A Zambian’s response to “You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum!”
By Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa
I read the
“transcript” of your conversation with my compatriot with much intrigue. Your view of the “third world” is not only dated in nomenclature, it is also dated in reality. When was the last time you were in Zambia? The Zambia of the 1980s is not the Zambia of 2012! Zambians are far from sleepy and lethargic (though I do not see sleep or dreaming as a bad thing). Perhaps it is because I subscribe to Rabindranath Tagore’s words, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy, I woke and saw that life was duty. I acted and behold, duty was joy.”
I know many other Zambians who live by the same value. I know doctors, artists, cleaners, entrepreneurs, innovators, and intellectuals, amateur and seasoned, small and big, who, despite the odds, work slavishly to improve Zambia. Some work 9-5 and others do not, but rather than focus on “billable hours”, they focus on results. People see the light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps because you spent your time behind a wall fence-watching the people rather than interacting with them, you failed to notice that.
Lastly, I contend there is no Lake Zambia. As the Chinese proverb goes, “Water not damned won’t rise.” Dams are being built. No longer will anyone rape, pillage and exploit Zambia. Zambians will not accept the morsels. People are tired of being sick and tired. In case you did not understand the lyrics to the popular Dandy Crazy song, “Don’t kubeba”, citizen action is in full swing – we just have not told you yet.
“What is different?” you wonder. In 2011, the World Bank categorised Zambia as a lower middle-income country, which means the per capita gross national income is between $1,006 and $3,975 per year. This categorisation came with pride and sorrow. Zambians know development is more than statistics. Zambians understand that development is an inclusive process; decreasing poverty is a priority. Zambians peacefully elected a new government thus demonstrating that the government is one of the people, by the people, for the people.
Arguably, Zambians have not always made the best political decisions, but the last election was testimony that the people command the way forward and will not blindly allow government to regress national progress. If government does not serve the people, the people will get a new government. Good governance in action is in Kalingalinga. No longer is it the neighborhood (where I went to school as a child) from where we would hear gunshots at night. Flimsy housing structures are replaced with brick houses, street kids are going to school thanks to free education offered from primary school to basic school (grades 1 – 9), sanitation has improved and it is a bedrock for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Not all Zambian intellectuals are sitting twiddling their thumbs “waiting for Godot”. We are not willfully sitting as our people die. The sad reality is that it takes time, time to reverse the rot in the system and time to create new visions, innovations and achievements. While Zambia may not have many patented inventions, Zambian products are part of the global supply chain. We subscribe to the “Made in the World” concept. According to the World Trade Organisation, “The statistical bias created by attributing the full commercial value to the last country of origin can pervert the political debate on the origin of the imbalances and lead to misguided, and hence counter-productive, decisions.” Nevertheless, we bear much guilt because people die under our watch. That forces us to work harder to make good on our commitments to Zambia.
Though we sometimes get sidetracked by intellectual banter, fail to connect theory to life’s realities and get frustrated by our history and point fingers, we know it is our responsibility to build Zambia. Granted, there are some Zambians in the diaspora who want nothing to do with Zambia; those are not our concern. There are many Zambians, who if called home to serve, would. Diasporans spill their sweat in other countries to be able to provide for their extended families and invest in Zambia. In 2010, remittances were over USD $68 000000. Whether from Timbuktu, Mali or Namushakende in Zambia, the money many Zambians earn invariably goes into the Zambian economy.
http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/arch...sponse-to-you-lazy-intellectual-african-scum/
