A political analyst on the Copperbelt has predicted increased apathy in the 2011 tripartite elections if the first degree requirement for a presidential candidate would be endorsed and adopted into the Republican Constitution.
Mr. Isaac Kanyanta says the first degree requirement for the republican presidential candidate should not be a constitutional requirement but instead should be left to political parties to handle.
He said some members of parliament and majority of the Zambian electorate were not first degree holders which should serve as a warning sign that academic papers were not always the yardstick of measuring one’s ability in leadership.
He called on the NCC Commissioners to take an inventory of all the African presidents from both the economically struggling countries and those who were powerful and look at their presidents’ academic qualifications.
He said Political parties were better placed to practice such segregation as an in house cleaning arrangement than putting it in the republican constitution.
Mr. Kanyanta added that first republican president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda though only Form Two managed to render extraordinary political, material and intellectual help to all the neighboring countries during the political liberation struggle.
He added that the few heads of State summits that were attended by Heads of States should not be used as an excuse for a segregatory clause to craft its way into the republican constitution.
He said no Head of State was compelled to take a position at the Summit of Heads of State when they did not understand the matter fully.
He added that majority of the Summits were not even taking a position on many issues because it was the collective wisdom of Heads of States that the official communiqué carried after the Summit.
Mr. Kanyanta agreed with the NCC lone Commissioner Mr. Joseph Mubali who opposed the Clause as political parties could best handle the matter when choosing the persons they wanted to float as presidential candidates.
Mr. Kanyanta said Zambia did not need an academician for a president but a leader with a vision, who was principled and morally upright because he should be an embodiment of Zambian values and cultural beliefs.
He added that academic qualifications were not synonymous with wisdom because many graduates were roaming the streets in the pride of their papers when those with wisdom were busy making money in the midst of academic arguments on the performance of the national economy.
He said the informal sector was booming with people without degrees but full of wisdom and when such people are excluded from entertaining presidential ambitions, they could easily persuade their likeminded less qualified academically to shun the 2011 elections which would increase levels of apathy and reduce political participation by a larger margin.
Mr. Kanyanta said the people of Zambia were the best judges through the ballot box whether to vote for a degree holder or a school leaver in whom they have seen the required leadership qualities that would help to steer the nation to higher political, economic, social and cultural attainments.
He said the segregatory Clause would create “the animal farm situation” in the political life of Zambia where some citizens would be forever denied their birth right to aspire for the presidency of the land.
He called on the NCC to consider the feelings of the people who would be injured by such a provision adding that not many educated people with degrees take an active role in the political life of the Nation.
He said majority voters were from the uneducated lot living in underdeveloped Townships and if such a clause passed, they would feel like tools being used to favour some educated Zambians with degrees at their expense.
Mr. Kanyanta added that majority of the Zambians would not want to be used by degree holders for political gains and expediency when they were also entitled to the same human rights of aspiring for the republican presidency.
He said leadership was about service and not just prestige of academic parlance and exclusive pride over the electorates.
ZANIS
Well put….. Ba-Kayanta ‘Abash Degree nonsense’ Lets be realistic Degree in what ?Tailoring and design or Brick laying and carpentry or even a Phd in crush worhness has nothing to do with governance…Let the ‘Best’man rule..kwasila:o:o:o
I think times of changed and society too has greatly changed. So we definately need a degree holder for presidency. We cannot have degree holders as controlling officers, directors etc but have a president who is below those he oversees.
University education exposes people to issues that opens up ones understanding of various issues. Presidency is not only about leadership but also about responsibility which requires some deeper understanding of the social, economical and developmental fundamentals.
indeed a degree is a must.
Kanshi those with degrees should be voted by degree holders only we see how many are going to vot NONSENSE!
Well said, the degree thing is nosence in a country where 70% are under graduates as a lot of them they dont have money to go up to a degree not even for grade 12. Let the people choose what is good for them, than being used by the so called degree holders who are not even the majority voters please take that s..t out the constitution. A presidential post is for everyone who has the wisdom, vision of the Zambian not for some graduates who are not even wise and dont even have a vision for the love Zambia like our RB
First degree a must. Let’s move the times. Sata, a non graduate may be a person who has shown wisdom about the sufferings that Zambians are going through but whenever he has spoken about economic issues and internal related issues, ho appears lost in the wildeness. Viva NCC.
anything better than a first degree?let them rule regardless of their papers!!!!!:-?
Don’t we already have enough educated “f.o.o.l.s” running our affairs in Zambia? Have we fared better now than during the rule of mostly undereducated UNIP “chachacha” boys & girls?
Intellectuals with degrees at the NCC prove my point: where is the wisdom in this clause they are supporting? Isn’t this equivalent to creating a “CONSTITUTIONAL BANTUSTAND” for Zambians who can’t afford higher education? If this stands, only children of the ELITE can ever dream becoming president some day. Which, in Zambia, usually means children of politicians. A scenario that is likely to create POLITICAL DYNASTIES—a situation not conducive for democracy.
Educate the majority of the population first then maybe we can start talking about including such clauses in the supreme law of the…
Indeed this nonsense about the first degree should not be entertained.Leadership skills cant be bought by the number of years someone has spent in university pushing papers,thesises…but it is something that should be a natural part of an individual just like a well educated father cant always be a better father than one who dropped out in the first grade of elementary school.Lets be realistic people, some of us have spent some years years in this so called academic world and not every academician gritters like Gold a hell lot of them just su.cks.:)>-
Its all nonsense. Having a degree or couple of degrees is no guarantee for good presidency. This is utter nonsense. There are several issues that need to be addressed in the new constitution than spending too much time on the degree issue. One thing for sure is that three quarters of the individuals that are participating in the NCC have just gone up to grade 12 or less. What i have noticed about the NCC is a ‘ka chance to get rich. Time will tell. The truth is that come that right time, the new constitution is bound to be changed as it will still fail to meet the general public’s expectations. Anyway everything has time. Who thought KK’s one party rule would come to an end at one stage. Better most of these guys get Masters’ degrees coz when our time comes, that will be the…
#2, Kizzie G Nyendwa:
You are kidding yourself if you think education and knowledge can only be gotten through the FORMAL educational systems that man has devised. There is plenty of learning and knowledge acquisition that goes on in the INFORMAL systems that have nothing to do with sitting down behind the dest and listening to, sometimes, very boring and outdated lectures.
Presidents can hire advisers. A confident president with only, say, a grade 12 education can get himself/herself a few people knowledgeable in Economics, Science, Foreign Affairs, Politics, etc and do just fine. Having superior leadership qualities to manage the talent that you surround yourself with tramps all. Just because you have a degree does not automatically mean you are “JACK OF ALL TRADES”, No!
Every job has certain minimum qualifications. Wether its a secretary, mechanic,accountant, CEO, etc. Why shouldn’t the highest office in the land also have the minimum qualifications? Yes its true that qualities like wisdom and good leadership may not be as a result of education. But how else would you objectively measure these qualities, if not through educational accoplishments? While laws should not be targetted at certain individuals, in the same vain, we shoud not personalize each law that is passed. In the words of HH, let’s have the broader picture on matters of national interest.
First and Foremost, wish to pass my regards to all the BLOGGERS + LT. Now coming to the issue at hand which i have personally followed in all the blogs so far, is that am so shocked that upto this level (i mean time/day and age) we still ve pipo who can’t see the benefits of having educated people in society. Well at least i expected some bloggers to see either one or both PRIVATE AND SOCIAL Returns on Investment (ROI) by critically analising KK, FJT and LPM’s performance in terms of Socio-Economic progress of our mother-land. It’s easy and straight forward, KK a FORM V did slightly better than FJT (call-boy) who messed up our economy BUT LPM did exemplary well in terms of policy formulation, Implementation and Monitoring translating into better Socio-Economic Performance. Which is y…
A president or leader will have many facets to there charecter, wisdom, forsight etc and if one is education then the better. Look at it this way, no country in the world especially among the developt nations would vote for an uneducated person as president. Are those people in developt countries fools in thinking that the job of president is better left to educated people ?. Could there be a corealation between having a educated leader and development as the western world proves ?
food for thought.
As i say and i will say it again “only in the poorest , war raveged, corruption pluged continent is such bull s h i t entertained”. And you wonder why we are poor.
#10. Yambayamba. You are very correct in saying that knowledge is not only acquired formally.
In fact, if you took an uneducated fellow that has never been to school and constantly exposed him/her to the best surgeons for a good length of time, chances are that that fellow will also become a good surgeon. But in the interest of all those poor people that cannot afford medical school, can we surely say we drop the educational qualification standards for surgeons?
cont…which is y we need a graduate who will be able to critically analyse ECONOMIC issues in a very objective and rational manner by applying his skills bcoz his level of understanding such matters will be wide enough. Yes i also agree the notion that LEADERS are born BUT to a larger extent i disagree that one is born a LEADER. The reason is simple bcoz not all LEADERS are good enough to be LEADERS. World over, good LEADERS have had a combination of Skills and Qualities. While most of the bloggers are only considering QUALITIES which one may naturally be born with, it is illogical to subtract Skills if one is to be a good LEADER. Mind you, a PRESIDENT is not necessarily a BOSS but rather a LEADER and as such both requirements MUST apply, especially in today’s world of stiff…
Even Americans with schools among the best in the world have figured this one out already. For instance, when applying for college, scholarships, grants, extra, they never look at your test scores alone for guidance on the character and/or leadership qualities of the applicant. They usually look at what you have accomplished/done outside of the classroom.
You can be the most qualified candidate academically, and yet not be accepted into certain elite colleges because you lack certain experiences that builds character/leadership muscle, e.g. sports, well traveled (locally or abroad), volunteer work, work experience, social or political activism, etc.
Mind you, this is a country where everything is “studied” and this “degree = Leadership” nonsense has been discredited.
People need to know that as it stands everyone has the right to aspire for presidence with the current prescribed qualifications, why not leave this issue to the political parties themselves to decide on such an issue after all the electorate will decide who to vote for whether a graduate or non graduate. Nobody has stopped the graduates from entering the political arena, they ust have to come out be air their voices within the political parties. Being a graduate does not imply that one can articulate economic issues. We have many graduates from many different departments that may not directly understand economics hence all these people need advisors period. If this clause is adopted then I guess we should have also a qualification for voting, it will only make sense!
cont…especially in today’s world of stiff competition. More so, we need to consider the huge responsibilities that PRESIDENTS take on behalf of millions and millions of Zambian pipo and if not educated enough, such a one is bound to make terrible decision that would negatively affect the pipo just as FJT did and we are all paying for his careless and illogical mistakes. So this is my advise to all those who feel injured to the Degree Clause. One thing is clear, PEOPLE have a tendence of RESISTING CHANGE but sometimes CHANGE is just necessary. In which case the constitution is being changed from mere grade 12 requirement to a slightly higher level of a first degree that i believe are quite very common nowadays…
#14 Zambian Politician of Rare Breed:
No, not at all. Keep the standards for surgeons intact. But if you put those standards too high such that no one or only a few can attain them, soon or later you gonna hit a wall—-you will run out of qualified people to meet the set standards. That’s the danger with this clause. Mind you, not all surgeons are good surgeons, don’t forget that.
#16 Yambayamba, once again you are right in stating the fact that in the award of scholarships many factors including sporting accoplishments, hobbies and other extra-curricular activities are taken into consideration. However, what you fail to see is that educational ability/accomplishment tends to be the common denominator in all the scholarship eligibility criteria. Do you know why? You cannot undervalue the importance of formal education, much the same way you can’t throw away informal education. And the interplay of those two: formal and informal education, should make for a well balanced leader….
the reason why some young people today are not obtaining degrees is because of high tuition fees and few places in university. If I recall education during kaunda was free, so those who didnt take up that opportunity to have even a diploma have themselves to blame when the rules are changed.
Show me a degree holder who have done well in being self employed and I will show you diploma holder or even uneducated who have done well and even employ degree holders. Degree is not the measure that some one is a leader. Why do we Zambians want to shot each other? The so called educated are not even active in politics why should the look up to become presidents when they not prepared to start from grassroot? Most degree holders just want to be bosses not leaders. Why are degree holders fearing to face (challange) none degree holder on leveled playing filled? If a degree holder fails to look after him/herself unless he/she is employed by others want can he offer as a president? Now let me ask the NCC members. Why did you discard the people’s submission in Mung’omba Constitution?
Every thing has it times we need educated pipo to lead this country days are gone for Kaponyas to enter state house.Let pipo who are educated to go state house.
#19, In support of your point in #10, you may even want to cite that the first human to human heart transplant was done by a black guy named Naki Hamilton without even a first degree (or grade 12 certificate if am not mistaken)! It’s true we have seen such and many more other unique accomplishments made without without a first degree. However, you can not deny the fact that the majority of good leaders have had some very sound educational accomplishments, and the worst leaders have mainly been the uneducated ones. And I can guarantee you that a first degree is not too high a standard for anyone that truly aspires for presidency to meet.
Zambian let’s not forget want prompted the introduction of this clause in the constitution. Remember what the MMD were saying before the last presidential elections. You will see that this clause is targeted on someone. Now we shall the division in classes. By the way in the current parliament how many PhD holders are there and see what they have done show their leadership. Wisdom is not the same as education. There are educated fools and no wise fool.This so called new constitution will not stand the test of time if this kind of attitude continues in the NCC
Mr Kanyanta , well put. I am a master holder as I am writing will start PHD. Let them put that degree clause in our constitution. But let them be assured that Us who see these clause as nonsense will go round the country telling the poor Zambians not to vote for the silent degree holders.
#20, Zambian Politician of Rare Breed:
True the common denominator is formal education and I am not denying that fact. My problem is the standard/level of education being used. Ask yourself this question, Zambia is about 12 million people, and out of that number how many college graduates do we have? I can bet not even 100,000, and that is what, less than 1%? And not everybody with a degree is interested in politics. So, out of that 100,000 you have only about, say, 30,000 degree holders interested in politics, and you want the entire political life and destiny of Zambia to be controlled and run by this handful of people? In fact the majority of political activists in Zambia have very little or no formal education at all, and you expect these people to just take it? Good luck!!
#24, Zambian Politician of Rare Breed:
That’s all good. But do we have enough space in our two little Universities in Zambia to accommodate every child that wants to go to college? The answer is NO! Mind you, most kids in Zambia don’t go to college because they are dull, no! Zambia is among the waste when it comes to school selections. You have a roadblock at grade 7, grade 9, and another at grade 12. Not only that, when you get to one of the two campuses, there is also pruning in the first year (never been there but that’s what I hear.) On top of that, education in Zambia is not free. And how many kids loose out just because their parents are poor? These my friend are the issues that need to be considered before we end up enshrining ELITISM in our constitution!!
#27, I don’t know if you are student of statistics, but I’m afraid I find your calculations very biased and skewed towards making your point. In your calculation, you may not want to use the whole 12million since not all of them would be interested in politics and may be ineligible by age, etc. Rather use the number of eligible Zambians interested in politics, not the whole population, and the percentage won’t come to less than one percent as potential presido material. We need to look at this from a whole bigger picture beyond 2011. If there is anyone that has presidential aspirations, they will do well to meet these criteria of educational accomplishment.
Sata’s argument is that the degree requirement will discriminate against the poor is in fact very flawed becoz even if the status quo was allowed to continue, the poor would never be able to afford a decent campaign to drive/sell their manifesto to the electorate. We do not even have to go very far for examples: remember Chama Chakomboka? Moreover, any well-minded voter would find it hard to even entrust the future prosperity of the entire nation to an individual who does not even have the capacity to create wealth for himself.
LATEST RULE IN ZAMBIA AS ADOPTED BY THE NCC – PEOPLE WITHOUT DEGREE QUALIFICATIONS LACK WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE HENCE FOOLS THUS, THEY WILL JUST BE USED AS TOOLS TO ELECT THE EDUCATED. ONLY DEGREE HOLDERS SHALL BE ELECTED PRESIDENTS TO RULE THE ILLITERATE MAJORITY OF ZAMBIANS. THIS NEW SLOGAN IS FROM THE NCC – FELLOW ZAMBIANS ARE YOU HONESTLY READY TO ACCEPT THIS ? I REALLY MOURN ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN ZAMBIA.
#29, what I gave you are what we call “ball park” figures. They are not meant to be “calculator” accurate, we are blogging here, bro! Of course I know the difference between eligible & ineligible.
And you are telling kids give a damn about the presidency when they are in their early years of formal education, right? People grow and mature into these mindsets as they advance in age, life experiences, and maybe education.
That’s why I said @7 that lets concentrate on education first. After we have good numbers of educated citizens to brag about, then we might start thinking about puting such clauses in our constitution. For now, if this stay, you can be lest assured it is not going to stand the test of time. Just be ready to spend more millions on another bogus NCC excersie!!
#29,
By the way, I am an engineer in the making (Computer engineering to be specific). I have taken a few statistics classes, not such a bad field after all. I enjoyed the experience.
What is needed is to stregthen intra-party democracy so that the parties themselves separate the chaff from the grain. But if you start the “sole candidate” and “wamuyaya” type of nonsense as preached by St.Shikapwasha ans St. Mulongoti, then a problem arises. Those who remember very well, these b.a.stards started by saying they would included an age limiting clause but when HERB who is older than Sata, took over, the age bull was dropped. The whole thing is tainted by ill-motive. Mwebena Zambia, fikaneni twapapta.
We the excellent Masters and PHD holders will come and campaign against the silent degree Holders. The illiterates as MMD and NCC are calling the poor Zambias should not be used as political tools to usher in selfish and dull degree holdes in gonvernment. We are going to organise ourselves to preach to the poor about ILLITISM THE MMD IS INTRODUCING IN ZAMBIA. We will make sure that the poor people who Vote for MMD boycote the ellections. They should note vote for the people who are insulting them. KNOW NCC-GUYS THAT WE ARE COMING TO PREACH ELECTION BOYCOTE TO THE ILLITERATES OF ZAMBIA. We will see who is going to vote for you MMD. You have insulted the people who vote for MMD. Thats good..we will meet you head on.
Mugabe has six degrees and yet he has done nothing for zim zim.I madecalculated decisions and made money before i got this piece of garbage.
In this day and age where a president requires the thinking capacity of other world leader equivalents a degree is essential. It’s better to bet a degree holder rather than an uneducated rambler who by failing to understand certain principles can make grave ignorant mistakes that will push the nation backwards. You can quote stupid presidents with degree’s but by ignoring some of the greatest educated leaders just shows peoples myopic thinking. A president does not need a degree if he will be facing worldly opponents with degree’s that can easily outthink and outsmart him, it’s not like SATA will go to the UN in a bathtub singing ‘pabwato’ and somehow outsmart them with kaponya’rism’s.
Most of us are missing the point. Having an educated president helps in critical decision making. If a president is educated enough he can think independently of advisers and take a sensible decision. How many times did Kaunda ignore economic advice and took political advice and the expense of the economy (National service is one such venture)? There was a time we cried that Kaunda spent most of his time on outside matters than our own plight. Botswana stayed out of external matters and look at their economy. By the way, all Bostwana presidents are degree holders. Mugabe was a good boy but messed with the British because of Land Reforms, so it’s a different matter which cannot be brought in the equation of good leadership. Remember that he also won a peace award Laurette.
#38, i think you do not know what you are talking about, these guys who are writing are also degree holders, so we know what we are saying- Rupiah is a degree holder, what can you say or think about him? And people who be voting? Are they degree holders? Education? and some of them get those degrees because of coming from rich families, use money to get results, so let the degree thing die and we should move on guys-
KK & Nyerere spent much time trying reunite african nations from colonialism and they dd it, there we go Namiba, Botswana, Zimbabwe,South Africa and many more african countries, so these Old have done their part, but we ve gone to school and we understand the importance of education and leader ship, ba kanyanta ifyo mwalanda tafikwete sence nangu imo,No 38 i give yu 80% support we need 1st Degree(the first degree requirement for the republican presidential candidate should be a constitutional requirement) weather yu like it or not and kanyanta should read lusaka times, 1st DEGREEE OYEEEEEEEE, VIVA DEGREEE ,VIVA , IF YU ARE NOT 1ST DEGREE FOR GET ABOUT TO BECOME AN MP OR A PRESIDENT AM I RIGHT MY FELLOW ZED’S.
TOO MUCH ROADBLOCK ARE MAKING SO MANY ZAMBIAN TO UNEDUCATED, IN TZ NOW FROM GRD1 TO GRD 7 YU GO STRAIGHT TO FORM ONE, FROM UP FORM FOUR ,HERE ITS WHERE THERE’S A ROADBLOCK, I THNK ZED SHOULD CHANGE THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION, SINCE 1964 THE SAME, WHY ITS BECOS OF THESE MINISTERS WE VE BEEN VOTING FOR THEY DONT LOOK FORWARD THEY ARE LOOK WHERE THEY ARE STANDING, PULL UP YO SOCKS MEN? ~X(:-t[-x@-)%-(
#28 I SUPPORT YU ON #41[-(:-w:((
Only those who were watching Mazembe Cartapillar when others were going to school are scared about degree qualification. We know the DIE Hard for PF& SATA are crying now. Wisdom without education is dead you need education and wisdom to make proper leader.
Because a lot of Zambians do not have degrees, NCC should recommend that a president should have no degree. So all those of you with degrees should be barred, after all, you can enjoy good jobs with your degress. Now, thats farer
#32, I wonder if you would still maintain your anti-degree sentiments if Sata had a degree. If Sata’s political ambitions would not have looked this bleak becoz of the clause, would you still be vigilant like this? Well do not despair. Sata will still be eligible to stand as long as we go to the polls under the current election and decide to hold the referendum at the same time as the general polls. In which case, only his re-election in 2016 will be at issue!
In Kaunda’s Era, there was free education up to university hence those who were serious made use of this opportunity. If you did not make use of this chance, it’s either you were dull or lazy to go to school, or you even considered school as a share waste of your time, therefore do not blame anyone but yourself. Do not personalise this matter in any way because you may appreciate it in future. In life you have to accept the results of your past actions, if you did not put effort in education and tried ignorance then accept it. Anyway education has no age limit Sata can still write his high school by next year for a degree after 3 years through distant learning.
This degree thing must not be pursued because it will just lead to problems on defining what a genuine degree is. Knowing Africa, every political part will just come up with a ‘kantemba’ university which will be awarding degrees to its members. Everyone will then have a degree and will make the constitution look like it was drafted by jokers! Cme on Zambians, let us be serious. Democracy will always give us the leaders we deserve.
Zambian Politician of Rare breed, you miss the point in the sence that in Zambia (if you are not in Zambia anymore), higher education is expensive and only attainable by the rich. We are agreable that leaders should go through highier education, but how many wise Zambians can afford it? I have seen dull, and I mean dull zambians going through lower and higher education simply because their parents are stinking rich and they can just about everything. Most Wise Zambians cant afford a university degree. We only have 1 university with 2 cumpases, (oh, and a half at mulungushi). You think thats enough to offer all school leavers degrees. Nonsense!!!!!!!!!! education is poor in Zambia, yet you need degree holders. Politicians send their children abroad for education, discriminatory!!!!!!!!
Why are Zambians subjected to the opinions of few people? Who do NCC really present , the rich or the poor? Why did they also put the clause that entitle every Zambian a free ride in terms of fees up to the University level? How many people make it to the University in Zambia? How is wealth distribution in Zambia? Look at the Americans who at least have huge financial aid and loans to student, USA qual 4 Pr.No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.
http://www.presidentsusa…
My brothers and sisters we are heading into a territory of two separate society. One for the learnt and another for uneducated. Targeting Sata will not solve political mileage for Nakazwe, Chitika, Machungwa and MMD because Sata has a degree. Read the post. Sata is 20kilometre ahead of MMD project to bar him from this unpleasant constitution making scheme by MMD and rebel MPs. It will good for every Zambian not be discriminated. Taking part in politics is a universal human right. Th most richest people with viable companies are not degree holders. It is a slap in the faces of those qualities to leader and aim for the highest position in our country.
Firstly, we all know that the clause it aimed at Sata. I’d like to see the MMD’s reaction if it turned out that he is actually a degree holder!
As Zambia’s first two presidents were not degree holders when they entered office, I’d like to hear their reaction to this.
The government has continually failed many of its citizens by denying them the opportunity to gain a decent education. It would now be a slap in the face for them to be told that they have to gain a first degree before they have the right to aspire to the highest office in the land.
Formal education, though important, does not guarantee wisdom. Imagine that some of the brightest graduates from the world’s best universities aspire to work for companies started by non-graduates such as Microsoft, Virgin, Apple,…
#45, Zambian Politician of Rare Breed:
You are really missing the point, aren’t you? Not everyone who is against this ill conceived clause is a PF or Sata supporter. Whatever your party affiliations are, try to look beyond your nose when dealing with important national issues that have implications beyond “the here and now.” THINK ABOUT FUTURE GENERATIONS.
If the MMD is out to constitutionally legislate Sata out of presidential elections, well, they might succeed. But these laws have a way of backfiring. MMD is not blessed with an endless list of educated politicians for them to have a stranglehold on the presidency forever. Soon this thing will “boomerang” on them.
I am no Sata supporter, but I am a supporter of common sense and mature way of doing the people’s business!
NCC is nothing but *****s
NCC are fools not representing the Zambians
This will never work, they are just wasting their time. Besides most pipo that are have degrees are not interested in politics coz of the language/ dirty that is involved. We will see a time when MMD will have no candidate if they put this degree nonsense into law. Targeting Sata will do them no goods as the same law they implement will come back and hunt them after sometime.
# 52 “Yambayamba and others that are not in support of what Banda and his greed friend are trying to achieve, I agree with you.
Yes it is true we have dull creatures in NCC period!!!!!
At one time in ZCCM, some people through EIZ wanted to pass a ‘rule’ that only degree holders would gain promotion to senior positions like Section Engineers, Plant Meturllugists, Mine Captains etc. This rule could not fly because of the fact that not all degree holders are good performance at any given job and that not all non-graduates perform poorly. At the political level, not all degree holders have performed well both as MPs and Presidents. The Mines here in Zambia made billions last year and ZRA only managed to collect a paltry 10% of the money minted by the Mines. We have a degree holder as president with a lawyer as his vice and between them the failed to realise that , the mines are getting all the benefits of exploiting our mineral wealth.
THIS IS RUBBISH!!! We are still a “THIRD WORLD COUNTRY” regardless if the President has a degree and besides,why insist on it,any way is Zambia ready for shoving less fortunate to the gutters?the problems with degree holders seldom do they apply what they “learn”,examples n Zambia are plenty.look at the roads,health care,education,housing the list is endless.what Zambia needs is a powerful Parliament and reduce the powers of the President on the economy and defence regardeless.once we do this bodies should be formed as advisories to parliament and executive and make recommendations on several issues in a quick and timely manner,if the Prez fails he should be moved for impeachment!PERIOD..
All the bad presidents, I know, were either ill-educated or not educated: Kaunda, Idi, Mabutu, Chiluba or even George Bush and have one thing is common: killed opponents. Nyerere and Kwameh were college educated and damn goods presidents. Chiluba was so dim-witted to know that using state funds for personal use was a crime. It took Mwanawansa, a college educated president, to decipher Chiluba’s atrocities. Kaunda was once swindled of millions when he was made to believe that Zambia could make fuel from grass. If he was college educated, he would have caught on to the scum. Ba Sata, if you’re smart and wise, just get the stupid college degree and stop thinking the whole constitution can target your illiterate face. I can’t believe that you’ve been womanizing and smoking all these…
Degree:d/ this is it, like MJ said. Look, if the country says a mere cop should have minimum grade 12 certificate, why do you feel the president of this country should only have wisdom, no academic qualifications whatsoever? The argument that not everyone can have a degree, for arguments’ sake you can lower it to diploma but still not everyone will have a diploma, or even the certificate, not everyone will have that certificate, society is like that. NCC is actually being modest in putting a degree.
Others are asking degree in what, tailoring, bricklaying, and whatever field they view to be inferior. It doe not matter, let he who wants to aspire for such important office obtain an academic degree, not honorary or degrees you can but from Matero and Nigeria. Ensure your children have degrees. This is good.