By Prince Bill M. Kaping’a Political/Social Analyst
We would like to make a passionate plea first lady Mrs. Mutinta Hichilema not to yield to any maneuvers by some crafty and deceitful individuals to entice her into forming her own foundation, but instead continue championing charity activities within the framework of Dorcas women where she remains a committed member. Why do we say so?
In the past, corporate mafias have ‘used’ certain individuals to convince first ladies form their own foundations so that they could benefit from their donations. Although some politicians have been quick to swallow the bait and deemed this as an opportunity to launder their images in the eyes of an otherwise hungry electorate, the mafias have been many steps ahead of them. And at the end of the day, they’ve gone running all the way to the Bank for their real motive hasn’t really been demonstrating good corporate social responsibility, but rather establishing easy access to State House!
We will cite practical examples: Immediately Frederick Chiluba became President, we witnessed the birth of Hope Foundation. Thanks to an endless flow of cash from these businessmen, Mrs. Chiluba could be seen frequenting remote areas such as Shang’ombo or Lungevungu making donations of different kinds, of course to people in need. In a matter of time, companies and individuals behind such donations would be rewarded huge contracts to supply fertilizer to government. But where is Hope Foundation today? Immediately citizens denied Chiluba a third term at the helm, these benefactors severed ties with the foundation and the rest as they say is history.
And once Levy Mwanawasa took over from Chiluba, we saw first lady Maureen Mwanawasa come calling with her own Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative. Of course, this is the moment those sly businessmen had been relishing! In no time, they were zooming in and out of State House lavishing the first lady with generous donations – both in material and monetary forms. Like her predecessor, Mrs. Mwanawasa would be constantly traversing the breadth and width of our country playing the role of Mother Christmas! As we are all aware, Mwanawasa would die during his second term in office. Did those businesses continue providing support to MMCI? Where is the foundation today? It’s dead and buried!
At least only the spouse of 5th Republican President Mrs. Thandiwe Banda would resist the temptation to form her own foundation. She elected to remain true to herself by staying home. However, the abhorrent practice would resume upon Michael Sata taking over office.
Being a medical practitioner, Mrs. Sata would go on to set up Ubutala Bwa Bumi, a charity focusing mainly on medical related challenges for vulnerable people in society. At one-point, Zambian Parliament would even allocate K1.5 billion to her office in the 2013 budget eliciting a barrage of criticism from citizens who wondered whether she was running a parallel Ministry of Health. As expected, the seemingly good initiative of Ubutala Bwa Bumi would crumble like a cookie immediately Sata went to be with the Lord.
Under the tenure of President Edgar Lungu, first lady Esther Lungu would take her charity works to another level! The Esther Lungu Foundation would be like the long-awaited miracle for the mafias! They would never tire calling at State House bearing massive donations or making out checks to the foundation. Mrs. Lungu would waste no time hitting the ground running trying to set her own record of charity works. If she wasn’t making generous donations to schools around the country, she was beating bush paths in rural areas economically empowering women. In other instances, she would be hauling assorted medical supplies to hospitals or handing out foodstuffs to the visually impaired, among others. She caused quite a stir when she led a huge delegation to USA to collect four fire tenders of 1985 model which were better off remaining in a museum!
Mrs. Hichilema has been known to be a member of Dorcas women for as much as we can remember. Dorcas Ministries is an outreach within the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It was started by a group of women in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA, in 1874 in the home of Mrs. Henry Gardner. The objective of the Dorcas Society is to help people physically and spiritually, in the name and spirit of Jesus. Its concern is for every case of need, irrespective of creed, class, nationality, or ethnic origin.
This would definitely be a perfect fit for the first lady to carry on charity works!
UPND is on course to become one of the worst Political party in the history of any Political party…they’ve been embarrassed in Eastern province by elections and this is just the beginning….it will be like this 2026 HH too much lies…and pretending to fight corruption and yet he is shielding all PF known Bandits…..he has started welcoming PF Bandits and see what has happened in Eastern Province…take this as an official warning from Saulosi
Moses Mawere is a known criminal and very corrupt makaka
I thought Thandiwe Banda formed the Mpundu Foundation which was later accused of something. Can someone shed some light on this.
So she will be making donations through the Docas mothers, right? Who will be giving her the donations and materials? So this time there will be better Mafias? Senseless article trying to promote the activities of her church.
Meaning; this time around mafia money will be channelled direct into Docas SDA mother account, right?
This is a good suggestion. We need continuity in this, and to avoid corruption.
@3, Nkata, you completely miss the point.
The PF under Guy Scott in Parley wanted to define the role of the First Lady and allocate a distinct budget to her Office. The UPND led by Jack Muleza Mwiimbu vehemently opposed that move. Now they’re faced with the same challenge. Unless the role of the First Lady is officially recognized, it will be difficult to control and monitor her activities. There’s no doubt she wields some power and influence in our governance structure. So instead of leaving it to the whims of the individual in that Office, let’s do the correct thing and officially recognize the role of the Office of the First Lady, then we can follow it up with other things
i think lets leave dorcas and the church alone, God has sustained thie Dorcas ministries for so many years, We do not depend on donations from the goverment.
Chibesa looks like an idyott but he has a point. Should “donations from state house” go into SDA account? my answer is YES. It is written in bible.
SDA accepts 10% of your EARNINGS. Even you chikkala @Nkata you should pay 10% to church from your over priced sale of that gold from Lumwana.
Useless view.
Let the first lady sit at home and silently support her husband….well today he has ‘appointed’ another person to state house one Chipo….looks like he will continue without key personnel
Thank you, for once i am able to finish your article. We voted for Mrs Nalumango and bally. Because of very close proximity to the president. First ladies have tended to wield more power than cabinet ministers. And the president becomes hated via association. Example Mugabe ‘s wife grace and our…..
hahaha Chibesabantu niceone!!!! technically yes thats what it means. My advice is let her not drag the docus team into the political space. Since she is a member , Let her support the docus team and its leadership so that they carry out outreaches in communities at a larger scale. The she can also use already exisiting foundations to carry out her vision.
Game, set and match.
Déjà vu #2
Mpudu Trust was not Charity Foundation. Thandiwe Banda borrowed $1m from Access Finance. She invested that money and bought a house in Kabulonga and used the house as collateral. That house was then demolished and she built 4 modern apartments on the same plot using the same money, which she now rents out those plots. The rentals fees are what she uses to pay back the loan s agreed with the bank. That property investment is what she called Mpundu Trust owned by her twin children. But jealousy was used to scandalise her name by Fred Mmembe who had some beef with RB. Remember, The Times of Zambia also lied that she had stolen K8 Billion and built hotels in Kenya & Malawi. She took the newspaper to court and won a K2 Billion for Damages
I don’t think Madam Mutinta is an opportunist like most of these other 1st ladies. Let her continue enjoying her husbands hard work away from the public eye.
These foundations are just a bunch of non-sense.
Thandiwe set the bar high! Respect ….
$12 Thanks for the sober explanation.
‘breadth and width’ is the same thing.