It’s easy to take for granted that people are remarkable when they are familiar to you. The first time I realized my Father was brilliant was some time in university. He told me a story about how he taught himself to write code when he was an economics lecturer—so he could automate his marking and grading of student work. That was in the 80s. Automating the grading of students the likes of Mukwandi Chibesakunda, Savior Chibiya and others.
His idea of fun is reading Stephen Hawking and working through the math. He wanted to be a physicist or architect, ended up being an Economist. Writes his Journals in German. Pretty sure he could have been whatever he wanted and have done well at it. Chooses the thankless work of Public Service because he actually believes in the possibility of social flourishing.
Keep doing what you love, old boy.
Was driving around Lusaka today and realised just how different realities exist in 1 city. Life is vastly different depending on where your circle and life revolves.
We all experience different Lusakas
Some pipo arrive prepared enough to redefine the standards
This boy here is studying Actuarial Scs at UNZA.Look at his work
To all young pipo
You're not less thans
Great stuff hapn at 1st attempt.
Industry. Doesn't like pipo who have no clue about what they want/who they are?
The story of Zambia’s public universities is a long one, defined less by a lack of understanding than by a lack of action.
In 1997, President Chiluba appointed Bobby Bwalya, a retired High Court judge, to chair a Commission of Inquiry into the problems of UNZA and CBU, tracing back to 1982.
The Commission’s findings, which were handed over to government in 1998, were clear:
👉Poor funding
👉 Deteriorating infrastructure
👉Overcrowding
👉Poor sanitation
👉Inadequate accommodation for students and staff, etc.
It made detailed recommendations. Government accepted some, rejected others. But even those that it accepted were not actioned.
What is striking, nearly three decades later, is how little has changed.
In 2007, government convened a consultative forum in Siavonga to address the same issues the Bwalya Commission had dealt with. Problems were (re)identified, solutions restated.
In 2016, Minister of Higher Education Michael Kaingu issued a ministerial statement that triggered extensive parliamentary debate on the same challenges.
Over the years, the Parliamentary Committee on Education has dealt with the issue of public universities repeatedly. Its reports are available on Parliament’s website.
Most recently, on 25 April 2024, the Higher Education Authority held a national conference on the transformation of university education in Zambia. Once again, the problems were carefully diagnosed. Once again, solutions were proposed.
The difficulties facing public universities have been studied repeatedly, across decades, administrations and platforms.
The recommendations are not new; they are there in the Bwalya Commission Report and reinforced by years of policy dialogue and parliamentary reports.
What is missing is not insight. It is implementation.
Zambia currently has ten public universities. Last month on Youth Day, government announced plans to set up six more.
Those that are questioning the idea of building more when the current ones are facing serious challenges cannot simply be wished away as detractors, especially in light of the evidence.
@KINGWAMI1@joseph_kalimbwe The tax free report was about investing in Multi Facility Economic Zones (MFEZ). The same incentives actually apply to locals who invest in these zones. Zambian companies actually have a less threshold for investment which is pegged at $50k. Check the Lusaka MFEZ website
Denver Water manages a vast, 4,000-square-mile Rocky Mountain watershed, with supply sources extending over 200 kilometers from the city. I was proud to learn that this sophisticated operation is led by Zambian engineer Swirvine Nyirenda (a University of Zambia product), supported by a fellow Zambian female professional, Thandi Fletcher (dark dress, front row standing, third from right). Swirvine is a seasoned engineering leader with over 20 years of expertise in planning, design, and construction of municipal utility infrastructure. He currently serves as the Manager of Project Delivery
Services for Aurora Water’s Planning and Engineering Division, overseeing utility infrastructure projects valued at approximately $300 million annually. Given President Hichilema’s urgency regarding national water security, I am engaging with these two professionals to explore advanced drainage and water harvesting strategies for Zambia.
This is the Karim family, proprietors of Mopane Safaris Limited in Zambia. They are exhibiting at the Safari Club International (SCI) Convention in Nashville. They were excited to see me, recalling how my Business Review Televation program on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation I produced and presented in the 1990s inspired them to save money. Mr. Sarge Abdul Karim (middle, first photo) reminisced about the moments when they motivated one another to maintain financial discipline. He said, “If anyone in the family was careless about financial management, we threatened to report him or her to Chibamba Kanyama.”
I was in a Yango today and had a very distressing conversation. My driver is Bemba and his wife is Tonga, his daughter in grade 9 who has a first Tonga name and second Bemba name opted to swap them and started putting her Tonga name as an initial. Because she is being bullied by