By J.Musonda
The age of the President is important in Zambia. In 2011 we had elected a president who is at an advanced age and we all expected to see change in 90 days. Looking at his age some of us thought with his age a 90 day promise is aright a least we can see something. 90 days is over and far gone we are looking forward to the future to see change.
However, when we look at the age of our current president how long will he be there? In twenty years time will he be there? If yes then he will be a vegetable.KK is still here because was he young and healthy when he was president.If we continue to elect presidents we all know will not there tomorrow and expect them to plan for the future of this country then we are fishing dry fish.
[pullquote]Right now we have a president who is old and will not be there much longer and the worst thing is, we still want him to make decisions for our future including the constitution.[/pullquote]
From our short democracy we have seen how we have already made a big mistake causing the death of the president.It seems we never learn, we heard many times about the health of the late president Mwanawasa and we still went on to elect him for a second term.Despite being the best president we’ve had so far, we did not love him. At the end of his life we came out showing as if we loved him so much.If we loved him we would not have elected him for the second term basing on his poor health.
Whether we like it or not I have said it. Right now we have a president who will not be there in short time to come and the worst thing is, we still want him to make decisions for our future including constitution. We need a young man for president who we will praise if he is still living after his office or persecute him if he steals our money. Not the one who will be dead or hospitalized when need for court trials.
To the young ones who have ambitions to stand for president grow up by showing us maturity. To Opposition parties stand for real issues in parliament.It is painful when you are only seen talking about increasing your allowances because it benefits you but silent on real issue affecting people like allocations of plots.
Our democracy is still very weak especially the constitution.We need a president who will be there in future to see development. So far the politicians we have had,have just been power hungry.Unfortunately in Zambia we have reached that stage when we elect someone he because so powerful that we can not touch him/her even when evil they are involved in is public.
Our 35 is just fine. However I believe its not about the age but the agility of the brain.
Shouldn’t be about gender either but the writer says:
“We need a young man for president who we will praise if he is still living after his office or persecute him if he steals our money.”
Afraid it’s hard to take him seriously after the line about whether the same president will be there in twenty years time 🙂
…and I say ‘him’ (J. Musonda) for it be my own conclusion the author is not a self hating female 🙂
How old is that J. Musonda who wrote the article? So childish to be a president.
YEs musakwa tell the ***** J.Musonda its not about age
Age is not the issue it’s what he cvan do for Zambia and it’s people!!!!!
J. Musonda can you tell us your true name. Don`t hide in a Bemba name when you are not one of us. How old was Fredrick Chiluba when he was elected as president? How much damage did he do to our economy, apart from selling houses at K10,000:00, making most councils poorer than they were before. Look at his cabinet that consisted of young men who thought then was the time to steal from the government and enrich themselves. Age does not matter, what matters is the wisdom in that person. Look at the Catholic Church, for one to become a Pope mwana must have seen days and days.
Iwe Musonda, ulicipuba sana. Are you God to know one’s destiny? Like @Nakabalika has said, it is not about age but the brain. I can tell by the way you have written that your brain is a ‘vegetable’ though you may look young. Most of the young ones these days look older than their age due to excessive beer-drinking and womanising/manising. I am a proud 57 year old but I pass for a 40 year old. I am still in employment because of my energy. Some co-workers who are 40 cannot match my energy and ability to perform. They perform below average. So iwe makaka Musonda, stand as president in 2016 kabili you are wiser and more intelligent than us ‘old’ ones.
My father was fond of boasting like you do even when he was approaching 88 years of age. Sometimes what we feel in ourselves may not be what we really are. Advise to you – Prepare for your retirement and leave room for young ones to mould the world for the future.
@Kachali, for your informationI have already retired and been given by retirement package which I have used very wisely, but because of my hard work and intelligence coupled with my unsurpassed energy, the organisation has been giving me three-year contracts to work because there is no young one to take over me due to their laziness and lack of commitment to their work. Most of you young ones spend time on the company phones chatting to your girl/boy friends the whole day at the expense of productivity. So mwana, just emulate me and your dad.
@Kachali, I forgot one thing, most of you young ones suffer from HIV/AIDS. I can boast of being HIV/AIDS -ve. Unlike you who is HIV/AIDS +ve. Don’t say that I am laughing at the sick ones, no I am not. I am just a discplined individiual who is concerned about my health and life in general.
Awe Kabaso we the youth need our chance to rule and work,you must retire you are out dated!!!!!!
iye Kapaso how many jobs have you created from your investments, you sound like a proud for nothing old man.
Young men, I don’t have to create any job for you lazy lads. I have enough money to even marry your mothers, but why waste my hard-earned money to catch HIV/AIDS?
J. Musonda, what on earth are you talking about? Are you saying that only old people die? Have you ever read the story of a community which decided to kill all its old people because they were no longer needed and ended up in more trouble than they had bargained for! Remember that Government is not the responsibility of one person but is made up of different arms. Yes one person will be the overall head in this case the President, but he will be advised by others on how to govern. What we should do as Zambians is pray for a good leader, whether young or old. We should also pray that that leader gets endowed with a crop of advisers who are honest, hardworking and not self saving. We all know that one finger cannot pick a louse! A leader does not need to last forever after his tenure!
We elected Chiluba when he was still young but what happened, he had a room full of designer suits, room full of designer shoes u can mention them. He went on selling the entire mother Zambia. I am very comfortable with old presidents bcoz thy have nothing to desire about.
Iwe J.Musonda your article makes very little sense!!Wat you are saying is that we should only vote for a young person to be president even when he/she has no programme to develop our country.Even if Sata is an old person his development programmes can be seen and appreciated by those who know what development is.He has a direction and some of the young men running political parties are just busy insulting elders and have no direction at all!!Sata has not come to stay forever but to pave way for the country to start moving forward.For your own information there is no country which has developed without roads.Roads are the backborn of development,without roads you cannot take development to any area.This is a starting point and Sata the old man is doing it for us.Muletasha!!
What a cheat and stupid argument. You really need some growing up Mr or whoever wrote this. Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable in a democracy and campaigning for or against someone because of his or her age, gender race etc is pure stupidity and bellow democratic standards. Michael spent years trying to convince electorates to vote for him to the highest office of the land and he did it peacefully and democratically; he wielded no weapon against you or anybody and you must congratulate him for that power of persuasion a virtue endorsed by all peace and democracy loving people. He has contributed to cementing democracy in our country and a lot of your politicians have a lot to learn from him, so please stope this idiocy of yours
Hahahaha….. am jst waiting 4 a state funeral, viva wynter
Apa ni Hakainde bane…that is the only rational optiona.that is if you are a rational human being of course
Chipimo for president – young, intelligent, fit
lo kekekekekekkeek funny stuff
i see monkey some monkey brains here kekekekekekeekekek lol tree to tree long tail right
And when someone in America call you names you say they are racists, meanwhile you doint it to your fellow zambian, really you are useless!
Let us not be petty by talking about age. It does not mean that old people will always die earlier than young ones. If you go to the cemetry today you will find the younger generation tops the list. Let us vote for leaders with the following qualities: Good morals, integrity, uprightness, honesty, married once in their lives unless it is really neccessary to remarry, handsome, clean teeth, do not put their hands at the back when walking, not sarcastic, behave themselves well in public forum, do not make fan of others, etc
Lol! Ukwanites are about to burst their arteries. Just accept it! Your leader is too old! And people are talking about his health. And rightly so. There’s no need to beat about the bush. It just a fact of life!
Whether Mr Sata is old or not or even if he leaves state house today, i can bet you HH cannot ascent to that position. We all know that bemba speaking people outnumber you bantustans with smelly backsides. Zambians have been rejecting HH and that is a fact you cannot deny. You people will die of envy. Please come out of your cocoons and co-exist.
@kapaso. You are really scared of HH. My dear get it out of your heard. The majority of Zambians have no aprty affiliation. By the way you can go through my contributions on LT. I have never at any point vouched for any political leader be HH, Sata , Milupi or Mumba. I am above that. That is business for moochers like yourself. The livelihoods of souls like you depend very much on who is in power. I wouldnt be surprised that youre currently feeding on taxpayers money! And please stop playing your Bemba tribal card. Where were you Bembas when Sata lost three consequentive elections in 2001, 2006 and 2008? You are a pathetic fo.ol!
Ba Musonda ichindikeni! you mean to tell me that the President is expected to lead and develop Zambia single handedly? kwena you have just shown your numbness of your brain; this is why young people are not even considered to take up higher positions, i assume you are young and have just given a reason why we are sidelined.
Let me educate you on one thing, for Zambia to see any sort of development, we all have to wage in and contribute, just as the body needs all it’s parts to work normally. Were you drank with hate when your thoughts dawned on such lowlessness of an article. Get an assistant or manager to advise you propely, age is just a number what matters? i cant go into details to tell you that it’s upto every Zambian to wakeup, What have you done to help? this article?!!! ATASE!
The Regan, Breznev, Thatcher, Tito, Fidel, Mandela, Masire, Nyelele, Kaunda, Mugabe, etc all were old men. Some of them did great things for their countries and some were a let down. The same can be said about the young presidents. Some can be good for national development whilst others can be destroy country economy. So, it depends on the make up of a person traits of that President, whatever his age. Both young (35yrs) and older folks can leave a legacy, for better or for worse. So, J Musonda, your mind is biased and not fair and impartial. Yours is a twisted logic. Try to rethink again, once more for the second time, even third or fourth time. Examples are there for you to verify against your proposition.
The examples you’ve cited at least went to school. By the way Masire, Nyerere and kaunda all left office at a younger age than the age at which Sata assumed office. They were all below 70 years when they ceased to be Presidents. Kaunda left office at the age of 67. Sata was 74 when he assumed office. Your Sata is old, tired, sickly and clueless. State House should not be turned into a hospice!
The title is misleading. The article has no comparative evidence to link the argument of age against performance. It is focused on an individual and a misplaced “statement” . Its not diverse enough to be credible.. (D-). Maybe the view point could have focused on the Zambian Youth in Politics. While it is important to point out the lack of participation by Youths in the country’s politics, Its also imperative that we understand that political grooming plays a very important role in having young and promising future politicians. This culture of grooming in Zambia is non exisistant
My dear, most of the youths are just drunkards with no agenda apart from fighting with each other or scheming about which girls they will sleep with today. Most of their brains are retarded with alchol to the extend that they have stopped thinking and most of them think with shake shake in their heads. The so called J Musonda is not even Musonda. He must be Hamusonda.
By the way….,Hillary Clinton might just be Americas next president, and oh…., Joe Biden might also contest the presidency, how old are they, will they be in 2016? Joe Biden is even the vice president, how old is he, have you seen his work lately? what about the newly appointed secretary of state John Kerry how old? what say you? Dont give me that crap ati niku America, we are all humanbeings so no excuses, what are you talking about monko, whats your record, have you helped zambia in any way apart from your work if at all……, what and who are you waiting for, if you have, i rest my case, but not that fast! please be reasonable and not just yap yap, we need to work together, they laugh at us not ba sata, thay say “Zambians”!
Give your city to the young ones if you want to see it in ruins…..it written lesa tabepa
Ba kapaso show us wisdom not what you are writing. You may still be in employment because of fi maanga…ukolowa abaiche sana pa job. Give us space to respect you twapapata. Some young people are even putting up better urgements than you.
Mwana, you don’t need to respect me, first respect yourself in all that you do. Yes ubwanga nakwata ni Bible, don’t drink smoke or womanise, imwe mwebaice ubwanga bwenu ma manhood yenu, fwaka, ubwalwa, muilowa fye bane. Because of health issues baice you find yourselves ku hospital kuma x-ray nakulapenda CD4 yenu. So you want me to put up a ‘better’ argument to suit you? No, no, no, no. Be factual mune.
Very Rubbishly stinkingly rude dull article. Its like the author fake Musonda is in chainama mental hospital. Can some doctor check his brains???. Where were you Mr fake Musonda when Chiluba at 46 years old became president of Zambia in 1991? where where you when the Nawakwis , Mwangas, etc at their tender ages were made ministers? What did this crop of young people did for Zambia….stealing, selling Zambia’s companies of which HH was the seller. Who can trust young people today?
Mambala iwe just shut up.
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.
BUT THAT SHOULD NOT BE AN EXCUSE TO IN UNDER FIVES WHO HAVE NEVER WORKED ANYWHERE
There is a Kapaso above, that mid-aged man is fun mwee.
Then vote me am only 36yrs old na mwine mushi alishiba.
Mr Musonda, “The age of the President is important in Zambia”. The age of the President and that of everyone is important not only in Zambia but the world over. Tome to me now at 70, wisdom increases with age. Death, disease and corruption manifests itself among the young. Where is Levy and Chiluba? Today there is a clarion call for former US President Bill Clinton to come back. Do we discard Germany Chancellor, Angela Merkel, just because of her age?
Musonda you are outdated in your thoughts. In Zambia we do not to worry about the age of would be president and it is a pity you were so foollish to believe that there would be change in 90 days, I feel pity for you! All we need in Zambia is people with working brains to run the affairs of the country and not bakaponya. We need educated people who can analyze and debate policies intellectually not this crop of kaponyas we have now running the serious affairs of the nation. Ba Mudonda mulichipuba please go back to school naimwe!
Your reporter at ZWD, Mutinta, has reported that when
1. Hugo Chavez was diagnosed with cancer his subjects were informed…but the truth is almost the entire Venezuela became gloomy!
2. In 2001, SA icon Nelson Mandela was diagnosed with prostate cancer SA were informed about his sicknesses….The truth is SA almost declared a period to refrain from public angagements .
3. Fidel Castro became sick… Mutinta says the world went into an overdrive and became abuzz with speculation!
Do you need that, Zambians? I suppose Mutinta is trying to avoid reports which were carried out by ZWD that the President had been flown to India for medicals this week. In all cases, Sa, Cuba and Venezuela , which have been cited by Mutinta, the presidents had been ill for a while before their ailments…
… Hugo Chavez was diagnosed with cancer his subjects were informed…but the truth is almost the entire Venezuela became gloomy!
Do you need that, Zambians?
I suppose Mutinta is trying to avoid reports which were carried out by ZWD that the President had been flown to India for medicals this week. In all cases, SA, Cuba and Venezuela , which have been cited by Mutinta, the presidents had been ill for a while before their ailments became public knowledge.
I scanned the article, then read it and like some here, feel it reads like a jumbled train of thoughts. It’s not succinctly laid out. Frankly the first and second paragraph needs complete rethinking. While The age has some bearing on the one bearing the title of “prezi” it’s not the end all. We need, as some have mentioned, some one who has the intellectual capacity, drive and ambition to advance the nation. I believe our constitution states that the candidate, male or female must be of good moral character and have a ‘clean’ bill of health. We tend to ignore the health part i think. I refuse to believe that we killed Mr. Mwanawasa, he was ‘ill’, but was deemed fit to run. He understood the pressure of the job.
Another thing is how the writer makes a correlation between age and delivering on campaign promises, regardless of time frame. While I wouldn’t necessarily, hypothetically, expect a teenager to fulfill the duties of the prezi office, age is largely negligible and so is political experience to some extent (case in point Barack Obama who many, mostly in GOP, thought was unqualified as a jnr. Senator to be president). Again people have pointed this out in the comments. What we do have is a deficit of trust, leadership and predisposition to bad/ service work ethic. That is self evident when we read or hear about the goings on in gov and the private sector. Death of a prezi should not halt development; gov should be able to progress the set agenda for the most part and replace him/her.
ronard reagan was elected USA president at a much more advanced age than sata , he went on to be one of the best president US has ever had. He changed america and made it into a more formitable superpower.
People like this author are the ones that are making hh and nevers mumba become a distraction to government coz they ve realised if pf stays in grz for 20yrs they ll be not less than 70yrs shikulus.
improve your English please.
the truth hurts, zambians should be very serious when electing a leader, sata is too old and very old. talk about america, why did john m lose to barack o? americans didn’t want an old man, clever people.