By Henry Kyambalesa
President Rupiah Banda’s local and international trips have so far been excessive. He needs to travel less so that he can stay in his office to supervise his Ministers more effectively, tend to pressing national issues, as well as save himself from the stress and jet-lag associated with excessive travelling by aeroplane.
He needs to delegate more so that his Ministers can take some of the less-important trips. As Management gurus would profess, good leaders attain their stipulated goals through the efforts of their subordinates. As such, a leader who spends much of his or her time performing tasks which subordinates are capable of performing is likely to be less effective in discharging his or her duties.
I am often intrigued by what the Holy Bible teaches us on the issue of delegation in Exodus 18:14-22, in which Jethro advised his son-in-law, Moses, as follows:
“Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening? …. You will surely wear out … select out of all the able men … [and] place these over them, as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.”
I, of course, prepare this piece of advice knowing very well that “you can never teach an old dog new tricks”, so to speak.
Wise words. Timely advice.
You can never teach an old, fat, lazy dog new tricks.the only thing an old dog would do is move up and down to stay awake.
Our presiddent has no direction umungulu walichila,or may he does not trust his ministers or maybe naishiba ati his term of office is nearly over.kanshi kufilila munsenga.eish ….
True we have a tourist in plot 1.
True he is in Rome right now visiting his son using state funds!!
Ba RB ni bacumbu munshololwa, ba munshebwa abaile no busali kubuko.
I was listening to the Beeb this morning and they said that the Angolan President hardly ever travels, never addresses or speaks to the press and keeps much to hisself. Maybe RB needs to adopt that kinda attitude.
He has no plans hence tours like no man’s business. shameless president!!!
chimbwi no plan. africa – europe – north america – south america – cuba and back to zed in one trip.
Jealous people will never stop complaining when they see someone else is having a good time and not them.
Otherwise he is traveling for a reason.
If a president turns down an invitation then he is bad f ool.
World trotter ba RB
I am inviting him here next month.
We need our new passports so that we can also travel.
This president has no idea whatsoever what it means to be president, he thinks he is a king on holiday in state house. One thing clear is that he is a visionless lazy old man taking the people for granted. He makes me sick. Like #7, LUSAKA has said about the Angolan president, in fact no other president in the region or elsewhere in the world travels like Mr Rupiah Banda.
Guys, he is just visting Italy, then England, later New York (UN meeting), then Cuba and I think finally Venezuela. Then he will be back. Let us be patient!!!!!!!
I didnt know that our Challenger Plane can manage all these long journeys. Hope pilots will not be tired.
This is rubbish coming from this author. How can a President delegate attendance to the Un General Assembly which brings all the world leaders into one place and gives the President an opportunity to discuss serious issues with key Heads of State like Obama and others that will be there. Also tell me which President delagates a state visit? RB is going to Cuba on a state visit so who should he delegate such a visit to? Although there is point about too much travelling, the author should be specific about which ones he should delegate. the trip to Cuba makes sense as Cuba is very near to the USA and makes more sense to go there from USA than to come back to Zambia and then go back again. Cuba is an all weather friend of Zambia and its important for our President to visit and cement ties
Ba M@D DOGG wat jealous are yu on about?? Jealous napashili.. A kamwendo munjila president. It hurts coz he uses poor taxpayers money,my money. We hv zambians traveling all the time,from their pockets. Aza se benza liti?? New york and all ws important,yea bt kumbi he shud deligate.
At the risk of being called a boot licker MMD or a sell out, I believe this is his first trip out of Africa as President, i.e. 11 months. And A president has international obligations. KK managed to create an image international by among other things travel. So lets not be too quick to shoot.
Anyone know how big his entourage is when going on his world tours and the cost per trip to the taxpayer. It seems RB is on a world tour to see as many places as possible that he could not visit in his normal life
What about Obama. Should he quit travelling too? Henry is being childish because his true agenda has been lost. Join Zambia in unity instead of this divisive politics! We need to unite first for us to take Zambia forward. UN meetings are mandatory for all heads of state. After all your hatred will never allow you to say anything good about our president.
Bemba’s are joining hands with Ngoni’s to unite Zambia and you guys are still on your tribalist path to destruction. Your relatives will let you down in 2011.
You people hated Levy and now he is dead and you love him. Now you are hating RB! The real Chimbwi’s with no plan are you guys! What did you learn in church yesterday? To hate people? RB is uniting Zambia. Bemba’s and Ngoni’s are loving each other whilst you guys are following headless chickens like Kyambalesa. Yaba!
SURELY SOME BLOGGERS WILL FOREVER REMAIN PETTY, VERY PETTY. CAN SOMEONE HERE TELL ME WHO AMONG THE THREE FORMER PRESIDENTS (InclusiveLPM-MHSRIP) WE HAVE HAD HAS NEVER BEEN TO THIS MEETING “UN”? OTHERWISE, THE MAN (RB) IS BEING SO RATIONAL BY COMBINING THE TRIPS INSTEAD OF TAKING THEM ONE BY ONE. EVEN THE USA PRESIDENT DID JUST RECENTLY AND ENROUTED THROUGH GHANA.
Chi # 19 Mambo what are you talking about Obama, the man doesnt even travel much in the States, Banda has been all over left right , center trouting like a mad person, there are certain jobs he needs to delegate his ministers, like going to Swaziland to open the Agriculture show there,surely it does not require the Zambian president, if he is fit to handle all those jobs, then he must fire all those useless ministers.
I see we have 2 camps – those in favour and those against RB’s travels.
May be lets look at what these travels cost the nation and what benefits the Zambia accrues from RB’s travels. If the costs outweigh the benefits, then by all means the president must cut down his travels. Sensible.
#25, those are wise words, what is my country gaining from these travels? can someone who is in favor of those travels tell me, by the way the diplomats in LSK are now getting concerned with RB, check the post
Yeah but UK ZED observer, we are not privy to the costs or benfits. I however was one who condemned LPM’ s visits but when you see that He cultivated a relationship with the Chinese leading to billion dollar investment then I realise I was probably ignorant. And like I said in the first 11 months, this is his first trip out of Africa, now thats not bad. However in this country, there is a strong political culture among the elite and informed to crtiticise all action of the Government.Its like the givernmemt in their eyes can not doo any good
Why cant one day we meet as BLOGGERS, maybe Bahamas and discuss these issues
#27 Mushe, from the face value, You may not understand, But you do need to understand that international relations play a key part in Governance and some situations require the Head of State’s personal intervention. And really if he did not go for the UN meeting, I can assure you thst bloggers would have criticised for not going and probably the POST would have even run a headline saying “RUPIAH TO MISS UN MEETING”
And I was to ask you how mant trips he has made ? and how many days he has been away , you are unlikely to be able to answer. So lets try to be more open minded before we conclude he is travelling too much. Oh and be carefull not to take as gospel the post editorials. Read them but dont eat them, thay are quite shallow
#28 Positive Pa Zed
That’s a good reflection, and observation of the benefits Zambia accrued from LPM’s travels. I hope the country receives more benefits via RB’s travels.
Trips to the UN should certainly be among priority travels. If there’s any cutting, perharps they should be on less important outings.
As for data on costs, may be MPs thru Parliament can help the nation on this. MPs have a right to ask Govt for information, and the relevant minister will oblige. If Zambians want to know what RB’s travels costs the nation, they can instruct their MPs, their representatives to find out.
The opposition MPs or MMD backbenchers can raise such issues.
rupiah’s visit at the UN serves no purpose. just a waste of money. he’s bringing nothing from there and taking nothing of value there. the man may have had some formal education but he’s FAR from intelligent. look at his face. scientists have failed to explain his face in a lab! a president or leader doesn’t have to be charismatic to be effective but with rupia it is a disastrous combination lack of direction and aesthetic challenged. i have voted in the last three elections. is it worth it?
#29 Planet Mars
That will be a lot of travelling?
Put together, will cover more mileage than RB. LOL.
Just pulling your leg. Yes, it’s a great idea. But for now, cheaper and faster to just blog.
Henry Kyambalesa is contradicting himself. On one hand RB must delegate on the other hand he must stay to take care of more pressing national issues. How can you delegate a subordinate to attend a ‘Heads of State’ summit? How can you delegate a subordinate to return a foreign visit to which you have been personally invited? It is more likely that he will delegate his subordinates to take care of less important local issues. That is what he has done. At the end of the day any President may just sit back and do nothing because there are subordinates everywhere. Ambassadors away and Ministers at home. Whose definition is ‘pressing issues?’
#5 Berlusconi Babe
You say he is in Italy visiting his son, Oh! how childish! The President is en route to the UN and the Italian embassy covers Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, and the UN agencies of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Surely, he should be able to arm himself with some information on these issues which are of vital importance to Zambia. His son may be in Italy (sent there by LPM) but that is by and by.
UK observer Yeah and the MPs could request for information on the objectives and achievement from these travels. They should ask for Govt to heve a presidentiial travell policy or am I expecting too much
where is Dora? is she in the country or is she in the entourage or is she already in Italy? or Cuba or New York!
#30, brother before you decide what i have eaten look into my stomach, am hungry coz of Banda travelling spending the people”s kwachaz,certainly UN trips are not what i was talking about if you read my comment, i said, again i repeat, why make several trips to Mswati, cant you see him at Comesa or SADC? i mean seriously… tell me what good Banda help Mswati to pick his new wife is to the people of zed?
#30 POSITIVIST, Hey by the way if he travels alone or with a few individuals,that”s not a problem. In America here where he is coming there is no MBASHELA each individual he brings the zed tax payer pays, by the way MPULUNGU civil servants have not been paid yet coz the money have to be spent on these trips, and anyway what useful thing can Banda say at the UN? ok, i’m being unfair. banda can say plenty, whatever he wants… the bigger question is — who’s even going to take 1 second to listen? not so much …..
i’m also realizing maybe i am being unfair to banda, especially in my #25 post. i mean surely it should ok for him to waste a lot of money doing something as useless as opening an agric. show because he learned from a master at uselessness — isn’t mwanawasa opened the ka-bowling alley pa arcades??? the entire president… sure? wow. that’s is a presidential bowling alley.
Very nice advice Henry….we need yo coments on LT…keep it up.
Mudala uyu alenda Zoona. When does he even get time to service Thandi? Elo ngabamukwelela pali ka Thandi like what happened to Vera akese ilishanya!!
Ba Banda, please listen to the people, we know did not vote for you, even if you had put your self in power, it our mony you are using….so stop it please.
Ba Banda, please listen to the people, we know we did not vote for you, even if you had put your self in power, it our mony you are using….so stop it please.
RB is still stuck in the UNIP days when leaders used to travel a lot to see each other and when air fare was cheaper. He does not even get it, when his Malawian and Mozambican counterparts did not show up for the traditional ceremony in eastern province. They just sent government officials to attend. This guy has no vision what so ever. He just wants to live the life he did not get to live during the UNIP days. I just read an article in the post newspaper on Mulongoti trying to justify why Banda is eating with the DEVIL and why he should not be in jail. Even a grade 2 student would not believe the nonsenses he was saying. I just have one thing to say RB must go. If we want to save our country we must rise to the occasion and kick MMD out of power the way we kicked polio out of Zambia.
Does number 17 really think that Obama or any of the G12 countries have time to listen to what. Banda has to say?
#35 I almost did not respond to your comment that alludes that Zambia has a one man government and the entire head of state has to go on a fact finding mission himself prior to a visit to the UN. But unfortunately I could not let such an infantile comment go uncontested…. Please tell mummy to prepare you a hot cup of chocolate before you go to bed tonight.
#34 THE SAINT: Please teach them and do not tire. Also remind them that the UN General Assembly is held at the UN HQ in New York. If they want RB to host the meeting in Lusaka to avoid travelling, they will first have to move the UN to Zambia.
The Pres is actiing like a pop star celebrity….maybe he is on a world tour! Shame! There are women and young children smashing rocks to make a living to feed themselves but these fat cats do not seem to be bothered about this….shame! Zambia is the best country in Africa, if not the world but it is governed by uneducated fools. We need all the educated Zambians living in other parts of the world to return home and lead this nation of ours.
Surely there is a vacancy at plot 1. Even when he is in the country he is either commissioning a bridge somewhere or attending a traditional ceremony. He is even officiates at graduation ceremonies at private Universities while the minister of education watches from the bench. I think he can manage without a cabinet.