Pontius Pilate was wiser

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Notwithstanding time and space, the same events occur and reoccur. I want to refer to an event that took place 15years and two millenniums ago.

On that day, a 33year old son of a Carpenter stood charged of treason and had come to face whatever would be appropriate – either trial or judgment, at the ‘praetorium’, a place where the Roman governor, who was then Pontius Pilate, used to hear and try cases in.

The charge against Jesus was what the politicians of today would call treason. A group of Jewish elders had accused Jesus of claiming to be king, oddly enough a treasonable claim in that period. A multitude that included scribes and chief priests gathered as Jesus was bound, and before dawn brought to the hall of judgment.

“Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?” –John 18:33 - (KJV)

³⁴ “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” – (NIV)

³⁸ Pilate said unto him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, “I find in him no fault at all.”

³⁹ “But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one [prisoner] at the Passover; will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews?”

⁴⁰ Then cried they all again, saying, “Not this man but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber. –(KJV)

Many scholars of the bible and preachers alike claim Pilate understood Jesus’ response as an admission of guilty therefore he collaborated with the Jewish elders to execute Jesus. This school of thought portrays Pilate as an unfair and cruel governor sitting on the day as judge, weakly succumbing to the Jewish elders’ pressure to execute Jesus.

What I do find Pilate guilty of is being indecisive, and of course not standing up for what he thought and believed was right. I do not see Pilate as a collaborator or any tiny bit an initiator in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Pilate even conceded to let Jesus free but since he had been brought to him already, had wanted to opportunistically use the custom of releasing a prisoner at Passover, to which the Jewish authorities and elders reclined and even suggested that the robber Barabbas be released instead.

Pilate like Zachaeus the petite taxman, do not get the benefit of any ‘good publicity’, but rather get indoctrinated versions of their portrayal as government agents who put themselves above religion, even from modern day clergy. However, the fact that as governor and judge, Pilate most likely had the final say. He could have done more and should not have allowed the injustice to go ahead especially after finding the man with no case to answer. But, he was just a man. With a riot about to erupt in his midst, he couldn’t stand up for ‘true justice’ and save Jesus. All in all, he was still bold enough to declare Jesus innocent in front of an almost riotous crowd hankering for the blood of Jesus.

This particular act, shows the kind of wisdom and fairness of the man which many people fail to recognize. Granted the man wasn’t bold enough to stand by his word and, belief and initially fair judgment, he still showed great courage and wisdom. This was a crowd of Jewish elders and other leaders with many followers most of them violent and unruly like the present day political cadres. This breed can get away with a crime and many other things thus almost always get their way.

Scripture is on record that the first time Pilate came out of his palace into the judgment hall, he had recused himself to judge Jesus and had asked the Jews to take Jesus and judge him by their own law. This they refused because they said their law did not grant them the power to execute a man. Scripture is again on record that Pilate washed his hands in public to distance himself from the slaying of an innocent man. Mathew 27:22-25 (KJV)

²² Pilate saith unto them, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” they all say unto him, “Let him be crucified.”

²³ And the governor said, “Why, what evil hath he done?” But they cried out more, saying, “Let him be crucified.”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this person: See ye to it.”

²⁵ Then answered all the people, and said, “His blood be on us, and our children.”

Before deciding to bring Jesus to Pilate the Jewish elders had interrogated him throughout the night, every now and then breaking for caucus consultative assemblies to come up with what to do with him. By the time the Jewish elders and priests took Jesus to Pilate, they had already found him guilty and were not prepared for any other outcome. Ultimately, they played the role of police, complainant, judge and jury ensuring that Jesus was condemned to death.

The fact that Pilate publicly washed his hands and declared he found Jesus with no case, shows the wisdom of Pilate although scripture also shows that his wife had told him she had a sleepless night with terrible visions as a consequence of the pending execution of an innocent man and had asked Pilate to have nothing to do with it. Whatever transpired, Pilate exhibited some level of wisdom.

Fast forward to the second millennium, a 30 years old Zambian musician with an unkempt beard and an afro wig going by the stage name PILATO, was reported to the Zambia police as having defamed the President. At 30, Pilato is at the age when it is said Jesus most likely began his ministry which led to the accusations of treason and eventual crucifixion three and a half years later. The people who made the complaint at the police were referred to by many names from the different sections of the media. Some media houses called them concerned citizens while other media sources labeled them as cadres. The crime committed was that, the satirical Pilato, had released a song titled “a Lungu anabwera”, which contained lyrics with direct or indirect reference to the president.

Following the complaint reported to police (whoever reported), eventually Pilato was interviewed at Lusaka Central police later arrested and charged with a case of ‘conduct likely to cause a breach of peace, by releasing onto online platforms the song, a lungu anabwera.’

Well, the initial complaint was that of defamation but the case he was eventually charged with was that of ‘conduct likely to cause a breach of peace’. Complaint from cadres or not, the wise thing would have been to wash one’s hands and declare Pilato’s rights to free expression and as a satirical musician and performer, freedom of conscious to engage his audience in debate, entertainment, social enlightenment and just personal expression. This is where Pontius Pilate proved to be wiser by washing his hands.

Conveniently, the bible in my native Silozi, interprets the name Pilate as PILATO. However, I have come to learn that the stage name PILATO has nothing to do with the governor Pontius Pilate, but an acronym standing for People In Lyrical Arena Taking Over. For all I can say, this whole episode has made PILATO more popular and definitely is now getting noticed by many more people.

In a liberal and democratic state of the 21^st century, the free exchange of opinions and ideas without fear, favor, intimidation and harassment must be the corner stone of such a society. Of course freedoms must have limits, but no limit should come before freedom of expression. No limit should come before freedom of choice, never mind good or bad choices. No limit should come before ANY civil liberties.

There are many songs in Zambia and abroad that have been said to be ‘politically charged’ and that should be left as it is; only attracting social debate and life must go on. A few years ago, Musician 2twice, released a song ‘Tomato ba lunda’ in reaction to the rising cost of living and of course the song never played on any government media stations. The musician himself was reportedly harassed. There were stories of him being arrested for possession of marijuana. Former Zambia Association of Musicians’ president, Maiko Zulu was also arrested for possession of marijuana, not long after he released the song, ‘mad president’.

Of course musicians are not above the law, and if the law says that possession of marijuana is an offence, then the law must take its course. It is suspicious though when the law starts to apply as soon as an ‘unpleasant song’ to the powers that be is released. Musicians will not always produce love songs. Many of them will engage in social commentary and this must be defended by all Zambian citizens. We must not all think in a straight line. We need divergent views and thoughts.

Rapper Eminem is a firm critic of president George Walker Bush and has produced songs in which he has expressed his opinions regarding the former American president as well as his policies including the war in Iraq but has never seen the inside of Jail for this. There were many songs that were done before the 2008 American election in support of then, Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Hussein Obama, among them ‘My president is black’ by young Jeezy. However in the time Mr Obama has been president, there have been many songs from the rap and black community some of which have labeled him a sale-out. These are just opinions open for social debate, and nothing more.

I have a feeling with the way things are going now, Jamaican reggae star Peter Tosh, had he been Zambian, would have been arrested by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) for propagating marijuana when he did the song, ‘Legalise it’. But as I say, the more things change, the more they remain the same. While police authorities couldn’t learn from Pontius Pilate’s public washing of hands and refusing to be party to the travesty that was to be committed in executing Jesus the Nazarene, they could have at least picked vital lessons from events from within Zambia just this century.

Then, a post newspaper columnist Roy Clarke was on the verge of a deportation after mock coffin carrying cadres had marched to the ministry of home affairs to demand his deportation. Clarke’s crime was writing a satirical piece titled ‘Mfuwe’ in which he projected a political address by the King Elephant Muwelewele. Among those present were the “red lipped snake in charge of legal reform, the hungry crocodile in charge of child welfare, and the knock-kneed Giraffe in charge of Agriculture”. Others present were "monkeys dancing around in circles and wagging their bottoms each painted with a picture of the Great Elephant." Coincidentally, or maybe satirically intentional, some of these descriptions corresponded to the physical appearances of the real ministers holding the named ministries at the time.

Coincidentally, or maybe satirically intentional again, many people, including the cadres who demanded Clarke’s deportation, said the elephant’s description could also have easily been then president Mwanawasa. This according to them was tantamount to defamation.  At that time the justice minister was George Kunda and the minister of agriculture was Mundia Sikatana. The Mfuwe address by the elephant resembled a real political meeting in many ways with cadres dancing for presidents with chitenges bearing faces of political leaders being likened to "monkeys dancing around in circles and wagging their bottoms each painted with a picture of the Great Elephant." 

Despite a deportation which was supported by both home affairs minister then Ronnie Shikapwasha, and his permanent secretary Peter Mumba, the courts eventually ruled in favour of Roy Clarke. This in many aspects was a statement upholding the rights of Roy Clarke to publish his satirical piece. The more things change, the more they remain the same it seems because now we are back at it again harassing Pilato and infringing on his rights of expression. 

The head of the police is a lawyer and the head of state who is alleged to have been injured is also a lawyer and these understand the law better than the cadres whose complaint was used to arrest Pilato. I have a feeling that the head of state may not even have listened to the song and may not even be offended by it if he did listen to the song. However, the all-powerful breed of cadres are at it again, forcing the police to make unnecessary arrests and causing unnecessary alarm in the nation.

For now, opinions will not matter, but the court will determine whether PILATO is innocent or guilty. But before even getting this far, someone should have been as wise as Pontius Pilate showed and washed their hands in public. Saying, ‘I am innocent of the persecution of this person: See ye to it.’ Alas we await the conclusion of this latest episode.

Hip-hop Hooray (All eyes on Hip-Hop)

Hip-hop hooray was a 90’s rap anthem performed by the trio Naughty by nature. The song was such a hit that every time I hear the song now, it brings back a lot of great memories of the 90’s. Back then, music was music. The group had many hits including Feel me flow, OPP, Hip-hop hooray and Jamboree, which incidentally are all now played as classic hits. Wow. Am I that old?

Well OPP was released in 1991, Hip-hop Hooray in 1993 and considering the number of years in between, the songs may be worthy classics. I have heard the songs playing as classic hits a number of times on the Hot fm Thursday evening classic hits show. Coincidentally this radio show comes before the other show hosted by Jimmy-K which I have previously discussed in the blog, “the ‘sexperts’ laughing away in the studio.

This blog is not about a radio show though, even if it has been born out of what comes out of radio. Back in the 90’s we listened to hip-hop and rap music mainly from cassette tapes and of course CD’s as they were slowly getting popular. Probably the reason why rap music rarely played on radio then was the fact that not many had the capacity of censoring the ‘N’, ‘F’ and ‘B’ words that were so profane in rap songs and still are today.

Today many radio stations do have the capacity to censor and the fact that most DJ’s are those who grew up in the era when rap music was universally growing and thus getting accepted, a lot of rap music does play on radio. In fact, Hiphop is the ‘in thing’ now. Some people do actually believe that we are about to witness the death of Rn’B which is about to be integrated into Hip-hop. Today it is not easy to distinguish between a Hip-hop artist and an Rn’B singer. Every Rn’B song has a rap verse. Of course a few songs still are purely Rn’B or even slow jams. However, even the real lives of the artist’s have been integrated. They collaborate on song all the time, and generally spend time together.

We used to know rap artists as the trouble makers always at logger heads with the law, and at times getting jail sentences and so on and so forth. Today, there are more Rn’B and Reggae artists going to jail for various offences. Still, plenty more Rn’B artists are on probation for all sorts of violations of the law. Rebelliousness and waywardness aside, Hip-hop cannot be ignored today. Hip-hop is here and it has arrived.

Look at the Zambian music scene, a quick snapshot shows the top five popular artists being three or four Hip-hop performers. A quick look at the top five local and international award winning Zambian artists will also give three or four Hip-hop artists. In terms of popularity at the moment, there aren’t any Zambian musicians more popular than Marcky II and Slap Dee. When it comes to awards, Ruff Kaida then called Ruff Kid and Zone Fam have won international awards. No one has amassed more ZMA awards than Slap Dee or Marky II. Even Marky II younger brother has now started amassing awards.

This really is the era of hip-hop. However, I personally do not want other genres to die. Especially not Rn’B. I feel there is time and situation for every kind of music genre. Personally, I don’t have a specific favourite genre of music. I indulge in almost all genres. There are situations when I feel reggae music, is what I must listen to. Other moments, I want to indulge Rn’B, Slows, electronic, Hip-hop, rave etc. Though in my younger days, I did listen to a lot of Hip-hop music. I rarely find myself listening to Hip-Hop music willingly these days, unless of course because every radio station is playing Hip-hop now. Every TV station is playing Hip-hop. Then there are the occasional moments when I am feeling frustrated and only a 2-PAC song would do me good.

While growing up, 2-PAC was the in thing then. He was a rebellious hero to most of us. We didn’t know who Che Guevara was but we did know who 2-PAC was. Full name, Tupac Shakur, his birth name was actually Lesane Parish Crooks. By age three he was renamed Tupac after the last Incan emperor, a rebel beheaded by the Spanish before thousands in Cuzco in modern-day Peru. He later went on to adopt the surname Shakur after his mother was romanticaly involved with Mutulu Sharkur, even though they never legally married.

2-Pac was one individual who divided people’s opinions. He was just never one to be ignored. You either liked him or you abhorred him. He put it in his song, “I am the nigga you love to hate.” 2-Pac was a hero to many, but to others a destructive force. He was more than a rapper, he was a poet, a political voice, a champion for women’s and human rights. However, he was jailed for sexually assorting a woman, something contrasting what he had stood for publicly and in some of his songs. In his songs he regularly talked of killing people, a total departure for someone who stands for human rights, equality and opportunities for all.

2-Pac was sued by families of two police officers who were killed young black males who said they acted after listening to some of the song of 2-Pac where he instructed them to kill police officers because the police worked for the purpose of disadvantaging young black men.

Born 17^th June, 1971 2-Pac would have been 44 on 17^th June 2015, but he died barely three month after just his 25^th birthday on Friday September 13^th 1996. When I look back today I realized he died very young. Extremely young yet he left a mark of influence. Influence that has gone even after his death. His songs became even more popular after his death. Some people still believe that he actually never died but faked his death.

Since 2-Pac died, Hip-hop has evolved from thug style gangsta, to bling style gangsta. It is now more about who has the most money and things like that. There is a lot of nudity in hip hop videos than ever before. In his own words, 2-Pac actually admitted that the song ‘How do you want it’ was his most racy music video he had done, because of the collaboration with JODECI.

But some things have never changed. Hip-hop artists are still delinquent. The ‘F’, ‘N’ and ‘B’ words are still widely used. The culture of Hip-hop though more tolerable these days remains a destructive one. For all that happens to global music culture, other genres must not die. In the late 90’s South African music culture adopted their own form of music culture and genre they called Kwaito. Kwaito has since almost disappeared from the radio and TV music channels. The replacement is conveniently South African Hip-hop.

It is my hope that this is just a phase of the Hip-hop craze, and that all other musical genres will survive this craze. I know we adored 2-Pac and enjoyed his poetic genius on the microphone as well as the gangsta lifestyle he lived. But looking back today the truth is that he was just a young man failing to distinguish between show-biz and real life.

He was a destructive force whose talent eventually led him to tragedy. He may have been of destructive character, but one thing remains is that he touched many hearts positively and negatively. Those of us who enjoyed his music can remember 2-Pac on his would be 44^th birthday and seek to draw lessons from his life. Lessons which generations to come can try to live by. He gave us music which made us question, made us angry, made us merry, made us conscious, he made us feel insecure and many other emotional roller coasters he provided us with.

The adaptation of Walter Benjamin’s ‘the destructive character’ may not be too far from the life of 2PAC. He states; “The destructive character is always cheerful. The destructive character does not think of the future. He sees nothing permanent, he always positions himself at the cross roads because he sees ways everywhere.”

The politics of football

Nothing prepared the world of football for the events that ensued in the week leading to the FIFA elections on May 29, 2015. US prosecutors in the company of FBI agents armed with search and arrest warrants swarming an elitist Zurich hotel where FIFA congress delegates were accommodated may have seemed like a scene in a crime drama on TV.

A few days later the FIFA congress went ahead on 29^th May and Joseph Sepp Blatter was re-elected FIFA president for a 5^th term. However, just four days later the drama took a new twist as Sepp Blatter resigned from his position to pave way for him to leave within the next months with many speculating not beyond December 2015. In his resignation speech, Mr Blatter stated that he felt he didn’t have the confidence and mandate of all the stakeholders of football despite winning a landslide election four days earlier there by carrying the mandate of the Football Associations.

I know for sure Sepp Blatter is someone that divides opinions of many. He has very firm critics and also loyalists who will always stand by him. One point I tend to agree with his critics on is the fact that, four terms as president for over 16 years and many years as secretary general before that, Sepp had over stayed his welcome. I am of the view that in an elective position, the top dog shouldn’t rule more than 10 years. People just grow weary of such a leader. However, I do not in any way support the way he was hounded out of office.

For one reason or the other, there seems to be a lot of politics going on in football, a game that tries to dissociate itself from any kind of politics or any political interference of any sort in the running of football.

In my view, the politics in football didn’t start today, but has been existing for many years with the only difference being that now there are millions pumped in football every year hence opportunists want to cash in. opportunists will stop at nothing to get closer to power. To justify my point, I will give the example of the kind of political bickering that has engulfed Zambian football since 2011. The bickering in Zambian football management started around the time when the Football Association of Zambia signed contracts for sponsorship of the Super league, initially it was KCM and later MTN.

At about the same time the league sponsorship deal was acquired, there were other deals signed such as the Nike shirt sponsorship deal as well as the Supersport TV Broadcast deal. Pumping money into football through such sponsorships, is the way sports entities sustain themselves across the world. However, when the deals were secured by FAZ there were all sorts of wrangles that immediately broke out leading to a ‘break away’ administration that called themselves the National Football League (NFL). Zambian football teams were almost split into two with various club executives siding with either of the two camps. Fast forward to 2015, the wounds are yet to heal.

When it comes to the problems at FIFA, it is not a surprise that at the front of the queue of the possible causes for the bickering is money exchanging hands. The opportunists want to cash in even at the expense of destroying institutions. The institution of FIFA has come under increasing threat of disintegration, with the Michel Platini led European confederation threatening to break away and be an independent ‘world governing body’ that would organize a world cup of their own.

How a bunch of European nations would play a world cup still remains a mystery that only Plattini and his cronies would be able to explain. For starters, 8 out of the 53 association in UEFA were for Sepp Blatter as the voting pattern showed. I am not sure how many of the 55 or so African associations voted for Blatter but my best guess is that all 55 did. The Asian and South American associations were all pro- Blatter too. One really wonders what would constitute Plattini’s world cup.

When it comes to Blatter, the truth is that the man had over stayed and eventually time caught up with him. What was needed though is to elect his successor democratically and not these underhand methods we have witnessed. The European Union parliament has now gone ahead to demand that Blatter leaves the FIFA presidency immediately. I really don’t know who they want at the helm but my best bet is that they want Michel Platini to steer the FIFA ship in the interim and maybe later on rubber stamp him as the new FIFA president.

When it comes to Blatter vs Platini, I as an African would side for Blatter any day. For all his faults, Blatter has been a friend of Africans. Many African nations have benefitted from the FIFA goal project initiated by Blatter. Zambia as an example owe it to Blatter for a beautiful building that houses the Football Association of Zambia, a situation very different from the time when FAZ offices would be closed by the land-lords of the building the national FA was renting. There many such stories across Africa including academies and centers of excellence.

In addition to the building projects, Blatter has been very vocal in calling for more African nations at the world cup. This is in contrast to Platini who despite having less countries in UEFA (53), than CAF (55), but more European countries in the world cup, still wants more European countries at the world cup. The 13 of UEFA is almost three times more than the 5 of CAF. Platini is not satisfied with the number of European countries thus has been calling for more European teams even to the extent of suggesting an increase of the number of teams and format. He is very self-centered and history has proven that he isn’t the most astute of men. He is a very biased fellow.

For instance, in 2008 when Manchester United and Chelsea made it to the UEFA champions’ league final in Moscow, the UEFA boss was quoted as saying it was bad for football when two teams from the same federation featured in the final. According to reports that quoted him, this was a champions league final and not an EPL game or FA cup final. A few years later in 2013 when at the semifinal stage Barcelona faced Bayern Munich and Real Madrid faced Borrussia Dortmund, Platini was quoted as saying it would be good if the two Spanish teams played the final so that we could watch an ‘elclassico’ final. What had happened to the concept of two teams from the same federation facing each other in the final being bad for football?

Platini was also conspicuously quite when Bayern Munich and Borrussia Dortmund faced each other in the final the same year and when the following season in 2014 Madrid teams in Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid contested the final. Biased fellow, not good for the top job.

The big wigs in the European parliament as well as UEFA should know better that the world is not Western Europe. Now they have enlisted their American ‘big brother’ in a witch hunt, and almost brought FIFA to its knees. The arrests made by the American prosecutors in Zurich should be treated as allegations and not any guilty verdicts. In any case, if Jack Warner a suspended member of FIFA and former CONCACAF boss accepted bribes, let Jack Warner be prosecuted and if found guilty face the law. Jack Warner’s bribes should not in any way be the reason Blatter is hanged.

If Blatter accepted bribes let him be prosecuted too, for his own sins and not the sins of anyone else. Above all, there should be sanity and the same rules must apply for everyone. My point is that if South Africa bribed its way to hosting the 2010 world cup (which they have denied) what are the facts surrounding the 1994 USA world cup? Or the 1998 France world cup? The 2006 world cup in German? I believe the problems of money illegally changing hands in football must be looked at critically and not just point out to the African world cup, Qartar world cup and Russia world cup in Eastern Europe.

Ironically, while the Americans are all over accusing everyone and looking for corrupt football administrators, it must be mentioned that the only official so far found guilty is an American, Chuck Blazer. The truth is that like most institution where money is in abundance, football has a lot of opportunist ready to cash in. This is the kind of football politics to be done away with.

I am of the view that the fight against Blatter the individual, especially by the Western European block arises from the fact that he has not put the interests of a few nations in front at the expense of the whole world. Blatter introduced equal distribution of funding to associations which has not gone well with Europe as they want the bigger piece of the cake. Further, Blatter’s decision to rotate the world cup from one continent to the other is not so popular with Europe.

Like everyone else that likes the game of football, we hope that only the best comes out of this situation where the head of FIFA has been forced to resign and the institution heavily embarrassed. Blatter or no Blatter, football must continue. But please let them not impose Platini on the rest of the world or we will be in trouble.

Rental income tax

I don’t know if I am the only Zambian who isn’t offended by Plans by the Zambia Revenue Authority to tax home owners who are land lords a 10% withholding tax on all income from rental payments. This move has not been received well by most Zambians. There have been complaints from tenants who feel, the action will make landlords increase rental charges while the landlords feel they will be robbed of their ‘hard earned’ income.

Well, I choose to differ. First of all, for many years many people have asked ZRA to broaden it’s tax base and not overburden the formal employment sector which has over the years been the easiest source of income for the treasury through the much detested Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Many people have asked the tax collectors to tap into the huge informal sector, as well as the formal sectors such as markets and bus stations where collections do not end up in the central treasury but mostly pockets of party cadres.

ZRA defines Rent as; “a payment in any form including a fine, premium or any like amount, made as a consideration for the use or occupation of or the right to use or occupy any real property including personal property directly connected with the use or occupation or the right to use or occupy such real property”. It is important to note that the property from whose rentals the Withholding Tax is deducted must be situated in Zambia.

The rate of Withholding Tax is 10%. ZRA explains that withholding Tax is not a tax but a means of collecting that tax. Withholding Tax is deductible from a payment by the person who is liable to make payment (the payer) at the point in time the person to whom it is due to be made (the payee) becomes legally entitled to it (date of accrual).

ZRA explains that the payer (tenant) is responsible for deducting Withholding Tax from gross rentals on the date of accrual of any amount due to the payee (landlord).
The tenant should remit the amount so deducted to the Zambia Revenue Authority. 
 
Why this has received criticism, I don’t know. The fewer sources for government taxation, the more likely the few being taxed will be taxed highly. Few people with a day job will have percentages of their incomes deducted while a lot of other people will not have their earnings taxed. There are a lot of people whose income is rentals and these have never been within the taxman’s radar.

Withholding Tax is not a tax but a means of collecting that tax. Withholding Tax is deductible from a payment by the person who is liable to make payment (the payer) at the point in time the person to whom it is due to be made (the payee) becomes legally entitled to it (date of accrual). The payer is required to pay the tax deductible to the Zambia Revenue Authority by reference to the date of accrual no matter how, when or where payment is made.

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Thou shalt kill thy neighbour

Misheck Mfula and Emmanuel Sithole, are the two names on my mind. The two names have been on my mind especially the last few days since 25^th May 2015.

Misheck and Emmanuel’s names have stuck on my mind not because they were the only victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Their killings were not the most brutal either. NO. However their killings were equally heartless and profoundly inhuman.

Misheck Mfula for obvious reasons, he hailed from Zambia. Emmanuel Sithole was a Mozambican national brutally killed in broad day light while women children and other people looked on. Those who looked on included a Sunday Times of South Africa, photo journalist and other reporters who documented the killing to the whole world.

At the time the 2015 South African xenophobic attacks were attracting media and worldwide attention, I was really glued to various news channels following the events in South Africa as closely as I could since I had just sent two young girls to Bergville in Kwazulu Natal province, for the school holiday. One of the girls is only aged 16 in her eleventh grade while the other slightly older at 21. These were not easy times knowing that I had just sent the girls to ‘enemy territory’ and while I had hoped they enjoy the school holiday, their safety was of primal importance.

Two weeks or so before the girls boarded the Shalom bus from Lusaka to Johannesburg, a zulu king named Goodwill Zwelithini had reportedly told his subjects that foreigners were the source of the problems of South Africans. Foreigners were responsible for the high crime rate, foreigners got the jobs and businesses of the locals it was said. The people immediately rose in arms against foreign nationals many of whom were killed brutally.

King Zwelithini later clarified that his statement had been taken out of context, but the damage was already done as violence spread to other places including Gauteng province especially in areas around Johannesburg. But this was not the first time South Africans rose in arms against other nationals. In 2008, similar attacks were witnessed where thousands of Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, Malawians and many other nationals were targets.

Emmanuel Sithole was walking in the streets of Alexandra dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans, matched nicely with his shoes. He added a corduroy jacket to his stylish look as he walked along the road. Suddenly he was attacked by a young man with a seemingly painful metal object before others emerged with other weapons including a butcher knife. The attack continued until a point where even after the help given by the Sunday Times reporter, the man didn’t make it to see a doctor alive.

Misheck Mfula on the other hand was stabbed to death after pursuing ‘gangsters’ who ordered some food from a restaurant he was working for and later refused to settle the bill. Of course the killing of Misheck did not make any international headlines, but the news filtered through to Zambia and the story was widely carried on local radio stations and online news websites.

Many other people were killed in xenophobic attacks some in more brutal fashion than Misheck and Emanuel. I saw pictures of a man who was burnt alive, a tyre strapped around them for the rubber to provide the much needed burning fuel. There are many other victims, and all of them should be remembered on African freedom day. The 2015 Africa freedom day should be dedicated to all the victims of xenophobic attacks, victims of war in Libya and many other countries, victims of political violence like the lives currently being lost in Burundi and definitely not most of these megalomaniacs we call political leaders.

Protesters against xenophobia in Durban

In the aftermath of these xenophobic attacks, a lot of people including Economic Freedom Fighters’ Julius Malema, blamed the South African government for not doing enough to arrest the situation. There are not many occasions that I agree with Mr Malema, but the truth is that since he fell out with the ANC leadership he has shown his other side though some of his methods may be extremely unconventional.

According to Mr Malema, the South African government’s reaction to the attack left much to be desired.  Mr Malema took exception to Jacob Zuma’s speech on the issue to Parliament which he said lacked passion like the one he showed when he went to Parliament to defend spending of public money for his private home renovations and security. I can echo Mr Malema by adding that the reaction of SADC, COMESA, AU and individual countries was also not decisive enough hence perpetuated the barbaric acts.

My view… my thoughts…

A month or so before any news channel reported the first attacks linked to xenophobia, I sat at Protea Hotel Tower with a childhood friend of mine and expressed these same thoughts. We also seemed to agree that unless the South African political leadership acted deliberately to arrest this, xenophobia would exist in the rainbow nation. A month on, the attacks started.

My opinions may not be drawn from empirical scientific conclusions, but I maintain that I have formed the opinions from my experiences. Take for instance a recent encounter I had with some gentlemen in Johannesburg. A black guy and his three Indian friends were travelling to Durban later that evening, after a weekend in Johannesburg where they came to watch cricket games. I was at a MacDonald’s joint when the gentlemen came to join me on my table and they endlessly talked about football and sport in general.  When they spoke about football, I noticed that two of the fellas were Manchester United fans who had divided opinions over the tactics of coach Loius van Gaal.

One of them described LVG as a man who owns a Ferrari which he keeps packed all the time but instead uses a Toyota Corrola to go car racing. I couldn’t help but join in on their conversation. We spoke for close to an hour and then one of them asked where I was from, to which I answered that I was from Zambia. They asked me if we used Rands in Zambia, had Boko Haram, and a horde of other questions which I thought were question that my 6year old son should ask.

You get these kind of questions from many South Africans. They know nothing about other people and they just don’t care. This is very different from Zimbabweans for instance. I once met a Zimbabwean man who told me stories about Zambia that even I didn’t know. He went on and told me stories of Godfrey Chitalu, who according to the man was the best African footballer he had ever seen. He moved from Zambian football to Zambian politics and then Africa in general.

I have had a countless number of such conversations with Zimbabweans. In a role I was involved in as a young professional preparing import and export documents I had many interactions with truck drivers most of whom turned out to be Zimbabweans. From my interactions with the Zimbabwean drivers, I learnt that Zimbabweans generally are more knowledgeable about other countries’ geo-political spheres. Zambian are like that too.

Since the third or fourth Grade, we were introduced to a subject called CIVICS. In CIVICS, we were taught of the history, economics and politics of Zambia and the entire region. We graduated to the entire Africa and the world. We were taught about racism and apartheid in South Africa. All these lessons were engraved in our young brains and we grew up tolerant people. We understood that Zambia played a big role in the liberation of other African countries and South Africa in particular.

This in my view was a pre-emptive measure against xenophobia or any other form of segregation. Of course we had many people as we grew up who didn’t speak the same languages as we did, or didn’t look like us but we were all one. During the apartheid years, there were many ANC operatives who had fled to Zambia and some eventually made Zambia their permanent home and we have lived with them and embraced them as brothers and sisters.

It’s not only the primary school lessons in CIVICS that engraved inclusiveness in us, but our school curriculum in Geography for instance included lessons on North America, Central America and Europe. History lessons included the history of the Republic of South Africa itself, European history and so forth.

In South Africa they ask who the president of Zambia is, some ask if Zambia is close to Nigeria. You will hear one or two who know Kenneth Kaunda, but then oddly enough don’t know if he is still alive. They probably think he died when Nelson Mandela died.

This is not representative of all South Africans though. In the month of March when I travelled to the Indian Ocean southern city of Port Elizabeth, I left Kenneth Kaunda International Airport seeing a screaming headline in The Post newspaper that read; “Chagwa, agwa”. When I read the full story, I learned that president Edgar Lungu had fainted the previous day while trying to officiate at the women’s day festivities. When I got to PE, the hotel where I spent my first night did not have wi-fi so I missed a whole full day without any update on the president’s health.

So when I had toured a factory in PE the next day, someone had introduced me as visiting from Zambia. At lunch time when I walked to the staff canteen, a forklift operator approached me and coolly told me that he was for Lungu. The last information I had was that the president had not been too well after the women’s day aborted program, and this particular man informed me that he had seen the story on SABC when president Lungu arrived in South Africa for treatment. He went on and asked me about Rhupiah Banda, Levy Mwanawasa, Fredrick Chiluba and Kenneth Kaunda whom he fondly called KK.

I was happy to chat with the man as for once I didn’t have to explain to him where exactly on the map Zambia was or what currency we use. This was a humble forklift operator very knowledgeable about Zambia so the truth is that there are many South Africans who know quite a lot about other nations. Unfortunately the barbaric criminals who know nothing about their own history or that of their neighbours overshadow the rest of South Africans. These are the kind that attack, wound and kill their neighbours.

The role of the rest right thinking South Africans is to carry our deep introspection of their society and demand for change. Change of attitude, school curriculum and so forth. I know there is a school of thought that think that it is the troubled past of apartheid that reflects the brutal nature of some South Africans. I believe the solution will lie in what the SA school curriculum engraves in the minds of the young ones. What we learn at a very young age goes a long way in forming our opinions of things.

The majority of South Africans must stand up and teach the criminals who dent the image of a proud rainbow nation that the law according to how it was given to Moses says “thou shalt not kill”, and not “thou shalt kill thy neighbour”. I believe even the law of Jacob Zuma does not tell any person to kill another human being. South Africa being the second biggest economy in Africa has a bigger role and responsibility in promoting unity. This is a time to promote Pan-Africanism, and not unilateral existence.

Not so simple to me

With the exchange rate for the Kwacha being volatile as it has been for a while, DSTV subscription prices have been sky rocketing and that means it is time to down grade on the bouquet option, consequently having access to fewer channel options. On the spin side, it means I have more time on my laptop to do what I love the most–writing!

Unfortunately, the effects of a weaker Kwacha have been far greater than just restricting my TV choice options but also restricted my internet bundle purchases for my chrome book. That means I can’t log onto the internet and update my Blogsite at will. So I have taken to exercising as yet another activity to keep me preoccupied when I am not working. 

The first thing I did was go and buy two skipping ropes, one for my wife and the other being mine. The first day we set about skipping, my wife was surprised to learn that it is one activity I never really learned while growing up.

She was surprised because for all she knows, I am a fairly ‘sporty guy’ who has played different games. As a matter of fact, I am reasonably competitive at volleyball, table tennis, lawn tennis, badminton and even basketball. In addition, I have on many occasions played other games like football and squash even though I never developed any skill of note at both. In a nut shell, I seem like a sports enthusiast hence nobody would have expected that the one thing I can’t do is use a skipping rope.

The truth though is that as simple as skipping might be or seem to be, I just never learned how to do it. Moreover, skipping is not the only thing that eluded my learning process. I was shocked recently when I listened to my 5 year old son whistling to a popular Airtel money advert that was playing on TV. I was surprised by the act because I myself have never learned how to whistle. How is it possible that a fully grown up man cannot be able to make any meaningful sound when whistling but a five year old can do it with relative ease? To escape the ridicule of friends, I have always easily brushed it aside by saying that whistling is for cattle herders and I have never been one.

The excuse is as lame as any that you will hear. The truth is simply I just never put enough effort to learn. The same way I never tried to learn how to use a skipping rope is the same way the virtuosity for whistling eluded me. One other thing that I’d also say that I never really grasped is the technique to execute any meaningful swimming. In my younger days I tried learning how to swim but all my effort was to no avail as to date I cannot claim to be a swimmer even by the lowest standards. My greatest attempt at swimming can only see me on the shallow side of a swimming pool.

However, my younger days were full of adventure and swimming is one adventure I once embarked on. My memories go back to the late 1980’s before I was even a first grader. Mulamba river which flows into Mongu town is a tributary of the great Zambezi river and has always been a hive of activity since I can remember. In the rain season when the Barotse flood plains are full with water, the banks of Mulamba tributary burst and there are larger areas for different kinds of activity other than the main harbor. So many people, children included find spots for many activities among which is swimming.

Mulamba, with maunyamo settlement now a permanent feature of the habour 

Against the wishes of parents and elders we would sneak out for an afternoon of swimming at the Mulamba harbor. I remember sneaking to the harbor on quite a lot of occasions but on all those times I quite never mastered the technique for swimming. On a sad and regrettable note, one afternoon’s visit to Mulamba harbor proved costly as one of our friends drowned and died there and then.

As the naive kids that we were, we ran back home and none of us said anything to older people, another costly mistake as reporting early enough could have helped save our friend. It was only later in the evening when one boy we called Sigumbuli (still can’t recall if that had been his real name or nick name as Sigumbuli means container), could not hold it and mentioned to the elderly what had happened. What followed were massive police interrogations for 5,6 & 7 year olds while a search for the body of our deceased friend was started at the harbor. To this day there have been times when I look back and wonder what could have been of our friend if he were alive today. It was the first time in my life that death came close to home.

It could be the episode at the harbor at such a young age that subconsciously engraved in me how the implications of me swimming could be dangerous and life threatening, consequently I never ever learned how to do it to this day. The incident at Mulamba harbor was a very sad episode in my growing up and despite being quite young, the memories of that day remain very vivid in my mind.

Skipping, whistling and swimming are activities I have mentioned above that I find challenging, but these are not the only tasks I execute with utmost difficulty. My wife couldn’t keep herself from laughing following my reaction when one day as we were driving to our new home we found a snake crossing the road. My first instinct was to drive over it and when I had passed, I made a u-turn and as I came back, I found the snake had also turned and was now going the other direction and I drove over it once more. When I made another u-turn to face the direction of home again, this time the snake was not in sight.

We drove home believing it had gone into the shrubs on the side of the road. When we got home and I needed to disembark from the car to open the gate, my wife asked me if really the snake had gone into the shrubs to which I answered in the affirmative. 
“What if it had just wriggled itself in the rim as the tyre rolled over it and it is now injured but underneath the car?” she had asked.

After that question, I was immediately gripped with fear and even though that theory seemed most unlikely to me the possibility was always existent. To get out of the car to open the gate, I had to jump a meter away and thoroughly inspect underneath the automobile. That episode sparked a teasing laughter from my wife who questioned how I would protect my household if a snake happened to stray into our premises when as a man of the house I had exhibited such kind of fear towards the reptile while I was in the comfort of a moving automobile.

In short, I am a grown-up man with a great fear of snakes. Americans would refer to me as a grown-ass man. While growing up, I lived in places where snake-human conflict was always inevitable. If one lives in such areas where snakes are bound to every now and then leave their confines in the shrubs and cross borders into human territory in the housing zones, then the art and courage to kill snakes must be acquired. In such housing areas survival means being able to strike first before a snake gets close enough to release its full wrath through its mighty venom.  

Without any known policy on snakes by Zambia Wildlife Authority, most of the time snakes are mercilessly killed in the hope of protecting human life. When I lived in Mt. Makulu, there were many occasions when we would be relaxing home and suddenly a snake squims its way into the housing perimeter and we had to scamper for safety or to find sticks stones or whatever weapons to try and eliminate the trespassing serpent. The same was the case when I lived in Mongu at St John’s secondary school teacher’s compound.

Despite the many encounters I’ve had with snakes, I do not remember ever being able to personally kill a single snake. I may have been among a group that killed a snake here and there, but never been the one to deliver the last blow that killed a snake. Snakes just really freak me and I try to keep my distance. I even freak out at snakes on TV even though the TV screen remains the nearest I can ever willingly get to a snake. On TV, I can even freak out when I watch one of those national geographic channel guys who want to treat snakes like pets.

Many a time these national geographic guys will give statistics of how most unlikely it is that a snake would attack humans. I don’t believe them most of the times even though I stay in front of the ‘tele’ and watch on. Could it be possibly true that there is no recorded case of an Anaconda swallowing a human? Or that pythons have never swallowed a grown human or animal except for the smaller animals? ‘Playing’ with snakes may seem simple to most of these guys on national geographic but that won’t give me any motivation to get near a snake. 

I may not be in the most extreme bracket, but I am definitely Ophidiophobic. To me, snakes are creepy creatures and I have no business near one. They are just serpents. In fact the devil himself.

I keep my distance from snakes, I will not be in any close proximity as that's just one more thing that's not so simple to me.