A chat with Zambia's youngest commercial pilot then... Kalenga Kamwendo

Five years ago i sat to interview then Zambia's youngest commercial pilot and enjoyed a meal together. Below is the full article as sent to African Scholar Magazine and the full verbatim of the interview;

He says there is nothing extraordinary about him, but that he is an ordinary 20 year old who loves to watch TV, hang out with friends/family and he reveals that he loves silly things like pranks on friends. He also admits to being a social media freak, with sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. That is not all as he says that like most 20 year old males, he is a huge sports fan in particular football and he mentions Barcelona and Manchester United as the teams he is a huge fan of.

His name is Kalenga Kamwendo, and unlike his declarations, he is no ordinary 20 year old. Kalenga Kamwendo is a 20 year old commercial pilot employed by ProFlight Zambia. He has been a commercial pilot since he was 18 years old when he got his commercial pilot’s licence. He is also highly philosophical as he punctuates his conversations with quotes from philosophers, then he swings back into the world of religious correctness before deviating into strict academic motivational jargon. Here is the extraordinary story of 20 year old Kalenga Kamwendo a commercial pilot with plenty flying hours on his belt alredy.

1.    Who is Kalenga Kamwendo? Distinguishing that from Kalenga Kamwendo the pilot with a square suit case.

Kalenga is my first name and Kamwendo my last name. I like to describe myself from the time before I was a pilot. There was no pilot involved anywhere. Kalenga is a person like any other. First of all, I’ve only got two hands, I’ve only got two legs and one brain. Of course one heart that beats. There is nothing that distinguishes between me or any other person physically or mentally. First of all, I am a God loving son of his mother and father. I am also a fun loving person. People assume that just because I am a pilot, I just fly all of a sudden I am locked in a box and when it’s time to fly again I am unlocked from this box and go to fly. I am a person. I love to watch TV, I love to hang out with friends, family, I love silly things like pranks on friends, I love Facebook and twitter I love Instagram and generally social media. I love sports and am a huge Barcelona and Manchester United fan. I get happy when they win and sad when they lose just like anybody else. I love rugby and swimming too and just sports in general. I enjoy reading and I get excited driving too though it’s weird to many who ask me, why driving excites me when I fly. It does, excite me. Driving excites me. There is nothing that I do that other people don’t do. Kalenga Kamwendo is like any other person out there.

2.    When did you qualify to become a commercial pilot and how old were you?

I qualified as a commercial pilot on the 12th July 2013 and I was 18years old. This was 2 years ago. My story is only coming out now, but I’ve been a commercial pilot for two years. I started flying when I was 17 and I got my commercial pilot licence when I was 18.

3.    Describe your family background (Date of birth, place, siblings, and guardians/parents?

I am Bisa by tribe and was born on the 26^th August 1994 to Thomas Kamwendo and Mailess Kamwendo in Kitwe at Nkana Hospital which is now Wusakile Mine Hospital. I’ve lived in the same house my whole life, I’ve never shifted so I don’t know what it feels like to shift. 12 Mwila Musonda crescent Riverside Kitwe. I am a plain Kitwe boy. I have an older brother his name is Makula, I’ve got a young sister who just finished Grade 12, her name is Muchima. My father is an Engineer, my mother is a nurse, my brother is into all this medical stuff, my sister wants to become a civil engineer and yeah we have me the pilot.

4.    Describe your environment/neighbourhood (social status of your neighbourhood) and your parents/guardians source of livelihood.

We are just an ordinary family, there is nothing extra ordinary about us. I can just say that my parents gave us everything they could give. They gave me every opportunity to become who I wanted to become. So I can’t say we were out there, privileged or anything. But, what I like to describe us as; is a privileged family, that doesn’t mean we are rich but that, we put everybody’s needs above our own.  That includes my parents who put my interests on top of theirs.

5.    How old were you when you started your education? Describe your first days at school. What did you expect your school to do for you? What was your dream and how did you think/expect school to help you realise that dream. Who was your role model (if any)

I started school when I was 7 or there about and finished school when I was seventeen which is not an unusual age. The thing is, you know how people rest the one year after grade 12 and only get into school in January which means they have waited 1 year and two months. I only waited a couple of weeks before I was into school again. My birthday is in August so I was still freshly 17 when I went into Air School. It takes some people a very long time because Air School is so unpredictable. For me it took me only three months from the time I went into Air school and the time I became a private pilot. My first licence as a private pilot, that took me only three months and by that time I was very much 17 years old.

In Grade 1, I was at Lechwee and it was such a friendly place to be at. Sometimes I preferred to be at School than being at home. That kind of freed my mind to be whoever I wanted to become, unfortunately I never wanted to be a pilot at the time. I wanted to become an engineer. I just wanted to be like my dad because to me he was my role model at the time. Little did I know that him being my role model and his motto is, “be what you want to be”, and him being my role model meant me following that, which meant not following him but following myself and be what I wanted to become.

6.    Who would you say helped you get where you are or was your biggest influence? Your teachers or your parents?

My father and my mother were my biggest influence far and beyond. I know a lot of people who had wished to be pilots but they were hindered by their parents more than anyone else. But my parents told me that, “you know what, you are a flower, we have planted your seed, we have watered and you germinate and grow into a flower of whatever colour you decide, is what you become yourself. We are not going to tell you to be a rose of a certain colour because that takes away from your natural beauty”.

So from a very young age, my parents encouraged me to be the best version of me that I could become regardless of what I became.  So they, for me have been the biggest influence of what I’ve become today.

7.    What motivated you to pursue a career in Aviation? What was the major influencing factor? How did your parents/friends/guardians react to your choice of study?

First of all like I have said, my parents encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be and second, I love breaking taboos. I am one who believes in breaking taboos as much as I can. There is a taboo in Zambia that becoming a pilot is for a certain class of people. To become a pilot you have to be smart and this and that but I was determined to break that. You don’t have to be a certain type of a person to become a pilot. I am just a simple boy from the copper belt of Zambia who grew up in Kitwe. I am a ‘Kopala boy’ but look at what I have become today. That is something that motivated me to go into aviation. Also, when I decided that I didn’t want to be an engineer like my dad I had to find something that I loved. I loved planes and I love football. I had to choose between being a football player and being a pilot. The aviation side won. So I researched and researched and the more I did this the more I fell in love with aviation until I got to a point where I told myself that there is nothing I’d rather be than becoming a pilot.

My parents supported me 300%. I knew that I had their support even before I chose this career path.

8.    Did you at any point feel you should or may quit?

Nothing in life just flows, other than water. Even water encounters rocks at times. It wasn’t a smooth ride obviously. I had stumbles, setbacks and challenges and they were many of them. But I believe that in life there is always a way and life picks the toughest battles for the toughest battles. If I were in the Roman times and was told to go to battle with either 300 soldiers or 300 callboys, of course the soldiers would have the better chance of success.  Life picks the toughest battles for the toughest opponents. The tougher it became, for me I believe it’s the tougher I became. That pushed me and motivated me to become who I’ve become today.

9.    What was the most interesting experience during your studies that kept you motivated? Any difficulty moments or near-break points?

Everyone looking at me because I looked so young. This is me now at 20 and I still get stares because I look young. You can imagine me three years ago at 17. I looked ridiculously young. People would make fun of me by saying, “oh what are you doing here? So they are letting high school kids into flight school now! Did you come straight from grade nine?”, and or sorts of things. That made me realise that I was special in that context. In that field I was different by breaking into it earlier than most do. I told myself that I was there for a purpose and whatever everyone else’s expectations didn’t matter that much to me. I had entered at a different age which meant I was there to break this belief that you had to be a certain age to become a pilot. The more I believed that, the more I pushed and the more I pushed the more motivated I became until my age was eventually not a hindering factor but a motivating factor in making me a commercial pilot.

10.  Where did you do your pilot training and how would you describe Zambia Air Services and Flight Training schools?

I did my training at 43 Air school in a little town called Fort Alfred between Port Elizabeth and East London in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. As far as I know Zambia has Aero Space College and Zambia Air Services Training Institute (ZASTI) as the only flight schools. I have never been to any of them or dwelled into any of them to make any assessment or comment. But if I can take anything out of it is that it’s a positive that we have two flight schools, but I will obviously want to see more investors in the sector so that we have more flight schools.

The main reason I chose 43 Air school, believe it or not I did not know that ZASTI or Aero Space College existed when I left. 43 Air School though has the biggest air fleet in the southern hemisphere, which includes Australia and South America which is really fantastic. They have got something just shy of 50 planes and their staff is experienced, the ground staff is great, the technical staff is great, they have a great air maintenance, they have got fantastic aeronautical engineers on site and it is at an airport. Many air schools rent out premises, but they have got their airport with a full-fledged tower. There is so much in terms of what you can get out of there. I’ve never been to a lot of other schools in depth, but from what I’ve seen at a few schools, they can hardly match up to 43 air school.

11.  Describe your first experience with Flying? And your first time flying commercial airlines!? How have you found life working for ProFlight?

At flight school they literary put you in a plane and you start of right in a plane to move it initially on the ground, of course in the presence of an instructor. Later the simulators come in when you learn instrument flying. The instructor of course does most of the staff in the first flights and slowly but surely introduces you to more things, but the thrill of flying from not doing anything at all is so amazing.

I’d rather describe my first time flying without an instructor, because my first time flying wasn’t really…it was a flight but I mean my instructor took off, she took us in the air and once we were set up she asked us to move the controls a bit move back and forth. The first time I flew without an instructor was me in a plane alone, no one else. I was so used having someone seated next to me. They gave me an aircraft and asked me what I could do with it. I took off, did a circuit and landed again within the airport at 43 air school. I cannot explain how it was exciting and scary at the same time. It was like a roller coaster experience the first time. Unlike in a roller coaster I had to concentrate otherwise I’d kill myself. The thrill of having a whole aircraft under your control is immense, it’s unbelievable. But then I love flying so it was more exciting for me.

In that moment I was feeling like there is really nothing I’d rather do than fly and luckily I had the opportunity at a very young age. When I actually took off, I couldn’t really believe that my dreams had got me to where they had at such an early age. I finally landed and taxied and we had this tradition of a ceremony where they carry you and throw you in a pool. The accumulation of all that happened on that day was just immense and unexplainable and that is something that pushed me to where I am today it was so immense.

Confucius, a Chinese philosopher actually said that ‘if you find a job doing something that you love, then you will never work a day in your life’. At that point I realised that is something that I wanted to do.

First time I flew commercial was 1^st September last year [2014], 5 days after my birthday. ProFlight actually phoned me on my birthday to tell me that I was hired. First time I flew commercially I was really nevers, I never had people’s lives in my hands before. I was nevers, a bit jumpy and excited obviously but I was nevers because there were so many thoughts in my head. I was flying with Captain Vivian Sikazwe and he sat me down, talked me through everything that was going to happen and calmed me down. The flights happened and when it was done I was like; “Oh, am now a commercial pilot! My dream is finally realised.” It was such an exciting moment. Everything, a combination of all my work and culmination of everything that had happened in my life up to that moment, it was a highlight. That day I actually became a commercial pilot. I cannot even explain it in words. I didn’t even realise it, after we landed we did all the paper work and went home and it was only after three hours that it dawned on me that I actually flew people, their lives in my hands and I did it the same way as before I had people’s lives in my hands. There was really no difference; it was really the same thing only the added pressure of people.

I have been a commercial pilot since I got my commercial pilot’s licence but I have only been flying commercially after I got hired by ProFlight which was my first job. Life working for ProFlight has been amazing. They have taken me straight from air school. A lot of companies will ask you to have some sort of experience, but these guys took me under their wing. They have brought me to being an experienced pilot, from nothing. All under their wing without treating me like ‘oh you are young’, they have all treated me like a family from day one they treated me like I had been there for years. I settled in naturally they have taken care of me so much and they make sure I am fine. I have never had one single complaint. All I have for ProFlight is praise, I am sure am going to be there for a very long time to come. 

12.  How have you reacted to your story coming out now making you the man and thrusting you into an overnight celebrity?

I am not the man. Maybe if I was at the top of the chain at my company. I am still at the bottom and still got a long way to go and the point when one gets comfortable is the point one begins to lose it in life. You should never ever find a comfort zone because the more you feel that your goals haven’t been met, the harder you keep pushing yourself until you get to where you want to be and I believe I am nowhere near where I want to be. This is just a combination of all the work I have put in. I am appreciative of it but it’s still nowhere near where I want to be.

13.  You are young in an industry where age, experience and the number of flying hours accumulated is extremely important. How do you move shoulders high to face your daily tasks? Are there any situations you face as a result of this?

Oh yeah every once in a while you get a passenger that looks at you funnily because you look young. But now a lot of people have flown with me and know who I am. We have a lot of frequent fliers who have flown so much with me that when they see me they go like, “ah, it’s this guy”, they know they are in for a smooth flight and they greet me because they know the previous flights with me have gone well. It’s no longer a challenge for me. I look at it as a motivation to go out every single day and prove wrong the people who still doubt and continue adding faith to the people who believe in me up to this point.

Again I’d like to thank ProFlight obviously for getting me in an industry where experience and hours and age matter a lot. ProFlight is actually breaking boundaries in what they are doing and results are there for all to see in their growth in southern Africa, and it is because of things like putting faith in people like me who everyone else would turn a blind eye on. You always reap the rewards of your work, and ProFlight’s growth is them reaping from the hard work they are putting in, into believing in us the Zambian pilots. It’s not only the pilots but flight engineers, air hostesses, ticket sales, the commercial department and just all of us being well looked after by ProFlight and we are growing. This is not coming from nowhere.

14.  In a world where career choice is increasingly made on the premise of expected financial benefits, a career as noble as flying people safely to different destinations, a career where safety and precision in every decision is of primal importance, what motivates you?

It’s love. You don’t love aviation, trust me you will not get your commercial pilots licence because it is a long road to getting the commercial pilot’s licence and if you do not love, it won’t happen. First of all, it is my passion for aviation that is about 70% of it. Everything else is an added bonus towards the passion I have for aviation. I don’t see myself doing a job that I don’t love for the rest of my life just because the money is good. ‘Oh I became a lawyer because I wanted to get money but every day in the court room I am not giving my all because I don’t like being a lawyer’. My choice started with my love and passion for wanting to become a pilot, and everything else obviously is an added bonus.

15.  It is said that the illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. What is you take on this?

I agree 100%. Reading and writing is education obviously and it is very important, but in this ever changing world a human has to be ever changing. Diversification, evolution and adaptation is what brought us to here where we are as the human race and it’s what is going to take us forward. So learn to read and write for the good of mankind and yourself, it is going to help you trust me. It’s not the end but only the beginning keep going, keep learning, keep striving, keep changing. The more you work, you are going to benefit no one but yourself, the less you work is the less benefits you are going to get as a human.

16.  What is your take on the education standards in Africa and the levels of competitiveness of Africa’s graduates to those from other continents?

I haven’t really interacted with a lot of Africans, and their education sectors so I can lie. However, I have met a lot of people like myself, people who have motivated me even. If you thought my story was special, there are a lot of Africans out there who have way better stories than I do. Based on that alone, I know that we Africans if we decided to, would be at par with any other continent. I believe that we do have it in Africa, we do have it within ourselves. We may not tap into it as we should, but from what I have seen, I know that we can do it if we decide to.

17.  Where do you see yourself both professionally and academically in the next 10years?

I am gonna have a house on a hill somewhere, a very big hill. I love heights…hehe am just playing. I’d love to be a captain for ProFlight. They keep expanding their fleet, they are going to have bigger planes and in 10years… oh my gosh! The growth I am witnessing, what planes are they going to have in ten years? And I love Zambia, If I had the choice to live anywhere else in the world, they say there is no place like home. So where I see myself in 10 years is a captain for ProFlight Zambia on their biggest aircraft at that time.

18.  If you were not a pilot what would you be?

Football player. Maybe an engineer like my dad, but I can bet my money on it I would have become a football player. The pull between me and football is second to the pull between aviation and I. So if I had not become a pilot, I’d have become a football player. I don’t know if I’d have made it, but I’d have been a football player. 

19.  What would your last words be to those still considering studying aviation (Especially young people)?

The question is not, Why? But, Why Not? Why should you not become a pilot if it’s what you want to do? If you know within your heart it is what you want to do, then push for it and towards it. At the end of the day it will be no one else going to that job you didn’t want to do, but yourself. You are going to be bored every single day. So if you want to become a pilot, please by any means do it. If you love it so much, trust me you are going to love it more once you get into the aviation industry. Follow not my story but make your own. I became a commercial pilot at 18, but you can do it at 17. You don’t have to follow my example, you can better me. I am not a superior being, but just a normal Kitwe boy, so you can do it also and better me.

Don’t waste time. You are wasting no one else’s time but your own. There is a saying that ‘when I was in school I couldn’t wait to finish so I could enter college, when I was at college I couldn’t wait to finish so I could get a job, when I got a job I couldn’t wait till I retired, I retired at 70 and realised I spent my whole life waiting.

So don’t wait. Go for it, the sooner the better. The younger you are with more qualifications the better also. Being spiritual minded is going to get you more matured quickly.  I can say I have developed as a person, realising that I have people’s lives in my hands. I have to live a certain way, I have to think a certain way. That is different from before. Don’t look at anyone else for inspiration. Look within yourself, think of that first step. The first step is always the most important. You keep telling yourself tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. You will never wake up on a day called tomorrow. It’s always today. You do it today, you are helping no one else but yourself.

Global citizens and the silver screen

18^th July2018 marked the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela who was born on July 18, 1918. In true South African style, there have been a lot of events lined up to celebrate Mandela’s centenary. Musical concerts and comedy nights among others have been held for the late South African father of the nation. A TV channel dedicated to airing just Mandela material from movies, documentaries, and series opened from 18-22 July 2018.

The Global Citizen festival, part of a movement to end global poverty fittingly celebrated Mandelas 100 years too. There would be festivals around the world, with the main one held at Central Park's Great Lawn in New York City on September 29, 2018 and was headlined by Janet Jackson, Shawn Mendes, The Weekend and John Legend as a special guest performer among others. These festivals climaxed with a main festival at Johannesburg’s FNB stadium on 2^nd December 2018 which was again broadcast on a dedicated channel the whole day and repeated the following day. This festival culmination was headlined by Beyonce’ and Jay-Z with further performances from Casper Nyovest, Pharrell Williams, Ed Sheeran, Usher Raymond, Femi Kuti, D’banji as well as appearances from the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry.

Make no mistake about it, there is enough Mandela film material for content of a 24 hour channel airing for about 5 days, as we saw between 18 and 22 July 2018. I have personally seen a portrayal of Mandela by over 8 Hollywood actors among them Morgan Freeman, Sydney Poitier, Danny Glover, Terrence Howard, David Harewood, Clarke Peters, Idris Elba and even Lawrence Fishburn.

Former President of Zambia, Kenneth David Kaunda,
fittingly deserves a block buster movie portrayal of his life 

I am not the biggest fan of movies, but biographies and true life events are perhaps my favourite genre, so I have done watched enough of the Mandela films. Of course Mandela is not the only African story to be portrayed in a film by an international cast and production as others have been done including Hotel Rwanda, The rise and fall of Idi Amin and A United Kingdom which portrays Sir Seretse Khamar.

A lot of people are also insinuating that soon there will be a movie on the fall of Robert Mugabe. This in my view will be welcome. However, a lot of people seem tired of western personalities coming to play African character. There have been questions for a lot of years now and the noise is getting louder by the day, questioning why Africans can’t play African characters. I have had one simple question to those that endorse such a school of thought. What is stopping Africans from making these films and casting Africans? Nothing. So let them do it.

We can’t surely do nothing about it but just wait idly and when Hollywood producers come and cast American actors with Africans mainly in supporting roles we want to complain. It’s their film and they will choose who to cast. Above all it’s a business decision so they will cast personalities they can easily market so they can sale the film worldwide and recoup their investments. It’s simple as that. Actually, our friends in Southafrica do have a lot of productions not only on Mandela but their other celebrated citizens. They have told those stories through film, and books of course, about a lot of that country’s icons.

The rest of Africa waits for Hollywood to come tell a story on Mobutu Seseseko, Laurent Kabila, Idi Amin or the Rwandan genocide. Unfortunately this is what the world will know about Africa. Genocides and dictators. We are not telling our stories. We do have a lot of good stories about Africa to be told. But we don’t do it. So the narrative of an Africa ravaged with war, famine and disease will continue. Although of course it’s true in a lot of African countries there is war, famine and disease and I may add to that shitty politics and politicians. It’s the more reason why I didn’t complain about the ‘shit hole’ comment from a ‘shit mouth’. Anyway, am digressing.

My main bone of contention is that we do not want to tell our own stories yet we want to complain when others come to tell us our stories. For instance, no one in Zambia has done a biopic feature film of first republican president Kenneth David Kaunda. What are we waiting for? We are not even talking about it and that is where the biggest problem lies. Even people like Mushala, or even Lenshina can be projected in film. What of the likes of Mwamba Luchembe, Steven Lungu aka Captain Solo or even those who were allegedly wrongfully linked to coups. The princes Nakatindi Wina and Sikota Wina come to mind. That can be such a juice story and a movie line from their side of the story can be made. There are many people who have been part of the history of Zambia. Posterity will judge us harshly and our history will forever be buried or told by those who only have a specific angle to portray.

There is already a lot of literature from which someone can start from. Unfortunately, I don’t know who or what we are still waiting for. Some years ago while going through some of my late father’s items I came across a book titled A Humanist in Africa, Letters to Colin Morris from Kenneth Kaunda, President of Zambia. I immediately read the book and for some of us who experienced the Kaunda rule only in the last years when things were not too fine with the economy and the population was beginning to turn against the man, the book gave me a lot of insight into KK’s (as we fondly call him) thought process. I read later from a book titled the Musakanya papers that the reverend Collin Morris actually not only authored that one book but two on his association with KK. Kaunda himself wrote the 1962 political autobiography, Zambia shall be free.

Our book stores do not sell these books but they are filled with Becoming: Michelle Obama. Posterity again will judge us harshly. While the books of Collin Morris may only cover the early years of the Kaunda presidency, there is need for other books covering the latter years especially his role in the independence of nations in southern Africa. Kaunda did put up massive resources in support for the independence of Namibia, Zimbabwe and the fight against apartheid in South Africa among others. This only explains why Lusaka Zambia was the first visit Nelson Mandela undertook when he came out of prison and those iconic pictures of Mandela and Kaunda on open top vans with raised clenched fists will always be remembered.

Make no mistake about it, the role of Zambia in the liberation of the region, became a detriment on the Zambian economy and infrastructure. Zambia itself was almost at war and we heard all the stories about the army and air force personnel who were gallant. One name that comes to mind is that of Peter Zuze who I believe is still alive today. As a young boy in primary school we gathered with friends to narrate and tell stories on the legend of Peter Zuze. I won’t narrate any such here. But as I have said, Peter Zuze is alive today, a journalist can visit him and do a documentary.

These are our stories and we need to tell them ourselves. Both in film and books. Where am seated as I write this blog, I don’t mind if Cuba Gooding junior or any other Hollywood act came and acted as Kenneth Kaunda before his presidency and all through his presidency and life after presidency to his present fight against HIV and homelessness. We are just not going to tell our own stories. We will do Dorika that is all. Granted, Dorika, Security guard and them have their place thus need the space for the entertainment value they give, but we need variety. We need our real life stories. Our friends in South Africa are trying to tell their stories, even if it means collaborating with A-listers from Hollywood. Infact that just increases the marketability of the movies.

Our real life stories especially for Zambia don’t get bigger than KK. Notice how KK got personal invitations to visit the likes of Martin Luther king Jr, Malcom X and many other iconic leaders of history. When he travelled to countries like the US, he was hosted at the white house and historical pictures are  there with American presidents among them Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. If my memory is right, the other Zambian presidents that have followed the closest they get is the Zambian mission in Washington DC or when they meet in the corridors of the UN building in New York at UN summits. Zambia’s place in the world is greatly owed to Kaunda and none other and the profile has not been the same since he left office. He is a global icon. He is a truly global citizen. The best time to celebrate him is now while he is still alive. A feature film can be the best start! We do have the literature and the man is here.

…and a collaboration with Hollywood would give the film a lot of clout and nous.

Education Sector in the spotlight

This post is hitting my blog after over a year of the last post. In the period between, I have written a lot of pieces that I haven’t put up.

However, the events of the last few weeks in the Zambian education sector couldn’t go un noticed without a comment. I would say Zambia definitely needs a total review of the education system. Well, to begin with the issue of examination papers leaking and finding themselves in the hands of students and pupils has been prevalent for the better part of the last 25 years. That is me being modest. In short, examination paper leakages before the examination date has been a problem which as Zambian society as a whole we have paid a blind eye to, with grave consequences.

Each year there are murmurs of examination leakages but no one (especially the authorities), does anything about it. This is how we got to the situation this year where even online publications like the Zambia Watchdog got their hand on these examination papers and even dared to publish them online. It’s such a shame that the grades seven, nine and twelve examinations had to be suspended as new papers were being prepared. To add salt to injury, there is still no guarantee that the new papers did not also leak.

In the aftermath of this, Police in Lusaka Copperbelt and Southern provinces arrested a total of 16 people initially in connection with the leaked 2018 grade 7, 9 and 12 examination paper. Those arrested included teachers and pupils. There were to be further arrests in the same provinces later on. But questions lingered and still linger to this day, were those the only ones? I doubt it. Why were there not any officers from the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ)? We all know that the body in charge of examinations in Zambia is the ECZ, hence any failures in the examinations system and process or indeed any mile stone must be attributed to this body.

The truth is that the ECZ has been failing for 25 years and possibly more and we have not asked them to account for this failure. This is the main reason this vice has perpetuated. What are the KPI’s for the ECZ Director? How often is the ECZ Director and his top executives appraised? What are the results of those appraisals? How many people have been penalised as a result of these appraisals? Has the ECZ management over the years brought new innovations or even introduced new controls to the examination process and system in Zambia? All organisations do periodic reviews of their systems and controls to ensure process improvements. Maybe not the ECZ.

In the midst of all this educational malady, there is one organisation that ensures great quality control, in the education standards, quality and practice of its professionals - the Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ). HPCZ has been in the news for the last few years with reports of quality control inspections. On 9^th November 2018, HPCZ released a statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer/Registrar Dr Aaron Mujajati, to the effect that it had withdrawn recognition and approval of programmes at the Copperbelt University School of Medicine.

The HPCZ withdrew recognition and approval of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) and the Bachelor of Dental Surgery after a compliance monitoring inspection revealed gross over-enrolment of students and inadequate number of lecturers, engaging unregistered and unlicensed lecturers that are health practitioners and failure to index students. The HPCZ argued that it cannot guarantee the safety of the public once such students graduate and are employed at health institutions.

The Copperbelt University was not the first institution to face the wrath of HPCZ. Other institutions including the Lusaka Apex Medical University had also gone through the same. It was only after Lusaka Apex Medical University rectified whatever shortcomings they had did the HPCZ rescind its decision. A number of institutions among them the hugely popular Lusaka private hospital, Fairview Hospital were closed down for being found with expired drugs in their dispensary and not having enough full time employed resident medical doctors.

It is easy to lax standards and be lenient with the Copperbelt University (CBU) School of Medicine as it is relatively new. On the other hand, and as the stance taken by HPCZ, the best time to maintain high standards and flush out mediocrity is right at the begining. It will be easier for the CBU School of Medicine to maintain high standards in future if they comply right when starting. It is easy for standard to be lost and even fall below those of the University Of Zambia School Of Medicine which has been in existence for many years. Kudos to HPCZ.

One other thing HPCZ is doing in maintaining high standards, they have recently introduced Professional Licensure Examinations as a quality assurance mechanism for the assessment of skills and competencies of all health professionals before they are registered to practice. Before HPCZ introduced these examinations, only the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) would hold such assessments before admitting new lawyers to the bar. Of course it’s debatable if all professional bodies need to examine graduates before licensing them, but if one who is to represent clients in a court room is getting examined then the one who is going to work with human life needs all the more examining to ensure that they are really competent. With these examination paper leakages, you may never know how they graduated. That is assuming at that level of licensure there is no leakage.

The HPCZ ‘closing down’ the medical programmes at The Copperbelt University (CBU) did not go down well in some quarters, with sections of society condemning HPCZ for being overzealous. This wasn’t an issue with me. But the reaction of the Higher Education Authority (HEA), was a big issue with me. The HEA held a separate press conference at which they annulled the suspension of the medical programmes at CBU and cited acts of parliament to try to convince the public that they are the only body that can withdraw and approve programmes at Institutions of higher learning in Zambia.

This position by the HEA was highly flawed because what they forgot is that HPCZ and HEA are both statutory bodies established by two separate Acts of Parliament, thus the two are independent bodies with different interests. Therefore one cannot overrule the other. HPCZ has been making strides as a body with interest of ensuring quality education of health professionals. HEA on the other hand is a sleeping elephant as the standard of higher education keep on nose diving. Registration of substandard colleges and Universities is the order of the day. At this point I can safely say HEA is sleeping. Even the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA), is much more awake.

ZAQA is a good thing, but is lacking direction mainly for the reason that it is much or less a carbon copy of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). They need to find their own space and redefine themselves more in order to be relevant much more like HPCZ has done. HEA in their current form and format is not adding any value to our education system. Recently there have been reports in the local and foreign space suggesting that Zambian Universities have been reclassified to college level status. To date, I have not heard a statement from HEA. The only statements came from academicians Dr Lubinda Habazoka and Professor Oliver Saasa.

The statement from Professor Saasa however inadequate, at least he was magnanimous enough to comment while those at the helm of HEA and the minister of Higher education remained mute. Of course it wasn’t good enough to give a statement that Oxford University did not only downgrade Zambia’s Universities but five other African countries. We are not going to find solace in the fact that even 5 other African countries are doing badly and lagging behind in the education sector.

This blog is not meant to portray Zambia’s education system in bad light. However, amid the melancholy, we do have the capable people and institutions to continuously improve ourselves, our education system and compete on a global level. Are we doing enough? Maybe not. Are we guarding against mediocrity? Maybe not. It cannot be business as usual when our education is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. Whoever is in charge cannot allow the status quo to continue in perpetuity. HPCZ is doing their part. What of ECZ? What of HEA?


Something needs to be done, it cant be business as ussual.

The Kambwili conundrum

By now, it is certainly beyond any doubt that while I don’t so much like to discuss politics and religion on my blog, the two subjects are probably some of the topics I cover the most. For this reason, I will drop the ever present now monotonous disclaimer that I always add intuitively to the blogs that cover the two subjects.

This is a very interesting time in politics, when US president Donald Trump is threatening North Korea with “fire and fury like never seen before”, President Jacob Zuma is narrowly surviving his eighth vote of no confidence and here in Zambia Chishimba Kambwili the once very powerful man in the nation of Zambia, has embarked on a tour of apologies. I must also add that the names Mmusi Maimane and Julius Malema have been mentioned by Zambians quite a lot of late.

Well, where do I start from?

When Chishimba Kambwili (CK) was expelled from the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party, I did put up a post on Facebook to weigh-in an opinion and I never intended to ever comment again on anything related to the man. However, his recent tour of the country apologising at every opportunity has compelled me to weigh-in once more.  

First Chishimba Kambwili went to southern province to meet some selected chiefs and apologise for his outbursts when he was minister especially that statement where he accused the Tonga people of being highly tribal beyond any match. He had suggested back then, that not even the Nazarene Jesus Christ would be spared from the kind of tribalism practised by the Tonga people. Those words by the way were said by a chief government spokesperson. Today the PF have distanced themselves from such utterances and they have called them highly tribal and divisive saying Kabwili’s greatest enemy is his mouth.

I should mention that political discourse in Zambia over the last two years or slightly over has been lacking objectivity but just full of tribal and regional predisposition. The kind of subjectivity in political discourse exuded lacks any basic sincerity, and has only exposed the level of polarity in our society. It makes me wonder if our politicians today seek office in earnest or just to enrich themselves. Another thing I also wonder is if internal democracy in Zambian political parties does exist or it is just a fallacy. I say this because, how is it possible that all members and followers of a political party are not allowed to have diverse positions on matters but instead expected to toll the same line all the time. The only time you hear different views on issues is when one gets the boot like the case of Kambwili.

Sadly Kambwili should bear a lot of responsibility for this intolerance that has gripped Zambian politics. As a matter of fact he should bear more responsibility than just intolerance and tribalism so rife in Zambia today. The conduct of Kambwili when he had little power scares me of what he could become if given more power. What would happen if God forbid he became the head of state?

Kambwili can fool some people all the time, but he won’t fool all the people all the time, and I suppose the Chief Chitimukulu had John Fitzgerald Kennedy in mind when he turned the burly Roan MP away from his palace recently. When Chishimba Kambwili ‘rocked up’ at the Ukusefya pa Ng’wena traditional ceremony, he was promptly turned away by police. Though I may not agree with the police action of turning him away, but the question is, what was he doing there? Records indicate that the man has never attended any of the previous ceremonies the whole time he was a powerful minister. It can even be assumed that he may never have attended any, his entire life. The monster of intolerance which he created was on hand to turn him away as police swung in quick action. So this tour of duty of his to apologise to the nearest chief he can find will not fool some of us.

Since Dr Kambwili is on the apology pilgrimage, next step, let him apologise to all journalists and media organisations for the way he treated them when he had power. He would be shouting at them in his office for no reason mostly because they worked for media houses he didn’t like. I vividly remember one incident when he dressed down a reporter from The Post newspaper. That reporter was just trying to put food on the table, man! Another incident was when he tore into radio phoenix and threatened to deal with a specific presenter.

That period when Kambwili was information minister was probably the worst period for Zambia’s media industry. These days we don’t even have any professional journalists or media houses. The Kambwili reign made sure to make daylight between pro-government and anti-government media. Nothing in between and completely no professionalism just propaganda for or against. Of course he didn’t achieve this alone, but he was the most vocal, while other may have just been ‘pulling strings silently’.

I was an avid follower of Sunday interview TV programme, but then Kambwili made the program his personal propaganda tool where he featured at will vilifying his opponents and perceived enemies. After watching him twice, I vowed never to watch the program again and to this day I haven’t watched a single minute of the program since then.

I hope we never see a politician of this kind ever in our country. Sadly he has a huge cadre of followers.

The poser Dr Kambwili finds himself in now, and which he will face the next few months and years will be as a result of the zealots that urge him on. Make no mistake about it, there are pockets of die-hard Kambwili supporters out there especially in some few towns on the copper belt province. When I talk of Kambwili, I actually use the doctor title only because that is what he prefers to be addressed as. I hope this blog doesn’t misrepresent me as one who has a lot of hate for Kambwili because frankly I like a few thing about the man.

I like politicians who speak their minds and more often than not, say things 'off the cuff', as we see them for who they really are.

They don't claim to be a lot of things they are not, least of all humble. With them, what you see is what you get. I like that in a politician and it explains why I have a soft spot for Donald J. Trump. Michael Sata was the same, he said things as he saw fit. The same can be said of Dr. Guy Scott (now that’s someone I call doctor with ease). This ‘bruteness’ that Kambwili often portrays perhaps explains why a lot of people (mostly his hardcore supporters) call him junior Cobra. My view is that in politics it’s better to make your own legacy than follow in the footsteps of others.

Chishimba Kambwili's chips are down now but definitely not out. He is not the type. His next step will be very interesting. He has been expelled from the PF, a political party he co-founded with late Michael Chilufya Sata and a few others not in the PF picture now. If you ask me, it is a good thing when organisations outlive their founders and in the process evolve. But that is not the direction of my thoughts now.

What next for the man fondly referred to as CK? I doubt the UPND, a party with its stronghold in the Tonga speaking region of Southern province, will welcome him let alone entertain him.

They will vividly remember the once all powerful minister of information who would walk to ZNBC at will and ask Grevazio Zulu to interview him on Sunday interview where he would utter disparaging remarks against an entire Tonga tribe and the southern province all to score points against a few political opponents among them Hakainde Hichilema and a few of his lieutenants who are Tonga. The statement that the Tonga people wouldn’t even vote for Jesus christ, as long as he wasn't Tonga will forever remain engraved, albeit negatively in the minds of many.

I don't know if CK knows this but southern province gave Fredrick Jacob Titus Chiluba overwhelming votes in 1991. Back then, only eastern province voted for Kenneth David Kaunda, the rest of the country embraced change.

Now that CK has lost his place from the table of the powerful, what next for him? What change in him are we going to see? They all change, at least their tone of words, when they lose power. When Nevers Mumba became vice president and very powerful, I couldn’t recognise him until he was unceremoniously dropped by Levy Patrick Mwanawasa.

Back to CK, I doubt the UPND which is the second biggest political party in Zambia will entertain him. They may sympathise with him here and there because he is now on the one side as them but they will not go to bed with him. The same way Winter Kabimba couldn’t charm the UPND once he lost his political power and found himself in the political doldrums of opposition party leader in present day Zambia.

The funny thing is that CK and Winter cant also work together. CK was the chief orchestrator to the fall from grace of once most powerful man in PF, Winter Kabimba, at least this is what outsiders know. At least the gossip from the barber shops suggests this version (or as the saying goes, Nkhani yamu kachasu).

CK & Winter can’t also work with Saviour Chishimba because the two hounded the latter out of PF when he dared challenge Sata for PF presidency back in 2005/2006 when none even dared just dream that there would be a day of PF without Sata. I however think that the closest person Kambwili can work with is really just Saviour Chishimba, especially going by recent event. Whether this can happen or not remains to be seen. This is one big conundrum.

It is one of the hardest things to do trying to figure out who Chishimba Kambwili can work with as his bullish and brute nature makes it hard for him to endear himself to many. I know for sure he cannot work with Mike Mulongoti or Nason Msoni either. They will remember how he antagonised them and called them all sorts of names among them 'nashala neka party'.

Maybe CK may work with Elias Chipimo, which I strongly doubt. The two are not birds of the same feather, their methods are so different. Chipimo is a very thoughtful man, perhaps the most sober politician we currently have in Zambia. I must add very intelligent too. And that is such a parallel to Chishimba Kambwili, according to me.

But nothing surprises me in Zambian politics of today. We definitely need change in our politics of today. Of course it is a step by step process because society and politics are organic and dynamic. They evolve with time. The only problem with our politics is that it is evolving for the worse and not getting better. There is gradual degradation in our way of politics.

In all that I have written, Zambia today finds itself at a crossroads of identity, a highly polarized society where the content of individual character matters less than does a person’s tribe because of politicians like Kambwili. I know he is busy trying as hard as he can to remain relevant to the Zambian political landscape, but even though he has some pockets of faithful disciples, he may not succeed with a comeback. This is the conundrum for Chishimba Kambwili.

But who am I to judge any of our current politicians? Who am I to judge Chishimba Kambwili? For all we know or may not know, he may be a changed man as everyone can learn how to do good the same way they leant how to do bad. This is what Nelson Mandela tells us in his 1994 book, Long walk to freedom.

"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

Zuma’s nine lives

For a man who is said to have received no formal education, I have always thought of Zuma as a very intelligent man. He is in all manner made for the words, smart and cunning a fact he seems to be well aware of thus constantly puts those traits to use even though his shrewd nature has more often than not put him in trouble. It must be mentioned that Mr Zuma has also in many instances used his guile nature to good use.

His profile from various sources, suggests that he was a key figure in brokering peace between the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Africa National Congress (ANC) in Natal region in the early 90’s. The profile further indicates that Zuma’s Zulu heritage played a big part in ending violence that was then present in Natal region as the Mangosuthu Buthelezi led IFP, apparently put extra emphasis on Zulu pride and political power. This in my view was a very important role that the ANC would not have given to someone without the credentials. The Zulu are quite a proud and militant people and at the time the situation was very delicate.

The belligerent nature of the Zulu people can easily be confirmed in the firmness and military mentality of King Shaka. In more recent years, precisely 2015, some pockets of South Africans engaged in xenophobic attacks against fellow African nationals immediately after a statement from the current reigning Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini, quoted as saying "Let us pop our head lice. We must remove ticks and place them outside in the sun. We ask foreign nationals to pack their belongings and be sent back." The attacks on foreign nationals that followed were shocking and only best described in the words of Donald Trump, fire and fury, and went on unabated for weeks. I wrote about those xenophobic attacks in a blog post I called thou-shalt-kill-thy-neighbour.

 

Of course it will be nonsensical and extremely unfair to suggest that every Zulu is militant based on the fact that there once lived king Shaka who was Zulu. However, there are many out there who get aggressive just because they are Zulu. They may be in the minority, but they exist and its fanatics that brew up trouble. The Zulu are the largest ethnic grouping in South Africa with an estimated population of over 10 million. You may agree or not agree with me but this simple task makes Zuma a genius in my eyes.

In this context, Zuma's Zulu heritage made him the perfect panacea in ANC's efforts to end the violence, emphasizing the aspect of political power and not tribal ‘domination’. The tag of Jacob Zuma being a proud Zulu has more often than not proved to be the antidote for his political rise in post-apartheid South Africa. For his efforts in bringing peace and unity in the Natal region, Zuma was rewarded with a meteoric rise in the ANC rising to deputy president in 1997 and in 1999 becoming the deputy president of South Africa.

Although Zuma was removed as deputy president of South Africa in 2005 by then president Thabo Mbeki after being implicated in corruption scandals some of which saw Zuma’s financial advisor Shabbir Shaik convicted for corruption and fraud, he has always found an opportunity to rise. In the same year Zuma faced rape charges which he later won after the court agreed with him that the sex was consensual. The highlight of the rape trial was when Zuma admitted to not using a condom despite knowing that the woman was HIV-positive but that he took a shower after the sex to decrease the risk of contracting the virus. The statement was heavily condemned by many people especially that Zuma was at the time head of the National AIDS council.

The legal battles which culminated into Zuma being dropped as South Africa’s deputy president did not keep him down forever as he emerged to defeat the incumbent Thabo Mbeki as ANC’s president in 2007. The following year Zuma was cleared of all corruption charges and his supporters propagated in a bellicose manner that the charges were politically motivated by Mbeki who was then recalled by the ANC National Executive Committee leading to his resignation. In 2009 Zuma became president of South Africa winning by a big margin and becoming the first Zulu president as both Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki were Xhosa.

Throughout his presidency, Zuma has faced a plethora of allegations and legal battles ranging from questionable arms deals, failure to declare his assets, dubious appointments, to the influence of the wealthy Gupta family and most recently the upgrade on security and private setting at his personal homestead at Nkandla in rural Kwazulu-Natal. Since then, the two main opposition parties the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Democratic Alliance (DA) have repeatedly campaigned for Zuma’s resignation but to no avail. More recently factions within the ANC have emerged prompting the opposition to push the latest vote of no confidence in Zuma’s presidency to be done though a secret ballot.

This was the eighth time Zuma faced the no confidence vote and had won the previous seven easily. However when the eighth vote was held on 8^th August 2017, the motion was defeated 198-177. The outcome was expected, but not this close. The result essentially meant that even thought there were some abstentions, at the very least 26 ANC MP’s voted in favour of the motion with the opposition, under the safety net of secret ballot. It is more frightening if at all there are any opposition MP’s that voted against the motion, then the number of ANC MP’s ready to recall Zuma and risk everything is higher most likely close to 40.

I am highly skeptical of there being a 9^th No-confidence vote coming soon. But should it come, that too will be defeated as Zuma has a political life of the proverbial cat. He has nine lives and unlike when the ANC recalled Thabo Mbeki, they don’t have a successor in waiting now (Especially not a successor in waiting who will be the first Zulu president after two Xhosa). There is too much for the ANC to lose. In addition, the threat of the DA is more now under the leadership of Mmusi Maimane than it was under Helen Zille, though the DA is still not a much trusted party in Black South Africa.

Whatever happens, Mr Zuma is smart enough to outwit his opponents. He is definitely not going down now. Not from a motion of no confidence. Jacob Zuma was clearly thrust to power on the back of two Xhosa presidents, after the end of the apartheid era. He represents the biggest tribal grouping in South Africa, and that is a big factor in African politics. A factor far more important than Zuma’s tribe is the fact that he represents the ANC, a party of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu. This is the party synonymous with the struggle against apartheid and is still very popular in most parts of the nation no matter how unpopular Jacob Zuma has become.

It can be highly argued that many ANC MP’s who voted to keep Zuma, basically voted for their livelihood as a snap election now would have proved too unpredictable. Voting for Zuma would have essentially meant voting themselves out. My view is that Zuma understands these dynamics and he knows well enough how his survival rests on him keeping all the dynamics at play to his advantage.

Jacob Zuma may have survived yet another motion of no confidence, but the truth is that his enemies are now everywhere and that he is hanging by the thread only because there is clearly no ready successor. The question is for how long will Zuma's cunning and witful nature save him? He will survive for now but should South Africans find a suitable successor, he will be gone. I hope the likes of Mmusi Maimane do know this - that it is just a suitable and sobber successor (or alternative) that the people seek.