difficult one to make. I do not think enough information has been provided to make a comparison. It is clear that the Zambian Kwacha against the dollar is depreciating at an alarming rate, this too coupled with inflation are a plausible reason to increase the rates. Some people are calling for a K50 increase. I do not know what DStv's costs are neither are they obliged to tell me. Are people saying that regardless of what expenses DStv encounters they should just increase by K50? This does not make business sense. DStv is a profit making business and not a charity organisation, it is also in a free market economy which allows it the flexibility to charge what it wants. It is playing within the rules of the game.

 

DStv is a choice, a person has the option to pay for it or not. DStv is a luxury and not a basic need. I believe no one is being threatened with their lives if they do not succumb to paying the subscription.  If people believe that the price hike for DStv is too hire, they have a choice to not pay for it. One thing that we must not forget is that DStv is a private entity and therefore, we cannot dictate how it should run its operations. I hope that once the 'Zambians Against DSTV High Rates' are done with their campaign with the same vigour may they campaign against child marriages.

 

P.S.  ZNBC still exists.

Our Shameful Obsession with Alex Muliokela

I remember a time as a child growing up when my friends and I, would mock the neighbourhood mad person. We called him 'chofunta' (mad person) and we would laugh at him as he roamed the streets in tattered clothes and picked food from the garbage while  he talked inaudibly to himself. We teased each other that we would be like 'chofunta' when we grew up. I think of that time now and shudder in disgust at the naïve, insensitive little boy I was. I did not understand what mental illness was, and did what everyone did and some still do. Laugh it away. This is why when I see the way Alex Muliokela is being paraded for our entertainment, it brings back memories.

 

Alex Muliokela

This whole fiasco initially began as a joke, when Alex Muliokela was the 'president' of the Poor Peoples Party and would contest the by-elections that resulted from the death of president Michael Sata. His campaign strategy was to give every citizen K1,000 and how he was going to do this was to print more money. It was then revealed that the Poor Peoples Party was neither a registered party nor did he have the finances required by the Electoral Commission of Zambia. He was not on the ballot paper.  This is where this Alex Muliokela drama should have ended. Instead it only grew stronger.

 

Muvi TV had him on their The Assignment programme, people took photographs with him and posted on Facebook, vendors cheered for him in the streets. He had developed a false celebrity status. People where not celebrating him because of his achievements or a hit song he had released. No, people did so to see how far his ridiculous statements could go. And he duly obliged asking people to write his name on the ballot papers and mark X. The elections are over but still Muliokela continues to garner unnecessary attention. He is claiming that the UN told him he won the elections.

 

Alex Muliokela has become everyone's laughing stock like a man at a circus for our amusement. We know the right buttons to push to get the responses we shall share on Whatsapp. He is the living comedy show that entertains us. We have selfishly turned this man's woes into our daily dosage of enjoyment. We have filled him with the false impression that he loved, and yet as soon as he is done making us laugh we shall move on with our lives. Where will that leave him?

 

There are many like me, who believe that rather than fuel this Alex Muliokela theatre, he should be helped. I am not a specialist, but Alex Muliokela may have a mental problem. He needs to be treated and assisted. Rather than people finding more ways in which the man can humiliate himself, they should be the hand that help him to recovery. The government, social workers and non-governmental organisations should look into this matter. We cannot allow Muliokela to continue being paraded for our pleasure. This is a human being for crying out loud, and he deserves to be treated with dignity. This brings me to another aspect of our current society, we do not consider mental problems as illnesses. We do what we have always done, laugh it away. Until we begin to realise that mental illness is a serious problem, we shall always think that it can be waved away with a  wand. He may need to be helped to ascertain whether he is mentally ill or not. If he is, the right medication or assistance to be provided. Alex Muliokela is a joke that isn't funny anymore. He should never have been a joke in the first place.

4 Reasons Why MMD Must Survive

The election to choose the sixth president of Zambia has gone. We can finally get back to normality for the next 18 months at least before we are back to the drama once again. Congratulations to Patriotic Front's Edgar Lungu for emerging victorious. It is almost quite difficult to wonder how a party that had been in power for nearly three years was so close to exiting the doors of State House. Despite there being 11 presidential candidates on the ballots, do not be deceived this was a two-horse race. It was between Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema, of Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) respectively. But what happened to the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD)?

The MMD is the party that ushered in multi-party democracy in 1991, it was the party at the helm of the nation for 20 years. It produced, in my opinion the best president Zambia has had in the late Levy Patrick Mwanawasa. He will be the man, upon which all future presidents shall be measured. It was also during their reign that a lot of ruin occurred. Corruption flourished, unemployment increased as a result of the collapse of significant industries, manipulation of the constitution and many other sins. When the party president, Dr. Nevers Mumba does the post mortem of these election in which he managed a paltry 14, 609 votes which represented 0.8% the results will be extremely uninspiring. The MMD came in fourth and did not even make a blip on the election radar. It is a shame, the signs are reminiscent to what has become of the United National Independence Party (UNIP) that continues to cling to past glory. MMD must find a way to continue on and this why.

   

MMD President Dr. Nevers Mumba

Checks and balances

It will be a sad turn of events if MMD follows the route of oblivion. It is important that the party find a way of resuscitating itself from the coma it has entered. Zambia is still a young democracy, and every ruling party needs checks and balances. The UPND needs help to do so, it cannot manage this herculean task on its own. The MMD can be one such party, which has an added advantage that the UPND does not have. The MMD was once the ruling party, therefore it knows the ins and outs of government operations. It still has the largest proportion of seats in parliament for opposition members that still makes its a significant factor.

Four-Party State?

The ballot paper this time had 11 candidates, we all know that over half of them were time wasters and just increasing the length of the paper. I would like to see the list of political parties in this country trimmed to say four significant parties with distinct policies and approaches to the country's development. I believe that the MMD can be one of those parties. It already has a foothold and is known by the majority of Zambians. Parties need to prove that they have longevity beyond their term in office. The MMD would be a perfect example for that, I think UNIP is beyond resurrecting. It would be some story if it were to return in power in the future.

Unity's Sake

The MMD is not viewed as party that is supported by particular provinces. It has a broad appeal across the provinces. These elections showed a clear divide in the voting patterns. All parties including the MMD can help bridge this divide. The leaders have a very important role to play in ensuring that it still remains 'One Zambia, One Nation'. The party already has structures in the grassroots from 20 years in power and these are the ones that the MMD can utilise to preach unity.

History

The MMD are the party that won elections after the one-party state. From then on we have had multi-party elections. Zambia's journey to a democracy cannot be complete without the mention of MMD. It would be great to have the party that began the ball rolling still in existing into the future. In fact, they can be in a position to be the party that others parties look up to. They have been in this game for so long and with the exception of UNIP no other party have been in existence longer than them.

 

Many celebrated the dismal performance of MMD, but it was difficult for me to be one of them. I would not like to see Patriotic Front disappear when a new party comes into power. I would like to see them continue in existence. Perhaps the performance is diminishing my hope of having a nation that has fewer consolidated and stronger political parties. That will allow Zambians to align themselves with the party specific policies and this would make for some entertaining politics. So yes, MMD must live and not die, they must now find a way how.

 

 

Are You Recording This Conversation?

Make the above question part of your New Year's Resolution. Judging by last year's events where we had Hon. Chikwanda, and Hon. Sichinga recorded, it would only be anticipated that more secret recordings are going to pop up in the near future. Early this year Hon. GBM's recording emerged. The strange part about the recordings that have surfaced is that they all involve politicians with someone who they know. A friend kind of person, who they can share their opinions with and hope that what the converse will not be broadcast to the whole nation. I guess they did not receive the memo. Now in 2015 we may be forced to start scrutinizing our friendships.

 

Hon. Chikwanda and Sichinga recordings were about the government and at that time the health of the late president Michael Sata. While for GMB it was about to his admission of pangas being found in one of his vehicles. For the general public receiving these secret recordings is wonderful because it is the few occasions we get to hear politicians speak the truth and share their honest opinions. The other side of me tells me that it is an absolute invasion of privacy. There are too many people who what to behave like Sherlock Holmes investigating the dirt on individuals and trying to create some scandal. The question that needs to be raised is how far is too far, and what shall we deem as acceptable. The fact that the politicians are unaware that they are being recorded means that the person recording did not get their consent. The questions are leading with the pure intention to get a response.

 

 

This is the point where I would require my lawyer friends to explain to me. Is it legal to go around recording secret conversations of people and joyfully distribute them to the nation. At this point I should mention that we should not mistake these recordings for investigative journalism. None of the people involved were journalists. I would have liked to also know what the motives behind the recordings were? Where people being used as pawns? Was someone getting paid? Where they being blackmailed to get the recording? I would really like to know.

 

Today it might be politicians, as long as it isn't me it may be fine, but what happens if when I become rich and famous (soon and very soon), a friend decides to release an incriminating recording he took ten years ago. The next question will be, who is to say that it should stop at voice recordings. The next thing we should brace ourselves is the emergence of videos. Imagine going to a hotel and the owner has video cameras in all the rooms, would we deem that acceptable. When we book a hotel room among the many things we expect one of them is privacy. The fact that these recordings where not gotten in public can't we not deem that invasion of privacy even though they are politicians?

 

At this point the best recommendation is to take stock of your friends. Who knows some of them might be recording your conversations and stocking them up for future use. My friends might just get shocked when all I start talking about is the weather, the dogs in the street, the cars passing by and nothing personal or my frustrated opinion. Before, I start any phone conversation the first things out of my mouth will be, "Are you recording this conversation?"

 

#JeSuisCharlie

Aspiring Presidents Be Warned

They say, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".  I do not what we might be called when we are fooled for the umpteenth time and we keeping falling for it. There must definitely be an explanation for it. I can excuse a primary school friend for forgetting my name. I can excuse a person who has been through an accident for forgetting their date of birth. I can forgive a person who has amnesia for forgetting what they did the previous day. However, what I fail to excuse is where people pretend to forget the pains, suffering, and joys that they went through because of denial. As we press towards the presidential elections people have deliberately decided to switch on their selective amnesia buttons.

 

20 January 2015 is the day of reckoning, on the ballot paper we shall have the contenders, pretenders and unfortunately the time wasters. Did I just say time wasters, no I wasn't talking about Alex Muliokela. Of the contenders we have the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND). It is only the UPND party that has not tasted the presidency. However, with that being said, it is amazing at how some current debates among ourselves and social media refuse to recognise the last 23 years of multi party democracy that we have gone through. Most of us have a good idea of what we went through and the records are there  but instead opt to gloss over the issues.

 

We were made some pretty good promises not only in 2011 but in 2008, 2006, 2001, 1996 and 1991 too. Every other election we hear the sugar coatings that make our ears tingle and our hearts to beat in anticipation. We are told a slew of words that resonate with our needs and we believe that the presidential candidates are our saviours and our path ways to our destinies. The promises roll off their tongues and we raise our hands in hopeful applause. As soon as the person becomes the president, they do as they please. They give us crumbs of what they said, and break every other promise they made with one line as compensation.

"We need time."

 

A few weeks ago, I had a discussion with a friend about the presidential candidates. There was one statement that he made that has stuck with me. It was, "They are politicians." It then dawned on me that yes they are politicians, so what? Should I come to believe that because they are presidential candidates then I deserve to be lied to, endure unfilled promises, watch while my country is driven to ruins while someone chews a drumstick, applaud while I watch them whisked away for treatment while my brothers and sisters die in our hands. God forbid.

 

They say politics is a dirty game, well I already have mud so let's play. As long as some politicians continue to believe this nonsense that they can tell us whatever their imagination cooks up, they must think again. It is not a matter of forgetting and comforting ourselves by accepting that is politics. It is a time such as this one that we should judge politicians against what they said and what they have done. If they have broken too many promises, chuck them out. If it means putting a new political party every five years may it be so until it sinks in. That is when they will understand that you do not bwata bwata anyhow . The time of glossing over previous mistakes and unfulfilled campaign declarations should not be tolerated. It is difficult to make a case for someone who fulfilled 1 promise and yet broke 99 others. We need to remind each other of what they said and what they have done thus far. It is to hold them accountable with the responsibility we have given them. They are not doing us a favour by being president.

 

Both the MMD and the PF have had the privilege of having their party presidents being president of the country, therefore, we can judge how the parties have done. UPND should also be warned against making promises that they have no intention of keeping should they have their president voted into power. This is not about a presidential candidate who has a nice smile, attends church, or he was once a boy scout. It is about someone who is prepared to do what they say they will do. If politicians are in the habit of not fulfilling their campaign promises, I on the other hand can make them a promise. Should you not fulfil your campaign promises, come next general elections I am voting for your opponent. Kaleza.

Sata Forgot to Pass the Baton

A president dies and the political leadership of an entire country is thrown in disarray. The death of the late Zambian President Michael Chilufya Sata on 28 October 2014, led to the tail spin of this political chaos that we are in and we are unsure where it will land. The intra-party fighting in the Patriotic Front and the resurrection from the tomb of old guards such as former president Rupiah Banda in the Movement for Multiparty Democracy, is a sign. The leadership baton was not passed.

The late Dr. Myles Munroe may his soul rest in peace, gave a striking interview in which he spoke about the current leadership dilemma in the world. In the interview he mentioned that he had a dream in which a track athlete was in the coffin clutching on the baton. According to Dr. Munroe it meant, "It was about people dying with the baton. Instead of passing it on, I was thinking the young person whose supposed to lead next would have to go that casket. Pry the baton out of the dead man's hands just to take it to the next leg.... This is what we are struggling with here, people would rather die with the position than pass it on."

After watching that video I can definitely relate to it on a personal level. Whether we like it or not, Michael Sata, died with the baton in his hand. He did not pass it to the next person to lead this country. We may never know the reason why, but in that aspect he failed Zambia. Now we have all these leaders having to have to wrestle the baton from his hand. The sad part about it is some of the people trying to get hold of the baton were never in the relay race in the first place. Perhaps inspired by the wind, a truth or dare joke, or sheer disillusionment some people believe they can lead Zambia.

 

Passing on of the baton

It is a shame that we were never able to spot future leaders while Sata had the baton. The leader who would take this country forward. Focus it on the issues that we need to deal with, such HIV/AIDS, poverty, education, and health care. Instead we find ourselves discussing whether someone is an alcoholic or not, was kind enough to buy Sata a car or to honour a family name. We have leaders who retired and now in remembrance of the life they had see an opportunity to be taken advantage of. And then there are those leaders who instead of inspiring me with words, choose to offer me eggs and milk. Ala.  We should never have got to this in the first place.

By time January 2015 is winding down, we shall have a new president. I pray the person will be a good leader. Someone who is willing to serve and not make up for lost time in filling up their personal bank account. I hope it will be a leader who will inspire future leaders, someone who refuses to use the word "I" but instead uses "We" for they know that it is the "We" that will take Zambia to the skies. Finally, I pray that we shall have a leader who will know when their leg of the race is done, and gladly pass on the baton.