Monthly Archives: September 2026

by

Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D

Emeritus Professor of Sociology

Introduction

Since the early 1900s when the whole world was able to communicate through the radio, the only way you could listen to news about Zambia was through the short-wave radio. This is what I did for decades especially when I lived ten thousand miles or sixteen thousand kms away from Zambia. But since the invention of the internet, I am able sometimes to briefly listen to radio stations from Zambia through internet streaming.

One day, I happened to tune to a Zambian radio station in 2022. It was President Hakainde Hichilema addressing a large crowd either in Livingstone or near the Katima Mulilo border. Zambia Army and Zambia Air Force cadets were in attendance. As he addressed the large gathering, I heard President Hichilema say…..”We Zambians must believe in One Zambia One Nation and hard work. We must love one another. We have to avoid tribalism……we must live in unity…..” As I listened, I realized that he had only been elected the previous year. The message sounded like what our founder President Kaunda and the founders of Zambia leadership used to always say in numerous public political rallies and speeches from 1964 to 1991. It suddenly occurred to me at that time in 2022 that Zambia’s political future was in good hands.

2021 Presidential Campaign

I was in Zambia during the electoral campaigns leading to the 2021 Presidential elections. President Hichilema at the time was the major opposition candidate leading the United Party for National Development (UPND). I have listened to the radio since I was 5 years old 66 years ago in 1960. I listened to opposition candidate Hichilema at the time in 2016 and 2021 on Komboni radio while I was in Zambia at the time. I liked his voice so much that I thought at the time that he should go into radio if his political career faltered. 

There have been a lot of tensions since the August 13 Presidential elections in Zambia. I feel a certain patriotic obligation due to the love of Zambia to offer all 22.5 million Zambians some advice on Zambia’s political future. As a Zambian reader, the immediate questions you might ask are “Who is this ka Tembo who claims to be a professor? Who is he to offer advice? What does he know about us Zambians? Is he one of these opportunistic foreign Zambian diaspora political impostors? Was ka Tembo a Miniter or Managing Director, President of a political party in Zambia?” Did he vote for Hakainde? The answer to all these questions is No.

About the Article

In this article I will first describe who I am because that will establish my credibility.  Second, I will discuss the political crisis in Zambia right now. Third, I will briefly discuss Zambian political history and the non-sense I have heard among us Zambians since 1991 that a Zambian from a particular or specific tribe will never be elected President of Zambia. Fourth, I will discuss the  August 13 Presidential elections difference between critical political analysis and negativity. Fifth, I will give  my unsolicited candid advice to President elect Hakainde Hichilema and UPND. Last, I will advise all my fellow 22.5 million Zambians about the political future of our country.

Credibility of Author

I went to the prestigious Chizongwe Secondary School from 1967 to 1971. I graduated from the prestigious and exclusive and only University of Zambia from 1972 to 1976 graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Sociology. I obtained my Ph. D. in Sociology at Michigan State University in the United States in 1987. I am now Emeritus Professor of Sociology.

I am highly trained in quantitative and qualitative methods and especially research that compares culture and nations including scrutinizing voting results. I lectured and conducted research at the University of Zambia Institute of African Studies for 10 years where I conducted field research in the Eastern and Southern Provinces. I was a professor at Bridgewater College in the United States for 31 years until I retired in 2021. The experience that I am most proud of is that I grew up in the village at Chipewa Village in Lundazi in 1960 when I was 5 years old. I am familiar with and live a life in which I live with Zambians who are in the remote rural villages and those in the cities and towns. Lusaka is my home. I will be 72 years next month and have experienced the political growth of Zambia since 1964 when I was 10 years old. There is more. But I hope this settles any reader’s doubt about my credibility since I have never been famous. I have no desire to be famous, or as some would dismissively say today “create content” but only to be helpful at this crucial time to my fellow 22.5 million Zambians.

Zambia Political Crisis

The political crisis in Zambia right now is about incidents surrounding the recent August 13 Presidential elections. The counting of the votes was suspended for a short period during that one day creating suspicions of rigging among the public. An opposition lawmaker Mutotwe Kafwaya was shot and killed during a post-election security raid at a property in Kabulonga linked to opposition presidential runner-up Brian Mundubile. Some of the opposition leaders have been arrested and detained. These incidents especially the death was tragic and everyone among Zambians has to be sorry. We have to rely on the courts and legal system to resolve these problems and create transparency. The political violence that would have surrounded the Presidential elections on a young Zambia that was only 5 years old in 1969 is why the country decided to have a One-Party State at that time 54 years ago in 1972. Some people today claim that because President Kaunda was a dictator, he alone decreed a One_Party state. That is not true. It was consensus from the Zambian public at the time in our history. I know because I was there when the One-Party State was created. In spite all the recent problems, our nation of Zambia is perhaps one of the best multiparty democracies in the world.

The Political Growth of Zambia

I have lived, witnessed and experienced the growth of politics in Zambia grow from 1962 to 2026 which is a period of 64 years. I have written a book titled: “Satisfying Zambian Hunger for Culture”. Chapter Nine discusses “How Zambians ruled and governed themselves in traditional and modern Zambia.” I describe as a nation how we evolved from One-Party State to the now vibrant multiparty democracy. The late Mr. James Mwape inspired me to personally written this book from which I have zero royalties. Everyone will assume I am just plugging the book because I want to be rich. This is wrong. President Kaunda wrote the Foreword to the book. There are only about 20 copies in Zambia of this very educational book for all Zambians. Please, get photocopies of the Chapter Nine of the book which will help you understand why we have a peaceful multiparty democracy in Zambia. We have had seven Presidents and peaceful transitions. Young countries and some older countries in the world have never had this wonderful experience which we Zambians have gone through since 1964.

The Worst Nonsense

The worst nonsense I have heard in Zambia since 1991 is at first some Zambians were saying “a Tonga can never be elected as President of Zambia.” President Hakainde Hichilema has been elected twice. What now Zambians? Are we going to say no member of some of the 72 tribes can be elected as President of Zambia? I hope no one says: “No Zambian woman can be elected as President of Zambia” because there are millions of Zambian girls who could be future Presidents of Zambia. I have already heard from President Hichilema through his media statement that his seeking a third term is out of question for 2031 for him. This is great news for the future of Zambian politics.

International Criticism

There has been widespread criticism of the Zambian Presidential elections both from the opposition in the country and international community especially supposedly the United Nations. I welcome the criticism particularly from Zambians because it is part of the democratic freedoms. But I do not automatically accept these criticisms as valid when I employ the highest standards of cross cultural or global critical analysis. During the 41 years of my academic life, I have distinguished between genuine critical analysis and negativity.  I will discuss the  August 13 Presidential elections difference between critical political analysis and negativity.

I will just ask questions about the August 13 Presidential elections results. President Hichilema got 61.4% of the total popular vote and Brain Mundubile  got 38% a winning difference of 23.4% or a difference of 1,109,104 popular votes. In how many constituencies was UPND suspected to have rigged? If the alleged rigging could be true, was it enough to have changed the outcome of the election? The opposition and readers might argue that President Hichilema and UPND unfairly closed the courts on the day the opposition would have filed a protest.

United Nation Givo News headline says: “United Nations’ statement on the concocted treason charges pf Mutubile, Makebi, and others is backed by intelligence reports.”

After I read the document which is circulating online forwarded to me by a Zambian relative who lives in Zambia, towards the end, I read this statement which is purported to be from the United Nations:

“The sophistication and precision of the United Nations’ intelligence gathering, bolstered by collaboration with elite agencies around the world, should make United Party for National Development (UPND) members who are insulting the United Nations to think twice about the role and capabilities of this international organization, particularly when there are clear gross violations of human rights.” United Nations Report. This document even had a United Nations logo or emblem.

My own personal investigation has concluded that this unprofessional document appears to bully President Hichilema and UPND. It might be false and not written by the United Nations. This is why we must always distinguish documents that express genuine valid critical analysis that is fair and constructive and documents that express negativity. There might be a lot of false inflammatory documents circulating online as truth about international reaction to Zambia’s August 13 Presidential elections. There is disinformation, misinformation, fake news, fraudsters, scammers, political opportunists, and the so-called content creators. Everyone is trying to make the most inflammatory statements about the Zambian elections. Zambians, we have to be careful to separate facts or truth from lies.

Zambians must Protect Ourselves

My advice to fellow Zambians is to protest peacefully whether you are in Zambia or in the diaspora abroad. I suggest maybe legislation through parliament to make sure that whatever terrible and tragic things happened in this 2026 election will not happen again. Zambia has one of the best multiparty democracies in the world in spite the flaws that may have appeared in the recent and other 6 previous Presidential elections. No elections anywhere in the world are a hundred percent pure. We Zambians have been brought up since 1964 or 62 years to love one another among our 72 tribes. Any citizen can be elected as a President of Zambia. Our founders were against tribalism and racism. We must keep it that way for the next thousand years.

Conclusions

My own personal assessment as a Zambian is that the political future of Zambia is good. This does not mean we have no serious problems. We have to protest  and openly express our criticism and opposition to current political problems. Those criticisms should not be personal. Protect each other and our own country. I would advise President Hichilema to address the nation to explain what happened especially surrounding the day after the elections. In the Presidential national address, he should leave out any information that has to do with potential trials in court so that he will not appear to be influencing the court judges about the court trials.

Today the world has over 200 countries and the internet is brutal. I have a very critical mind. But I am not going to accept foreigners unfairly attacking my country and my fellow Zambians. Most of the international press I have explored so far is fair in their reporting and have constructive criticism. There is a saying in our traditional Zambian culture that when outsiders attack members of your family, family members lock hands and protect each other even if you don’t like your own particular family member. Couples who are proud of their marriage always guard their marriage jealously. Zambians should realize that some of our international friends and neighbors may be envious of the greatest gift our founders gave us; non-racial society, peace, love for one another, good economy, and non-tribal society.

by

Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.

Photographer

Emeritus Professor of Sociology

I, Mwizenge S. Tembo, took all the photos. They are all framed. Once purchased, it will be shipped to you ready to hang. The photographing and preparation of all these framed photos never used any AI.

One day when I was 13 years old in rural Zambia in Southern Africa in 1967, I asked my father to buy me a camera. My father bought me a very cheap plastic camera for K2.00 or $2.00. My father’s pay who had a family of 6 children at the time, earned a teacher’s pay of $19.00 per month. I began to take simple black and white photos that I sold to clients in the villages for 5 cents each photo. My father passed away on July 12, 2026, at the age of 108 years.

The many forms of art include painting, sculpting, wood carving, photography, music, writing, and numerous forms of handcrafts are significant forms of human creative expression. I have enjoyed photographic art as my intimate form of creative expression for more than five decades since I was thirteen years old in 1967. Each day I wake up and I live my life, there are countless moments that I see, hear, and smell as I live through the natural and social worlds. I love to capture some of the unscripted moments of the natural and social worlds in which every day I feel blessed to live. I love to capture spontaneous moments in my life. These photographs capture fleeting moments in Zambia/Africa and in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia in the United States. Once thousands of these moments are gone, they live in my memory. Photography helps me to capture and store some of those moments which I can later share with the public.

Back of Kurdish Dance Framed Photo

by

Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D. Emeritus Professor of Sociology

Dolly Parton in Africa

by

Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.

Emeritus Professor of Sociology

On a Sunday blue sky afternoon 54 years ago in May 1972, I finally stood on the balcony of the fifth floor of Africa Hall 5 Room 26 as a freshman at the University of Zambia. I was appreciating and surveying the beautiful scenery around and below. This was in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia in Southern Africa. The lawns were green between gorgeous flowers and short bushes. This was among the 5-residence complex of Africa Hall, Kwacha Hall, Presidents Hall, and International Hall. Qualifying into the freshman class of only 400 was competitively fierce among thousands of high school seniors. All 1500 students were on government scholarship because our families were poor

What struck me that afternoon was the different types of music booming from record players from many students’ rooms. This was to influence me for the rest of my life. During the next four years, it was normal for me to hear from different dorm rooms, Janis Joplin, B. B. King blues, the Beatles, James Brown, South African simanje-manje music, Rhumba music from neighboring Zaire and many more.  This Zambian college student dormitory’s environment is where one heard genuine music diversity.

The only one thing the late Dolly Parton and I had shared in common is that after I got my first paycheck of K90.00 after my first job in the rural provincial town of Chipata after high school, is that I bought a small brief case record player because I could not wait to listen to music on records. When Dolly Parton graduated from high school in the mountains of East Tennessee, she immediately drove to Nashville to start her country music singing career. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I was fortunate enough to own what was called a briefcase record player. It was a briefcase-shaped small box with a handle, and you could carry it like a briefcase. When you opened it, it was a record player. None of us students could afford to buy numerous LPs or even 45 singles recors. The first and only single I bought during my first job after graduating from high school was Suite Jude Blue Eyes by Crosby Stills and Nash. I played that record so many times that the grooves on the record resembled the Grand Canyon.

I had a portable small supersonic shortwave radio Zambian made in the town of Livingstone. Radio Zambia played both western and Zambian traditional music. Radio stations from 8 of Zambia’s neighbors also played diverse music. This was a very fertile ground for everyone who liked diverse types of music which the listening ear of my soul thrived on.

During the months and years that followed, a student on the ground floor of Kwacha Hall played Isaac Hayes’ “Do your thing”, I owned Santana Abraxas album, and an LP of the South African white country music crooner Virginia Lee. I love Virginia Lee’s rendition of “I can’t stop loving you”. The music of Jim Reeves and in high school we danced to Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious minds” during ballroom dances. Another student in International Hall played Santana’s great hit “Batuka.”. It was in this mix that I heard so many of Dolly Parton’s songs with Porter Wagoner both from students’ residence halls and radio Zambia and other stations.

I heard my next dorm room neighbor play Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner LP for weeks every morning. I loved hearing it so much that I switched off my record player to listen to his music. One day my neighbor happened to come out of his door to go to class just as I was coming out too.

“That is a great Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner LP you are playing,” I casually complimented my neighbor.

“No,” he replied. “That is Skeeter Davis.”

I didn’t pay attention to what he said. I loved that Skeeter Davis album because I heard it so much over several years from my dorm room neighbor.

Fast forward to 1977 when I first arrived in the United States to come and do my Masters Degree at Michigan State. The very first day, I went to the bank and deposited and cashed some of my traveler’s checks. I walked across the street to Sam’s Store where I immediately bought two pairs of blue jeans. Then I walked 2 blocks to buy some music. I found some music including Steve Wonder. But I could not find the Skeeter Davis album. I looked for it for the next 23 years up to 2000, but I could not find it.

Once the internet arrived, I began to search for the Skeeter Davis album. What I found out stunned me. During all those 23 years, I had been searching for Skeeter Davis and Porter Wagoner as the duet singers. It turned out Skeeter Davis had been singing on her duet album with Bobby Bare and not Porter Wagoner. I love Dolly Parton’s music because it reminds me of my teenage years as a college student in the 1970s. But that is when she sang with Porter Wagoner. I also love Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare and play the album whenever I get a chance on Spotify. When Dolly Parton passed away recently at the age of 80, her death reminded me that for decades I had mixed up the two fabulous country music artists I love.  

Since her death, I have discovered that Dolly Parton was not only a great singer, but she was also a great human being beloved across the world. I have seen numerous incredible video clips about her. She once sang a hymn with a Zambian group. The hymn included the click sound of the Xhosa  African language. She tried the click sound and failed. “I can’t do it!” she said as she laughed with the group. She sang the South African national anthem in the indigenous languages and nailed it. She composed a song for Johnny Crason and sang it for him as his guest during the show. Each time I think that Dolly Parton is gone I ask myself the question: “Why do great people have to die so young?”

Mwizenge Tembo is going to give a guest sermon titled: “The Relationship Between Courage and the Soul.” at the Harrisonburg Unilateral Universalist church HUU) on October 11, 2026 at 10:30AM.