By Kalima Nkonde

Story highlights

• Zambia is a youthful country whereby 80% of the population falls below the age of 35 (Central Statistical Office, 2012)
• Zambian Youths Are DULL by nature. They pay attention & debate issues that are not important. Ask me on how we will work together as youths & improve our livelihood. Discussing Tayali’s marriage will not end UNEMPLOYMENT (Malama Stanley, Economic Equity Party (EEP) Secretary General,October,2019)
• As my government continues creating opportunities for youth empowerment, may I reiterate my recent call to the youth to reflect on their obligations, responsibilities and contributions towards national development ( President Lungu, August 2015)
• It is estimated that each year, approximately 300,000 young people leave the school system to join the labour force (Ministry of Finance and National Planning, 2013). Only a paltry of these school-leavers, however, have been absorbed into the labour market as job opportunities have not grown commensurate to the growth of the labour force. It is estimated that between 2005 and 2014 formal jobs increased at the rate of 56 000 per year (ZIPAR Study, 2017/2018)

This article is borne out of my genuine concern, as a visionary, for the gloomy picture that I see currently and in the future for the Zambian youth. I also sense that there is a lack of genuine concern by my generation for what sort of country we are going to bequeath to the next generation. There is preoccupation by my generation for primitive accumulation of wealth – legally and illegally- by all and sundry, especially politicians and those connected to them. They forget that most of them will soon expire and leave all the “riches”. They may also leave their families in trouble if they do not create a good environment for everybody to be happy.

In my language there is a rich proverb which reads as follows: “Imiti ikula empanga” which literally translates that it is the nursery plants that are the future of the forest so they need to be taken care of. In other words, it is the young that are the future of any nation. It follows that if we continue as a nation on the current trajectory and if our Youth do not wake up from their slumber, Zambia will be unrecognizable within 20 years.

I am quite critical about our youth, but I do it out of patriotism and bearing in mind that my generation will not change the status of the Youth at the rate we are going and the Youth themselves need to do it. I have written the article at the risk of getting insults from our youth because some of our youth’s default reaction when they read something that they do not understand or are ignorant about or is critical of them or criticizes their political party; is to insult the writer, without digesting the contents, and with no regard to the age of a person they are insulting. Defence mechanism is all they think about.

This article is meant for the rational youth who may value the wisdom from the writer, borne out of education, experience and exposure; so that they can be inspired to take action. In terms of definition, for the purpose of this article, youths are all those below the age of 35 but in my books I sometimes extend and stretch it higher to even those born ten years after Zambia’s independence – 1974 – aged 45.

The greatest gift and asset that God has given us, as human beings, is the brain and our youth are not utilizing theirs as they should. Our youths are lazy to think about how they can help themselves and become useful citizens. They are lazy to seek knowledge through extensive reading, consulting experienced elders and thinking outside the box by coming up with innovative ideas to meet their challenges in all areas of human endeavour. They expect things to be done for them or just to happen instead of making them happen. President Lungu showed this same concern in 2015 when launching the National Youth Policy

“As my government continues creating opportunities for youth empowerment, may I reiterate my recent call to the youth to reflect on their obligations, responsibilities and contributions towards national development? I challenge the Zambian youth to have a moment of introspection, as a precursor to all their actions, in which they should establish for themselves, whether they are part of the problem or part of the solution in the various challenges our nation faces. This creates the necessary paradigm shift for the youth to be positive change agents and to reposition themselves in an effort to contribute positively to our ambitious national social and economic development agenda”, President Lungu launching the 2015 youth policy and action plan for youth empowerment and employment.

The writer generation’s generation is currently running the affairs of the country (President, Chief Justice and Speaker) – part of the baby boomers generation as they were born between 1950 and 1964 – and in their youth, they peacefully brought up democracy and private enterprise in 1991 by voting out UNIP’s one Party dictatorship. Their forefathers in their youth, peacefully ended colonialism and brought up independence in 1964. It is up to the current youth to meet the current challenges- listed below- the nation and themselves are facing, and bring about peaceful positive change by being more organized and using the power of the vote. The Zambian way of change is peaceful change and violence has no place.

…..The key to solving youth problems of jobs, free education, land, business, public debt, minerals resources, environment and uncertain future is mind-set change!

There is no doubt that the current situation in Zambia does not augur well for the future of our Youth, their children and their children’s children. If one was to summarise the current situation and the foreseeable future, it is very depressing. It reads as follows: there are no job opportunities available currently nor in the future.

There is an estimated 350,000 youths every year going into the labour market and only about 60,000 job opportunities available; the mineral wealth is the hands of foreigners with no joint venture partnerships with the locals, the majority of medium and large businesses are in the hands of foreigners; there are very few business opportunities for formal micro and small businesses, land is being acquired by foreigners at brake necking speed; education is unaffordable and thus leaving out some genius children from poor families and resulting in millions of illiterate children and population; the country has accumulated a mountain of debt which future generations will either pay or get enslaved by lenders like the Chinese, corruption and nepotism is slowly permeating all levels of society including the so called religious leaders and it is slowly becoming the new normal.

In a nutshell, the future of the Zambian youth, is doomed and the onus is on them to act and mitigate against these enormous risks. The Youth need to take the bull by the horns by ensuring that they shape and determine their own destiny by taking advantage of their numbers and get organized by peacefully lobbying for their interests and start influencing public policy and the conduct of public servants – the so called leaders with no national vision but that of their families only, which is very myopic.

The good news is, the youth have two lethal weapons that they are not using which are: they have the numbers as they are in the majority and secondly, they are technology and digitally savvy. The onus is up to them to intelligently make use of this two advantages. The youth need to wake up and start shaping their own destiny through the change of their current mind sets and refuse to be used by our generation especially in politics. Zambian Youths need to become more responsible and organized.

There are four main areas that Zambian Youths need mind set change. These are: employment, politics and governance, economy and social conduct. Broadly, youths should stop waiting for government to solve problems for them but rather become proactive, get organized as a block and lobby with a unified voice using their numbers and technology to influence government policy and the country’s direction.

Employment and Entrepreneurship

In terms of employment, Zambian youths need to change their mind sets and start thinking that on completion of their education, there are two options available to employment: the formal salaried employment and formal self-employment. The Zambian economy will never create enough formal salaried employment jobs until the Youth themselves become job creators. The big companies and multinationals that were a source of jobs like mining, manufacturing in the past etc no longer create jobs due to technological advancement such as artificial intelligence. There is no amount of foreign investment inflows that will create the jobs needed to solve youth unemployment. The only source of mass jobs in the future is from the Youth themselves by engaging in self-employment and entrepreneurship by some of them becoming the source of innovation and industry disrupters.

The Youths especially those studying STEM subjects ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics should) should think of solving some of society’s problems by becoming innovators and market disrupters like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Michael Zuckerberg, Jack ma, Elon Musk, Garret Camp, Travis Kalanick and others did, thereby by create millions of jobs.

It is gratifying that closer to home, there are a few young people, listed below – all female – who never waited for jobs but created their own and for others after completing their education. These young people should be emulated by others in Zambia.

Maria Zelini Zaloomis, 34, is a successful commercial farmer in Chisamba in spite of her education. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Australian Catholic University, a Master’s of science degree in Cardiology from Wesley hospital in Brisbane. Her farm Tuzini Farms Ltd, is located in chisamba and employs over 60 employees.

The other example is Tamara Kaunda, 29 a trained medical doctor who decided to go into farming. Dr Tamara Kaunda, took a shocking decision of leaving her prestigious career as a young medical doctor to become a full-time farmer. According to her, “If young people want money and employment, let them take up agriculture. We need to change the outdated perception that agriculture is back-breaking, unprofitable work for an old, tired generation. I would encourage more young people not to look for jobs but invest in farming and let’s become the job creators”.

The youngest example of a self-employed Zambian who is creating jobs, is 22 year old Maanda Sianga, a farmer of Kafue Rural. She is a successful young Farmer who only started her farming with a K2, 500 which she worked for, borrowing some piece of land from her family. She farms all year round and does not wait for rains as she uses irrigation .She has employed a number of people from her Community.

Although the above examples relate to the Agriculture sector only, it is for illustrative purposes. There are massive business opportunities for the youth in other sectors of the economy like Travel and tourism, small scale mining, ICT, manufacturing, construction etc if they apply their minds. The Youth need to use the power of the internet and search engines productively, in order to gain knowledge about the business opportunities available in Zambia. The question is: why are foreigners especially Chinese, most of them young, succeeding and becoming dollar millionaires here in Zambia while indigenous Zambians are not? The simple answer is the use of the brain, hard work and application. Most of our young people are lazy and want life the easy way.

Politics and Governance

In terms of politics and governance, the Youth are making a mistake of boycotting participating in politics at all levels. There is so much voter apathy among the youth and this is to their detriment, currently and for the future. They need to change their mind sets regarding participation in politics or else they should stop complaining when they suffer the consequences of elections. My advice to the youth is that, the vote is the most potent weapon you have to influence change and to have your voices held. If they register to vote in numbers and turn out to vote and even sponsor some youth candidates in Councils, Parliament and even the Presidency, especially using a party with credible record of having a large number of Youths in influential positions. The Youth can even register their own party in order to effect change very quickly.

Although, there are a few parties led by relatively young people, in my books, they lack political strategy and innovation of the 21st century. These parties do not have a compelling message to appeal to fellow youth. In addition, their leaders are just obsessed with the Presidency and not the bigger picture. There are also some Youth led parties whose leaders are mere jokers and exist for purpose of cheap publicity or to get crumbs from any ruling party at particular time. They have no agenda to seriously influence public policy or to get political power. I personally believe that a serious Youth political party with some mentorship from knowledgeable seniors can get into power if they used the blue ocean strategy that low cost carriers in aviation used to disrupt, transform and penetrate the competitive airline industry. In the modern world, you do not need too much money to win an election but strategy. And knowing your demographics and using the internet cleverly can make the whole difference.

In order to demonstrate that that age should not be a limiting factor for the youth to participating in politics, I will use several examples. At Independence, our first President, Kenneth Kaunda was 40, Vernon Mwaanga was ambassador at 21. The current Prime minister, Jacinda Adern in New Zealand was 37 when she was voted in 2017.The youngest Member of Parliament in New Zealand is a young lady of 25 by the name Chlöe Swarbrick. President Emmanuel Macro in France was 39 when he became President.

In the latin America country of El Salvador, earlier this year, a young Presidential candidate aged 37 years broke an almost 30 year two party dominance of politics by winning the general elections. Nayib Bukele, 37, became the youngest president in the history of El Salvador by beating two traditional Party President by mobilising his fellow youth’s vote.
The message to the Zambian Youth is: stop being used for political violence and killing each other in order put our generation in power, but participate and stand for positions yourselves. There is no time to wait for your voices to be heard and to partake in the governance of the country.

Economic mind-set change

There is an apparent lack of interest by youth in economic issues of the country and yet they are the worst affected. In a society with an enlightened youth population, the 2020 budget allocations would have caused an uproar as Defence and Security was allocated 10% of national budget and yet the country is not at war and yet matters relating to the youth like education, empowerment funds, recreation and scholarship were allocated paltry percentages. Youths in colleges and universities, some even studying accounting, business and economics did not comment on the skewed priorities of the 2020 budget.

One of the Youth Political leaders did show concern about the poor attitudes of Zambian Youth towards what is happening in the economy. Stanley Malama, the Economic Equity Party (EEP) General Secretary appealed to his fellow youth to focus on issues that are important and value adding to them.

“Zambian Youths Are DULL By Nature They Pay Attention & Debate Issues Stop asking me to advice President Tayali, just Switch your brains to discussing matters of National interest. No one employed you to pay attention to this couple. Zambian youths why have you failed to DEBATE & pay attention to the following: Fire tenders $42M,Overpriced roads, 48 houses no owner, Vespers murder 1yr ago on this day, Closing of CBU for no reason, High Zesco tariff, load shedding, Bill 10 bulldozing, High taxation, Unemployment. Ask me on how we will work together as youths & improve our livelihood. Discussing Tayali’s marriage will not end UNEMPLOYMENT,” Malama challenged his fellow Youths.

Zambian Youth need to change their mind-set towards the country’s economy and start getting formally or informally involved in the debate on economic issues as they are the worst affected now and in the future. Keeping aloof will be to their great detriment.

Social Conduct

There is also the escalation of anti-social behaviour like tribalism, drunkenness, prostitution, crime. The conversion of some youth to religious fundamentalism is also a worry. I for one do not support the Christian nation nonsense. It is the highest exhibition of hypocrisy. We had better morals in our country before Zambia was declared a Christian nation in 1991 but a hypocritical President Chiluba. Although Kenneth Kaunda, a son of a missionary and a practising Christian, he never declared Zambia as a Christian nation in his 27 year rule. All these charlatans with names like Apostles, Prophets, Bishops, Shepherds, Men or Women of God never existed in my generation and most of them mere imposters and materially motivated and simply misleading the gullible Zambian Youth. Christian fundamentalism has led to laziness with the hope that God will put food on the table, create employment, strengthen the kwacha, bring one a wife or husband, make one rich, make a women fertile and solve all sorts of problems and all one needs to is pray and do nothing. There is even the naive and archaic belief that political leaders come from God! What nonsense. Religion is not contributing positively to the economic well-being of Zambia as it has been totally been misinterpreted and abused. One can agree with Karl Marx’s view that religion is the opium of the people.

The other anti-social behaviour which is being tolerated by Zambian society is violence especially political violence. This is one area that is the most worrying to some of us, the rational and concerned senior citizens. The country has changed a winning game – as we used to call it in tennis. The current status in Zambia, is such that our youth have become violent to the extent that it has resulted in serious injuries and even deaths of fellow youths. Zambia is a peaceful country and we have always been nonviolent and so the youth should reject being used for violence by politicians from both sides of the aisle. The current situation obtaining is not who we are.

What is the way forward for Zambian Youth?

Zambian Youth have to take action at personal level and as a collective. At Individual level, Zambian Youth need to use their brains so as to make use the main opportunities – economic and political – that are available in the country in order to improve their lot. They should not wait and continue with the current attitude of “Boma iyanganepo” (The government should look into their plight) as it will not happen to cover all of them in millions. In terms of employment, for example, there is need for mind-set change from being job seekers to job creators.

As a collective, the Youth need to get ORGANIZED and start influencing pro youth government policy and politics through aggressive lobbying similar to what the Jewish lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) does in America. There is no American President that can win elections without the Jewish lobby support. The Youth in Colleges and Universities with leadership talent should step up to the plate. Students should stop the immature and violent behaviour of stoning cars and disturbing the citizens’ peace when they have grievances and end up being expelled. There are digital tools that are more effective to protest like electronic signatures or participating in bye or general elections. Zambia is yearning for credible young leaders who are incorruptible and look at bigger picture of a better future for them and their children .and not the current culture of focusing on the short term and the primitive accumulation of wealth through dubious means without hard work.

Conclusion

To conclude, my worry as a Patriot with foresight, is that our youth are so naïve that they think excessive public debt, corruption, ,deforestation taking place such as Mukula tree exploitation,, degazetting of forest 26 and 27, foreign ownership of natural resources including land, Lower Zambezi threat, the unmitigated influx of Chinese nationals including those coming to sell maize cobs, keeping chickens and other activities that can be done by Zambians, will not affect them. The aforementioned will reach an irreversible stage if not stemmed and managed. The consequences are too ghastly to contemplate. Do not say you were not warned.

My appeal to my generation is that for once, let us think about our legacy and help our young people by prioritising policies that benefit the youth and allocate larger budgets to them instead of Defence. I hope my views are not misinterpreted. I have no political ambitions whatsoever and i do not belong to any political Party. I am an independent. I mean well and all my articles have purely been motivated by patriotism through sharing knowledge to help the ruling party and the opposition so we leave a better legacy. My advice is that if at 55 or 60 years plus as I am, you have not made it materially in a legal manner, then its better you contribute to the country in an intangible manner through making Zambia a better place by passing on your wisdom through your experience rather than focusing on wealth accumulation. There are very few Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, who only made it as business man – millionaire- when he turned 62.

The writer is a Chartered Accountant by profession, a Private Sector Development expert and an Entrepreneur. He is an independent, non- partisan finance and economic commentator/analyst and a Patriot.

Justice Minister Given Lubinda has said that the executive is determined to ensure that the judgment of the Constitutional Court on Ministers who remained in office is implemented once the Deputy Registrar of the constitutional Court concludes assessment to establish how much should be paid.

Mr. Lubinda said that after the assessment the debt collection department under the Justice Ministry will execute the order to recover the monies.

Mr Lubinda said that he could however not state how long the assessment will take because that is up to the Constitutional court.

And Mr. Lubinda stressed that there was no breach of the law at the time the Ministers stayed in office saying the law might have been interpreted differently.

This was in response to Katombola Member of Parliament Derrick Livune who wanted to know if President Edgar Lungu broke the law by allowing the Ministers to continue serving after parliament was dissolved.

Mr. Lubinda explained that the statement was only taken to Parliament now because this is when the matter was concluded by the constitutional court.

He said this in response to Senga Hill Member of Parliament Kapembwa Simbao who wanted to know why it has taken so long for the statement to be taken to parliament.

Mr. Lubinda said his duty was not to interpret the Constitutional Court judgment on the matter.

This was in response to nominated Member of Parliament Raphael Nakachinda who wanted to know whether decisions made by the cited ministers, such as debt contraction and other key decisions would also be nullified.

The Constitutional Court has ordered the ministers to pay back emoluments paid to them when the National Assembly was dissolved in 2016.

By Peter Sinkamba

The Constitutional Court has already ruled that Attorney-General, being the chief legal adviser to the Government should only represent the Government in civil proceedings to which Government is a party.

Government is not a party to the case of former ministers who illegally overstayed in office after Parliament was dissolved in 2016. The Constitutional Court was loud and clear on this point two years ago when on 17 November, 2017, it made a ruling stating that the Attorney General had no locus standi to represent former ministers.

Reading the unanimous Ruling of the Full Bench of ConCourt judges, Judge Margaret Munalula unambiguously stated that the Attorney General Likando Kalaluka had no locus standi to challenge the decision of the Court. She further stated explicitly that the Attorney General should not appoint himself lawyer for the former ministers.

This ruling was made following a petition by the Attorney General which he filed in the Constitutional Court in October 2017 asking the Court to reopen the case of former ministers so that the Court could review its Judgment. The Attorney General had argued that it was an injustice akin to slavery to order former ministers to repay salaries and allowances after they worked and earned the money.

Despite the ConCourt directing him not to appoint himself lawyer for the former ministers, the Attorney General has once again appointed himself lawyer representing the former ministers in the same case. This time, he has made an application to the Registrar of the ConCourt to assess the monies payable by former ministers.

One wonders in what capacity the Attorney General has made the application when in 2017 the Court ruled that he lacks locus standi in this matter.

In our view as the Green Party, the gymnastics by the Attorney General are not only intended to delay the wheels of justice but also tantamount to contempt of the Constitutional Court. We think that he is actually undermining the Court. We urge him should stop this disrespectful conduct forthwith. We humbly ask him to let LAZ, UPND, and individual former ministers to sort out this mess themselves. The Court was very clear on what must be paid back. The Court stated that the former ministers should pay back “emoluments” received between 12 May 2016 and 10 August 2016.

Emoluments are emoluments as defined in Article 266 of the Constitution of Zambia Amendment 2016 as follows: “emoluments” include salaries, allowances, benefits and rights that form an individual’s remuneration for services rendered, including pension benefits or other benefits on retirement.” Seeking an interpretation of the meaning of emoluments as defined by the Constitution, is certainly a waste of court’s time.

Private airliner Proflight has revealed that it has withdrawn the aircraft that was involved in a hailstorm on Tuesday.

The airline says the Bombardier Dash 8 Turbo prop aircraft will be out of service until the aircraft undergoes thorough maintenance and is certified to fly again.

In a statement, the airline confirms that confirms on Tuesday, while descending through cloud, its aircraft encountered severe hail as it came into land at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport.

It said the aircraft had 41 passengers and five crew members on board and landed safely and that no one was injured during the incident.

“The damage caused by the hailstorm was significant and there was potentially a lightning strike in addition but this is pending closer inspection and not yet confirmed,” it said.

Flight P00705 departed Livingstone Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport at 14:26 and arrived in Lusaka at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport at 15:26.

“As a result of the incident, the aircraft will be out of service until the aircraft undergoes thorough maintenance and is certified to fly again. In the meantime, Proflight is working closely with its operations and safety departments to minimise disruption to schedules.”

“Safety is Proflight Zambia’s primary concern in order to provide the highest world-class aviation services to Zambia,” said Director Flight Operations, Captain Josias Walubita.

“Weather incidents are not uncommon in the aviation sector at this time of year, and Proflight has robust systems and procedures to ensure safety.
“We commend Capt. Walter Nhliziyo and his crew for their professionalism in dealing with the incident in the manner in which they are trained to do, and thank the passengers who were on board for their support.”

And some passengers shared terrifying accounts of the incident moments after landing at KKIA.

Swithin Haangala said the accident was one to the most horrifying episodes of his life.

“On take off pilot warns us about storms and turbulence between Choma and Mazabuka. As we climb, there is the usual turbulence, nothing untoward. We settle into flight and all is calm. I notice a turn and think to myself that the pilot is avoiding some clouds,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

“We are now just over thirty minutes into the flight and by my calculation we are definitely between Choma and Mazabuka. The announcement from the pilot comes. We have started our descent. I feel relaxed. It seems the storm warning was just a precaution.”

“And then a loud bang, a whoosh of noise and heavy rain pelts the plane. We lose altitude and start dancing in the air. Still nothing to worry about. The cabin attendant who is preparing for landing takes the seat next to me. “Time to sit down”, he tells me. I am seated, my hands now firmly gripping the seat rest in from of me. I let out a nervous laugh. “Are you scared, I ask him”. He smiles assuringly at me. “If I get scared how would you react with the other passengers.” A few minutes later and the plane has ridden the storm and he goes to his usual seat.”

He added, “Everything is all calm, but I have a searing pain in my left ear and my head feels like it’s being torn off. I look around. Everyone seems calm but my head is pounding and the pain in the ear is becoming unbearable. After a few moments the pain calms down a bit and we land safely and smoothly.”

“As we come out of the plane, we see the damage on the plane. Surprisingly all of us share the pain of the headache and the pounding ear. We seem to have just survived a near disaster but thanks to the pilots and crew, none of us realize the danger we have been in thanks to the Proflight crew.”

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has cautioned political parties to desist from engaging into violent acts or risk being suspended.

ECZ Commissioner Derrick Simwinga said the commission will not condone violence from any political party.

ZANIS reports that Mr. Simwinga said this in Milenge yesterday during a senstisation meeting ahead of the Milenge Town Council Chairperson by-elections slated for 5th December 2019.

Mr. Simwinga said any political party that will incite violence will be barred from participating in elections and be suspended.

The ECZ Commissioner has further urged political parties to desist from ferrying cadres from one district to another noting that it was the outsiders that cause confusion.

Mr. Simwinga has since called on the police to be vigilant and ensure people entering the district do so with right motives.

He noted that although citizens have a right of movement to any part of the country, it should not be with the aim of breaking the law and disturbing order.

Meanwhile, Mr. Simwinga has called on traditional leaders to desist from engaging in partisan politics.

He said this during a sensitisation meeting on traditional leaders and the electoral process which was held in Milenge today.

Mr. Simwinga urged traditional leaders to instead embrace every candidate and political party to champion peace and unity.

And ECZ Principal Electoral Officer for Voter Education, Mataa Sikota, told traditional leaders to allow their subjects to vote for their preferred candidates without intimidating them.

Mr. Sikota said traditional leaders should not instill fear in their subjects or threaten them for favouring a particular candidate.

“Do not force your subjects to vote against their will. Let them choose the leaders they want,” he advised.

And acting chieftainess Sokontwe of the Ushi people, Florence Chipe, advised her fellow traditional leaders to protect their integrity by being politically neutral.

Mrs. Chipe noted that chiefs lose credibility the moment they begin to exhibit partisan politics.