Should Zambians in Diaspora Come Back

1. Let them stay…….Had to make this post so that no puts one of those silly am #1 comments

2. Why should we come back?

3. Am staying. Kuti wasafwa ne nsala

4. Sad to say but there is truth there. ideally hard working Zambians should be at home making Zambia a better place with their exposure, experience and skills. But then one asks themselves, is it worth going back to contribute to the unemployment rate – i think not! If anything fellow Zambians currently not at home, hone in on your entrepreneurial skills go home and alleviate unemployment as well as secure your financial status by having your own business.

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5. This story makes sad reading indeed. On top of all this, we are blessed with mineral wealth. If only the people in the fore front of administering the mineral resources were not selfish and only interested in making themselves and their families richer, everone would be benefitting. Thats why we voted for Change that we can believe in….Alas Rural Bustards (RB) “outvoted” using VJ….sad!

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6. mwebantu, its not so bad at all. U learn to live with haves,whilst u the have nots jes envy and give them killing looks. nway at least here u r not subjected to b cleaning old pipos behinds,u work as u were trained but get paid change.

7. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   As that govt of yours will never pay me as much as being paid here.
   Talk about something elsy. Actually we are even helping this same govt to feed it’s people who earn what I make in an hour.

8. We’ve got to.

9. Am no 1

10. # 6.
    Not every one here does bottom cleaning. Most people have good jobs and maybe SOME students are the ones doing that. Get your facts right.

11. Hey Wesley, you sound like a sound young man. What is your address. Or e-mail address. How can we contact you? I think we can work out something. You must be a brave man to go back to Zambia, shows how committed and passionate you are about the country. But we need you contact details or email address for us to- start talking about ventures that would use your skills to the max right there in Zambia

12. Nothing but dispaire. Only God can help Zambia no one else. All we do is talk but nothing happens.
    Soot guys, i dont have much faith in Zambia and i t looks lie God isnt in a hurry to change things so i have decided to just forget about Zambia as a whole and wait till God decides to move.it just too depressing when you really take time to ponder and look around, no wonder why the guy came back to Zambia from the USA but what did he find? Nothing! I know i sound gloomy, but i feel so let down by Zambia, i have decided to switch off.
    And when i look at Zimbabwe,my heart has waxed cold. IT HURTS TO FEEL FOR THESE NATIONS, and i just dont want to be hurt.

13. Its quite an emotional and moving collection of words and I mean right words. But my questions is why do Zambians always have a mentality that for one to thrive or succeed you need a job? to rephrase my question why do we always look at employment as the solution to all our financial woes? Given the right and befitting conditions I think we can be quite versatile when it comes to enteprenuership.

14. Wesley Ngwenya indeed what you have said is really sad. I worked for Mobil Oil immediately after graduating at UNZA I was one picked after a rigorous selection process to set up the new(on the run) station along chilimbulu road in Kamwala. I also set up the on the run at northmead.But after two years i was retrenched together with others and Mobil Oil was sold. I struggled to find work for a year until I finally decided to cross into South Africa where I now work. To me its stuff in Zambia, I can only come back after establishing a thriving business or assured of a good job.

15. I read your article with mixed emotions, for I have been there. The desire to go back home is so strong, yet one is defeated as soon as he lands at LSK airport…Its sad really, I now feel and know that there are many Zambians out there who really love Zambia and would like to contribute positively to the development process. But the situation on the ground seems to work against such people….nothing seems to work in the country, the thinking has been in such a state that the people think everything is fine. I just dont understand it…I have picked myself now and again…only to fall. What is the solution? Are we all going to leave the country? My heart weeps……….

16. its realy sad and for those that are outside please keep on working and providing for your families unlikely here where most dull people are the only ones enjoying the fruits of the land eg MMD!!

17. Sadly these days I only go home when I feel like a bit of loafing, it’s much better in Z

18. Looking at your qualifications and ecperience, i see no need why you should wait to be employed. Be an employer yourself. Create opportunities from you know how and run big time ventures. Welcome back home and do not despair. Dont be the a Phiri a nabwela. See how much investment the lowly paid Zambians have put up, talk about housing accommodation. Dont live the day as it comes in diaspora. We are doing well here.

19. #18 good advice, but he will get no tax breaks as a Zambian investor, why does govt. treat us like that?

20. Sad reading indeed. Coming back to Zed is a personal and people should be able to make their own decisions. Personally Iam proud to live in Zed and I would only consider living in another country if what i will be doing there is something i can not do from this end and if it is a salary it is got to be really better and un attainable whilst in my country.

    People must study relevant programmes not just any course coz it is a qualification from abroad.People need to specialise in some thing before other than do general Business Admin and expect to fing a job that easily. The gentleman would have already found a job if he had done Medice,Engineering or Accountancy. Keep looking hard.

21. I personally feel its not necessary to call back Zambians living abroad. They can still contribute to the nation whilst abroad. All we need to do is to encourage them to support their families back home by monthly remitting some forex back home and also investing in e.g real estate. The inflow of such forex would add value to our struggling economy

22. I moved to the Uk from Zed over 10 years ago.My first job was as a so-called Bum Cleaner.I rose through the ranks and im now in charge of the so-called bum cleaners.
    people in europe take pride of their jobs,whatever they may engage in.
    One of my Zed colleagues here in london was recently hired by Celtel to instal some software for the region.We are more valued outside than at home.Keep your nepotistic jobs back home.

23. Mukelabai, I agree with you. we need more business minded individuals. However, the majority of us do noit have the resources…secondly, the business environment favours foreign investment and offers little support for local enteprenuers.

24. I’m not sure if the story above is fiction or true..but the ‘facts’ relates to what is on the ground.

    It is difficult if you have been staying outside to fit in our Zambian enviroment.., family and society.

    Work-wise GRZ or Business don’t value consulting work or intellectual capacity which I suppose is easy as technocrat to venture into.

    Family-wise..if you have kids outside Zed, is it is mission to zambianise them..from the food, schools, malaria etc.

    Socially – Be prepared to go to work, church, watch ZNBC, work, Church routine. if you drink..you will surely enjoy!!

25. I say stay. There is no way that you will come here and keep reminding us about how good life was where-ever-it-is-you-where. I hate having to listen to people who will condemn every last thing about Zambia just because they had a chance to live and “work” outside the country. I only have two things to say to you people: first no matter where to hide, you will always been Zambians. Even when you change your citizenships, you will always know that Zambia is what made you. Secondly, never stay far away from a western onion so that when kith and kin send an SOS, you are on the ready to send money in a real currency to take care of problems here. I will add a third here, always remember to

26. #25 contd. Always remember to come back home to bury your parents in a decent manner else all your labour in foreign soils will be in vain. Lastly, Wesley, when all else fails lower you standards and then rise to the top from there. You will find that many of us started from there.

27. Going back home is a persoanl decision and it depends on how intelligent one is and how they value life in general. Prof Chirwa is going back home because he does not want to die in the nursing home. Issues of being valued while you are working abroad is difficulty to digest because at the same time we should ask ourselves why local people in the countries we live do not want to do the jobs that foreigners are doing. For me I believe the best is to work for a ceratin period while investing and go back home to enjoy your hard earned money. In the UK there is no room to enjoy your money, may be in America. Have your children educated in the diaspora and go back home is my advice.

28. If an educated person will stand in line with someone who did not finish school and beg the government to provide a job, can someone tell me in what direction the country would be going? “Its not what the government can do for you”

    Look at mexicans, asians, in the USA. They all go abroad save enough money to go home and start a business. The government is the people, therefore you are the government, its you to create a job for yourself.

29. guys in exile, pliz stay there for eternity if u so wish. you know there is unemployment crisis in zed, so we need you here as employers not job seekers!

30. its who u know to get a good job in zambia,we pretend all is ok when this country needs serious postmoterm.

31. Let them stay, let them keep washing plates and washing old people. Its useless to be out there, most of those guys when you meet them wont even tell you what type of work they do.

32. This is a sad story but very true, today the danish prime minister meets african leaders in nairobi to find out how they can help such pipo by funding them to start a bussiness to avoid people become established to avoid them moving to europe. they want to reduce funding the govts but empower young pipo directly as the estimates are 70m young pipo suffer unemployment and 15m are likely to move to EU.but going to Zed one should really prepare or else you get depressed especially after being abroad for along time it can be difficult to adjust because it becomes a starnge life style,its also important to visit home often if you can aford so you are in touch with everything on the ground

33. Not everyone can afford to go back, especially if one sees no prospects of a brighter future. I frankly do not understand why this graze about Zambians in the diaspora, most of them just live normal lives and have no wish to return to an uncertain future especially if one has school-going children. Let’s just accept that there will always be some of our compatriots in the diaspora who may never come back.

34. Sometimes you can’t help but feel that our own people maybe slightly (not entirely) jealous of you. You come back home ready to embrace who you are as a zambian, and quite rightly you are full of pride, only for people to roll their eyes at you when you apply for a job, thinking you are stuck up because you talk a little bit different. Living abroad is hard, but I would love to go home one day very soon, because its the only place I feel I truly belong. So what to do, suffer abroad or suffer in your own country?

35. it makes sense to hang around zed than be abroad.from the info i have most zambian pipo born in the late 70s and 80s are just time wasters,chewing parents money.some have been in university since 2001,what on earth in uni for 8 years come home and if u properly qualified employment is there guys.all they do is come in december and show off thier new outfits and phones rubbish zambians abroad.

    by the way am in zambia,dnt be mislead by the flag

36. Why are foreigners live happily in our country while us we want to appear miserable? we need to start engaing our brains and stop moaning. The main problem a lot of Zambians in the diaspora have is that they do not know how to invest, they just know how to work for others until they break their bones.

37. Just to continue…it is always easy if one has no family to move from one location to the next. Once you have family you become risk averse. And I’m talking about zambian couples..not half Zambian half ‘foreigner’

    It is even worse if you have married a foreigner. Very few from ‘developed’ countries would opt to trade fastfood to load-shedding prone nshima and kapenta…which really enjoy by the way.

    In any case, I will be back in Zambia by 2011 to stay. My mother is so happy!!!

38. guys let them peeps stay in the states, UK and the like. We are hustlers back home and we have learnt to survive. Formal employment is no longer wat we are lookin at,i mean with chaps like Money (ulupiah)running the country,wat do u expect…..We will make it,love or hate us, YES WE CAN is the motto..

39. @22, I agree whne you say “We are more valued outside than at home.”I jobbed for 11 yrs for GRZ and was frasturated for agood seve yrs, I got an offer of a lifetime abroad and thats when they started enticing me with a promotion. I told them to give it to someone else and left. I have not regreted the decision.

40. #33 school standards in zambia are much better than you probably realise. Little children as young as three in ng’ombe know how to write their names, not much can be said about the re-re culture amongst children the same age in London or manchester lets have pride in what we have. We may be suffering as a nation but we work hard!

41. Its sad that our dear writer was sold a dream by the late guy,you know zambia or no zambia as a professional we strive to get the best experience and opportunities we can get,that why we see the Flat nosed chinese at NASA..opportunity presents itself,going back home is a move based purely on ones morality,you feel like you owe zed something,that land needs money,i remember reading somewhere how is it Ghana,is on the up because of its people out there send funds back home..starting business etc..as a professional,it is career suicide to go back…only moral reasons will make you do such a thing…more business being created= more jobs=better zed..

42. Just come home you chaps!! Your friends are developing here, building houses and having farms, by the time you will decide it will be too late. I knw of a chap who had been in europe for five years when he came back, he had nothing to show and was surprises at how much we have developed!! Home is good, just get your education and come!!!

43. #34 you are right. Some people left home to better themselves in terms of education. They come back and get discriminated and are term ‘phiri ana bwela’. What most fail to understand is that some of us actually want to come back one day and the only thing holding us back is financial security. Yes, we don’t need to come back and look for jobs but we atleast need to have the mental capacity and finances to start our own ventures. Rather be in the UK earning an honest living to feed your children and send some money back home. Than come home and loaf

44. #32 suppergal. Alot of people become depressed when they go back home because they begin to notice that they have no house and those people they left suffering are much better than them. Yes I do agree one needs to be going home very often.

45. No need to hate darlings. We are all united Zambians Home or abroad.
    cheers

46. #30 is realistic.
    #28 what ever! take a good look at the infrusrtucture in the USA thats why the Mexicans and ASian are comming because there are jobs,its the land of opportunity. You can make it in America no matter who you are. there are people in Zambia trying day in an out but cant make it. you can not compare the plight of mexicans in America to those in Zambia, the same Zambians living in America are working just as hard,degree or no degree. Ask your self why no one is running to zambia. what ever man all we have to do is look at the nations GDP you wouldnt even have said what you said.

47. what will keep in abroad longer is my kids education and social wellfare. i pay tax and the hospitals, education, transport, acomaodation is good.while i prepare my kids have free eduaction and get state support for having kids in daycare so i can aford to look after them while working.diferent countries have diferent advantages. other fail in the UK others make it. so its best to know were one is more advantaged. but pliz visit home and invest if you want to take your kids home especialy.then they choose where they would rather be.be in touch also so you dont get a shock when you get there

48. we should not be quick in saying that its not worthy coming back to zambia.there are some of us who have really made it.for me eurpoe was just a starting point,i have used my education from europe to help others who have benefited from what i learnt. but home is home still,ask the zambians living in south africa how they got to realise recently that zambia was the best

49. @41 “Ghana,is on the up because of its people out there send funds back home..starting business etc..as a professional,it is career suicide to go back…only moral reasons will make you do such a thing…more business being created= more jobs=better zed”

    The Zambian situation is different in that As Zambian Investors, We are prime targets of ZRA and there are no government incentives to entice a Zambian to invest home encourage supported investment growth. Only chop chop from ZRA.

50. Am staying put in DC – who knows I may also realize the ultimate American Dream and become thefirst Zambian American president! No chance in hell in Zed.

51. Am not going back for the simple fact that I command a salary that only ministers and presidents in zambia can have. I already have houses in zambia so the excuse of coming back for development is silly in this information age. You don’t need to physically in zambia to make money and help zambia. i once applied for a job in zambia and the salary on offer was less than what a cleaner in the UK gets. I want the best for myself not to please bloggers and haters who have had their visa’s rejected. I visit zambian often and truth be told only a few a doing well the rest drunk are celebrating and counting money in other peoples pockets

52. #50 I agree entirely, chop chop from others as well as ZRA… it’s a disadvantage to be Zambian in this situation

53. I mean 49 sorry

54. ….

55. Zambia was never ready for us. So we gave up our passports..

56. I came back to Zed 7 years ago and it was scary at first but I never looked back. You cant match the quality of life here with any where in the world. I guess I was luck though cuz I lived in Nigeria and then the UK so no laziness allowed and the Nigerians fend for themselves. I see some many Zedians that come back looking for jobs…now thats sad. In 7 years I have set up my own businesses. Its hard work, its not a Bn $ empire but hey I feel I play a small important part. I will never live in the West again and with the credit crunch here it must be biting all yo worker bees 🙂

57. Nizabwera personally, soon…

58. If your pespective is to go back to Zed and look for a job, the above will be your experience. But Zambians, we must learn to take responsibility for our lives. You made up YOUR MIND (you) to leave the country. You dont make this decision easy. its after exausting all options. Now you go wherever, when you strugle there, but finally gets your life in order, you then make a haste decision to go back home. We need to face it, alot of work needs to be done in Zed. So Zed does not need one that comes back and needs things to be put in place for them. Stay where you are if you want an easy life. Go to Zed TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION. CREATE COMPANIES. BE THE EMPLOYER. ANYTHING LESS, UBEPELEFYE.

59. Wesley my brother, an educated person in Zambia will never be appreciated, You will be a laughing stock by the kaponyas if you continue staying there, if there is a chance go back to USA or if you have anybody here in SA you can stay with, do not hesitate to move out. I can’t forget how I was insulted for spending 5 years at UNZA studying for engineeering by a friend politician when I was working in the mines there earning peanuts.

60. I talked about this topic in another forum when I needed advice for a relation who couldn’t get a job here at home and was debating whether they should go and clean old people’s bottoms abroad or stick it here. I guess LT picked it up from there. The relation has since gone abroad anyway. One thing will always be a fact. Home sweet home!!! Home will always be the best for me. I love my country. Where no one will discriminate against me in all forms. You guys out there keep growing thick skins. What can I say but to wish you well.

61. This is why I think zambians are dull and will never develop. They thrize on negativity and like to put down people in order to make themselves feel better. Just because you went back unceremoniously on a free flight you think you did well. Zambians abroad are by far more comfortable than zambians at home. If you people in zambia were doing well we would be the ones hating on you but look at this case. Sad individuals indeed this is like primary school behaviour. We are not coming back so deal with it .

62. What do you expect from a govt whose development policy is FDI based and nothing else.A govt that thinks that only forigners have enough money to go & develop Zambia.Mutati has reduced his job to that of serching for investors.The new minister of finance has even given himself a target of raisining US$3M/year in FDI.All these efforts they are puting in place dont address the needs of the local people.MMD is full of strange economists.When the whole world is becoming aversive of FDI because of its inherent crisis nature,MMD like a ‘prostitute’ is opening its arms to welcome all sorts of FDI.Mutati even assures them to externalise their profits whenever they want.Lets make FDI beneficial 2 all

63. its getting heated,huh???Come on guys,if u r happy were u r, then stay,no one is holding a gun to your face…The world has become a global village,theres no need to panic, success is different based on what u peceive it to be…If u r hapi in zambia,good,if u arent,apply to work outside…not beef,Zambia chalo chesu.I for one,hate leaving in a country where i am treated like i have no home…WE WILL MAKE IT EVENTUALLY!!!Earn those dollars, no hate,just love….

64. Damn can you imagine what our country would be like if we all went home and practiced what we preached?

65. indeed but again the truth hurts

66. Ba LT chinja topici pliz mwe

67. It is very clear; life is tough in Zed. And some folks boost of having ‘houses’ you can fall of the chair if they show you the pics of the so called ‘houses’

    I’m not rushing to build one mad house and call it a house… I will only come home if can repulicate the housing standard my kids are used to in Joburg. I’m not going to touture my kids for sake of patriotism.

    Yes…I’m coming back home..but not to live a house where you can even smile cement!!!

68. Poverty is not always the lack of food, it can also be a lack of morals! Balance in life is the key. Why always thinking of working for others? Why not create employment and let others work for you. The chances of you being your own boss back home is greater than abroad.

    A good salary in a far away country, speaking in twisted tongues and you call that success.

    Most chaps abroad are staying in bed sitter compartments with little freedom. I would rather stay here in my village than confine my self in what some people like to tell as ‘compartments. sqeezed in small flat with loads of cash, well others call that ‘life’, it depends who you are. No straight answer on this one.

69. “The Zambian situation is different in that As Zambian Investors, We are prime targets of ZRA and there are no government incentives to entice a Zambian to invest home encourage supported investment growth. Only chop chop from ZRA.”

    Anywhere in the world if you want something,you have to put your mind to it,dont expect anyone where in zed,or timbuktoo to create that vibe for you,have an idea,do your research and get actual facts,then deal with it,zambia to me is virgin land,and if brains like you and all bloggers here can come up with real ideas,you will never cry about “MONEY aka Ruphia BANDA”and politics,that game in ZED is for unexposed,money seeking,attention,seekering oldtymers.

70. There’s too much corruption and injustice in our country, it’s rather discouraging. There’s also too much AIDS. There’s worse stuff going on than when we left. I have qualifications and you fail to employ me, then there’s something wrong. I’d rather be in a place where my academic and work experience are appreciated.

71. The world is a global village now you can work anywhere and invest anywhere at any time . You dont need to come to Zambia to make a difference. I have investments both in Zambia and RSA and i am citizen of both countries so why should i limit myself

72. this is a worthwhile article,should be printed in our major newspapers

73. #70 keep your dic k in your pants and you have nothing to worry about.

74. Just a question. How many people out there have an opportunity of owning right there abroad 500Ha of land? What are the chances of a Zambian in Zambia owning that amount of land?

    Most people have their priorities misplaced. One guy coming from abroad was boasting about owning a lap top!?, i SAID WHAT MADNESS IS THAT. Your friends are owning Farms, and you are talking about a hefty salary, worlds apart, worlds apart, miles apart.

    It is much easier to make it back home with a bit of capital than out there. A lot of guys are stranded out there and just cant find a way of coming home.

75. I know so many people who’ve gone back home & now have great jobs,most people like myself just want to take advantage of availability of higher education.Home is home whether you like it or not,am so proud of my country Zambia that i would never wish on swapping my passport,an endorsement saying ”indefinate leave to remain” in my Zambian passport is enough.I personally don’t depend on employer here but am glad to say my business at home in Zambia has ensured i live comfortably.If it weren’t for my kids i would return home & help my country.I know some will call me names but to be honest most of those not comfortable about returning are stuck coz of papers

76. Yes and no! It’s a global economy. We employ foreigners; they employ us. The thing is you cannot call people back home without clearly outlining their role. Levy should have said “Come back home and establish businesses”. To simply say “Come home”, one ought to ask, “to do what?”. If the answer is “to get employed”, “offer me a job or direct me to someone who can and i’ll gladly come home”. Ultimately, we’ll all have to go back home, but please don’t go back without knowing what you’ll be doing there. You’ll just increase the unemployment levels. On the other hand, we need people to take risks and create businesses that will employ people back home – even just farming (u’ll help a family).

77. Ikaleni fye bane. Its tough here even for us working. Elo fwebengi tulwisha ukwisa uko kwine ngayapasa. Make your money, remember your your creator.

78. bane Ghanians in the diaspora as of 2005 were contributing about 1.2 billion USD to GDP, stay where you are if you are comfortable, the only thing guard against complacency and think when you come back it will be rosy, it is like starting all over again, obviously the countries you are in are quite advanced but do not forget US has been independent for 220 years, imagine what would have happened during the depression of 1930 if the americans had gone to Mexico for instance, they remained there to fight. When you are going through a tough time in life, there are two things, learn or run, the choice is yours, fuel at USD2 per liter is painful, but with hope the one day we will conquer.

79. Ama zambians balasabaila they tell u they are doing well in zed go and see the what they are doing,bringin cheap chines hardware from nakonde and selling pa towncenter.with all due respect we have difrent backgrounds and measures of success but honestly you cant compare with life abroad even if pipo want to insult those washing botoms in EU.they get what ministers are getting of course the standard and cost of livin is also high compared to zed but atleast they have descnet livin copmared to ZED, a nurse at UTH cant even aford a rent in kabwata. while in the UK they can aford to drive descent cars.in zed if u have a corola u are the one. so dont call pipo names we maesure success deferently

80. contd $78 at the same time I might be misinformed and not living with reality, but starting off with a US$30 job to where I am today, I am a living testimony of peserverence, and this was in 1998 when chiluba had a strangle hold on the economy

81. contnd from #75
    What is the point of being in a foreign country where your qualifications never count as long as you’re a foreigner,you’re restricted to doing certain types of jobs,i know so many well educated Zambians who were ”bosses” in Zambia but here they been reduced,most of them now look after old people in Care homes or do cleaning jobs.The UK govt recently tightened the rules even further by cutting down on the number of jobs for foreigners,just yesterday they were saying people are not returning to their home coutries so more tightening coming.Deportations are order of the day too.

82. Some chaps abroad are working 20 hrs a day just to manage to keep themselves from dying from cold! Ati Abroad.

    Just a handiful of Zambians have succeeded in the real sense out there. Those who have succeeded are actually the ones who readily value their Zambianness. It is only those that were staying in shanties who have lost respect for Zambia. Viva Zambia and cheers to our nation. It is just a matter of time, Zambia will succeed. Dont get so excited by buga life out there, it took just the same kind of human beings to make those places to be what they are.

83. 40. Kabova
    Nov 20th, 2008 at 3:42 pm Vote: 0 0 #33 school standards in zambia are much better than you probably realise. Little children as young as three in ng’ombe know how to write their names, not much can be said about the re-re culture amongst children the same age in London or manchester lets have pride in what we have. We may be suffering as a nation but we work hard!
    =============>
    Speak for yourself mate.My child is already talking and scribbling things on paper why?My child started nursery when it was 4 months till now.Most zambians abroad would rather buy expensive cars instead of investing in a childs education hence they end up having vichibulu and i know loads here.

84. #27, I totally agree with you. My friends in Diaspora, here is my advice: work like a slave abroad and live like a king back home. Real estate is one of the best ventures i have seen and done. Ten houses and farm land etc in the 8 years i have lived abroad. When i am all set and done in 4-5 years time, i will pack up and live like a king. Wow!!! God bless Zed.

85. Some of my friends in zambia are doing better than myself. But in terms of life in general life in Namibia is better, I mean the basic infrastructure is in place and life is a a bit cheaper. I think it is up to the individual, if you think you will be more productive back home then go.

86. Just a question. How many people out there have an opportunity of owning right there abroad 500Ha of land? What are the chances of a Zambian in Zambia owning that amount of land?

    My dear Blogger what is 5millionHA no plan..worthless..back in the day a mans ego was measured by the amount of land he had..LAND?>come on..

87. #79 i think guys in the diaspora should stop insulting us poor zambians,our nurses are doing the best to help improve the situation,its not rite to call us all sots of names.not every one can leave outside zambia,if u happy stay werever u are and contribute to the muzungu’s welfare.

88. Afrofussion now we know you are full of boza.arent you the one who wrote saying you are british and you had no interest in MMCI when you were confranted of having interest, guys filaya nokubewla. mwilaponta oneday we might meet.now you have displayed how untruthfull you are now you want to go back to ZED after ponting that you are british. be truthfull mwebantu you dont loose anything.echo bakaponya call you ba `some of us` ku states at wanna bez trying to be what u arent

89. At the end of the day, guys do what you have to do for yourself and family if you have one, but bear in mind that one day there will be a place you will need to call home and gather hay while the sun shines. I am one of those who does not intend to work outside Zambia for not less than 3 times my current salary, so vina mwamene wainvelela, the guys collecting staff from Nakonde, they are making a living, the woman selling amataba ya kocha on the road side, she is more enterprising than me because atleast she makes not less than 50 pin per day, so kwishiba number uleteya, diaspora or not, Zambia is ours

90. #86

    I am Glad you have asked? Ask a boer, what he would do with 500Ha of Land just here in Zambia! The price tag to land is only limited in an individuals mindset! A million things you can do with that kind of land. The mindset of looking for a job, and having suitable qualifications is very limiting.

    Qualifications are for the slave who wants to have an advantage over his fellow slaves. Moving from the gatrden, into the masters house!

91. If Banda starts to pay every one else good and he improves the Heatl and education services…he wont do it if he is not made accountable…Zambians at home need to look out for whatis good for them and demand better social services from govenment.
    Look at the difference between woodlands and Kabwata…they are not so far apart in distance but they are not. Lusaka Trust hopspital and U.T.H? Common Zambia…make our/your leaders accountable.
    Today not tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

92. #88. suppergal
    Thank you for your remarks.Let me clarify.i actually meant to say British resident not citizen,i guess citizen means someone who was either born here or attained citizenship thru naturalization,it’s my mistake there,i am a Zambian born in Zambia & do not intend to swap my passport,in that comment i was implying that i reside in Britain so how can i benefit from MMCI.

93. #83 I agree, school kids now in Zambia learn more than even here in SA. I was surprised my friend’s kids could do more than painting compared to my Kids in a high expensive internation school here in SA.

    But ONE THING ANTINOV, Am concerned about the rampant Grade 12 leakages. I think that needs urgent attention

94. There is no need to feel superior because you can afford an 800 pound second hand car in the diaspora, there are people with very basic jobs who drive same value cars the difference being you bought yours in a UK scrap yard and I bought mine in a Japanese scrap yard, I am yet to find majority diasporees who do jobs they would vow not to do on their own country. If a guy cleans people’s backsides, that is his choice, atleast he is in formal employment, possibly pensionable, but at the end of the day Ladies and Gentlemen you have to have something to come back to, land, a house, some form of investment etc, the UK or US or Austrialia did not reach there in one day, I would imagine they had

95. 61. Phiri Anayenda

    Doing well is not about drinking all weekend and eating Turkish kebabs.Life is good now but when you reach 65 where would you rather be?In a betting shop and drinking special brew the whole day or in sunny Zambia enjoying your investments ie Children and Financial.
    I personally admire anyone who is doing well in zambia.

96. I cant.To be ruled by Nyama Soya

97. You can use land as collateral for finacial funding. You can access finance from outside the country if you have the brains.

    Land was never the yardstick to measure wealth. The opportunities that assets present are for the smart guy to utillise, not for the guy who is trapped in the limitations of his mind.

98. … cont 94, the same types of politicians like us at some point that is why they kept perfecting the art of Government to stop people awarding themselves hefty salaries at the expense of poor Zambians. So we shall get there and as MLK said, “We shall reach the promised land, I MAY NOT BE THERE WITH YOU” being the operational words, so sacrifice now for future generations.

99. There is a need for dual nationality. Then one can invest in the motherland fully aware that ‘home is home.’
    The undermining of local talent was clearly demonstrated when every-one was saying, with glee, that the late presidents burial( Tomestone) was to be organised by a foreign company. In this case a Chinese Company. I have nothing against the Chinese. But can someone surely tell me that companies like Appolo and others could not have carried out that task? For me, that was the ultimate humiliation. If people do not see the point I am making here, then it proves that I have got a point.

100. #90 “Qualifications are for the slave who wants to have an advantage over his fellow slaves. Moving from the gatrden, into the masters house!”
     Its a pity you see education as slavery,but thats what is in your head i can never change that..one things for sure i am more useful to myself having become..in your words a hose slave…i can teach you how to do stuff..i mean there is a saying,play a sucker to catch a sucker-seem dumber than your mark 🙂

101. Somebody talked about living in South Africa. Reminded me of xenophobia. A friend lost a mansion and is now in dire stress. Imangine they can’t go back either after things have quietened down – Because the neighbours do not want them back. (You would understand I suppose as they are obviously the ones who looted and plundered my friends’ mansion). My friend is having a nervous break down from lack of what to do!!!!! I feel for them (sob,sob,sob).

102. Somebody talked about living in South Africa. Reminded me of xenophobia. A friend lost a mansion and is now in dire stress. Imagine they can’t go back either after things have quietened down – Because the neighbours do not want them back. (You would understand I suppose as they are obviously the ones who looted and plundered my friends’ mansion). My friend is having a nervous break down from lack of what to do!!!!! I feel for them (sob,sob,sob).

103. #83 Antinov. I agree with you, I know of plenty zedians who are happy to live in homes even your workers at home wouldn’t dream of, but drive the latest benz; they got on credit. My children go to nursery school here too, but I feel if they went to Nkwazi or Baobab (these are just examples), I’d be getting quality education, shaping their futures, teaching them life experiences they could only imagine and it won’t be so taxing on my pocket, you can’t honestly compare private schools here in the UK at £7000 a year when you pay K1.2m a term?

104. #94 the reason i used a car as example is pipo in Zed measure driving as a huge achievement while the devloped countries will use it as a necesity as transport is good but maybe due to nature of work. some of the things we think are basic out here are actually luxury back home yet pipo want to insult pipo with jobs that pipo in zambia wont get,if the elderly nursing homes were opened would they insult those doing it.in zambia we proud and choose jobs even when not qualified.if qualified yes u have the right to choose

105. Me ,am going back to develop “mother ZAMBIA”.

106. “Somebody talked about living in South Africa. Reminded me of xenophobia. A friend lost a mansion and is now in dire stress. Imagine they can’t go back either after..blah blah blah… See thats why you are going nowhere in life get your facts right,Xenophobia is bad..be it people phobia or whatever phobia…your friend must have had a mansion in the shanty coz thats where this stuff happened..people who are oppressed can react that way..even in zambia..so get your facts right and make some meaningfull contribution to this topic….

107. I better correct this before somebody does. I meant dire straits above. (ha ha ha)

108. #96 wait till you passport is due for renewal then you will know who is in charge

109. #5, Ba Zambia, it is not rural Bastards who voted for MMD. Livingstone voted for Rupia and in case you forget Malole voted for SATA.

     The fact is that the country is badly divided on tribal lines. Where there are enough Bemba speaking people, they voted for Sata. And non-Bemba speakers voted for Rupia or Hakainde. Non-Bemba speakers resent Sata, see the votes in Southern, Western and North-Western.

     Rupia has a big challenge to make Bembas comfortable with MMD which Levy did not care about.

110. A normal senior medical officer like me can not come back.Those guys i left in form 3 are MPs and DAs getting respect and more money than my fellow friends at UTH is not only an insult but degrading.Thank you.

111. To whom it may hurt or sorry, concern. Correction!!! I saidiiii….I was reminded me of xenophobia and my friend don’t live in a shanty either. Hey Wanyaya (105) when are you coming back so I can pick you up from the airport in my………..if I say it out, the likes of (106) will reckon I am bothting (boasting) I lisp so understand.

112. #104, I fully agree, when I first travelled outside Zambia i went to Malawi via south africa, you would imagine seeing ring roads for the first time when I came back I was like but what are we still doing, but like a smell, sometimes you do not see things develop until someone comes and tells you baba, something is happening, now, previously if you flying over lusaka in the night you would barely see any lights, these days the expanse of lights tells you something about the rate at which Lusaka is developing. SO something is happening except we want to see fruits in our lifetime

113. I always say one day the world will change dramatically, one day someone could turn around and say go back to where you all came from; look at the recession going on, the pinch is felt here before it hits home, but this is the time to be prepared! Lets not be disillusioned, home is home, we are the ones who can make a change, lets not turn our backs completely, the annual visits and investing in something is a start.

114. Zambia is a land flowing with milk and honey but unfortunately only foreigners are given all the tools to milk the cow. It is sad Sata did not come to stop the suckers.

115. #109 then why are they resented, there has to be something, well word on the streets, “bembas are theives” please change this perception “Tongas are tribalists” please change this perception, now you see why North and South cannot seem to work together! Well we as Zambians have a long way to go, and why is it always that tribe is only a factor when it comes to politics, elsewhere we go for cocktails no one asks what tribe we are!

116. 103 Kabova i feel you on that one.

     The best investment you can ever make is educating your children not driving top of the range BMW and and buying 6 for a £5.00 and living in dingy houses or flats.

117. Good story LT. I guess every Zambian in the diaspora has their own story to tell, which may not necessarilly end up the way this one did. Like in my case, I was met with a very positive answer when I once applied for a job at ZNBC in the early 90s. Unfortunately, I had to return to Germany to pursue further studies and was forced to turn down the job offer. Meanwhile, I am well settled here. It looks like things have changed job-wise in Zambia now, so I have vowed not to be an employee but the employer whenever I return.

118. #95 I eat at restaurants like Livebait and Malmaison-Brasserieyou must be mistaking me for your fellow lowlives who eat grinded meat. It is small minded people like you that think just because am doing good abroad then am doing bad in Zambia. Your mind cannot fathom that the better I do abroad the better I do in Zambia. If I never made it abroad I wouldn’t have owned so much property in Zambia and for my retirement I have already chosen the carribean. My children will be global citizens . One of them might just run for british parliament.

119. home is home and zambia is home.there alot of pipo who are happy rite here in zambia.mind u we cant all leave in abroad.

120. #116 successful zambians have both just because it jubad you doesn’t mean it jubad all of us. If your flag is from The Uk and you are dissing the Uk then you are probably stuck on a limited visa and will be joining you fellow sad bloggers soon in zambia

121. #113 walanda, that is true, your message is actually relevant even for Zambians within Zambia, let us gather hay while the sun shines, whenther you are getting US$30 as was the case with me, wafumya ko 5 dollars and but special zizila for resale, later on that special zizila business will thrive, because depending on that business for all your life is as good as calling it hand to mouth, but when that US$30 is still coming you let the special zizila business grow as you re-invest all the time you make a small profit, I know certain civil servants who go home to 2 pin because of loans but they do not care because they have mansions and businesses.

122. #113. Kabova
     I totally agree with you on this one.It’s just that these people cannot say it directly but the rules they bring,the news headlines etc make you realise that they’ve had enough,it’s better to invest in education & saving & investing at home than wasting time enriching an already rich economy of people that have told you’re not welcome,they give plastic smiles but it’s one thing some of our people fail to understand.I am glad of the policies MMD under Mwanawasa brought,at least i have seen a good business enviroment in Zambia as long as you have the resources,it’s false to say our govt gives priority to foreigners.

123. People should study relevant courses. I have worked as consultant 5 yrs for GRZ and Worldbank environment project in Zed with my first degree obtain from UNZA. The salary scale is universal under world bank or UN. I realised I can make more if I did an Msc in Environmental Mgt. So I left for UK and will return to Zed shortly with Dinstinction. If nobody employees me, I am emplying myself. You cant compare the life you lead in frozen flats, no carpark, no drive way, “no neighbours”…psychological truama of loniliness, this is why these chaps here start building dangeons to molest their daugters fro 24 yrs. Need spycho help.

124. Nice article and enjoyed reading some of the comments; especially that am almost done with my studies and thinking of what my next step will be; stay here or go back home? I agree with those who argue that it is a “personal decision” and one that needs careful thought. My advice for those that are abroad or are looking to go back home; secure yourselves somehow prior to going abroad/ returning home (business, house etc. etc) or just have something that you can fall on in case things don’t go as planned (a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush). Also if possible; try to visit and keep in touch with family and friends (Social capital) and to avoid culture shocks. I Love Zambia !

125. I’ve noted that Zambians living in Zambia sometimes give unfair comments on we who live abroad.How can you be self-employed when there is no bank in Zambia ready to loan you money? I for one cannot come back this time,I did it once and regreted because I went through untold suffering,I stood on Nkwazi and other streets for years with my education.Last year my friend Sam and I decided to migrate,am in UK and he is in Australia and we are doing great.I can support my family.Zambia is still a long long way from accomodating we who are in the diaspora.”Education without opportunity is nothing.”

126. #118/120, eating at Livebait and sleeping at the Burj is okey, and God bless you for the successes you have made, however I prefer my Nshima, the limited availability of nshima alone discourages me from diasporing. But good for, you global citizens indeed, and then which culture will they identify with, is there something called international culture, someone educate me.

127. Antinov, we are the beginning! Our children our the future and if they can take in a percentage of what we feel then we’ve inculcated something. I cringe when i see our people behave like movie stars – living it up, when half of them don’t work, but are happy to be accomodated by the local govt. I would hate little minds to emulate! Keep up the good work! God Bless Zedians

128. What a negative vibe. I have recently been to Zambia and my story is the opposite. I found that you can actually get a good job if you have the right qulaifications and relevant work experience in Zambia.

     The quality of life is different, but not neccessarily worse or better. When i think peace of mind, retirement one day, i think Zambia.

     Let us not delude ourselves that being abroad is in itself a good thing.

129. Zambia should encourage more of its people to migrate.This has been the policy in India and China. In fact there are more Indiamns in Dubai than Arabs.

     We should clear the streets by training Nurses, Paramedics etc… and send them abroad. We should use the money they send home for housing and entrepreneurship.

     At the end of the day if we maintain GDP growth at 7% we will win the war even if we lose a number of battles.

130. I eat at restaurants and also eat nshima at chelstone market with bezra. The point am trying to put through to the salty kalijo individuals is that Where I set my foot I carry my zambianess with me. it doesn’t matter if am in the antarctic am still zambian. I choose whats best for me and no individual has any say in what I do , it’s not like you bloggers bought my ticket out of zambia. You should reserve comments of telling people to come back to your relatives not us . What we chose was to better ourselves now if we are doing good only a devil would spite a man thats successful

131. If you are in UK, you suffer systematic exclusion on professsional jobs. You can only get that job if no british has applied, then only if no EU cousin of theirs has applied…otherwise, go and pack meat in a factory for 6 pounds an hour with the least educated britons or who ever, with your degree.

132. Wesley,

     You have hit the nail on the head and to be honest, there is little hope in Zambia because of the calibre of politicians that we have who have no clue with how to develop a country.
     People, do not misunderstand this guy, whilst he is giving himself a an example, he is not just sitting waiting for a job, coz what he says is he is willing to do his own business which he is doing but the govt does not empower the citizens to do that.
     I would always want to go back home but as this guy says, the ramshacles around just kick you back to the cold in London.

133. #132 so you think the Government will change itself?

134. 131 wapa zed. You dont know what you are talking about. If you ever lived in the UK you obviously came here uneducated and you are still uneducated.

     Dont spread untruths.

135. I am yet to see any tangible and sustainable development back home in Zambia. Bane, at my age 36, I am wise enough like most of us on the blog to know what a dangling carrot and an olive branch are.

136. #131 it seems you are speaking a painful experience. Am here to offer you solace and a panadol because 1000’s of zambians have gotten professional jobs. Take a hint just because you failed doesn’t mean we all failed, should have tried harder.

137. The most unfortunate thing about us as zambian’s is we wait for someone else to create the lives we wish to see ourselves live, and this is typical of most africans and if you are true to yourself the book by Prof Chika Onyeani applies to both you and I if you really want to face the truth!!!

138. One thing we must also not forget that although our Zambian govt tries hard to fight corruption,it also needs to have the same approach on nepostism,unemployment levels are trully high but there are some jobs out there that qualified people roaming the streets can do but because of nepotism & unnecessary bureaucracy,jobs are reserved for relatives etc

139. # 134 mu uzeko kabudo . theres a lot of misguided zambians that come here uneducated and yet when they face life’s harshness. They go back to zambia and spread lies of how it’s hard in the UK. The Uk rewards hard work if you didn’t work hard you will learn. You come to the Uk and go to corner shop colleges and expect good jobs.

140. #12
     Stop being emotional like your name!

141. #135 ulishani iwe, long time no see pa blog! Yes you are right my brother, at your age this is the time to start planning your retirement, ifwe bambi we wish to retire kuma farm and quiet places that is why we are not getting land ku Mwembeshi. Some want to still be able to go to break point aka pa ka joint and they ate buiding ku Libala south. Some yet want to retire in Kalingalinga, bena kunwa fye ishili shonse bakwete, so choices are ours.

142. 131. Wapa ZED

     Not all zambians work in factories son.I have a proffessional job which i deserve as per my qualifications.
     To get a job in England as a zambian is all above confidence.If you have zero confidence you will be a traffic warden with your PHD till you are 65.

     I know some Zambians here who have bundles of qualifications but do odd jobs why? They cant think outside the box.

143. #131. Wapa ZED
     Spot on,that is exactly what is going on here especially after the EU floodgates were opened that is why i vowed never to work for anyone here,for 2 years my small business in Zambia has fed me but i could do better if i was back home in Zambia coz i have seen how advanced the friends i left in zed are.After finishing my studies in Zambia,i worked a lil bit & began to settle then i left to further my studies,along the way did crap jobs coz of restrictions so that is why i say as a foreigner u cannot be proud of being abroad,some people abroad don’t do anyone favours by saying there is manna from heaven here!

144. Well, without being too emotional, lets be fair. zambia needs us, we can contribute differently. some of you who are abroad are already contributing thru the change you send to your poor relatives. thats your contribution, and it will be unfair to query how you earn that change. but you should also accept the fact that someone should be in charge here at home. Forexample the Zambia some of you left is not the Zambia that is there today- its because someone is one right in Zambia. If you ve dicided to remain abroad, continue, but remember, we know the jobs some of you do, and how you re treated in your neighbourhoods and workplaces

145. 136. Phiri Anayenda …good point i have also noticed a trend among zambians spreading rumours just because they failed to acquire proper jobs in the UK that us Zambians abroad are suffering.What they fail to understand is that even those people that work in the BBC sector have more initiative than people working in.Why?The chaps that work in the BBC sector have exposure unlike some chap sitting at ZRA who cant even use a kife and folk.

     *BBC stands for British Bum Cleaners..

146. I am number 144!!!

147. #138 Afrofusion. I agree, nepotism stinks! It would be nice to be judged on what you do, sadly I agree with #139 Phiri Anayenda, if you work hard in the UK ba zungu get so excited they don’t think twice about rewarding you. You may not be rewarded in zed the way you should, people can’t even show you a sign of appreciation. To make it worse if you’re a woman (in zed esp) and you’re successful you’re accused of sleeping with your boss, or otherwise you’re related to someone, somewhere up the chain.

148. 142. Antinov
     Not all but a majority of foreigners including Zambians have been forced to get lowly jobs coz of the way the system is designed,it’s an insult to the majority of foreigners to say personal confidence is what gets u a good job as a foreigner.I personally have done good jobs here but it was not my confidence but the trust & confidence my recruiters had in me.Good employers don’t care who you are,it’s the system that let’s them down eg in the National Health Service where there are shortages but hospitals are told only to emply Britissh first,Euros then last resort others.This is standard practice by most govts.

149. Level playing field in our country? You are joking. Ask KK the father of the misery you are going through. I was one of the first victims of the removal of level playing fields in Zambia by KK in 1966 on the mines.Kaunda with his UNIP government team allowed the white mine owners to underpay Zambians regardless of the capabilities or education a Zambian brought to the industry. This became the yardstick for every company in the country. Underpay a Zambian because he could survive on ‘tute’ and not bread; ‘munkoyo’ and not cocacola which were the needs of an expatriate.Shamutete as U/G Manager cried when he realised his junior white shiftbosses were better paid than him the boss. Ask KK.

150. #136, I have been following your comments on this topic and you are almost speaking my mind. Most Zambians live by the attitude: “if I don’t look good, then you don’t look good either”.
     Just here on the blog, when I once wrote that I was sipping German Lager, someone found it very hard to believe. This person accused me of being a liar, saying that I was probably wallowing in poverty in some shanty compound. I was speechless. Why should I excuse myself for the blessings that God has bestowed upon me?

151. govt tupuba!!!!!!!!!
     They offer indians and chinese jobs instead of zambians
     Aleni mukafwa nensala.yo children will suffer forever.

152. Frankly no except where you are completly ready to be under certain DAs and become a yes bwana to a grade 7.No wonder they can not even participate on reasonable topics like this one.
     na bola ifyo mulushila.

153. 148. Afrofusion

     I agree with you when it comes to the situation regarding this EU expansion.
     When i first came here in the early nineties getting a job for a weekend to sustain yourself was not as bad as it is now.
     It really hurts me to see young Zambian people finding it hard to get jobs because of the expansion of the EU.
     However most zambians have a better grasp of english and manage to get customer service related jobs.
     The only downfall i have seen is that a lot of zambians let themselves get carried away with these odd jobs and forget about their reason of being here ie education..

154. We should be discussing how we can work together between Zambians home and those who are abroad, that way our country will benefit and as individuals, we benefit too. That is the way forward. Things are not the same for every body home or abroad so stop comparing and let us work together. Let us share ideas and connections and contacts to exploit the opportunities that we have as Zambians home and abroad.

155. 147. Kabova
     Yeah,the attitudes in Zambia are so wrong,you can never be appreciated for your hardwork.Just yesterday we saw too many insults directed at Zambian women who have good qualifications & jobs including those in cabinet & Deputy Ministers,people like new Deputy Finance Minister Kapwepwe,Angela Cifire at Sports etc,bloggers esepcially home based wrote all sorts of negative & irrational comments about those women.

156. 155. I think in most circumstances people are jealous. It would be nice to see women in powerful positions appreciated, I think the dust will settle and when our Deputy Finance Minister shows what she can do then our people home based will find someone else to talk about.
     Abena home and abroad # 154, lets hear more of your ideas, I’m interested. What can we do to make a difference. I think one thing we lack as Zambians is unity, I’d like to see more functions here in the UK that are more than just an opportunity for gossip. Lets share ideas, lets plan the way forward.

157. typical phd,s,pull him down,we busy bring each other down yet we all zambians.i belive we are partners in development regardless of were we are based.if u abroad then some one in zambia is benefiting from your hard earned money,and for those abroad learn to respect those in zambia as well. pipo we cant all be in uk,usa,italy and so on.lets think of how we can develop zambia by investing both abroad and locally,insulting each other wont build zambia.plizzzzzzzzzz

158. #154 you are very right.i just learnt that the danish govt is willing to keep african graduates at home so those that can acess funds from them to start some sort of project write your bussiness plans or project proposals,find out from embassis how funds can be acessed,they feel funding govts has not profited the pipo so they want to try direct funding.so some of who have education in line of bussiness or have consultants go ahead and make use of this oprtunity.they will continue to negotiate with other EU countries to do the same so they can keep us in our home countries in steady of moving up here

159. Let them stay and wash the Bums of the old white women and men in the homes of the aged.

160. You guys don’t understand issues. The point the author of this article is raising is that : Are we ready to accomodate most of the people who are in the diaspora? The answer lies in between – What do skills and expertise do you bring? If you are fresh graduate, it does not matter at all whether you studied in an air conditioned room or under a tree. You simply do not have the skills to call yourself an expert. You can go back home and be a trainee but that is just about it really. If you are a professional and zambia needs your expertise then they should allow you room to contribute and not frustrate you. That is my view.

161. Let them catch AIDS then they will find themselves back home.Make a head count then you will see how many have been brought back wearing overalls? A lot i know who sweared upon Satan that they will never return

162. Joke of the century : Headmaster addresses his students in an Assembly and describes all of them as being dull. Students groned but kept quiet.

     Five years later: Headmaster realises he needs a degree and goes for studies. He enrolls at one of the local Universities. He goes to first lecture and a young man who he recognises from his former School walks in and introduces himself to the class as their lecturer.

     Former Headmaster faints.

163. The problem with us zambians and many africans is that we also have way too much pride!We want to show off and let pipo see what we have, For people with families i understand their concerns because u can’t just put you family at such a risk, but for us we dont even knw how to steal ideas and make them work in our countries, our u see all that innovation where u are n u cant take advantage of it! CHINA may not be USA or UK but bane,these choncholiz work hard,don’t spend unneccessarily until they have built up something and they don’t look down on selling tomatoes or kapenta because its a starting point, sometimes u have to SWEAT!!!Just wait for me to come back!!!

164. I seem to be sensing a ‘them’ and ‘us’ kind of thread in these blogs. Is that the way you really think #161? That attitude is what makes africa remain backward. Where ever you go, you learn something and the so called traitors in the diaspora may bring some valuable knowledge that could save your life. Was Dr. Livingstone considered a traitor for helping the British know where to find cheap minerals before they setup the London metal exchange? London metal exchange when the Brits have no single mine. Wake and know that it is time for Knowledge Economies and not bootlicking like some MMD and PF chaps have been doing. Be real!!

165. The problem with these chaps in zambia is that when they buy a small patch of land in kalingalinga and drive a datsun 120Y they think they have made it and start insulting people abroad.
     People abroad are not there by defualt but by choice and have thier own ideas on when to go back.

     Being abroad has its pros and cos which i shall not even dwell into as the points have already been covered.
     So if you are in zambia good luck and if you are abroad and share a small room with 5 others then thats your choice.Case closed..

166. I visited Zambia early this year and happened to go to a compound up in Matero. I saw people making furniture, pots, crafts, car parts etc. The level of hard work and the determination these guys/women had to be self sufficient was amazing. That experience opened my eyes, more than me going to Manda Hill. I realized that having a degree is simply a state of mind that takes away ones need to become self sufficient.

     Like someone above said “The most unfortunate thing about us as Zambian’s is we wait for someone else to create the lives we wish to see ourselves live.”

167. People have the right to make personal decisions and to go wherever they want. Some have chosen to go abroad. This also creat room for people who remain to occupy the jobs left behind.

     Secondly some people have been forced out by circumstances. E.g. many people lost jobs when ZCCM and others were privatised. Those who could work abroad left the country. In the UK we have a lot of former ZCCM doctors, engineers and nurses.

     Furthermore, people in diasporal invest back home e.g houses, flats.
     preparing for retirement. We will come back. Dont worry.

168. #136 and #143, thanks men, I will get back to you soon. I am currently at University of Hull (North Humberside) doing an MSc.in GIS & Environmental Technology under a fully paid-up British Government sholarship. Will come and get info about an environmental job right here in UK in June.Stay in touch!

169. All Zambians abroad work hard, even harder than those back home. It is harder to start your life all over, no relatives to call on when in need, pay rent or morgatges etc.

     Some Zambians are doing very well in the UK. I know of univeristy lecturers, medical consultants, dentists, accountants, auditors etc. All these have wonderful busy lives. I would say for professionals, it is a matter of time, once they settle, things really look up. Some people struggle, but people struggle in Zambia too. So it is not an issue.

     Problem in Zambia is we do not create enough jobs for people leaving school, colleges and university.

170. How can you play football when you are so hungry and worried about your kids at home? Footballers here eat and drink like guard dogs. But our players economise to share some money with the coach or they will not make the next squad.

171. When you talk about cleaning old peoples backs, don’t you know that ideally thats what nurses even in Zambia are supposed to be doing.

172. Why should I go back to start runnin away from the police,here in Amsterdam we smoke chamba (leaf) with no hustle from the police,later in the evening we hit redlight district to blaze some women,and night we are in the club smoking en drinking till our eyes drop,and go to work in the mornining jus for 4hrs to earn 150euro.
     I think balikwana aba ba mu zambia,why should we go back to congest the nation and to stiffened job opportunities,hell no we are here to stay

173. “Sometimes, there is a stereotype that Zambian who come back have money—actually they don’t. Many of them worked hard in their host countries to acquire the little they had” … so true… a Zimbabwean friend and I were discussing this just yesterday. There is a misconception that just because we are in foreign lands that some how we are automatically wealthy. Not the case! A lot of Zambians in foreign countries are just surviving doing minuscule jobs with barely have enough to save

     As far as coming back home, there has to be a change in the general Zambian way of thinking. The colonial mentality is still rampant and hindering any progressive change.

174. But Kaleza chabe, ni yokosa pa UK bane.Just be realistic This is why as soon as I get my MSc. I am getting back for my consultancy works. 2,000 pounds tax free in GRZ + worldbank arrangement is pretty good money especially when you are doing work you are trained for. But BBC yena teti. Or Ikose bwanji. Atleast at home i manage to think outside the box dad!

175. Ba # 161 My brother AIDS is everywhere.You will be shocked that your brothers,sisters including yourself will die before some of us.Mind you its not only through sex.Apologize pliz.

176. what if you were destined to stay abroad?

177. Ukulanda fye icishinka I love my country so much,the problem is baliikatilila incito shonse pa zed,they don’t consider our qualifications,and all the big companies have been sold to fake investors who only give zambian low jobs,and keep the big jobs for their families back home.We have got good engineers in our country but we are not giving them chance to do their best kano fye ukuleta ama chinise ukucita constract imisebo which these engineers can do.atase nshakabwele.

178. Why should one as learned as Wesley be looking to become a businessman? This is the problem we have as Africans. Just because one is learned does not mean they will make a good business man! If I decide to be a farmer then I will be farmer! People will agree with me that most farmers here are not even learned but have excellent farms. We know about Asians and their businesses.

     The other problem we have is ukususha! For God`s sake there have to be bum cleaners, bin men (like me) and people in higher offices. That is life. I have seen a few sad posts from those in Zed especially and one only feels sorry for our country.

179. Question: after 9 years kubulaya and all those good qualifications, you wait for 1 year 6 months to become an EMPLOYEE?? U cant try being an EMPLOYER, even of just two people? with your awards, you must be good at biz mgt and marketing. you can go far.

180. Why don’t we create a forum and begin to find solutions? I have read each comment so far and realized that we have so much knowledge and gifts that we can actually do something from the ground to the leadership. I invite anyone interested in a future better Zambia to start thinking critically about ways we can help. I encourage ideas from: politcal leadership, eductaion, business, policies…etc. Let us begin while we have time to do so for soon time will pass us by. My emial address is:[email protected]. It is our time to step up!

181. Lets not fight amongst ourselves and instead look at ways and opportunities to improve our country. We cannot and will not develop with negative attitudes. Its unfortunate that there is inhouse fighting instead of inhouse developing! Please Zambians for the sake and love of our country, lets stop bickering and look at ways and means of surging forward!!

182. If you are happy where you are, good for you. I just get disturb by the level of dishonesty on what we are actually doing in the west. I know many poeple who tell their relatives back home that they have 3 or 4 jobs. Lets tell the truth otherwise poeple back home will continue to think we have money when are actually leaving under constant stress. Oh my how i miss Kabwata. home sweeter home……

183. #174 unatenga weka student visa so stop painting us all with your brush. You came here alone don’t attribute your troubles to all zambians abroad. Companies don’t hire many people on your visa’s unless you did engineering. You made the decisions in life we didn’t help you

184. #182 Postman go back then! If it doesn`t work for you go back. Go back to reality. Stop living a lie.

185. 176, destined by who?

186. postman bwelela so that you can start your kantemba business . theres nothing with stress is part of growing up and life. Zambians at home hard work and stress is suffering

187. VJ, Munkombwe, Mbula etc, keep getting all the jobs, yashani?

188. This is true analysis in fact and in depth of what is obtaining in our mother land. I agree with Wesley in all fairness. I had just resigned my job to come here, Diaspora.
     Having had a good job in Zambia find the Diaspora appalling to develop, except for education and LYE.
     When one looks at the philosophy of living, education is not an end in itself, rather the means. Therefore, Zambian Govt should provide tax incentives, loans etc as the case is now and should not be too restricted to formal employees or business only. To create opportunities for all nationals with the capacity and know how to develop. At whatever level, the Diaspora is a crump

189. Ba# 188 if you had a good job why not go back? Stop being fickle and learn to thank God for everything. Chances are you said a prayer to come here! Remember the night before going to get your Visa?

     A certain group of people led by Moses springs to mind! Stop whinging. If you have to go back go. I am out of here!

190. I DONT THINK I WILL FIT WELL IN THE ZAMBIAN LIFESTYLE AFTER SO MANY YEARS OUTSIDE THE CONTINENT. THOUGH I WOULD LIKE TO COME TO ZAMBIA AND HELP THE COUNTRY DEVELOP, I STILL FEEL I HAVE INVESTED SO MUCH IN MY SELF, MY WIFE AND MY FAMILY THAT THE COUNTRY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REWARD WHAT WE DESERVE. I FEEL SAD ABOUT IT THAT I AM HELPING ANOTHER COUNTRY TO BE RICH BUT AT THE SAME TIME I FEEL HAPPY THAT IAM ABLE TO BRING UP MY FAMILY IN AN ENVIROMENT I WISH MY PARENT WOULD HAVE BROUGHT ME UP. I WILL NEVER RETURN TO SETTLE IN ZAMBIA, I WILL VISIT AND CRY WITH THE POOR THATS ALL, THAT LIFE SAD THAT WE NEVER CHOSE WHERE WE WERE TO BE BORN I WOULD NOT HAVE CHOSEN ZAMBIA.

191. Just wait until tommorow when the zambians in zambian log onto the computers provided by investors . You will be in soup with the words, the same mouth they complain about pf and the economy is the same mouth they will tell you that comes back everythings fine. They will call you bum cleaners and illegal immigrants LOL . Right now they are in darkness because of load shedding

192. To be honest working in Europe depresses me. But I can not work in Zambia and get the same amount of money. In the last 17 years Zambia has seen its middle class who were the economic engine of the country whittled away to almost nothing. Now we have the very reach and ultra poor. It breaks my heart. As our leaders are now in the upper brackets they do not see this and unfortunately the ultra poor keep them in office in the hope that they will keep their campaign promises and bring some development. What has happened to the citizen empowerment bills? now that they have increased they salaries will they consider that?

193. mukafwapufye nimsala- stay where you are, lwenu- we don’t have enough for you guy, you already have big mafumu’s. Anyway I’m not scaring you, but if you want to lose some weight no need for the gym and all those slimming clinics and diets- just come pa Zed, you’ll find us. Gym has no business.

194. If they call you, are they ready to offer you what will be due to you??? Even if its sacrifice, how do you sacrifice for the people when you yourself don’t have anything to offer them- no job, no money and so forth. Just stay where you are, time will come when you have to come. Come and help if you have the capacity. But remember that its also not good to come after the war and when we’re celebrating victory. We’ll fight without you guys, we’ll bleed, its ok. If you’re able to help us from that side plz do so- analysists, benefactors, advisors- then you’re part of the war and we appreciate from such a perspective.

195. #193 Shani Ba Offbar – I am sure that pa SA na xenophobia yenu mwaliwa fit from running – it true gym has no business there

196. #191 nice one. They will come on here with guns blazing. We know them. Twatukwa mailo! lol!

     #193 Aha ka Offbar uliku SA. Shut up.

197. # 183. I am not painting anybody. I have 2,000 pounds per month job back home. It just depends where you work my man. If you want to join World bank country office in Zambia…please come. Engineering? what are you talking about, stop being simplistic at you level..civil, mining, environment etc all can be types of engineering. I have BSc environmental engineering. Now doing MSc GIS&Environmental Technology specialising in Renewable Energy to graduate with Distinction shortly. There is every job in environment in UK for your data.If I wanted can stay here, but may not get as high as 2000 pounds per month man?

198. Mine is humble advice. Those in the UK, if you are a professional and you are not doing your professional job in the UK- go back home, dont waste your brains. THose who have no future in Zambia like nurses, radiographers etc, try to settle here if you are better off. Otherwise with the credit crunch here in the UK, mukafwa inga imbwa lwenu ati diaspora diaspora kwisa! The changes for sending your corpses back home have been increased and please dont send those funny emails soliciting humanism to bury you. Lets go back home to the land.

199. I mean “charges” on 198

200. It make a whole lot of sense, employers in Zambia better recognise world class qualifications, I’m an IT graduate and believe me, Technology in a 3rd world country is far far too long away from England, America and other developed countries, hence employing people with education back grounds tracking the developed countries should be an added advantage to them, but most of the top bosses fear having a challenger on their behinds, we ar’nt coming to get anybody’s job, we just looking for a living like any other professional. Tipaseniko chance……

201. i love zambia but nope i aint coming back to stay i do visit every year tho..i may consider coming back when rupiah is out of office!! no hard feelings its just personal with mmd lol!

202. #191
     hahahhahahhaaaaaa!!! You must be naught by nature, yabaa!!!

203. To think of, this is a very sad story. This is the very reason why many qualified Zambians have left the country. Can I blame any who left? No!!! To start with, it is not easy to establish a business in Zambia. The procurement policies in ZD have been soiled by corruption. For any to tender for any government contract, you need as company to have specifield anually turnover of over a billion Kwacha. That in itself is descriminatory. How can the government encourage small Zambian companies to pick?

     Competitive tendering in most government departments are is just on paper. For you to get a contract, you need to buy every boss in that department.continue……

204. #197
     Should I also give you my CV??? You will collapse, coz what you’re currently doing we did long time ago. Anyway, how can we prove that what you’re telling is what is you’ve accomplished??

205. Ine guys ntinakofye AIDS

206. And imwe bonse nga baya kunchito mailo abena zed, just dont look at this site…you will be shocked with the comments they will give you..Mailo ni friday, many will just be loitering online in time for beer after work pa Kabwata.

207. #198 My Crystal ball says you will die tonight!

208. Brothers and sisters, some of you are just washing dishes and those big buses- don’t boast, come back, I’m plaining to open a ka gym- don’t worry I need some guys to do mopping and other stuff.

209. Zambias are not used to “Ukuboshe” naturally, so who are the best people to deal with? “Chinese & Indians. Have you not wondered the mushrooming of Chinese and Indian Investors in ZD. The guys are the masters in corruption engineering.

     ZAMBIA IS OUR MOTHER LAND BUT BECAUSE OF SIN(CORRUPTION),the land has vomited its people. The vision of leaders is blurred and what everyone is thinking of is the good of self. I am proud of the Zambias who have stayed at home but because of the injusctice and slavery mentality of investors, we are vomited into foreign lands. WE ARE TREATED AS DIAMOND IN THE FOREIGN LAND. WE TEACH THE WHITES CALCULUS AND PHYSICS WHILE AT HOME WE ARE TREATED AS INFIDELS.

210. let’s just stay where ever we are.go back ngayapasa.

211. Ba#189,Seriously I can not advise someone in middle Management(Zambia) and above to come here, it’s crump! if all he/she is coming here for is work. If such are coming for education, of have already been guaranteed a job at that level, then they have my support.
     Most times, not at times only, we need honest minds in telling the truth. It has taken a number of us pragmatic stances to work in offices here, even then, middle management here is limited going upwards. So is investment for you and me you need partnership with a native. If you want to settle for anything like cleaning, guard etc I cannot argue-it’s fine here.But surely…………………………….

212. I WOULD APRECIATE TO BE A SLAVE AS A FOREIGNER THAN TO BE ONE IN MY COUNTRY.

213. #211
     mmmmhhhh!!! I feel sorry mwe, really sorry, yabaa, bwafya mwe!

214. # 204, there is no need to prove, staying in UK or not is a personal choice..but if one is going to stay here doing BCC when they are qualified Civil Engineers, awawe na Kana. There are jobs in Zambia. Join WorldVision,DfID, join UNDP, UNESSCO.. It does not really matter at what level, the strategy is to get in the system, all those people like, Chuma, Ban K’moon, started simple Man.

     But if you are satisfied with what you are doing, Cool. However, serve each time, 2moro may be different. If its hand to mouth, SORRY, you have no future both in UK (with credit crunch) and in ZED.

215. I would have loved more comments from people who are back home and seeing things unfold before them. I am out here but only for a short while(sku). The question is: for those of you who are refusing to come back, are you going to stay out there forever? Lets face the fact, you do not make enough savings that can sustain you later when you are aged. life is good in Europe and America, but it is hand to mouth. It may be had to get a job back home but once you do you will make more progress than one in London. Besides we need everyone to change the state of affairs in the country. Don’t do it for your self but sacrifice for your children.

216. #211 Yes shut up. It`s simple if you do not like it shove it! You are a foreigner do not expect to be treated like one of them. Being black makes it worse but it is reality.

     Blacks here work hard but look at their lives! We do the same jobs as the locals but see how they enjoy their holidyas. Ask your government why? You have to send money to your relatives back home let down by your GRZ.

217. All of you guys must read comment #191- I have recommended this comment.

218. All of you guys who are now pumping themselves- don’t visit this site tomorrow morning- they’ll rush you to the hospital for heart or mental problems. Have you seen any Zambian flag participating in this discussion??? Tomorrow you’ll tell me- you’ll called “bum cleaners” or “illegal immigrants”

219. #215

     YOU CAN WORK AND SAVE WITH INTERGRITY IN EUROPE OR AMERICA. CAN YOU HAVE A FUTURE SAVING IN ZAMBIAN WHEN THE ACC IS CHASING YOU LET ALONE LIVE TO ENJOY THOSE RICHES. THINGS ARE NOT RIGHT BACK HOME.

220. ….and that is what makes us Zambian. We talk round and round until we find that we have not said anything. So let me wrap it up. READ “THE CAPITALIST NIGGER”. End of this discussion.

221. Ba #220 mwalipena bakamba!!! Naine naya mukutamba porno with my Greek girl, kaili pazed yalipa illegal.. I love Wales..its free and free!!!!!!!!!till you drop.

222. Today i meet with the Zambian ministry of education officials. they are here in Turkey, so that the Turkish schools can be opened in Zambia. Perhaps i should just come back and teach Turkish in these Turkish schools…

223. This topic must have been headlined,”ZAMBIANS IN UK TODAY”.I have enjoyed so much.Keep up ba LT.Bring more of these topics.

224. Guys, Its interesting for everybody to think Zambia owes them anything. Firstly, you were educated at great cost by the Zambia you are ridicueing. it even sends you abroad, without finishing your bonding you decide to remain. infact some of you who got those Masters scholar ships dont even deserve them, now you want to demend integrit from others and call everybody else names. just remain in your diaspora and continue enjoying your ill gotten fortune. zambia does not owe you a job. just continue enjoying your dispora, by now, you should know that anybody can get the qualifications you think are a monopoly to the west

225. Home is always best, if one is hard working, focused and patient, it is possible to make it. I have hope that zambia will be a better place.

226. Not to mention that you repeated not to mention over and over, the first problem you have a qualification in a no-growth field. Zambia has failed to employ the many graduates from CBU and other local colleges. The second problem I have seen with Zambians in the diaspora (particularly those in Wessten countries) is their failure to understand the conept of partnerships. They are exposed and have the ability to come together and start successful businesses in Zambia instead of ‘coming back’ to seek employment. For example, 100 Zambian in the USA can each contribute $5,000. This will give them $500,000, enough to start a mid size company in Zambia – even in the USA for that matter. Cont’d

227. Continue working, by the time you decide to come back, we hope some of your classmates will not employ you. offcause they will call you consultants etc. but the truth is you will be employed coz thats what you have got used to.

228. ITS BETTER TO REMAIN A SLAVE WERE IAM IN HERE IN EUROPE AND BUILD HOUSES IN LUSAKA’S CHALALA AREA THAN COME TO ZAMBIA nd BE FREE AND YET POOR AND build HOUSES IN KALINGALINGA.

229. The concept of ABEENE BA COMPANY, NEMWINE, EBEENE will always kill our ambitions and reduce us to job seek. This is not restricted to Zambians in the diaspora. UNZA and CBU students have opportunities, I was at CBU and I know what I am talking about. These guys get ‘alot’ in allowances, most of which go to DRINKING. If 100 students can contribute K10,000,000.00 during their studies (four years of contributions), equivalent to $250,000 in total. Believe me, serious students can do this. When I look back at CBU ’89 – ’94 with 1 year of long closure, my only wish is I should have teamed up with other students to start up something. No I wanted to be UMWINE wa company!

230. We would like to come back, but home is worse off than the 100 hours a student works in the uk, do not be mislead, life here in the uk is hard esp. for a student, at times one can end up with three or four jobs, the money you get is taken up by bills and you find that most of these students do not even study coz they spend all the time at work, not just students but even us who came here to working, we work four or five times more than we used to work back home, but why do we do this, it is the picture of our country that makes us do this, if only things can charge back home, we are not happy here to make it worse whites do not like our skin.

231. By Wesley Ngwenya, I liked this one:
     “On the other hand, employers here don’t seem to appreciate the education and experience I have.”
     Its no only employers, but also the voters who almost put the Undereducate as Zambian President.Do me and all other Zambians a favour as you are home,educate people on how and who to vote for. Put your input in the NCC and make sure qualifications for President and MP have to be university 1st degrees so that debates in Parliament will be meaningful.You well researched points need discussion in our Parlaiment soonest.I wish you the best as you strive to make it in the hostile environment where education isnt valued. 2011 is near and together YES WE SHALL.

232. ba Wapa zed bragging about £2000 a month but you show signs of someone who tried to get a job here and failed and is now bitter. £2000 a month is peanuts for a graduate thats just £24000 a year. To you thats a dream job but to others thats a salary they are paid after university. Engi kangad you so go back and go mourn alone. Theres not even job security or chances of promotion pa zed. Don’t forget how people get fired ruthlessly pa zed , just ask the graduates that fled zambia

233. This is employee mentality why not something of your own and be an employer?

234. number 228 bauze banvela mwandi. Pa zed it’s pumebwa!!! kuli njala bane

235. I think manje the zambians are sleeping it’s kuma 2200 hours the koloboyi’s have been stopped and the mosquito coils lit . Some of them have gone ku lowa bantu and some are feeding the mosquito’s but rest asured mailo they will come to soka you tuma zambians disaporee’s. Uluchelo they climb mutuma minibus five five kumbuyo and go to work and use the investors computers .

236. Interesting comments to read on this blog! I think it just depends on certain factors which determine your choice of stay. If you can make ends meet in the diaspora do so just like those in Zambia.
     To my bro Wesley, it will come one day life has mornings and evenings!
     Looking at your qualifications and length of stay in the USA, you may be missing a link somewhere. Try using your strategy class (it also applies in general life) and also PriceWaterHouse Coopers they recently advertised for consultants. Good luck.

237. Wesley, your story strikes a cord here. I did the same thing but fortunately I was able to leave Zambia again and I now run one of the leading engineering organisations in Europe (and also look after Australia) and there are many like myself. Returning at present is not an option as people do not understand that you have something to offer.

     On a more interesting note I would be interested in a discussion about collaborating in consultancy. How do we communicate?

238. guys there is ponting here.at five five,awe mwandi mailo bakatuka. gudnite. mulale bwina my family both in Z and diaspora

239. #237 can we exchange notes? [email protected]

240. #239 typical zambian ku konda ku mamatila bo beula shaaaa

241. “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans” John Lennon

242. i’ll come back if:
     1 i get paid enough to support my family. at least a U.S $ 100,000 annually.
     2 my children get good education, they dont need to learn about british columbia or waste their time learning about the franco-prussian wars. unza should stop teaching outdated courses like philosophy.
     3 we stop voting for plunderers.

     sorry guys, i love it here

243. Thought provoking, Wesley. Thanks.
     ‘Coming back home to Zambeziland vary. It could be your presence or positive contribution and collaboration with those on the ground.

     I hear two challenging points here 1)Government level play ground so that professional Zambian can contribute and earn their living locally.
     2)Fellow diasporans need to prove their worth by promoting new ventures in Zambia and collaborate with locals.

     Food for thought: Last year I was pleasantly surprised to see beautiful houses ‘Diasporan Village’ in Harare. Our friends have prepared their retirement homes, no doubt.

244. Firstly unless you think global you will go back and there will be no development. Zambia would be better of if it exported half its population and the country would have money going in as part of the gdp – ghana and the philipines are an example.
     On the other hand Zambia should open up more to foreigners to come in and run businesses without interruption and if the secretary speaks no English – what is it to you? Free trade mate – thats what we should be encouraging and lets stop being myopic. Those in the diaspora need not go back, the knowledge they have of Zambia is enough for them to exploit opportunities but frankly Zambians don’t have the spunk and so we complain and cry for a “level

245. Wesley what you have mentioned is very much true i would also like you contact i guess we can work together.There things i would like us to discuss. my email is crazyjay at mailingaddress dot org -you can put the punction where neccessary. I am serious.
     Bostwana is a country next to us i studied there some years ago and has a lot of good policies.read its history intrersting 20 years ago it was a poor country but now.But even then it was beautiful.It had indepence a year after Zambia but look at how our country is underdeveloped.priority should be for citizens not for forigners.In Bostwana investors must build when they come in not rent like in Zambia.

246. Zedians we need to be honest enough to ourselves. Life is the way you make it as an individual. If you have a vision in life and you work hard you can be successful. In the Arab world most powerfull people and successful are those who travelled to fetch for money and returned home to invest. People like Rafik Hariri the late primeminister of Lebanon, Shelk Maktoum the man who transformed Dubai which was just a desert 33 years ago and made it as one of the best cities in the world. We have some Zambian who have made it well in life such as Proffessor Chirwa, The late Mazoka who was one of the five rich people of zambia, Mr Hichilema and many more I cannot mention. to cont.

247. Countries like Australia if you are to benifit from many of the things even jobs you are asked if you are a permanent resident or a citizen if you are not they tell you sorry. But in Zambia its the opposite.I just dont understand the thinking that is there in our country especially government.

     If one want to come back to Zambia come with the ability to create jobs yourself for many people not for getting employment, because you will be disappointed.

248. Too sad a situation ma bro. Let´s hope these new guys gonna do something positive

249. What we need as Zambians is to change our attitudes and to revise our education system where education is all about employment. The outside experience should enable us go home and be employers. If it means work just do it to raise funds for your own project. Foreigners find opportunities in our land because we cannot utilise them, imagine from Southend to Northend all those eating places are owned by Indians and Lebanese. We need to go out to make money and return home to invest in our societies. Remember our parents need us and if we do not help them it becomes a curse, its our turn to take care of them and even God will bless us.

250. We need to explain to our relatives how we suffer to earn money so that they can stop requesting for luxuries and focus on their needs, because some can even ask for money for drinking when us cannot even afford a beer here, the whole week working. Some even think we receive money donations when we arrive at these western airports, and you cannot blame them because they do not know what we are going through. As for me am heading home next month and watch me out, I need a place where I can raise my head and be able to speakout when am not happy.

251. #154. YOU HAVE SAID IT WHOLE. YOU HAVE CONTRIBUTED VERY EFFECTIVELY, AND THATS THE ONLY FORWARD. PEOPLE AT HOME AND ABROAD, WORKING TOGETHER.

252. To start with our governemnet have no interest of empowering its own pipo, they pprefer foreign investors than local investors whom they give tax free base till the end of their investment.
     Secondly there is no certainity of getting a good job with equal pay when you get back home.its better to stay abroad.

253. its really difficult to get jobs at home mainly because of kalijo from mabwana.they fear u would take their positions.which is not the case at all.most of us just want to do what we love in and for the country that we deeply care about.away from that, im doing the 1st yr of my degree and have attended several career guidance sessions.all of them couldnt stress enough the importance of networking before looking for employment.in canada, 80% of university graduates get jobs through connections they have in the industry the hope to join.i know in zambia its called tribalism or nepotism but networking is a totally legit way of ensuring you get a job at the end of the day.

254. so i say before returning to zambia, try to find somewhere to land.if things dont look good, stay abroad.the attitude of the people is discouraging sometimes. ati ba na coka abroad, tizabaona lelo. they forget that they are pulling the country down by keeping people who can do the job out of the labour force.

255. Honestly speaking I think most of us would like to come back but there is to much bu Kadoli. Just look at the recent circus of politics where VJ is back in govt..
     Secondly a good standard of living is for expatriates 44yrs Nonsense. Whose going to pay me $48,000 a year teaching sport?
     I will be back nga na kota!!

256. 242 TOKO. Technology and Empirical sciences alone are not enough for development.Wisdom too is needed. See who would normally learn the art to rule; lawyers or philosophers. Philosophy cannot be an outdated displine,however,it must be taught as an integral subject in all disciplines.

257. Don’t cry blood and wast you time advertising your CV on LT. Just go where you will be appreciated. I just left Z coz i can not be managed by pipo like Mulongoti, Teta and of course………… I had never thought of leaving my beloved mother Zed but i have been forced. Just two weeks in a foriegn land, i got a job paying more than 4 times what Zed was offering.

     Opportunities must be utilised my brother if u can

258. Ngwenya’s story makes a sad reading. My small contribution on this issue is that Zambians in diaspora do not need to go back to Zambia to make the so-called contribution towards re-building the country. They can contribute towards this noble cause wherever they are around the world. Countries like India for instance, is on the path of making it economically partly because of the contributions of the Indians in diaspora. The government of India has even gone a step further by estblishing a Ministry of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) headed by a Cabinet Minister who looks into their affairs and works closely with the Ministry of External Affairs to attain full results.

259. #258 CONTD
     In most cases, these NRIs have dual citizenship but are treated in India just like like their resident colleagues. All we need is to revisit our Policies, especially on Dual Citizenship and investment policies to realise this, OTHERWISE, ‘a dog will always chess its tail and the story will be infinite’. I agree with most of the contributors on this issue who see it as i do. #13, you are right.

260. Wesley Ngwenya,

     Excellent, excellent points. This goes straight to the heart of why so few Zambians seem to own businesses (even thoug the Marketeers seem to number in the millions, or at least hundreds of thousands).

     This is what any Zambian government must address first – the environment for doing business in Zambia by ZAMBIANS, not foreign companies.

     If anyone wants to make a REAL difference, please list all the obstacles put in Zambian business owners way, and we are halfway to solving the problems of the Zambian economy.

261. IWE ngwenya if its so tough in zed which it is then why not just get on the british airplane to a western country and get back to making money…in zambia its not about your education per say ..i mean look at sata . wanting to be presido while 70 % of the UNZA graduates earn in amonth what most westerners basicly earn in aday ..in zambia you have to be connected its who you know .sad as it may be but true .thats is why i left zambia although been back to visit a couple of times but not ready to repatriate .

262. This article is well timed as it also raises the issues that have been seating on my mind for years about the work culture in Zambia. Truly is Zambia ready to progress with the rest of the world? or re we still working in the shadows? I have drafted many proposals in the past, but it always seems there is no political will on behalf of governement and our politicians to take advantage of the emernse human resource that Zambia is blessed with. I visit Zambia regularly and employement creation for the past years has only being for temporal position. We cant build with casual workers, Zambians truly need jobs.

263. I haven’t commented on this blog in a while, but I just also want to say to those saying just start your own business that the Zambian environment and playing field is very hard for small business to successfully take off. Most of you am sure are speaking from the perspective of where you are where things are straight forward. Its very hard for small Zambia business to get those lucrative govt contracts. Just so much corruption involved and you need big cash for those bid security which banks wont even help you with. And Even when you put in the bid security the guys take months to make a decision and when you get back your bid security, without interest, it has even lost value.

264. #257, wa lasa. Kungo siliza mahafu pama photocopy of your CV, ma taxi nama shirt for interviews and job applications. I was literally poached from Zambia and I’ve decided not to go steps backwards.

     Tizaka bwela ika kwana nthawi.

265. #263 ctd from 263,..and then there is a deep culture of just not paying for services on time in Zambia without threats. You spend most of your day just chasing payments instead of working. And then corruption enters the equation, junior stuff start demanding cash from you before they can push your payment out fast. Meanwhile your bills and salaries for your workers are due. Its not easy guys. The situation in Zambia is really bad even for those who have businesses

     The only business that work in Zambia is a utility type of business. No corruption hustles and no money collection hustles. E.g no govt official can ask for a bribe to pay their cell phone talk time. They don’t pay they don’t talk

266. “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. Its immature for anyone to expect that they will return to Zambia when the govt does this or that for them. What exactly are foreign govts doing for you? You work your heads off to put food on your tables in the diaspora and yet you expect to be free riders when you come home? Some of us work very hard in zambia and are very comfortable. If you feel comfortable in the diaspora, stay there. In this globalised world it doesnt matter where you are at as long as its good for you. Surely life is not just about being employed. Mr author, after 9years in the diaspora, shouldnt you be looking to an employer?

267. Your outlook on life will determine how you view zambia. The ‘glass is half empty’ for those who are not intelligent enough to adjust their mindset the moment they land at lsk international airport and its ‘half full’ for those who know what they want in life. Its folly for anyone to come from US/UK and expect to find the same infrastructure in Zed as there is in the first world. We have foreigners who come here and see opportunities and strike it rich here, while zambians in the diaspora cry about potholes on lusaka roads. Surely nobody should find comfort in the “hand2mouth” existence that is typical of disporan life. Thats why we’ll end up with a generation of kids who are social misfits

268. 76. A+

     ” On the other hand, we need people to take risks and create businesses that will employ people back home – even just farming (u’ll help a family). ”

     Farming IS a business. And it doesn’t have to have a huge acreage to be one. Maybe that is the biggest misconception out there. You can make lots of money farming. Most people simply don’t have enough land under cultivation to get a big enough harvest – 2-3 hectares for subsistence farmers. Make that 50 hectares, and you can earn $10,000 per year just growing maize. Grow cash crops, or anything with value added like dairy, horticulture, etc. and you can make a lot more.

269. #267 Sarah

     You have put it all bravo. I wish we had more people like you.

270. Ili ilyashi lyakosa, gusy come when you feel like, that is the simple truth, but like even those employed in Zambia, ensure that uli ko naka retirement home or something, and this is true even for guys who are not in the diaspora. Rule of thumb, if you can get twice as much as you would get in a foreign country as you would in your own country, it is worth coming back and establish your networks while time still permits, you can come back for half the salary because you can make up in low cost of living and social networks which can not be measured in monetary terms.

271. guys abroad show some respect to your realtives who made sure that u earn your education in the best universites abroad.we all have lived in the diaspora b4 and we came back and are doing very fine in zambia.if u think zambia does not make sense any more stay werever u are

272. Zed has lots of opportunities colleagues but i kid you not the difference is there. Caution, dont come back without a plan hoping to get a job.. you’ll cry. lol only hustlers make it in zed not people looking for jobs. make your money, and come create employment here

273. Ine I am worried.

     Where are the Zambian flags?? Why aren’t they blogging on this topic.

     Anyway, all I have to say to Wesley is look at Hakainde Hichilema. He struck it rich in Zambia. He has his own businesses and he was once in the Diaspora just like you.

     I encourage you to see Hakainde Hichilema as a positive role model.

274. i am not coming back!

275. start fixing bufallo wild wings and build a restaurant in the likes of hooters then i will consider coming back.

276. I feel sorry when I read the story, it makes my heart breed to realise that we are being treated like second class citizens in our own country. What my friend has said is very true, prefference is always given to a foreigner over a Zambian. Its rough to make ends meet here. I dont know why our leaders cant see this. Inferiority complex at paly

277. I feel sorry when I read the story, it makes my heart breed to realise that we are being treated like second class citizens in our own country. What my friend has said is very true, prefference is always given to a foreigner over a Zambian. Its rough to make ends meet here. I dont know why our leaders cant see this. Inferiority complex at play

278. I had a friend at UNZA who vowed that he would never work for somebody else after school. When he graduated he went to the farm in Mkushi. He is doing a lot better than most of you professionals at home and in the diaspora. He is a sizeable employer matching the levels of White farmer settlers. He is really doing “farming as a business”. If it is those of you are broom-pushing and cleaning bottoms out there, just forget. It just goes to show that one can make it even back here. But he, nothing wrong for those of you doing whatever you are doing wherever you are. Peace!

279. i said it. I’ll say it again if u go to the zed looking for a job you will cry. Go with a plan and that means you’ll have to visit zambia a couple of times before you make the move.

280. Infact most of the people I know that dont want to go back home are those who have nothing to show for it… Kulibonesha we’ll kill you. just go in quietly start your own thing, mind your business and all the pressure of starting afresh wont be there:)

281. guys home is zambia.watever u say u will always remain a zambian.u should feel ashamed to even blogg on LT commenting on wats happening back home yet u have not contributed anything.

282. Coming back to Zambia is risky. One needs to carefully prepare before embarking on that journey. If you can earn a decent living where you are, just stay but put up something in Zed so that in case you are forced back home you will have where to start. Us who already came back can do nothing but develop ourselves. Its just sad that school is still not treasured in our country. Me when i got back from overseas i never got promoted or had my salary increased. I am however trying to do something but its tricky!

283. IT WILL BE A DOWN GRADE FOR A ZAMBIAN WHO HAS LIVED ABROAD FOR A LONG TIME TO GO BACK AND START LOOKING FOR A JOB. IF YOU SHOULD GO BACK THE ONLY CHOICE IS TO BECOME AN EMPLOYER NOTHING LESS.

284. I went to SA not too long ago on one of my opportunity seeking visits and i found a lot of people there from Zambia who only drink and get “piece works” once in a blue moon. After amny hours and days of interaction it became apparent that most were haunted by the idea of going home without anything… ” what we’ll the people say”
     I THINK THATS THE NIGHTMARE FOR MOST

285. # 281 i differ with you. Being a Zambian does not mean Zambia is your home.On the contibution part alot of Zambia abrosd are supporting thier families back home.How do you think families are surviving when they are no jobs in Zambia

286. iyo mwalanda guys its ones choice and no one can ever force some one to go out or live in zambia,all is all its happiness and thanking God for each day that passes by.there alot more people who happy abroad and other who are very happy because thay find it ok to be in zambia like my self.

287. I recently went to zambia for about two weeks after a decade’s absence to see what’s happening. To be honest there are opportunities rather than just waiting to be employed in the offing in Zambia. Use your ‘exposure’ to see them. I hope to be back in there soon to exploit some of these opportunities.

288. # 284 that scenario is every where even in UK where you are, you will find Zambians who only do piece works and drink. so dont single out South African Zambians. Even in Zambia itself you will find Zambians doing piece works and drinking alot

289. I have realised that 90% of people who are against people in diaspora are doing this out of jealous because themselves can not sell their skills.90% of people in diaspora get money genuinely using either their heads or proper physical effort.Look, back home,ukubosha,ubukuluku,ubuloshi.Nothing is achieved openly,even simple tenders to supply a school or hospital,even to win elections.We are more committed Zambians because we even bring forex.If we never loved our country we could have joined your crooked ways of achieving things.Although not married i have gained things with my head and sweat not using my bottom power like most of my friends back home.No wonder they are tormented by spouses.

290. Wesley Ngwenya…you have left me speechless, as you have put my thoughts into words!!! I would very much want to brainstorm with you so please contact me on [email protected]

     I have a UK qualification and agree with all you say a 110%

291. Pabwatoooooooooooooo. Tuka bwela when the economy improves

292. #273 rubbish!!! HH is a thief he sold mines for a song and got so much for himself we know his story. I left Zambia because I dont believe in ncekelako low moral kind of life. I went to school to earn a living through the education I got. There is no need to spend so many years in university only to live and do things like a kaponya. To be a thief one does not need a degree in electrical engineering. I live and work in South Africa and of course xenophobia is a big problem here because a large portion of the black population cant read and write. The story above might not be real but its the reality of our country. Brothers and sisters lets go back when we are fully equiped. I love Zambia.

293. # 288. i reacted like that becoz of hw u guys are expressing your yoselves on the people living back in zambia.its very fine if u are able to send them money for up keep,but what is it that u doing to empower them so that next time u dont have to send them money.u guys should know that we all cant be in the diaspora,some have to remain and try develop what we all call home.i guess most u guys are so much exposed in foriegn lands.

294. I intend to buy a flat in Zed to spend sometime there. I love my country Zeddddd. Ba ngwele who are talking ill of your country remember you will always be from Zed even if you stay away for forty years. Mulifipuba

295. Those who are happy let them stay

296. # 294, i see that is your goal in life to buy a flat in Zambia. I am not surprised. Just a few sentences on the blog and i can see what you are made of and what your thinking capability is

297. # 289. i think no one is against people living abroad,its a matter of choice,its wrong to say that money gained in zambia is thru crooked ways or ubuloshi.i tell u there poeple who worked hard write here in zambia.u so mean and heartless to your parents who educated u and made sure u got the best education.arrogant.

298. on condition that am offered a position at cabinet or permanent secretary level, i can only be too happy to make a trip back home

299. You dont need to go back to zambia in order to contribute to the development of our country.The forex you send to relatives,the houses you build, the small businesses you develop is one way in which you contribute.Its true that you may not get a job when you go back.The only way is to save a little and start a small business when you go back otherwise no one will look after you.Not even the gvt.

300. #282 thats the way to go my brother.
     #284 even in Zambia some people just drink and have done nothing.Most of my former classmates and friends if you see them back home, you will collapse.They look, to be frank-unappealing,bad and older than my mother.Development depends on the way you think.

301. Imwe mwe bantu the world is a global village so it really does not matter where you are. you can transfer money, electronically almost the same time it is received, you can communicate with anyone by fone, internet etc.so you are basically in touch with anyone any where. So what is the big deal about who stays where.Those in Zambia good for you and those outside good for you. Those who are making it anywhwre, it is even better for you. Epo Mpelele

302. #297 be frank not only to us but to yourself.We all know what is happening in Zambia.We all love Zambia that why we are even here writing this.Deep down my heart i love Zambia,Zambians but the way ‘some’ of you think esp 297.No wonder am not married,to such reasoning? pliz improve am sure you can think better than that.Thank you.

303. The issue of being in Zambia or the diaspora as it were should not cause us headaches.Lets not demonise each other based on geographical location.Whether you sweep,clean bums and all should be fine.I personally used a business proposal to get a job in SA after being let down by most Zed executives.I remember how guys who had never been to UNZA or tertiary used to laugh and say,”ba graduate bali pa stree…pa zed,yalikosa”!!Imagine how denting that was on my confidence and academic success,besides,i had been the best student in my year at Matero boys,they knew all this history and made a big diss out of me.Fellas,any qualification is worth its salt.Kosa shooter,even bumalukula,u mint!!!

304. Ba diaspora chabe bakonda anione anione…busy bragging with their over-sized fit stepping on foreign soil. Shame! Talking like they are the first ones to leave abroad for so many years. Blaming their lack on enteprenuership on everybody. Some of us stayed abroad for so long and we came back and established our thriving businesses. Opportunities are here for versatile minds especially if you are educated and not schooled. Hope you know the difference. Give us a break you ‘HOUSE NIGGAZ’ busy insulting your motherland just because your white master enables you to partake crumbs falling from his table. Be ashamed for being so ungrateful and disloyal to your ancestoral land!

305. Lets not pretend,we all know how chiluba run down the mines and closed most industries.How graduates walked the streets and to make matters worse,GRZ ordered this TB medicine which sent our HIV/AIDS infected bread winners to the grave.The socio-economic system just collapsed and couldn’t sustain the basic needs of the population.The issue of who loves Zambia and all is neither here no there coz we can’t quantify it in any one individual.Even people like KK can’t claim to this coz human beings can profess to loving something with ulterior motive.In the worst of all poverty,when people die of hunger i would like you to say,geez, i love my Zambia.

306. When you hear someone talk about owning property in U.K, it is always a flat or some squeezed town house. Never a house with reasonable space in and around. On top of that always tied to mortgages. One has to be smart in life, set ones priorities right and not pepertually fantasizing.

     Back home, you can own property an attached to any strings. It is much easier to make it back home with a bit of capital and planning. Banks have began giving out loans. The banaks are literally chasing people to give ’em loans. Smart minds are enjoying themselves in Zambia with added ‘freedom’. No need to cry about ‘rights’ back home!

307. I lived in UK for close to 10 years and now i back in Zambia. I have been in Zambia for 10 months now and we are happy here. Please live where you are happy does matter in USA or UK. if you decide to come back, please have a plan how you will make money. Viva Zambia bad roads, bad builds and corrupted politician we still love Zambia

308. Granted! Our motherland currently faces a lot of deficiencies most of which are man-made. I mean due to mediocre leadership! But its up to individuals especially those blessed with intellectual abilities to try and create that change that everybody desires. Don’t brag about foreign lands that where built on somebody else’s sacrifice and sweat. Somebody laboured for all those fake luxuries you are boasting about. So why don’t you also be the one to be mentioned in history to have done the same for mother Zambia. There is no place like home! I rest my case!

309. # 268 MrK

     I agree with you. I just didn’t put my words right. Farming is big business if well managed. I am doing my Masters now and I am planning to go into farming when i finish.

     Guys, let’s open our eyes. There is a lot one can do pa Zed. I am going back home as soon as possible. Just open your eyes-this is the generation that will take our nation forward. We need to move away from dependence on Cuprium.

     Long live One Zambia! One Nation!

310. A modern and fancy tall buildings, nice landscape, amazing technologically advanced environment and the general glitz and glamour of the developed world can easily blind people. Compare the chap who has lived his whole life holed up in kawambwa only to have sudden chance to be in Lusaka. The chap for sometime will think he has arrived on heaven. Give him a bit of time, he will come back to his senses. The same with you chaps out there. Wise up or else you will be pepertually be glued on trivials of life. By the time you realise it you too will be stranded abroad like many we know about. Just make sure you know your priorities out there.

311. Well my advise to zambians living abroad is please stay there and make enough money so that when you come home you will be able to run your own firms and create jod opportunities for others,otherwise there is nothing to rush for here.We are even admiring to go out and work as maids and garden men because of better packages out there than those of us in formal employment here.MP’s are busy inceasing there already hefty salaries,I wonder which people they represent?because if we have representatives they should first look at the salaries of police officers,soldiers,nurses,miners and others before they look at their’s.That is why Sata makes sense,long live Dude,Pabwatoooooooooo!

312. I am looking forward to coming home once my studies are over!! You can bet your bottom Kwacha!

313. 307..You have a point. The problem with most Comrades in the diaspora is that they just return home haphazardly as if the FATHER is the one occupying State House at that time. Have a plan guys before you embark on such a highly demanding step. Surely, even in prosperous economies whenever locals are returning home after a long time in foreign lands they first ensure that their houses are in order. I leaved in Europe so I know what am talking about! You don’t just return as if you used to pipe huge funds back home now you are coming to enjoy your returns No! That’s why you will always be irritating our ears with your ever ending complaints and misery. Have a fore sight!

314. Be it ever so humble, HOME IS HOME!!! The more I travel abroad, the more I fall in love with Zambia.

     GOd bless Zambia!!!

315. #311 The grass is greener from ….. the saying goes. Believe me you, alot of people are stranded out there. They cant find the decent way of coming back home. They have no where to start from. The perception of most people in Zambia is that it is all rosy for Zambians out there. This perception is a trap for these guys out there because they must come back with something to show of their success story abroad. But unfortunately, in most cases, there is simply nothing to show forth.

     Modern slaverly is about enticing Africans to volunteer their bodies and souls! You will be shocked how hardworking Zambians are in UK. Circumstances beyond thier control!

316. But its tricky being in the diaspora….instutional racism fulu fulu. Well, after my studies i’m off to Zed as my gov job is awaiting me! Remain in the diaspora with your unbearable weather, always paying bills, salary increaments which are meaningless, unfriendly culture…! Home is were they understand you.

317. The Eoropeans use the same tricks their forefathers used when they first came to Africa. Something shiny, something sweet lo and behold some over excited chief was ready to sale off his subject for these ‘niceties’

     Our nurses abroad will not do the nurses work per say. Our doctors will be ‘student or junior doctors for lenghty periods. It really depends on an individual!

     I have seen poor and mistreated whites in both U.K and USA, I cant just imagine how a black zambian with limited resources is able to stand the embarrasments out there.

318. 314..Bauze! they think we are all gullible and can fall for their POOR PLANNING that is disguised as genuine thoughts about our beloved Country. Some of us actually did what you guys are doing today some time back. Don’t talk like you are addressing a bunch of uneducated and unexposed illiterates who have never seen the inside of an AirBus. We have been there and stayed probably even longer that some of you that are now pretending to be more Western than the Westerners themselves…We came back thriving. Be Humble because Home is Home. Its a fact that some of you don’t even save enough to bring your corpses back home when you die. You are buried like dead rats by municipalities. How Shameful

319. Well said #315.

     I must also add that in life, it’s how you play your cards.

     Quite frankly, I can work anywhere in the world because of the kind of work i do. But I’d much rather be in the Zed.

     At the end of the day, wherever one chooses to settle is their decision. Only problem is there are too many pretenders in the world. Pretending to be making a lot of money doing this and that. In Zambia, i usually think people hide their wealth and pretend to be poor.

     You see a guy wearing the same jacket everyday. Wait until you see his house and the stuff he’s got plus the number of cars in his back yard.

320. Mwandi it is not all rosy here in the diaspora. The fact is the owners of the country don’t want us here.

321. The Kwacha is down against the Dollar 1USD = K4,565.00

322. kwenu ni kwenu, invest in country and go back. U SHOULD NOT BE LIKE A PHIRI ANBWELA KUCHOKA KU MAGALANDE IN FUTURE.

323. The African has to adjust his mindset out there. Whilst at home we take our freedom for granted, out there people simply fit in into what I may term as ‘mindsets of convenience’.

324. Guys, why ti yambana so? Wherever you go in the world, some of hte richest people were not even born in the countries where they live. Mohammed Al Fayed owns Harrods and Fulham in the UK and he’s Egyptian. Governor of California was born in Austria …

     Nkani yo bwelela depends on how you’re doing ku mangalande. You can’t return without ka substantial US Dollar otherwise you’ll be dressed in Prada but eating porridge for breakfast, lunch and supper. Even as a snack!

325. Think of it like that cousin who nobody likes who always comes comes to visit. That is the same way they view us here in the diaspora. We are that unwanted cousin.

326. sorry for that Wesley, you should know that, He who began a good work in you will accomplish it.
     You can’t start climbing the tree from the stem to the leaves, where you are now, you can’t jump from the ground to the top of the tree.
     don’t boast about your qualification, do something for yourself.many people who are successful are self employed.
     Be proud to be a zambian.

327. OK but Wesley I will be honest with you. If I as an employer had to see your CV, I can view you as over qualified. Which is why I encourage you to find some partners and start your own business. You are too qualified to work for someone. You need your own thing.

328. sorry for that wesley

329. The funny thing is I know one Ngwenya family who are wealthy n Zambia. May be this Wesley Ngwenya might even be related to them!!

330. sorry for that wesley, may i have you email address

331. There is one guy I know who went to visit Australia. He is one guy who has a very ‘distinct’ blackness in his complection. Ala he was a spectacle to behold by abasungu.

     How do you guys manage this kind of thing you guys especially that you in most cases not having special skills. On the issue of skills, there is an obvious and apparent contracdiction here ‘ An frican from third world country offering special skills to 1st world dwellers’ More like a monkey trying to teach a human how to read! (some perception)

332. Very sad reading indeed! During my last visit home i felt completely lost.Sometimes returning people are viewed as rivals who should be thwarted at every opportunity.My message for the author is to persevere. As for me tukabwela na zimmer frame after pension.

333. The name is Chiyeyeye.

334. I understand you are looking for a job, have you tried Zesco?

335. Ba #318 Why are you shouting? You are a very jealousy little girl! lol!

     Ba #319 Having cars is not a measure of richness any more. Thought Zedians have moved on but looking at your posts! Kaya!

     Sta where you are. You are doing fine there and thank God for that. Chances are yu are very rich and all your family is. The last time I visited Zambia, I could not help but shed a tear. What do you do when you see those orphans begging? Their mother and father have died of AIDS! It might be our children tomorrow. I know where I would rather be! Peace!

336. May try to join the MMD?

337. 62. Zambian

     ” Nov 20th, 2008 at 4:16 pm Vote: 0 0 What do you expect from a govt whose development policy is FDI based and nothing else. ”

     The MMD is completely psychologically dependent on neoliberal economic theory. They don’t have to know how to govern because even though they are the government, ‘government is the problem’, and the government’s resources should really have be handed over the economic elite.

     You’re right, the time of neoliberalism, Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman is OVER.

338. What they tried to do, was replace taxation with credit. Since 1994, Alan Greenspan has been keeping interest rates artificially low, and this is the result – an extreme exaggeration of the business cycle. The entire economy coming out of the economic crisis of the early 1990s was a fraud – based not on increased production, but on cheap money.

     This is the purpose of the IMF’s ‘Sound Money’ theory, create low inflation so corporations start borrowing and stimulate the economy.

339. Personally at this point in time, i dont consider returning, nothing for me to return to. With everyone saying create your own business..etc, i actually want to work in my chosen field of study (which is not business related in any way) and i just dont see that being possible in zed. so i’m staying right here

340. The largest foreign exchange earner for Pakistan is Pakistanis living abroad.Pakistan earns more forex from its nationals abroad than from any single export.A million Lebanese abroad send back home $4bn annually.Senagalis have sent a lot of money from Zambia to Senegal through Emeralds from Copperbelt.I encourage all senseble Zambians loitering the streets of Katondo,Nkwazi and so many others to consider migration serious.I do not regret my decision.Gone are the days when birthdays were bad days and chrismas missed me.Now am living large!!! The entire third world receives more money from there nationals working abroad than the IMF and World Bank.

341. A new report by military sources suggest that a 3rd World War could be around the corner sooner than many people think. People should be mindful of where they settle because they might be caught up in a nuclear warfare. These are difficult times ladies and gentlemen.

342. In Zambia they are people who made it some of us failed to penetrate.Abroad they are people who have made it like myself,others have failed miserably like the ones who talk ill about being outside Zambia.Had i not been here i could have not had four mansions.I have them genuinely not ukubosha,not bottom power,no witching,not dancing to a GRADE 7 DA.I thank God for giving me the beauty with brains.Anyone to challenge me i am ready to give you my details.Wish all of you people good lucky,wherever you are and hope to see you back home some day.

343. People like Mukelabai used to live in Europe and were told to go back . Now in Zambia you can clearly see the bitterness when he see’s others that still live abroad. You arethe same ones that failed abroad and spend your time cursing people . I can guarantee if we met most of you so called happy zambians it would be falling with shalapunga laughter because you are just painting a false picture. Like somebody said earlier you don’t need to be in zambia to develop zambia.Some you people saying you lived abroad and went back be honest with yourselves most of you were deported and couldn’t do anything about it

344. These zambians are snakes like Mukelabai. These are the same ones that tell you to come back home and then sabotage all your efforts. MUkelabai you will never be blessed in life for making fun of zambians that died. I would like to meet you personally and I bet you are a nobody that makes tea in offices .

345. 309. A+

     # 268 MrK

     ” I agree with you. I just didn’t put my words right. Farming is big business if well managed. I am doing my Masters now and I am planning to go into farming when i finish. ”

     I didn’t intend to sound harsh, I just got a little excited about the subject. Agriculture in Zambia has so much potential, and the government doesn’t see it or want it. They think they can send some fertilizer in the direction of farmers, and that isn’t enough. We need a national agricultural project that puts medium sized farmers at the center, identifies the best crops for each region and promotes those, creates synergy with manufacturing, has ‘incubators’ for beginning farmers, etc.

346. #335 Nshakaye you are right. Certainly 1 or 2 cars are not a sign of richness. Did I mention the tracts of land that fellows down here are buying… Or the houses being built…

     We may not be the Warren Buffets and the Bill Gates’ of this world but we have a country and only we are going to build it. No amount of foreign aid will make things better in the big picture until we start to take responsibility. No finger pointing. Just accept that we have made a lot of whack decisions in the past but things can get better. Like i mentioned earlier, my ka job enables me to travel. I can never get used to feeling like an alien even when i’ve been abroad for a year. BUT in the Zed…….

347. The real reason why these zambians want you back home is because they want to cut you down to size. They want to see you below them because they have already secured jobs and know if you go back you will be jobless. The kalijo industry towards diasporians is strong in zambia . They think zambians abroad are big headed and they enjoy cutting you down to size. Am speaking from first hand experience . They don’t have your best interests at heart their interest is to see you Fail and to be laughed at

348. #316…i hear u man.im already counting down to the time i’ll return to the motherland.id rather be somewhere im happy despite the undevelopment.the culture abroad is hostile bane.i try to tell the ppl everytime i go home.it doesnt have to be in a physical or even blatant but still you feel it.it gets really annoying being regarded as a specimen for study and having to strive(for the record,im all for hard work)to prove that you function better than a chimp.its really disgusting when ppl think because ur from africa u live in the stone age.the ignorance is north america is shocking!ill say it again, before you come back, plan!dont expect miracles to happen the moment you land.

349. No sane nation would call for all it’s emmigrants to return to further development. Theres no evidence in economic history of mass return being proportional to development the reverse of mass exdus is what brings development. This topic is like beating a dead horse it only serves petty agenda’s and jealousy. Don’t worry about people that are not your family worry about your children. Leave people alone their blessings or curses are not yours. the more you curse them the more they will be blessed leaving you with kalijo syndrome

350. if things got really bad in diaspora, i wouldnt hesitate to leave!im entitled to some dignity.the thing that makes it so hard for people to reintergrate into society is behaving too much like the stereotypical diasporan.coming back after a year all white with an accent, asking what delele(umulembwe) is or whether its edible(ok that was a bit extreme).and lying to the ppl about how everything is rainbow coloured abroad.telling it as it is reduces the pressure significantly, (talking from experience here.u shud check out the adverts the swedish govt made to keep west africans away.it just shows that these ppl dont want us at all!

351. # 350 and you think zambians want you in zambia. grow up life is not about seeking acceptance it’s about finding means to help yourself and your family . It’s not about seeking approval from anyone .

352. #351.pull your head out of your @$$ and see things as they really are.everyone knows we are social animals and yes life is all about seeking acceptance.if you want to live in a place where you are looked down upon the whole time, go right ahead.if life wasnt about seeking reinforcement of some sort what would be the point behind aiming high?you are the people who would rather be miserable doing the $hittie$t jobs ever just to stay abroad.ukazinkala na nzeru.theres more to life than material possesions.as for the crap about ppl not wanting me in zambia, which planet are you from?nobody is unwelcome in his own home.u have family and friends there, why on earth would they not be happy to see u

353. #352 continued.

     well unless you return with the “im so cool cos i have seen the world” attitude and bore them to death by being more british than the british.nobody would want to listen to you tell them what useless lives they lead.

354. # I agree with 324 and 351 about the essence of self belief. I tend to agree that we need to address the structural issues on how we can deal with Zambians who wishto apply for jobs. On a practical level, why dont we open a database of applicants and link it to availability of vacancies.

     With regard to weak labour laws, the question actually is that we weak immigration laws. work permits are given by immigration whose agenda is inward looking while laour chaps are coopted in by association. The solution requires politcal will from the top but think tansk and civil society can create advocacy so that our level of competitveness as a country is enhanced.

355. #353 you are so deluded. You search for acceptance and hugs is not shared by fellow human beings who had happy upbringings. If you think the reason why zambians in zambia hate you is because people show off then you have a good lesson waiting for you. Some of us haven’t been stuck in dead end crap jobs like you. If you want to go back, go alone don’t justify your failed lonely life on seeking acceptance. Zambians will hate for the simple fact that you are doing good , thats kalijo my friend . you need some maturity in life you are a youngster who has a lot to learn

356. Email: [email protected]
     By the way I have several business proposals that I have worked on. I am trying to get loans to start these businesses. I was not fortunate to save a lot of money when I was in the USA for I had to pay all the school fees at the private university I went to. The reason I even stayed longer in the country was because I owed the school money after graduating. Therefore, worked to clear my bills. And when that I was done then I came over here. I love Zambia and will make things work one way or the other.

357. Wesley, first off I applaud you for doing what so many of us in the diaspora fear to do, yet see the logic.

     In 10 years time the very people proclaiming to never come back home will change their perspective.

     Guys we have have the right to live abroad but also have the right to live in Zambia. Positive people will see the advantage of this above the average day US Citizen or Brit. The true test of an entreperneur is to recognise opportunity and seize it.

358. Wesley,you are a brave man indeed.I feel your pain man.Could you please hook up your contact details so we can engage a bit further.Zambia looks desolate and every time i go back home i wonder how people manage..

     First of all i truly and honestly believe we need a change of leadership.We must do away with those old recycled people who really have no real interest in developing zambia.They are quite happy to keep the jobs and cling on, until God decides to give them a break.The pressure to return home is enormous from arriving at the airport to even eating at hungry-lion.Trouble is, if you are from abroad then most people assume and suffer the “so you think you are better than us” syndrome

359. Hey Wes. Please do not despair. I am sure something will come up for you. I am gonna e-mail you sometime should I get wind of something. If you decide to do a business, well I wish you well in that field too. Starting a business can be like an up hill battle at first. However, when you get the grip of things, it will be plain sailing. Where there is a will there is a way. This adage holds true. God bless.

360. a tip to the writer of the story,mwanawasa is late president not former president. He died while holding that position hence can not be refered to as former president

361. All you Zedians abroad who think you’re better off out there, stay there but do me a favour – dont trash Zambia to the foreigners you think love you! Wake up and smell the coffee, home is best. Im one of the Zedians who decided to come back and im happy in a great job…i had a great job out there but i made a conscious decision to come back out of love for my country. Don’t be pesimists – you go to develop other countries after Zed educates you and you say all the bad things about Zed…what did it ever do to you? Only Zedians can develop Zed..always remeber that you miserable souls!

362. I just returned from Zedi last night via Hongkong and I will share with you what it is like living in Zedi compared to living here wherever Iam. Zambians are divided into 2 permanent groups– the rich+greedy and the everlasting ‘poor’, the gap between the two keeps enlarging. I know home is home and all my family members live in Zedi. But I wouldn’t trade my life here for anything else. In My job I get 1 million Zkwacha equivalent for 1 shift and I can work as much as I want and whenever I want. I feel pity for the Zedi’s who are doing the same job as I do and get paid peanuts. Sorry mates, am not coming to Zambia to stay.

363. #362 stay whereever u are, we dnt need u here. so are u pipo suggesting that we all abandon our country and go abroad? am happy in zambia and i am determined to make a difference. zambians are educated enough, i dnt have to go to uk to learn accounts, wat u pipo in the diaspora shud realise is that u are not unique and those skills u acquire can be got in zed, wat u need is to cme and set up ur own businesses, if that does not work then stay where u are and shut up!!!!

364. #362, I will never shut up. You are slaving everyday and not enjoying what God gave you to enjoy enough on this earth. What you are getting there as an a’accountant’ is a trillion less what the same accountant is geting here. ‘WAKE UP’ fom your slumber. You only live once. Sorry if I offended you but am better off where ever Iam. I just visited Zambia and I arrived 3ays ago. so you can not change any ones mind including mine. Probably you have never been abroad in your life time.. hard luck and stay put….

365. Sorry, I meant #363, the Zedian. Wake up …..

366. #363, Biggest LOSER…….

367. # 363.. walasa=d>.leave the vi muselela kwakaba alone. they are a constant freak show wherever they are and they are just there taking it..at the end of the day, it comes down to what ur priorities are.

368. #367, :)>-[-x[-o<

369. BAZATU,
     LET ME TELL YOU THAT WAKO NI WAKO
     ITS WHO U KNOW NOT WHAT YOU KNOW
     THIS PLACE IS STINKING OF NEPOTISM,CORRUPTION,DOUBLE DEALINGS TO MENTION THE LEAST.
     WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME BACK.
     YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED LPM FOR A JOB MWANA
     HOW THICK CAN YOU BE WENA
     A BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH
     SUNTWE!!!! :d:d:d:d:d:d

370. Ngwenya weldone young man,i know the step you took was very big but do not despair,youdid the right thing.Listencarefully to all the advice on agriculture-this’s the only way its such a wide suject and there’re so many ruotes you can take,the beginning will be tough but the rewards will be sweet.First thing acquire a piece of land,even traditional land yakwinu.You can go into fish farming,vegetable growing,egg production,chickens-broilers,village chickens,kuti walima ichili chonse you will never go wrong.Make compost and sell it,Flowers ,Go into land scaping,buy loan mowers and cut grass or employ the so many young boys and girls to do it for you.the list is endless.

371. Ngwenya God bless you for taking this step,walaikatika wisakamana,visit the Kitwe and Lusaka agric shows + zambia int.trade fair for ideas,Catering,you will never go wrong.Business potential is very wide especially with your wonderful qualification na experience + good work culture you lent abroad,i can assure you mwaiche ukaba bwino shipa you will be telling us at nalichulile nomba moneni.

372. we need to go back home and be part of the solution! but kushansha! wafuma mu picadilly square wayafikila mu kaunda square! awe bane, better twapipa utukote mu diaspora but umuchanga ule moneka!

373. It’s in reality a nice and useful piece of information. I’m satisfied that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.

374. Wonderful web site. A lot of helpful info here. I’m sending it to a few buddies ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks to your sweat!

375. I do believe all of the concepts you have offered on your post. They’re really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for novices. May just you please extend them a little from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.

376. We’re a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with helpful info to work on. You’ve done a formidable process and our whole community can be thankful to you.

377. Jobs are only being offered to relatives and if some Manager/CEO/Boss is having an affair with someone..what a pathetic way of offering Jobs.

378. I have spent a total of 11 years abroad (France and UK) and have travelled extensively all over the world. But I still find home as the best place to be. The only regret I have is poor medical care. All else is nothing. What I do not like is to be followed by guards in shops. stopped at border crossing points because I am ‘black’ or to be constantly reminded of my station in life in exchange form what is supposed to be a better life. I admire the courage of those who stay abroad despite what they have to endure.

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