It could have been worse

The nation's morale would have sunk to its lowest levels had Nigeria scored the penalty and went on to win last night's match against the African Champions - Zambia.

In the game against the Nigerians, the Chipolopolo looked short of the form that helped them win the Africa Cup trophy for the first time in their history. A bad Mbombela pitch in Nelspruit contributed to the lack of precision but it could not be entirely faulted as both sides struggled to find cohesion. Herve Renard's charges created a few chances in the first half. Rainford Kalaba was the first to threaten sending his shot just over the angle of the post and bar. Chisamba Lungu's free kick was pushed away by Vincent Enyama and defender Stoppila Sunzu headed wide from another set piece. The Super Eagles had their own set of chances and could have put the match to rest had Chelsea's John Mikel scored from a spot kick in the first half. The Nigerians increased their pace after the break and Emmanuel Emenike could have scored had Armed Musa played him at the far post rather than choosing to shoot himself. Emenike later cut inside his man and slotted in to open the scoring for the Super Eagles but they were denied by a controversial penalty decision. Kennedy Mwene stepped forward to set his own record as the first stopper to score a goal in open play in the entire tournament's history.  

It was the same old story of Zambian players failing to convert clear chances into goals as we have witnessed in the past one year or so. I am one of those who are skeptical about the Chipolopolo's chances of making it out of group C. This doesn't mean am not patriotic but am being a realist. I can be called all sorts of names by some who think we can do well at this tournament and even threatened by others who believe that prayers alone will guarantee Zambia success.

As they say statistics don't lie. And if you take time to analyse Zambia's past performance since winning the AFCON in Gabon, you would see that we have not been good in front of goal. Our team has averaged one goal per match which is not a good thing especially when you are playing at tournaments like the Africa Cup because goals can decide which teams progress in case of any tie. Let's take the last match that the team is going to play against Burkina Faso for example. This is both a simple and crucial match at the same time. Crucial in the sense that all we need is a win by any scoreline because by doing so the team will amass five points and top the group if Nigeria lose or draw. I would say tough because all the Stallions (Burkina Faso) need is a draw to secure top spot regardless of the results in the other match. The four goals they put past Ethiopia despite being a man down have given them a plus and belief that they can go all the way to the finals. They are a good team after all with exciting players like Alain Traore and Jonathan Pitroipa. These are the two most dangerous players that we have to guard against when we meet on Tuesday.

The Zambian team is full of talented young men who can rise to the occasion and beat Burkina Faso to sail through to the quarter finals but one thing is standing in our way to do so. We don't have natural great ball finishers who can be compared to the likes of Kalusha Bwalya who had scored in that match against Burkina Faso when the two teams met at the 1996 Africa Cup in South Africa. Where can we get a player of the late Kelvin Mutale's calibre, someone who could score three goals in one match? When are we going to see midfielders and defenders like Elijah Litana score goals when the strikers have been tightly marked, where? Why are we not clinical with free kicks and other set pieces like corners? These are the questions that Renard and his assistants must find answers to as they drill the team to take on Burkina Faso.

We also have very good reasons to remain positive as Zambia take on Burkina Faso in the last fixture of Group C.  Zambia has never lost to their opponents at the Africa Cup. The Chipolopolo beat the Stallions 5-1 during the 1996 Africa Cup in South Africa and posted a 1 all draw in another AFCON match in 2000.

The Chipolopolo should count themselves lucky to have scored that soft penalty against the Super Eagles of Nigeria to earn a valuable point. In many cases that foul would have earned Mayuka a yellow card for going down too easily. So it will be wise of us if we can utilise the only chance that we have against Burkina Faso. The good thing about this fixture is that fate is in our own hands because we just have to win this match. There are no permutations from the other encounter between Nigeria and Ethiopia unless we complicate matters by drawing in our fixture.

Is Zambia keeping the goals for the Africa Cup?

The Zambian fans know what it is like to participate in the Africa Cup having watched their team take part in 15 finals this far. The team twice lost in the finals to Zaire as Congo DR was known in 1974 and 1994 against Nigeria. Despite the team’s triumph in last year’s finals, the fans are keeping their hopes low because of Zambia’s lacklustre performances since that famous win against Ivory Coast. 

The scoreless stalemate for Zambia in a practice match against Norway has not helped matters ahead of the Africa Cup tournament kicking off in South Africa on Saturday 19, January. Preparatory matches for a team often referred to as the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) have been far from impressive and “chaotic” in other words. Many soccer fans and pundits had hoped for a win against Norway to reinvigorate the waning euphoria that greeted the nation when the team won the Africa Cup last year but this was never to be. 

The people have reasons to be worried. The reigning African champions have not won a single match in all the friendlies that they have played so far, losing to Saudi Arabia (2-1), Tanzania (1-0), Angola (2-0) and drawing against Norway. The other source of concern is the team’s inability to score goals. From the time the team was crowned African champions, they have not scored more than two goals in a single match. These statistics have further aggravated the nation’s fears about their team’s ability or inability to defend the trophy.  

When team coach Herve Renard was asked whether he was worried about his team’s failure to put the ball behind the net after the Norway match. The French man gave a cheeky response, “we are keeping the goals for the Africa Cup”. Renard and his charges will have to prove this when they take on minnows Ethiopia in their opening match on Monday 21 in Johannesburg.  

There is some consolation though because a similar pattern of results was recorded before the nations cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The other source of comfort is in the fact that Renard has retained 19 of the 23 players who took part in last year’s finals. Notable inclusions are Jacob Mulenga, the player who missed the tournament due to injury and a tournament debutant Mukuka Mulenga who was voted 2012 Zambian footballer of the year. These two players will add another dimension to the team that triumphed in Gabon and Mulenga might be a solution for Zambia in front of goals. Many players in the team are still unknown to the world but key midfield players like Rainford Kalaba, Nathan Sinkala and Chisamba Lungu have great individual skill capable of disturbing any defences in Africa. They showed this by ripping apart Ghana, Senegal and even Ivory Coast on their way to winning the trophy. 

Team captain, Christopher Katongo, the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the year will lead his peers when the team takes to the field in South Africa. In Emmanuel Mayuka, the top scorer at last year’s finals, Zambia can look to impress. He is one player you can choose to ignore at your own peril. Ask the Ghanaians, they will tell you what the Southampton FC striker is capable of doing. He broke the hearts of the Black Stars when he scored the deciding goal in the semi-finals of 2012 for Zambia to win the tie 1-0. The defence led by Stoppila Sunzu, the man who scored the deciding penalty in the final and Hichani Himonde is probably the best backline on the African continent. Sunzu is already attracting interests from top European teams and is currently in England finalising his pending move to Reading. Kennedy Mweene in goal is another star with plenty of experience in that area. 

There are good reasons also to be hopeful. South Africa is second home to Zambia as many of our players play or have played in that country in their careers. The team will therefore have more support from the the locals and Zambians based in that country. This group has also been together for a long time to understand each other well and deliver the positive results. In fact many of them are either playing together at TP Mazembe or at least meet every week during matches in South Africa. The team has also received adequate support from government and the corporate world; hence shading off worries about winning bonuses and upkeeps during the tournament.

The war should be on joblessness and poverty not individuals

The presidents change, the Members of Parliament come and go but the dull ache of predictability that accompanies intimidation and arrests of people who oppose government stays the same. If there is anything that one would hope for are the changes in the way we do our politics and in the promotion of the rule of law.

Last time it was President Michael Sata when he was in opposition, this time, it is Dr. Nevers Mumba, leader of the opposition Movement for Multi-party president (MMD), and who knows; next time, it might be me, you or someone else. Do politicians ever learn from their own experiences? It seems they don’t. If they did, we would not be seeing Dr. Mumba and seven other members of his party being arrested by the state police for what has been termed “unlawful assembly”. Experts have described these arrests as being politically motivated although Government through the official spokesperson and Minister of Information, Hon. Kennedy Sakeni has denied these allegations saying the police “are professionals” who do not receive instructions from anyone.

It is easy to see that the police are acting under instructions from the executive as this is coming few months after the abduction and deportation of a Catholic priest of Rwandese origin. Father Viateur Banyangandora, 40, was in August this year deported without being given a chance to defend himself. Reasons for expelling him have not been made public but the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Edgar Lungu, issued a statement saying his “conduct was found to be a danger to peace and good order in Zambia”. The Government has since revoked the deportation order after relentless pressure from the Church, Members of Parliament and some civil rights groups. According to sources at his parish in Lundazi, some 800 kilometres east of the capital, his Sunday homily “was about the haves sharing with the have nots as the readings of the day were saying”.

When the Patriotic Front formed Government, expectations were high. The nation really thought that things would change for the better and that the nation, under the PF Government, was poised for a major take off on all fronts.  But with the arrest and charging of Mr. Nevers Mumba with unlawful assembly, one wonders where the country is heading to. According to media reports, Dr. Mumba, who is president of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), was arrested by the Zambian police on 10 December, during a visit to Kitwe on the Copperbelt.  Police accused Dr. Mumba of “unlawful assembly” and “conduct likely to breach the peace.” The eight arrested have since spent two nights in police custody. 

This has left many people wondering whether what they voted for was (real) change or alteration in personalities but old tactics of using the police to silence opponents go. While in opposition, President Michael Sata made a forceful appeal to the Zambians to vote for him because he was coming to change the way we do our politics. But from what we are seeing, nothing is changing in the way the rule of law is being administered. 

Mr. Sata should be reminded that when the people of Zambia elected him on 20 September 2011, they wanted the Patriotic Front (PF) to entrench a democratic culture, create jobs, improve the earning capacity of the ordinary people, eradicate corruption and promote of the rule of law.  Under the 20-year rule of the MMD Government, it had become apparent that poor governance, mismanagement and endemic corruption had become the order of the day.

Soon after his election as Zambia’s fifth president, Mr. Sata, a practicing Catholic sounded a good start when he vowed to lead a clean Government which he would govern according to the “Ten Commandments” - though it has never really been explained what “governing according to the Ten Commandments of the Bible” means.

The initial steps of the new PF Government were encouraging. The move by the new President, Michael Sata, to unconditionally release the Barotseland activists arrested by the previous MMD Government was one such laudable positive step towards entrenching confidence in the respect for human rights. President Sata received deserved praise for pardoning 22 activities.

President Sata went a step further and appointed a leading Human Rights lawyer, Dr. Rodger Chongwe to head a Commission of Inquiry that would look into the grievances of the Barotseland activists -leading to the Mongu Riots. The tragic events of Barotseland in the Western Province culminated into violence, injuries and the loss of 2 lives on 14 January 2011. This was as a result of the Zambia Police opening live ammunition on a defenceless crowd of people. Several Barotseland activities were detained in the aftermath.

The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has since raised the flag to the worrying governance emerging under the Patriotic Front Government. The lawyers through their umbrella association have described what is happening as a “breakdown of rule of law”.

Independent observers have called on the Government to devote their time to fighting poverty and joblessness as opposite to waging war against individuals.

Sweet revenge for Zambia

The Zambia national soccer team’s victory over South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Challenge has lifted the spirit of many soccer fans who were getting disgruntled over the team’s failure to win away matches.

That was Zambia’s first away win from the time they lifted their inaugural Cup of Nations in Libreville, Gabon early this year. They lost the match to Sudan 2-0 during the 2014 World Cup qualifier match in Khartoum, only for FIFA to hand Zambia three points when it was discovered that our opponents had fielded an ineligible player. That ruling has since been contested by Sudan. Another away match was a 1-0 loss to resurgent Uganda in Kampala in the two-legged 2013 African Nations Qualifier match. Zambia went on to win that match on penalties.    

Interestingly, the win recorded by the Chipolopolo in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup played at Soccer City in Johannesburg was the fifth victory in 15 official matches played between the two sides. That gives Zambia a slight edge over South Africa who have four wins and six draws. 

The South African Football Association had requested Zambia to assemble a strong team in that match and the Chipolopolo coach, Herve Renard responded by fielding 10 players from the 11 who started in the Nations Cup final against Ivory Coast in February this year. The team responded by beating Bafana Bafana side 1-0 in their own home turf. Although the match is usually played in a friendly atmosphere, it is an important competition that every team that takes part craves to win. And last night, it was Zambia’s chance to lift the cup which was inaugurated in 1994, soon after South Africa got its independence. The competition was held in celebration of the historic achievement and it was called the Nelson Mandela Inauguration Challenge Cup.

Coming to the match itself, it was a fair display by the African Champions on that difficult pitch which was rushed to host the match after it was used for a musical show during the previous weekend. South Africa, who will host the 2013 African Nations Cup tournament started brightly but missed a number of chances in the early stages of the match.

Zambia settled very well and dictated play in the dying minutes of the first half and could have gone 1-0 up threw a Jacob Mulenga free kick but his shot went wide. Jacob was making his return to the team after missing the Africa Cup due to an injury that side-lined him for almost a year. He wasn’t at his best but he showed a few glimpses of what we have been missing in our team. Power Dynamos’ Mukuka Mulenga was very outstanding when he was introduced in the second half, so was Collins Mbesuma, whose performance had gone down in recent months. He scored a rocket goal and would have won a penalty when he was brought down in the 18 yard area by Bongani Khumalo. His other shot was stopped by Itumuleng Khune. Defender Stophila Nsunzu deserved his man of the match prize in that match. His performance was brilliant!

Zambia took part in the first game of the Mandela Challenge in 1994 and lost 2-1, so last night’s victory was sweet revenge for the African Champions who will soon defend the title they won this year.

By-elections, my viewpoint

By winning the Mufumbwe by-election, the Patriotic Front (PF) have proved that for all their sins, both real and perceived, they do not lack a spine — and still less a communal belief in their ability to win the most formidable odds.

The PF went into this election with all signs pointing to another loss in North Western Province, a vast area where they have had no representation in parliament. They came up against a combined force of the Movement for Multi-party (MMD) and the United Party for National Development (UPND). But with this victory, they have shown that they are a force to reckon with in the local politics. According to media reports, Stephen Masumba got 8,135 votes, defeating his closest rival from the MMD, Stafford Mulusa who had 5,468 votes.    

Despite the undesirable way in which the by-election came about, it was a litmus test for the PF to convince voters in this part of the country that they too should jump on the boat.  I am not a fan of such elections caused by personal ambitions rather than love for the nation. If Masumba loved this country and the people of Mufumbwe, he would have stuck to his party and save the billions of kwacha that was poured into this election. The by-election in Mufumbwe was unnecessary considering that Masumba went against his party rules and regulations by accepting a job in the government.

By elections are needless ventures that cost our government billions of kwacha needed in the education, health and other social sectors of our country. Public service delivery in this country is in a crisis. Schools record well over 80 pupils in a class against one teacher. Long queues are a common feature in our clinics, with many citizens opting to treat illnesses in their homes because of lack of confidence in public health institutions. This country needs these resources wasted in bye-election to deal with the various challenges facing our people.  

Too many of our people are denied access to services such as health and education. The hardships endured by people in poor communities are often hidden and thus perpetuated by the statistical averages on which decisions about resource allocation are based. Because averages lump everyone together, the poverty of some is obscured by the wealth of others. One consequence of this is that people already disadvantaged remain excluded from essential services.

The PF government must pull its energies and resources to eradicate these inequalities that have weakened our society. The PF won the 2011 tripartite elections on the premise that they will promote collective dreams as opposite to individual visions. By winning the Mufumbwe by-election, the people in that area have given Masumba a job and an income but there is no immediate benefit for them. Votes have been counted and the PF victory secured, but the local people are back to the real world facing the same poverty that has been haunting them together with their children. Their children need education, better health services and above all better life.

If I was given a chance to change the way to run affairs of this country, one thing I would change would be by-elections. They are unnecessary and a waste of resources! Surely, there should be a better way of filling vacancies created by either a resignation or death. A by-election is not anywhere near that solution.