Zambia needs a president who will unite the people – Victor Mwaba

In “ZAMBIA VOTES 2016” at Zambian Eye, our aim is to provide a bi-weekly issue-focused pre-election reporting by engaging political leaders, civic leaders, academicians, business-people and authors and other well-informed political minds in Zambia and abroad about the Zambia’s 2016 elections through interviews. The views presented in these interviews are purely those of the interviewees, and may not represent those of Zambian Eye or Charles Mwewa. This week, we have the pleasure of presenting Victor Mwaba, a brilliant Zambian business manager based in Chicago, USA

(Charles Mwewa [CM]) Pleased to host you on “Zambia Votes 2016” at the Zambian Eye. May we have the pleasure of knowing a little bit more about who you are?

(Victor Mwaba [VM])      Victor Kunda Mwaba born in Kitwe in the mid-70s, getting very old, I guess. I was also raised up in Kitwe, Zambia. I attended Kwacha Primary School in Kwacha Township from grades 1 to 4, and then I attended Matete Primary School part of Grade 4 until Grade 6. I returned to Kwacha where I completed my primary schooling. My father worked in the copper mines most of his life where he had a stint in germ stones mines. This explains why we moved a lot from Kwacha – Matete (Nkana East) and back to Kwacha. For my secondary education, I attended Mukuba Secondary School from grades 8 to 12. I went for my Form 6 to Mpelembe Secondary School through a Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) scholarship at the time. I studied mining engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, then I got a Master’s in business administration (MBA) for my graduate school from Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, USA. During the day, and some nights during major breakdowns, I am a plant manager for a sand mining and processing plant for US Silica Company in Chicago, Illinois. The sand we produce is used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas. So, if you’re enjoying low gas prices, please feel free to thank me. On most nights and weekends, I am daddy to two lovely girls, Savannah aged six years, and Maya, aged five years. I am, of course, married to a wonderful wife, Mutengwana Kasapu-Mwaba. Some people call her Tenku. On social media, I refer to her as #MusimbiMubotu, for obvious reasons.

I have three younger brothers and lots of nieces and nephews. I used to have an older brother, Given, who also went to Mukuba, but he passed away a couple of years ago. I also used to have half older siblings, two sisters and one brother, but they too went to be with the Lord. My father lives in Kwacha, so does my mother, although she frequents the US quite a bit.

(CM)                             What is your understanding of leadership?

(VM)                             Leadership entails transforming a community, one person at a time; concurrently, not necessarily one after another because that would take a very long time if one were to impact millions of people. Good leaders not only bring out the best in their followers, but they, most importantly, unite them.  The net results end up being complementary; being more than the sum of individual parts. Leadership is not group think, nor is it effective when it is transactional.  It is more effective when it is transformational.

(CM)                             Is there a co-relationship between leadership and economic development, please explain?

(VM)                             Yes, there is a relationship between leadership and economic development. In the private sector on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), when a company hires a great business leader, in many cases even the stock price ticks up.  When a leader resigns or they get terminated, the markets respond. The stock markets are some of the most transparent democracies because people vote with their money.  Great leaders are entrepreneurs. Many people think entrepreneurship is quitting your job, selling your house and starting a business.  Entrepreneurship simply means creating opportunities where none existed. Leaders create economic opportunities for their followers; countries or profit making entities. In the case of a country, when it has great leadership, they craft laws that not only attract investment, but also balance that out with other responsibilities to other stakeholders.

(CM)                             Zambia is headed to electing its seventh president since independence in 1964, and various Members of Parliament (MPs). In your opinion, what kind of a leader does Zambia need in 2016? Do you have any preference for the presidential candidates?

(VM)                             Zambia needs a president who will bring the people together; one who will be president for all, irrespective of differences in ideology. I would like to see Hakainde Hichilema win the upcoming elections. He has good corporate experience he could bring to Zambia’s highest office. I do not dislike President Edgar Lungu. Like me, he went to Mukuba Secondary School also. He has done well regarding infrastructural development. He is a man of the people; a humble leader. There are some violent elements in the Patriotic Front (PF) that I think misrepresent the president’s interests. The same can be said of other political parties, of course, but the state has the machinery to maintain peace and safeguard our young democracy. The idea of democracy is more important than a specific party.

(CM)                             The Electorate plays a very important role in democracy, what should the Zambian people do to both register as voters and to actually voting on Election Day?

(VM)                             The Zambian people should take their civic responsibilities very seriously and vote, after registering, of course. They should also respect other people’s votes and political ideologies. Most importantly, there should be no violence after elections, or during campaigns. There is more to life than who is occupying Plot 1.

(CM)                             What priority/ies should Zambian political parties be focusing on?

(VM)                             Unity as a country should be front and centre. Stabilizing and diversifying the economy from overreliance on natural resources should be number two. There is no reason why Zambia should not be the food basket for the region. Zambia ‘invented’ democracy in Southern Africa, just like she played a major role in ending colonial rule. Zambia has always played critical roles in enabling step changes in Southern Africa. It’s time we dreamed bigger, again!

(CM)                             What is your final word to the Zambian people?

(VM)                             There is no better people on planet earth than the Zambian people. I have worked with a lot of people from all over the world. Zambians are my favourite. They have a lot to be proud about themselves. They must nurture the peace we have enjoyed for so many years. We are all … brothers and sisters.  What we have in common is stronger than the few differences we have.