Michael Chilufya Sata - King Cobra (in pictures)

"Michael Sata comes from a poor background, and I will keep on with my poor background until I die" -Michael Sata

PF presidential portrait widely used in 2011

Presidential Portrait

A younger Michael Sata

President Sata at the body viewing of former colleague BY Mwila



President Sata addressing a gathering





Clenched fists a sign of imminent victory for the PF

At a political rally

President Sata in New York

Commander-in-chief of all armed forces

Presidential signature at work!

A staunch catholic- Sata at times flashed the cross

At the airport with the first lady

This portrait that clearly showed Sata as not photogenic
was widely used by his opponents prior to 2011 elections

Having a light moment with first lady & Given Lubinda

Attending a wedding ceremony with first lady Dr. Christine Kaseba

President Sata Addressing the 68th UN congress

President Sata addressing the BOAO summit

President Sata at the EU

President Sata at Parliament with Speaker Dr.Patrick Matibini
 & First Lady Dr. Kaseba

President Sata addressing cabinet and journalists

Another infamous portait of Michael Sata

Sata as opposition leader at a service station at a
time of fuel shortage in Zambia

The romantic side of the Sata, a show of public affection



A younger Michael Sata being interviewed on Zambian TV

President Sata showing the PF clenched fist sign of victory

President Sata at state house with then American Ambasador
Mark Storella & some American volunteers clad in Zambian wear.

President sata with the archbishop of canterbury

Sata holding the bible at his swearing in

President Sata with his children

President Sata, Vice President Guy Scott, first president Kenneth Kaunda and fourth president Rupiah Banda receive the AFCON tro[hy from Chipolopolo skipper Christopher Katongo



Sata being sworn-in by chief justice Ernest Sakala

Sata at his Central park PF office with a decorated
cobra snake in the background

Sata as opposition leader was a crowd puller at his political rallies

In the company of former Libyan President Muamar Ghadafi and
former Zambian President Fredrick Chiluba

Sata with Geofrey Bwalya Mwamba and Veep Guy Scott



President Sata with former US president George W. Bush

Then opposition leaders Michael Sata and Hakainde Hichilema

Comrades in arms: Michael Sata & Guy Scott

Michael Sata & Christine Kaseba

Michael Sata meeting former President Kenneth David Kaunda

Matero member of Parliament Miles Sampa, takes an
 opportunity to pose with President Sata on plane

Sata consoles former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa at the funeral
of then president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa

President Sata & President Mugabe at the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO) summit co-hosted by Zambia & Zimbabwe

Michael Sata & Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe

President Sata and some of his cabinet members meet Polish Prime minister
at State House in Lusaka

President Sata with his predecessor Rupiah Banda at State House

President Sata as opposition shows a newspaper story after losing an election

Michael Sata with Wynter Kabimba and Guy Scott

Michael Sata speaking at a press conference disputing election results after losing 

Michael Sata and Dr. Christine Kaseba attending a wedding ceremony as guests

Pictures from various sources

In my dream world (part II)

In my generation, we all yearn for a fairy-tale life, a big house with self-contained bedrooms, a beautiful supportive spouse and enchantment all around. There is nothing wrong with that. Reality however never offers fairy situations, but delivers a more balanced setting.

In reality you get a drop dead gorgeous wife but she has a terrible personality. She cannot stand your friends or family and you end up spending your entire life apportioning pre-disposition between your wife versus other people in your life.

Maybe you get a good looking husband with the biggest wallet in town and you become the envy of all the women in town. You live a very assured life style, never lacking any material possession, but there are rumours all over town that your husband has not one, but a mistresses in every neighborhood in town all of whom he has bought luxurious villas and takes care of all their needs.

Some of them you discovered on your own without the rumours and you have had confrontations with them. At times you noticed or suspected he was cheating but just never took any action. Maybe he just has all the money and never cheats, but is such a bore for your own personality. Maybe the fact that he is boring is one you can live with; but he has never ever satisfied you sexually.

The point I am trying to make is that life evens itself out. Some of the people we admire the most are going through the most difficult situations that they have to overcome every day but they put up a brave face as they move around.

Life may seem like a party every day for some, but reality is that they equally have issues they deal with which just aren't the same issues we face. Writing this blog actually feels like going through a therapy session as so much is going on with me but I always know life eventually evens itself out and like Kirk Franklin put it – Joy comes in the morning. I just find a balance in all the good things that call for a celebration and all the other things that don’t go according to expectation.

But then I ask, why do we have illusions of Utopian lifestyles? Of course it’s not wrong to hope and expect the most ideal setup where we are prosperous and nothing ever goes wrong in our personal relations or professional and business life. To live we must constantly dream. But to what extent must we be dependent on our dreams and expectation? Do dreams really come true?

Truth is I have a great imagination and so many times I subject events to further questioning and seeking of ideal situations without the foregoing. Let me pick issues I brought up in my previous blog, to which one of my friends made these comments;

“I shudder with utter helplessness at the reality. Each day is a constant wedging of ones expectations and clinging to those aspects that intersect between ideal and realism, finding happiness in them and believing that a better tomorrow is achievable. And I suppose it is achievable as long as we keep working towards plugging the gap between the real and ideal.” 

In going back to the issues discussed in the said blog, the first issue of the teacher who beat up a catholic nun. When I saw on Muvi TV news, a clip of a teacher, whom I've now come to learn is Dasswell Sichilongo, violently beating up a catholic nun I was shocked. This kind of thing doesn't happen in this world. I mean who beats up a nun? Punching her on the face and hitting her against the wall! I was left in shock and awe. In my world this doesn't happen. We resolve our problems amicably. These are teachers who teach society not only science and arithmetic but morals and life skills too. They hold the moral high torch of society. But, that is only in my dream world.

I know for sure that in my real world there are massive campaigns to eradicate any violence against women. In fact, the campaigns have been all inclusive as they also deter any violence by women against men. The NGO’s have coined the term Gender Based Violence (GBV). In recent months, there had been a number of cases reported where women attacked their husbands either in deep sleep or drunken stupor especially targeting the male genitalia.

One unlucky man had his testicles cut, another had his penis sliced and there were many other disturbing stories that made the news. For close to two months it seemed as if the women were on a roll against the male species. These are not stories from my dream world but my real world. This is a sad reality.

As for Mr Sichilongo, it turned out that he had the misfortune of being mistaken for a ghost worker by some ‘very competent’ accountant thus could not access his monthly salary as his bank account was frozen. The nun, who happened to be the head teacher, then locked up Mr Sichilongo’s house after he couldn’t pay rent on time.

Agreed violence should not be tolerated in a civilized world, but who gives the nun who is supposed to be moved by compassion as a result of her calling, the right to lock someone's house, whose bank account has been frozen on suspicion of being a ghost worker. When I put myself in the shoes of Mr Sichilongo, I felt pity for the man especially that we live in a country where when the women’s lobby groups cry, the justice system makes an example of you.

Imagine if he is the sole bread winner, this family was going through quite a lot and pressure at home and at work, empty fridge etc, it was bad. The nun should have been the first one to have felt pity on the poor man really. All these are events of my real world and not dream world. The nun though has in the end shown an attribute of Christianity by reconciling with the man and dropping the assault case that was in court there by paving way for his acquittal.

The first time this Roma girls drama came to light, the thought that came to my mind was a line from one of the songs by one of the Zambian musicians. It must be the big guy, MC Wabwino who did that song. I don't know the actual song title, but he does repeat the words 'icifukushi te kusova’ quite a lot. Translated loosely icifukushi te kusova, means - anger doesn't solve. Mr Sichilongo should still have exercised restraint by all means before unleashing that beating on the nun. Whether the beating qualifies as GBV is something else.

It is not only teachers who beat up nuns shocking me recently. I was recently shocked by the celebrations that met Wynter’s dismissal from government and party position. There were people matching the streets in celebration, others on social media and many other media platforms. Zambia didn't win the AFCON again nor did we hear that fuel prices had gone down so I didn't have any reason for celebration.

There could be something I am missing. The celebrations I witnessed are not something I understand. Then there were headlines and editorials that concurrently ran in the post newspaper eulogizing Mr Kabimba. Why couldn't we just let the man be so that he went back to his private life with his family and friends while the nation moved on ahead. I don’t understand this proclivity for believing so much that individuals and not systems are the sole saviours of a nation. It seems we are so much in need of heroes.

The need for heroes is something the whole of humanity is in the hunt for. One morning we see newspaper headlines that a certain Bobby East who is a Zambian rapper has a sex video circulating on Whats-app mobile phone application. The weeks that followed, his songs were at the top of the radio chart shows. He is not the first to gain fame after a leaked sex video. Not the first in Zambia or the entire world.

Every time I see Kim Kardashian in the newspapers or TV I have always asked what she is and has done to gain the fame and the only answer I have got is that she recorded a sex tape with the young brother of musician Brandy. As for Brandy’s brother I had never heard of him, until he did a duet with the sister on a song originally done by the legend Phil Collins. I struggle to remember any other great musical material from him. In my dream world, Magnus Carlsen the 23 year old chess grand master rated the best chess player currently at 2872, the highest in history, should be more famous than those who in their private lives shoot videos of them indulging in sex.

This is my real world. It is a tough world where not everything goes according to expectation. Some women expect to marry very wealthy men but those are in short supply and even those available have their own short comings so such women elect to stay single and just date one married man after another. Men expect a woman with a body like Beyonce, the personality of mother Teresa, the sex appeal of Shakira, the brains of Condoleza Rice, the aura of Oprah Winfrey. That woman doesn't exist.

As tough as things may be in my real world, I still believe that some of the things that continue to happen today, we must never allow to perpetuate the status quo as society. Take for instance the role we have given to political cadres in Zambia. How on earth do they have a right to live a life above the law? They can demonstrate anytime they want against any person who stands in their way. University students will see the inside of jail for any demonstration as police will not watch from a distance the way they do with political cadres. Students will be tear-gassed even when they are studying in their rooms; they will be chased around and arrested to face the law.

The political cadres don’t end at demonstrations. No. These are such a powerful species they walk on any piece of land and subdivide it to willing bidders without regard of who holds title to the land. A former MP on the Copper-belt was axed to death when he came to defend his piece of farm land that was being subdivided in broad day light. This is my real world. But it shouldn't be like this, we can do better.

In my dream world the role of a political cadre is to explain party manifestos and do charity work or any other work that can help their party to raise funds. I believe this we can do; unless my idealism is very disconnected from realism, but maybe I need a blog on a day in the life of a political cadre!

In my dream world!

I can only do this in the way I know.  Blurt it out. I need to find some way to express my frustrations.  I NEED to vent. However, frustrations don’t wear me down. I fly above all my frustrations without being worn out, so in as much as I am tired…defeated…hopeless…forlorn…despondent- I have my dreams. My dreams are at times almost all the hope I have. My dreams are not fairy tales, they are my life, so I can’t be defeated.

It’s summer time, like everyone else I look forward to each day with great optimism and enthusiasm. I look forward to having outdoor parties - a braai and barbecue every weekend. I can eat and enjoy some grilled chicken and roasted ribs.

Anyway that is just in my dream world. In my real world there are no parties. The closest I come to parties is the sound of loud music from the nearby drinking hole as MC Wabwino’s ‘Ndeo yayi’ plays in the distant speakers. In my real world summer becomes too hot to look forward to. My only consolation in summer is that it is the season I look forward to enjoying ice cream outings. YES summer is the season for ice cream and bikinis - the reason so many people look forward to it. Well, maybe not so much in my world. In my real world right now one man aptly called Wynter isn’t looking forward to summer.

In my dream world Wynter is the chief executive of a political party that wins election and forms government immediately creating huge opportunities for it’s citizens economically. More jobs are created; more money is earned by the people in their wallets. In my dream world there is robust lobbying by representative members of parliament (MP’s) for social, economic and legal equity. In my real world, MP’s seek to have more money in their own wallets only, by moving parliamentary motions for their own emoluments. In my real world, all the workers are slapped with a wage freeze.

In my dream world Wynter is the fifth most loved political person in Southern Africa just behind Jacob Zuma, King Mswati, Robert Mugabe and Julius Malema. In the real world, it turns out Wynter is not even popular in his own party which he has been the political number three for many years as General Secretary, effectively the party’s Chief Executive. Upon his dismissal as General Secretary, there were celebrations within the rank and file of his own party. There were even celebrations on social media by people from all walks of life.

In my dream world, we only celebrate people’s great achievements and not their dismissals or any other failure. In my dream world we stick by our friends and even adversaries in their moments of need. In all fairness, how will it profit a nation to celebrate the downfall (dismissal) of one man? Will that bring down the mealie meal prices, high fuel prices or even excessively high electricity tariffs? Will that bring about the enactment of the much talked about constitution or suddenly improves social, legal or economic justice? I doubt that. It will neither bring more money in our pockets nor any other economic empowerment we so dearly crave for. Maybe all these can still miraculously happen, unless of course, I underestimated the power that Wynter wielded in his position(s).  

In my dream world, faith organisations and leaders preach the word of salvation, at the heart of which lie the great commandment, ‘love your neighbor as you love yourself’. The commandment that asks of us, to be able to look at other people’s situations as if it were us in the same situations. In my dream world, nuns show compassion for people in need, people who are lacking and people who are just going through rough patches like a financial crisis. But in my real world, if a nun was your boss and you didn’t get your pay because your employer had mistaken you for a Ghost worker thus you couldn’t pay your rent on time, the nun would lock you out of the house.

In my dream world violence is not tolerated. Any type of violence against children, men, women or even animals is seen as feudal and attracts punishment should a case of criminal assault be proved. In my dream world there is neither gender based violence, nor any violence against those generally classified as feeble. In my real world, men beat their wives as a sign of love. In my real world a man can attack a defenseless nun in front of a TV crew. In my real world, those with money and power get away with assaulting everyone from their wives, workers, journalists etc because they can and because their wealth can protect them.

In my dream world men and women in relationships are faithful. In my dream world, marriages last for life. In my dream world, children are protected from all vices and they do not indulge in early sex or alcohol drinking until at least when they turn 18. In my real world, men and women in marriage cheat all the time without any remorse. In my real world, men and women are too proud thus their egos create constant conflict to live in harmony together and the easy way out is divorce. In my real world alcohol and sex is the reserve for all ages. School boys and girls can organize alcohol and sex parties in broad day light. In my real world, orgies are the in-thing such that even some pastors do three-some with church members after sessions of prayers.

In my dream world newspapers, TV stations and radio stations all give us fair and balanced news. In my dream world news is meant to inform the public of the happenings of a particular day. In my dream world, TV stations give the most balanced news, entertainment and education coverage to all sectors of life. In my dream world, radio stations play the best music and have not only well spoken, but good looking announcers. In my real world, news is propaganda.

In my dream world, people are judged on the content of their character. In my real world, it’s the size of your wallet and the colour or your skin that gets you recognition. Even the shade of colour pigmentation depending on how ‘more black or white you are’ is an issue.

In my dream world, you get recognition and celebrity status for great ideas that lead to great inventions. In my dream world, people like professor Samson Tembo the Chief Executive Officer of Inex Investment and the former engineer of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), have celebrity status thus are easily recognizable everywhere because they are on TV every day and grace newspaper headlines every day. In my dream world, Samson Tembo is one of the most important and recognizable faces because his project has the potential to generate revenue in the excess of  US$ 3 billion annually by extracting fuel from plastic and rubber plus anything of fossil fuel nature.

In my real world, the recognizable faces that appear on TV and newspapers include Sulu, Iris Kaingu, Bobby East and now Juliet Buumba. Yes in my real world you earn celebrity status for shooting a sex video. In my real world, Kim Kardashian, Iris Kaingu, Ray J, Bobby East et al, have been thrust to the celebrity hall of fame (edit to read shame) after leak of sex videos. I only heard a Bobby East song play on radio after he made newspaper headlines for the leaked sex video. Add to that, the fact I am yet to really come across any serious music material Ray J has done apart from the cameo feature on his more successful sister Brandy’s rendition of the highly successful another day in paradise by Phil Collins. In my dream world, fame does not come out of the events done in private and for the benefit of the private individuals but the public things that benefit the public.

Well, enough about dreams, illusions and reality. Everything I know including my expectations of how events will turn out comes from my perception of the world, and reality is really just my experiences. The outcomes of my perceptions and what is real are different and can never be the same. My dream world is definitely not a consequence of illusion but an aftereffect of my experiences and expectations. I love both my dream world and my real world. I am incomplete without either of the worlds. I live each day choosing the best of both worlds.

It is in our expectations that we build or destroy. I dread to walk into my distant mind and find the stale smell of discontent hanging timelessly. There is a lot that doesn’t go well with me, but I still keep my dream world alive expecting for much better outcomes and experiences. This is a blog of my expectations versus my reality.

Generation Y – The ultimate capitalists

I belong to the age bracket profoundly referred to as Generation Y, and so do most of my friends, workmates and business associates. Most of my friends and colleagues were born in the mid-1970's up to the late 1990's. I am closer to those born in the early 1980s up to the late 1980s. These we are bonded by age. Most of them have either climbed near the top of various corporate ladders (middle management or junior management positions) or running promising businesses. A few of them are in senior management at the top of the corporate ladder or running successful business entities.

Despite our dynamism and huge age gaps, we have all been classified by marketing experts as belonging to Generation Y. The emergence of Generation Y – defined as those born in early 1980's up to the early 2000's – presents marketers with many challenges. This market segment, also frequently called Millennials, spans a broad range of life-stages, from those just getting into secondary school to those with spouses, children and home loans. We are not, therefore, a homogeneous whole – but have been shaped by the same socio–economic trends. We share similar traits, habits and values – all of which marketers need to grasp fully in their branding strategy.

Generation Y is particularly important to marketers because it is arguably the generation which has been responsible for today’s excessive consumerism. Every marketer knows too well that the biggest problem encountered in satisfying Generation Y consumers is that they have frequently changing tastes. For this generation everything simply comes and quickly goes out of fashion. One thing though that is in comportment at all levels of Generation Y consumers is their need for self-importance and a high degree of grandiosity.

Generation Y likes to own everything that is nice. The biggest job. The biggest car. The biggest house. The biggest of everything. BIG is what defines us. In addition to BIG, there is another word and it is called BLING. Bling is the slang word for ‘shiny’. So, we love shiny big things and nothing else ever matters. Perhaps put in a different way, I may say we are a proud and selfish generation. We may not be at the level of selfishness and self-centeredness that Dr Chika Onyeani in ‘capitalist nigger’ describes as, "killer-instinct" and "devil-may-care" arrogance of Caucasians, but we definitely have a level of brashness that generations before us lacked.

The most important things to us are our own needs and nothing more. Perhaps we have become so exposed, so educated and so prosperous nothing else matters. Not religion, not any creeds and doctrines. Fulfillment of self is our number one and the only motivation for our everyday life.

Globalization and technology has enabled us to explore and experience the length and breadth of the world even without physically being present in certain areas. The internet has enabled us to look at the world as one big global village. For this and other reasons, we look at the world with a high level of open mindedness. In being open minded, we have embraced capitalism more and now we are viewed as being self-centered.

It may be arguable which social system is the best, but free enterprise (capitalism) always has an edge over socialism and communism. Socialism and communism moralize that individuals should not have ownership of land, capital (money), or industry, but rather the whole community collectively owns and controls property, goods, and production.  Ideally, in this system all share equally in work and the fruits of their labor.

Under Capitalism, individuals own and control land, capital, and production of industry.  Individuals are free to purchase and own their own homes, cars, furniture, and other goods such as TV, radio, computer, etc. Individuals have total freedom to live where they want and what type of careers they want to pursue.

The biggest problem with socialism and communism lies in human attitudes. If you don't own something, you are not obliged to take good care of it. For instance, in Zambia, institutional and council houses that had been dilapidated as a result of tenants not taking good care of them and consequently lost value suddenly turned into well maintained mansions after massive renovations and extensions to the properties once they were privately owned and thus experienced a rise in value.  The ‘va boma’ attitude suddenly died as owners now had a vested interest in keeping the houses in good condition.

Critics have charged that capitalist social systems insist too much on material possessions, and a love affair with ‘worldly’ possessions which is not sustainable. Capitalism does not tell men to suffer, but to pursue enjoyment and achievement. Capitalism tells people to produce and profit—capitalism does not preach passivity, humility, resignation, but independence, self-confidence and self-reliance.

My view… my thoughts…

Since knowledge, thought, and rational action are properties of the individual, since the choice to exercise his rational aptitude or not depends on the individual, man’s survival requires that those who think be free to do so and that their thoughts should create as much as can be largely possible. Free thought is what creates innovation which in turn conceives entrepreneurs who build businesses which in turn generate jobs.

Jobs bring about the working class who largely form the middle class, and it is the middle class who are responsible for massive consumerism thus creating a market for more goods from more corporations. This is the supremacy of capitalism. Enabling one man and giving him the freedom to invent, giving him/her the power to create wealth not only for him/herself, but an entire nation.

The unrestricted accumulation of legal capital drives economic activity - the need to continuously produce profits and reinvest this profit into the economy is what develops countries. Generation Y must not be apologetic for seeking profit, useful goods and services are a byproduct of pursuing profit.

Generation Y has been criticized by many as being extremely self-centered and lacking humility. This is perhaps what a country like Zambia needs - A cadre of citizens not afraid to go to great heights in pursuit of profit. The mechanics of a free market economy will self-regulate to dictate and promote good industry practice and cripple those that do not respect the best business practice.

Generation Y is constantly upgrading academic and professional qualification in search of excellence which in turn translate into better jobs. Generation Y is not afraid to hop from one job to the next in search of a better pay or just to be separated from a vexatious boss. This is not a sign of a lack of loyalty, but a sign of a people driven by attainment of the highest standards. In reality generation Y abhors the idea of having a boss. Generation Y prefers to be employees for a substantial period of time and there after turn to entrepreneurs who start business and eventually manage them.

Again Generation Y must not be apologetic or be seen by employers as lacking loyalty. However, employers must rejoice that they are probably hiring the best out of the available pool and if that best is not good enough it won’t be long before another more capable individual comes knocking on that door and the employer only stands to gain in this case.

Generation Y believes that Capitalism demands the best of every man—his rationality—and rewards him accordingly. The best of every man only manifests when he/she realizes that each one of us must contribute to the world’s production and there is no better way of being productive but by being innovative.

For all the pursuit of profit, we must however never lose our humanity. We should never take the route of extreme pursuit of profit as every game has rules thus the pursuit of profit must be done and attained within the legal limits. Lyndon B. Johnson would have better said this as; “I pray we are still a young and courageous nation, that we have not grown so old and so fat and so prosperous that all we can think about is to sit back with our arms around our money bags. If we choose to do that I have no doubt that the smoldering fires will burst into flame and consume us -- dollars and all.”

There is no social order that is perfect. In fact good socialism can be better than bad capitalism where only the rich get richer and the extreme social classes are maintained by the same people without ever having others cross to the other side or the middle. Socialism that permits more free market signals and personal freedoms can be superior to a Capitalism that permits pursuit of profit by an elite manipulating public policy. Bad capitalism is equally as debauched as bad socialism or communism.

It's the weekend baby!

Ladies… (and gents) You are at a bar and you meet a guy that isn't taking any alcohol and actually doesn't ever drink any alcoholic beverages and he tells you he has at some point tasted alcohol but found it's just not in his DNA to take it any further than tasting (well...that's like me…ahem). Is this the kind of guy you would want to have a conversation with in that bar? If yes, what would be the first question you would ask him? "What the hell are you doing here?" I guess that would be the most obvious question. 

As a matter of fact, I have met a lot of people that truly believe that if a guy doesn't take any alcohol, then there is something mentally wrong with him or he must be a womaniser. This is how many a guy like myself get 'discriminated against'. But what was I doing at a bar when I don’t take alcohol? Well I was out to relax and dance the night away too, like everyone else.

After a long time of not hanging out at night, I found myself joining many Lusaka party freaks on a Friday night. The morning of Friday 25th July 2014 started in pretty much the same way albeit routinely as the other Fridays before it. It might even have been identical to all other previous Fridays in the preceding 7 years before that day. It was business as usual and I was getting ready to go to the office as my employers required me to. Let me not go on a roll about the morning when the gist of the blog is in the evening.

After I left work that particular Friday evening, I met a colleague for a short meeting at Foxdale court. Shortly after, on my way home I met another colleague at Golden gates, a joint just a few meters from my home. In no time we would find ourselves at shop number 1 arcades shopping mall, great east road - Times Cafe.

It's the weekend baby!

Being at shop number 1 arcades mall in the night or any other night spot for that matter was something I hadn't done in over 3 years. The only time I had been out late at night in that period, I was either attending a corporate function of one sort or another with colleagues at the office or been invited by other colleagues for product launches or any other corporate event. It still qualifies as being out late at night but it is not the same thing.

In the period since I last went out 'clubbing', there have been many changes in the clubbing culture in Zambia it seems. The first change I noticed was the dress code. It seems the official dress code for the ladies going out at night in Lusaka is now the mini-dress. This is a dress so short it barely covers the buttocks. Of course there were a few females that adorned other clothes like tight jeans or bum shorts with leggings inside, but everywhere I looked there were just too many mini dresses. The male folk on the other hand still seem not to have found identity for the clubs. There seemed to be no pattern or dress code of any note from the male folk.

The one change that was unanimous with the sexes was the love of tattoos. It seems there are more Zambians who have taken art to another level by inking their bodies in so many different ways. For the female folk, the most popular spots for the tattoos were the thighs just above the knees, exposed by the mini dresses. The other spots were breasts exposed by excessive cleavage and the back of the shoulder exposed by bare back apparel.

The male folk on the other hand had tattoos on the wrists, and I saw one on the neck. Before that Friday, I had never seen that many tattoos in one place. With each year tattoos are getting more and more popular among crowds of people, young and old in Zambia. And although not everyone agrees with tattoos or why people go through the pain to get them, they are steadily becoming a huge part of our society today. To ink or not to ink, many Zambian’s are definitely inking!

To ink or not to ink?

It seems so much can change in a short period of time. Even attitudes. I was really taken aback when Chris Brown's 'loyal' song blazed in the speakers. There were wild shouts from the ladies and in no time seats were emptied as the female folk danced gleefully. What I couldn't understand is the fact that in the song the singer at some point repeatedly mentions that "these hoes ain't loyal". To me, even though I don't know the full and actual lyrics of that song, what I have heard sort of demeans the females.

Last time I checked, females enjoyed song like TLC’s No scrubs, Beyonce’s irreplaceable and independent women to mention but a few which praise the woman. One thing that hasn't changed though is that 2-Pac and Notorious BIG still get air play in the clubs after more than 18 and 17 years respectively since they died. As a matter of fact the patrons enjoyed the songs from the duo such that I could hear loud choruses of people singing along. It’s not only the two murdered rappers that got people excited but Zambian musicians too.

When Dandy Krazy’s song ‘Mbuyo ya Amama’ played, there was massive wiggling all around accompanied by wild chants. This must be a very popular song really and unfortunate enough for me I had never heard the song before that night.  Since then I have heard the song play on radio a couple of times. The question I have asked myself since listening to the song on radio really has been; ‘do we have club only hits in Zambia? Or a popular song becomes a hit everywhere!’ I believe not every song should play on radio, unless the producer has deliberately done a radio edit version of the song.

My night out had further surprises. I was really taken aback by the number of females in comparison to males present at shop number 1 arcades mall that night. At most visible tables, there were 4 or 5 females and maybe only 1 or 2 males. The reverse was the case the last time I had been out. I couldn't help but keep wondering if that report that made rounds on the internet suggesting that Zambia has more binge female drinkers than any other country in southern Africa (or was it the whole of Africa), was accurate or truthful. As a matter of fact, the said report was highly rumored to have been authored by some World Health Organization (WHO) experts.

I don’t usually believe rumors so I concluded the source of that information should have been a bloke that was in a night club and saw as many females drinking and passed his observation as a WHO social survey. I am not discounting that report though, just that I do not have the facts of its origins. It could be very true. One other thing of note is that there are far too many young girls and boys clubbing and drinking.

Where I live there is a street nicknamed devil street (topic for another blog) where I have seen extremely young girls engaging in all sorts of uncouth behavior after drinking sprees. But there I was seeing very young girls strut their way into shop number 1 arcades mall. The early days of shop number 1 arcades mall, entry was very restricted not only on the basis of age but also social class to some extent I believe. The bottom line is that not every Mulenga, Jelita, Robert, Sara or Nyambe the hero could walk in.

Seeing that every Maria is clubbing now, probably explains why almost all joints are filled with people. Back in the day, there would be 1 or 2 popular places that would always be full and entry to those places was charged while the rest of the places entry was free to attract as many people. Ya’ll remember XENON I guess. Today the number of happening joints has greatly multiplied and so have been the people to fill them up. It doesn't matter where the money to spend on alcohol comes from but it is always found and people get drunk.

Everyone probably knows that you don’t need to have money to get drunk. There was a very popular term I learned, which described a person who got intoxicated without necessarily paying for the drinks -Rwanda. I am not sure of the origins of that term or whether it had any connections to the country of the same name but it described people who habitually got drunk at the expense of their friends.

I really believe there are too many people drinking alcohol in Zambia now than ever before. Maybe people have more disposable incomes now than before. If that were true then maybe the classification of Zambia as a lower middle income country was very accurate and not mere politicking.

Of course not many expect economists to agree on many things so when the World Bank reclassified Zambia as a lower-middle income country, many disagreed arguing that the percentage of people living below the poverty line had increased instead. However statistics collected also indicated that there has been a rising middle class who now constitutes a market for consumer goods (and 2^nd hand Japanese vehicles). Whether the per capita income of Zambians has increased or not or we are now more poor, there are many people relaxing by throwing or attending parties every so often at which alcohol is the number one item on the menu list.

Of Course a lad like me doesn't expect that economists will agree on most things. Without digressing, I am reminded of the words of George Bernard Shaw who once said “If all the economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.” I believe Economists don’t even agree with their own theories a lot of times as they will give you more than one outcomes or expectation as Harry S. Truman a former president of the USA also famously said; Give me a one-handed economist! All my economics say, ''On the one hand? on the other.''

 

Must KK come back with more threats?

So if we have more money to spend and we are spending it on alcohol, are we heading in the right direction as a country? I have my reasons why I don’t take alcohol and I may share them some day. What I want to say now really is that alcohol should not be what defines a weekend. There are a lot of activities that we can all engage in other than alcohol. Yes some have to engage in alcohol drinking but the numbers I am seeing engaged in alcohol drinking every weekend and for many, every day, are really frightening. We may just one day be one drunken country.

There are all sorts of events and parties that take place in Zambia every weekend. The weekend starts literary on Friday mid-morning. In Lusaka, by noon every Friday, it is difficulty to even drive from one end of the Central Business District, (CBD, known as town to many) to another end. By noon, it literary becomes impossible to drive on those roads in the CBD, people are moving in all direction in preparation for the weekend.

By the end of each Friday, there are parties starting everywhere and more parties on Saturday and Sunday. This is the case the whole weekend and the routine is repeated every weekend. All these parties are characterized by alcohol consumption and most times a guy like me feels out of place when attending some of these parties. It has become monotonous explaining myself that I don't take any alcohol and the questions never stops. So the wise thing for me to do is stay away from most of these social events and I prefer to just spend my limited free time with my family and also do some writing.

Well, a combination of writers’ block creeping in and my chrome book acting up after huge files I had typed mysteriously got corrupt sent me to shop number 1 arcades mall to relax like many do. It was great for me going out after a long time and really starting to learn how the clubbing culture has evolved.

So if you found me at a bar and I am not sipping on any glass whose contents have percentages of alcohol, do not ask what the hell am doing there, just raise your glass and toast to the weekend in my direction. It’s the weekend Baby!

Nelson Mandela: A rare breed

18^th July, Nelson Mandela's birthday was gazetted by the UN as Mandela day in 2009 and celebrated for the first time in 2010. 67 minutes of charity are encouraged in honour of Mandela's 67 years of fighting for social, political and economic justice. 

That is in a small part, the size of Nelson Mandela. When he turned 95 (the last age he would live to) I had wanted to put up a blog in tribute to this great son of Africa, but I couldn't find the words for this great man. I had nothing to write about the man so I decided to just reproduce the lyrics to John Clegg’s famous song Asimbonanga. When he died I equally didn’t have anything to write, so I decided to just share some famous pictures of Mandela and some of his famous quotes.

However, on the first Mandela day since his death, I've decided to discuss some aspects of this extra ordinary life as I have experienced it many kilometers away having never met the man or even been close as being within a 100 kilometers to where he may have been at any moment. But that was the influence of Nelson Mandela, you didn't need to be near him, you just felt his influence. 

Very few can deny that Madiba, as he was fondly called by his clan name, was a rare breed. I first came to know that there was a human being called Nelson Mandela in the late 80's when I was a very young boy. My friend's young brother who is my friend too and a family friend happened to be named Nelson. Funny enough, this Nelson, the other name Muyaba, many years later would be on my wedding ceremony bridal party. Without digressing, the story is that I had heard a few people refer to Nelson Muyaba as Nelson Mandela. 

So when I heard Nelson Mandela being mentioned a couple of times by many people who were older, I always wondered why my friend was called that too. My elder brothers would later explain to me that Nelson Mandela was a freedom fighter imprisoned for demanding equality and an end to apartheid. Aged just five, six or seven, the terms freedom fighter, equality and apartheid did not really bring any serious meaning home. However, there were a number of South African songs that depicted the fight against apartheid that were being played on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) TV and since some of the songs were too 'graphic', I started to fill the gaps in my understanding of apartheid. 

Then one day I sat down in front of the TV to watch the movie Sarafina, the epic film that stared Whoopi Goldberg, and my respect for the anti apartheid activists sky rocketed. There were many names that constantly made headlines, and my memory recalls the names Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo. Of all the anti apartheid activists and freedom fighters the name Nelson Mandela was one that sent the greatest repulsive waves across the world. Free Mandela was the common chorus out of Africa, Latin America, Asia Europe and just throughout the world. A FREE man, is what Mandela became on 11th February 1990.

Upon his release from prison, Mandela's first visit was Zambia where many of the Africa National Congress (ANC) activists who had fled the jaws of apartheid and fear of jail found refuge. Though I was quite young then, I still remember how big an occasion Mandela's coming to Zambia was. The preceding year had also seen the visit to Zambia, of Pope John Paul II which was another big occasion I remember.

While many people much older than me remember the Mandela of the 60's who was imprisoned for 27 years, many from my generation only remember the Mandela that came out of Prison. He was an ageing man but very much a self assured man who believed in himself and his way of things but never shied away from changing course every time he realized he was on the wrong side. He also had a tinge of arrogance about him but at the same time showed he was a humble man. One thing he did do after his release from prison was to embark on an extensive international travelling expedition where he addressed many forums including the OAU, World economic Forum, and many other summits as well as receiving various peace prizes together with F W de Klerk. However, while visiting the Scandinavian countries and Czechoslovakia in May 1992, Mandela shocked the world when his confrontational side emerged once more by suggesting that F W de Klerk was personally responsible for the political violence in South Africa at the time. 

He likened the violence in South Africa to the killing of Jews in Nazi Germany. Mandela also criticised what he felt was the stranglehold imposed on the South African press, which represented White-owned conglomerates. This attack had shocked many as Mandela had mostly taken the role of mediator of the different political factions in South Africa and signing many peace accords. Perhaps it was the case of 'old habits die hard', as he was one of the founders of the ANC military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

In the time Mandela was in jail, there had emerged a cadre of youth who had lived through the struggle years and they believed in violence and confrontation as the number one solution in order to achieve anything. Most of these saw Mandela as having been softened by jail and did not approve of his no-violence stance. In April, 1993 Mandela was booed at a rally in Soweto’s Jabulani stadium when he tried to convey a message of peace and restraint following the assassination of Chris Hani.

Mandela also caused a political row after he had been voted ANC president to replace the ailing Oliver Tambo when he suggested that South Africa's voting age should be lowered to enable 14-year old children to vote.

As it turned out, Mandela would be the first president of a democratic election in South Africa barely 4 years after release from prison. Mandela's 27 years in prison I can imagine were dominated by tremendous hardship. There were freezing winter nights, suffocating summer days, poorly if not barely cooked food and back-breaking labor. On cold winter nights, a thin mat which has now found itself in a museum served as a bed, on a stone floor for most of his time behind bars. Winnie Madikizela Mandela had been to see her husband a restricted number of times only. In that same period he lost his First born Son & his mother but was not allowed to attend each of their funerals! In addition, none of his children was allowed to visit him in jail. In those 27 years there were moments of high drama, including aborted escape plans (Michael Scorfield Prison Break stunts).

Nelson Mandela is a rare breed not because he spent 27 years in jail, but because besides undergoing so much - he chose to forgive. That is not what other African freedom fighters did. The early freedom fighters became demi-gods in their own countries with most of them throwing out of the window all the democratic tenets they preached and putting on the entire dictatorial amour they sought to rid from their colonial masters.

Nelson Mandela chose a different path, embracing forgiveness, reconciliation as well as choosing not to keep hold of power for eternity. Perhaps he had the advantage of seeing what had happened to the other freedom fighter before him who held onto power for many years until they became irrelevant or their own citizens didn't want them anymore there by being humiliated out of office and a new breed of African leaders emerging in the 90’s. Some have even suggested that at the age of 76 when he was elected as president, Mandela didn't have enough fight left in him hence he chose to forgive all his oppressors, aggressors and enemies so that he could live his final years in peace.

Whatever the rationale behind his choices which led to the decisions of forgiveness and reconciliation, nothing can be taken away from his desire for a just society. In his own words, in court before sentencing in 1964, he chose these word; "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for. But, my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Mandela's pre-occupation was not to change the skin colour of the ruling elite from white and replace with black. His ideology was to bring forth a democratic dispensation where ideals of the rule of law, one man one vote, equality and a free press were truly present. To him it didn't matter who was in power as long as the system promoted the ideals of equality. He didn't need to rule forever to make this happen. He just happened to have been the conduit through which the Republic of South Africa buried the hewers of hate and drawers of colour on one side and those who wield mastery over the countries resources on the other.

In 1999, after only a single term in office, Mandela handed over first the ANC presidency to Thabo Mbeki. He would later choose not to contest the Republican presidency, again paving the way for Thabo Mbeki to be elected president. At the time Mandela stepped down as republican president I was away at boarding school and we didn't get much news then, but Mandela stepping down was news that filtered through to us at a time when internet was not much developed in this part of the world.

I remember when I heard the news I was shocked! After all the years in jail, the least we could have expected him was to complete his mandatory two terms. We have seen other even try to subvert constitutions by going for a third term of office. This is what set him apart. He didn't want to rule for 27 years as compensation for being in jail. This is my greatest memory of Mandela. It was a first in my life time. We had gotten used to the likes of Kamuzu Banda and Kenneth Kaunda who had to lose an election in order to cede power.

In my younger days, much earlier I the 90’s, we would refer to Kamuzu Banda as the Kaunda of Malawi. In other words Kaunda was the term for president. “Who is the Kaunda of country X or country Y?”, we would ask each other. All the great sons of Africa who brought us freedom have been special in their own respective ways. Kwame Nkruma, Mobutu Seseseko, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Samora Machel, Kamuzu Banda and many others, but Mandela was more relevant to my time. His relevance has made him all the more, a rare breed among his peers. Sixty seven years of fighting for social justice, and not even making any fortune out of it. Truly a rare breed.