What is our purpose? Do we have objectives as a nation? What are our objectives as Zambia? What are our opportunities? What are our resources? What are our strategies for applying our resources to our opportunities to obtain our objectives? We need to have well defined goals if we are leaving our purpose and get to destine because; 1. Unclear objectives lead to unclear methods of operation. The absence of a goal justifies almost any activity. If we do not have a goal as a nation, then any road will get us any where 2. Results cannot be measured without some prior expectation against which to judge them. If we do not have clear objectives, then almost any level or degree or quality of performance will satisfy those involved. Almost any activity can be justified on an individualistic basis. 3. If we are not clear on our objectives, we do not know when things are drifting 4. People in a nation cannot perform with maximum effectiveness if they are unaware of the goals, the purpose of their work, or how well they are doing in relation to the goals. Let us know people of Zambia that our goal should be “to wake up the sleeping giant.” Our purpose should be “to be a developed country by 2050.” Our mission should be “to live and work for mother Zambia.” In this regard let us then work on our management structure. The crisis in our nation is lack of proper management of national affairs by our leadership system and we can try by; 1. The objective. The national governance structure should be designed to accomplish established objectives. It follows from this that when the national governance structure no longer accomplishes objectives, discard it, alter it, or subject it to whatever is necessary to accomplish the objectives. 2. Specialization. The work assigned to individuals should be specialized in so far as it is consistent with effective human effort. The more specialized we can make the work, the skilled the person is apt to become in that work, and the more effective he or she is apt to be over a lengthy period. Let us stop appointing people on family and political lines even especially when they have no skill, they will strangle the operation hence delay development. 3. Management emphasis. When appointed on to supervision of two or more differing types of work, a leader tends to show preferential emphasis in decisions and choices. These preferences will be determined primarily by previous relationships or activities. This can be good or bad depending on the needs of the situation. 4. Maximum span. A leader should oversee the maximum number of people he or she can effectively manage in accordance to the capacity of that leader. And work. Leaders have different capacities. 5. Minimum level. The number of national governance level should be kept to the minimum. Proliferating the governance levels will necessarily increase the effectiveness of the cabinet itself. Minimize those levels the more levels multiplied this way, the more difficulties are created. The reason is obvious that it takes time for information and decisions to go from top to bottom. Also the costs of running it are expensive. 6. Carry-over. You will never outlive your past. Some of the characteristics of the past regimes will follow to the very end. It’s important to make appreciable changes, but the past carries over. 7. Control limits. Delegation should proceed only to the limit of effective control. Just as a person can do so much, so a person can be accountable for only so much. 8. Commensurate authority. Authority should be delegated commensurate with responsibility. 9. Complete accountability. The superior is always accountable for actions of the subordinates. It is not a very pleasant position, but it is always a necessary position 10. Single reporting relationships. Each person should only be accountable to one supervisor. Ten Commandments of good national governance structure 1. Definite and clear-cut responsibilities should be assigned to each person or position. We might know today what our job is, but the situation might change so that tomorrow we do not know. We need adequate supervision so that we can rediscover what our job is when it has evolved. 2. Responsibility should always be coupled with corresponding authority. 3. No change should be made in the scope or responsibility of position without definite understanding to that effect on the part of all persons concerned. 4. No executive or employee, occupying a single position in the institution should be subject to orders from more than one source. Every person should only have one boss. Where it is necessary for one person to have two or three positions, there should not only be a clear understanding as to who gives the orders with respect to which work, and the time of allocation of these positions. Otherwise the individual is going to be torn and subordinates may well be frustrated because they take orders from many people. 5. Orders should never be given to subordinates over the head of a responsible executive. The leader tells the supervisor what a certain subordinate under the supervisor should do. The leader does not act directly to the subordinate. 6. Criticisms of subordinates should be done privately, and no case should the subordinate be criticized in the presence of employees of equal rank. 7. No dispute or difference between executive employee as to authority or responsibilities should be considered too trivial for prompt and careful attention. 8. Promotion, wage changes, and disciplinary action should always be approved by the executive immediately superior to the one directly responsible. 9. No executive or employee should ever be required, or expected, to be at the same time an assistant to, and a critic of another. 10. Executives, whose work is subject to regular inspection, whenever practicable, be given the assistance and facilities necessary to enable them to maintain an independent check of the quality of their own work. What is needed is to cut the size the executive, let us remove all the deputies to the ministries who do not act in the absence of the full cabinet minister. In case of representation the permanent secretaries and the directors may represent the ministers in their busy schedules. After all they are custodian or technocrats in government operations. This move would reduce expenditure on allowances such as two vehicles with full tank fuel, 2/3phones with airtime, education, medicals etc, salaries, plus loans on one minister. Imagine if we can only have 15 to 20 only full time cabinet ministers. How much would we save for poverty reduction for rural areas? Why not simply stream line some ministries with others by merging them? Some ministries are just supposed to be ministry departments. What about official trips? Let us reason by moving with small contingent, to cut on airfares and lodging fees in destined nations at government level. Sometimes during the other regime I had opportunities to meet with some key leaders and try driving my point of view on matters of national development. Those in leaders were some kind of proud because of their status. They did not listen, they thought they new it all. That I have observed in life that wisdom from a poor person can not be heard. Where are they today and where have they left this nation. Please Zambian let us learn to listen, you do not have all answers of what will save this nation from oblivion. This regime may not also listen, then where are we taking this republic if not to ruins? What is our purpose? Do we have objectives as a nation? What are our objectives as Zambia? What are our opportunities? What are our resources? What are our strategies for applying our resources to our opportunities to obtain our objectives? We need to have well defined goals if we are leaving our purpose and get to destine because; 1. Unclear objectives lead to unclear methods of operation. The absence of a goal justifies almost any activity. If we do not have a goal as a nation, then any road will get us any where 2. Results cannot be measured without some prior expectation against which to judge them. If we do not have clear objectives, then almost any level or degree or quality of performance will satisfy those involved. Almost any activity can be justified on an individualistic basis. 3. If we are not clear on our objectives, we do not know when things are drifting 4. People in a nation cannot perform with maximum effectiveness if they are unaware of the goals, the purpose of their work, or how well they are doing in relation to the goals. Let us know people of Zambia that our goal should be “to wake up the sleeping giant.” Our purpose should be “to be a developed country by 2050.” Our mission should be “to live and work for mother Zambia.” In this regard let us then work on our management structure. The crisis in our nation is lack of proper management of national affairs by our leadership system and we can try by; 1. The objective. The national governance structure should be designed to accomplish established objectives. It follows from this that when the national governance structure no longer accomplishes objectives, discard it, alter it, or subject it to whatever is necessary to accomplish the objectives. 2. Specialization. The work assigned to individuals should be specialized in so far as it is consistent with effective human effort. The more specialized we can make the work, the skilled the person is apt to become in that work, and the more effective he or she is apt to be over a lengthy period. Let us stop appointing people on family and political lines even especially when they have no skill, they will strangle the operation hence delay development. 3. Management emphasis. When appointed on to supervision of two or more differing types of work, a leader tends to show preferential emphasis in decisions and choices. These preferences will be determined primarily by previous relationships or activities. This can be good or bad depending on the needs of the situation. 4. Maximum span. A leader should oversee the maximum number of people he or she can effectively manage in accordance to the capacity of that leader. And work. Leaders have different capacities. 5. Minimum level. The number of national governance level should be kept to the minimum. Proliferating the governance levels will necessarily increase the effectiveness of the cabinet itself. Minimize those levels the more levels multiplied this way, the more difficulties are created. The reason is obvious that it takes time for information and decisions to go from top to bottom. Also the costs of running it are expensive. 6. Carry-over. You will never outlive your past. Some of the characteristics of the past regimes will follow to the very end. It’s important to make appreciable changes, but the past carries over. 7. Control limits. Delegation should proceed only to the limit of effective control. Just as a person can do so much, so a person can be accountable for only so much. 8. Commensurate authority. Authority should be delegated commensurate with responsibility. 9. Complete accountability. The superior is always accountable for actions of the subordinates. It is not a very pleasant position, but it is always a necessary position 10. Single reporting relationships. Each person should only be accountable to one supervisor. Ten Commandments of good national governance structure 1. Definite and clear-cut responsibilities should be assigned to each person or position. We might know today what our job is, but the situation might change so that tomorrow we do not know. We need adequate supervision so that we can rediscover what our job is when it has evolved. 2. Responsibility should always be coupled with corresponding authority. 3. No change should be made in the scope or responsibility of position without definite understanding to that effect on the part of all persons concerned. 4. No executive or employee, occupying a single position in the institution should be subject to orders from more than one source. Every person should only have one boss. Where it is necessary for one person to have two or three positions, there should not only be a clear understanding as to who gives the orders with respect to which work, and the time of allocation of these positions. Otherwise the individual is going to be torn and subordinates may well be frustrated because they take orders from many people. 5. Orders should never be given to subordinates over the head of a responsible executive. The leader tells the supervisor what a certain subordinate under the supervisor should do. The leader does not act directly to the subordinate. 6. Criticisms of subordinates should be done privately, and no case should the subordinate be criticized in the presence of employees of equal rank. 7. No dispute or difference between executive employee as to authority or responsibilities should be considered too trivial for prompt and careful attention. 8. Promotion, wage changes, and disciplinary action should always be approved by the executive immediately superior to the one directly responsible. 9. No executive or employee should ever be required, or expected, to be at the same time an assistant to, and a critic of another. 10. Executives, whose work is subject to regular inspection, whenever practicable, be given the assistance and facilities necessary to enable them to maintain an independent check of the quality of their own work. What is needed is to cut the size the executive, let us remove all the deputies to the ministries who do not act in the absence of the full cabinet minister. In case of representation the permanent secretaries and the directors may represent the ministers in their busy schedules. After all they are custodian or technocrats in government operations. This move would reduce expenditure on allowances such as two vehicles with full tank fuel, 2/3phones with airtime, education, medicals etc, salaries, plus loans on one minister. Imagine if we can only have 15 to 20 only full time cabinet ministers. How much would we save for poverty reduction for rural areas? Why not simply stream line some ministries with others by merging them? Some ministries are just supposed to be ministry departments. What about official trips? Let us reason by moving with small contingent, to cut on airfares and lodging fees in destined nations at government level. Sometimes during the other regime I had opportunities to meet with some key leaders and try driving my point of view on matters of national development. Those in leaders were some kind of proud because of their status. They did not listen, they thought they new it all. That I have observed in life that wisdom from a poor person can not be heard. Where are they today and where have they left this nation. Please Zambian let us learn to listen, you do not have all answers of what will save this nation from oblivion. This regime may not also listen, then where are we taking this republic if not to ruins? What is our purpose? Do we have objectives as a nation? What are our objectives as Zambia? What are our opportunities? What are our resources? What are our strategies for applying our resources to our opportunities to obtain our objectives? We need to have well defined goals if we are leaving our purpose and get to destine because; 1. Unclear objectives lead to unclear methods of operation. The absence of a goal justifies almost any activity. If we do not have a goal as a nation, then any road will get us any where 2. Results cannot be measured without some prior expectation against which to judge them. If we do not have clear objectives, then almost any level or degree or quality of performance will satisfy those involved. Almost any activity can be justified on an individualistic basis. 3. If we are not clear on our objectives, we do not know when things are drifting 4. People in a nation cannot perform with maximum effectiveness if they are unaware of the goals, the purpose of their work, or how well they are doing in relation to the goals. Let us know people of Zambia that our goal should be “to wake up the sleeping giant.” Our purpose should be “to be a developed country by 2050.” Our mission should be “to live and work for mother Zambia.” In this regard let us then work on our management structure. The crisis in our nation is lack of proper management of national affairs by our leadership system and we can try by; 1. The objective. The national governance structure should be designed to accomplish established objectives. It follows from this that when the national governance structure no longer accomplishes objectives, discard it, alter it, or subject it to whatever is necessary to accomplish the objectives. 2. Specialization. The work assigned to individuals should be specialized in so far as it is consistent with effective human effort. The more specialized we can make the work, the skilled the person is apt to become in that work, and the more effective he or she is apt to be over a lengthy period. Let us stop appointing people on family and political lines even especially when they have no skill, they will strangle the operation hence delay development. 3. Management emphasis. When appointed on to supervision of two or more differing types of work, a leader tends to show preferential emphasis in decisions and choices. These preferences will be determined primarily by previous relationships or activities. This can be good or bad depending on the needs of the situation. 4. Maximum span. A leader should oversee the maximum number of people he or she can effectively manage in accordance to the capacity of that leader. And work. Leaders have different capacities. 5. Minimum level. The number of national governance level should be kept to the minimum. Proliferating the governance levels will necessarily increase the effectiveness of the cabinet itself. Minimize those levels the more levels multiplied this way, the more difficulties are created. The reason is obvious that it takes time for information and decisions to go from top to bottom. Also the costs of running it are expensive. 6. Carry-over. You will never outlive your past. Some of the characteristics of the past regimes will follow to the very end. It’s important to make appreciable changes, but the past carries over. 7. Control limits. Delegation should proceed only to the limit of effective control. Just as a person can do so much, so a person can be accountable for only so much. 8. Commensurate authority. Authority should be delegated commensurate with responsibility. 9. Complete accountability. The superior is always accountable for actions of the subordinates. It is not a very pleasant position, but it is always a necessary position 10. Single reporting relationships. Each person should only be accountable to one supervisor. Ten Commandments of good national governance structure 1. Definite and clear-cut responsibilities should be assigned to each person or position. We might know today what our job is, but the situation might change so that tomorrow we do not know. We need adequate supervision so that we can rediscover what our job is when it has evolved. 2. Responsibility should always be coupled with corresponding authority. 3. No change should be made in the scope or responsibility of position without definite understanding to that effect on the part of all persons concerned. 4. No executive or employee, occupying a single position in the institution should be subject to orders from more than one source. Every person should only have one boss. Where it is necessary for one person to have two or three positions, there should not only be a clear understanding as to who gives the orders with respect to which work, and the time of allocation of these positions. Otherwise the individual is going to be torn and subordinates may well be frustrated because they take orders from many people. 5. Orders should never be given to subordinates over the head of a responsible executive. The leader tells the supervisor what a certain subordinate under the supervisor should do. The leader does not act directly to the subordinate. 6. Criticisms of subordinates should be done privately, and no case should the subordinate be criticized in the presence of employees of equal rank. 7. No dispute or difference between executive employee as to authority or responsibilities should be considered too trivial for prompt and careful attention. 8. Promotion, wage changes, and disciplinary action should always be approved by the executive immediately superior to the one directly responsible. 9. No executive or employee should ever be required, or expected, to be at the same time an assistant to, and a critic of another. 10. Executives, whose work is subject to regular inspection, whenever practicable, be given the assistance and facilities necessary to enable them to maintain an independent check of the quality of their own work. What is needed is to cut the size the executive, let us remove all the deputies to the ministries who do not act in the absence of the full cabinet minister. In case of representation the permanent secretaries and the directors may represent the ministers in their busy schedules. After all they are custodian or technocrats in government operations. This move would reduce expenditure on allowances such as two vehicles with full tank fuel, 2/3phones with airtime, education, medicals etc, salaries, plus loans on one minister. Imagine if we can only have 15 to 20 only full time cabinet ministers. How much would we save for poverty reduction for rural areas? Why not simply stream line some ministries with others by merging them? Some ministries are just supposed to be ministry departments. What about official trips? Let us reason by moving with small contingent, to cut on airfares and lodging fees in destined nations at government level. Sometimes during the other regime I had opportunities to meet with some key leaders and try driving my point of view on matters of national development. Those in leaders were some kind of proud because of their status. They did not listen, they thought they new it all. That I have observed in life that wisdom from a poor person can not be heard. Where are they today and where have they left this nation. Please Zambian let us learn to listen, you do not have all answers of what will save this nation from oblivion. This regime may not also listen, then where are we taking this republic if not to ruins? Our children’ children will ask what we did and why the nation is in such a state. To make Zambia clean we only need the responsibility of every Zambian. Osaka in Japan is one of the populated cities in the world and very hygienically sounds. A person who walks in the streets with a dog carries with him a paper/plastic chamber for the refuse, after shirting. Let us each one of us stop throwing trash any how, like airtime scratch cards as small as they may be. Hold them up to where rubbish bin/trash can is. And let us have trash bins in every street. All vehicles and houses should have dust bins. Our country will be the cleanness which the world would admire to come to. If all of us would upgrade/rehabilitate our buildings give them a new face each year, you will see how cities will be. Let us take deliberately step by cleaning our surrounding, plant grass, trees, shrubs, flowers and fix pavements in our yards. This exercise to some only takes commitment. This may create employment and can also reduce costs of environmental maintenance by the local authority in an event that the work is done domestically. We can not just boast of colonial liberation and multi-party democratic dispensation. Though history is important for our children, let the by gone be the by gone. The children will acquire of the period of the two major events that took place in our history and will pity us that we abused the time and the opportunities that availed to us during our reign. They will grumble and mock our snail pace progress. They will suffer because there will be no legacy left for their living, because we did not plan for their inheritance. The catastrophes in their time will be disastrous because of our carelessness, selfishness, lack of foresight, no planning, and misappropriation, abuse of authority, misapplication , misunderstanding, mismanagement and many more too numerous to mention. Our Zambian children will compare us with other countries. It will shock them that in all our time we had all needed resources that would have benefited the rest. The cities we live in today are like white elephants as though they were built for a seasonal relevance. Today they are industrious tomorrow ghost towns. Do we not have deliberate emergency plan in case or peradventure. The mine quarries will be massive death traps. The bear land in rural areas where trees have been cut will be sandy duns or deserts. The farm areas today will be settlement areas because of lack of fertility. The many water reservoirs we have today will run dry like the Dead Sea. Many resources that creates enabling environment for human habitation will be no more. All animals we are killing today will be gone like dinosaurs. The children will ask if truly what is in history was there. The children will suffer because of our acts today. Let us all begin to live for a better tomorrow. Let us live sacrificially for centuries and generation to come after we are long gone. Let’s preserve resources for future use. Let us build for a better tomorrow. Let us save and invest for many lives unborn citizen of our country. Let us conserve nature for many of the people to come. Let us tighten our belts for others. Let us be generous to those in hunger stricken areas. Let us build affordable conducive structures with sensitivity to climate change as the result of current global warming. Let us adhere to technocrats warning and proposed solutions to forth coming world crisis. Let us not turn a deaf ear to all predictions because we are surviving. I have been prompted not to shut up but write to you all because it is a time like this one that I was made to live. Do not think you will escape the trouble of our nation just because you are in a comfort zone. Do not be heartless because you can survive in tough times. If you wish to do nothing, your conscience will blame you. One day nature will rise against you because of what you have done to it and its inhabitants. Life is about living for others. Let us feel the shame if we are not doing fine, let’s stop pretending as though all is well and take steps of being responsible for our collapsing economy. Some of the things we have now that are useful, will be of no use/useless in near future. Let us then seize the opportunities and use them wisely before they expire. Young people let us use our energy for noble things that will secure our future in old age. Let us stop the syndrome of being used in political disturbances by those that only do it for their political profit. All of us Zambians let’s come out of a tradition of blaming others, let us offer answers to difficulties we are facing. It should not be just about political mileage but about Zambia. It not should just be about political leadership/position but about Zambia. It should not be about being seen or heard but about work for the nation. If other nations that in the eighties were the poorest and are now mid income countries such as Botswana and Singapore, what will stop us to catch them? We have learned lessons enough of what caused us to be one of the poorest from being mid income country. We can still learn from our neighbors who have pushed up and get where they are and surpass them. My dream is that Zambia shall surely be the developed country in Africa joining the west. It’s not about the size of the area that determines development and growth. Look at England and Japan small in size but developed. Look at countries like Italy and Singapore small in area size than many of the African countries. We are not engaging in competition but raising comparison for challenge. It’s not about popularity but about aggressiveness to work. Let us stop being casual just because we are surviving. If we are not working hard this survival syndrome may be no more in the days to come. Whatever we find let us do it with all our mighty. Let us make competition with ourselves in comparison with the years of our existence. Let us develop a culture that in whatever we are doing, we are doing it to develop our country. Where ever you are working, whatever business you are doing, whatever education you want to achieve should not just be for bread and butter but the development of this great nation Zambia. Be proud for being Zambian and make your nation a better place to live in. There are nations that have gone up and are wealthier enough, that we think we are grasshoppers in their eyes. There their not to eat us but live with us. We can only be swallowed by our own mind and if we are timid to get up. What resources are in Dubai compared to what we have? And yet this country with market project has the tallest building in the world. What about Singapore? The country has the biggest first class airbus in the world, yet it’s just a mid income country. What is in Malaysia if not rubber industry, the country is good at constructing tallest building in the world. Israel a tiny nation in the Middle East is a good tourist destination for her biblical related sites, export fruits and has oil, is not a poor country with all conflicts around her. Most of the countries in the world have prospered on single or little potential and yet Zambia has massive potential. Thus why I feel Zambia is a sleeping giant. The underdog syndrome must be removed. Let us move with the spirit of 2012 for the success of the AFCON. God will bless the work of our hands, nothing more, nothing less.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 11:33:01 +0000
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