President Obama Discusses His Presidency, Legacy And Africa

Zambian fellow Sombo Chunda shouting behind Obama

By Paul Shalala in Washington, DC

Today, he entered the Regency Ballroom at the Omni Shoreham Hotel like a rock star.

If one of the ancient writers of the Bible was present at the event, he or she would have said: “President Barack Obama made a triumphant entry into the ballroom.”

“Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can!”

Those are the chants President Obama was welcomed with when he walked into the ballroom to address the 1,000 Mandela Washington Fellows who had just completed their six weeks training at various universities across the United States.

Just when the American President reached the podium and thought the Mandela fellows would stop the chants, they unanimously changed strategy and sang the happy birthday song to wish the first African-American President his 55^th birthday.

This blogger was also carried away with the excitemen.

He even forgot to get notes when President Obama read the first few paragraphs.

Of course it was his first time to see the American President but it is typical of journalists to also be carried away, kaili mutola nkani naeve ni muntu (Even a journalist is human).

He held a town hall with the fellows whose number was this year doubled from the initial 500 in 2014 and 2015.

The 1,000 fellows came from 49 African countries and studied at universities in four different tracks: Business and Enterpreneurship, Civic Engagement, Public Management and Energy.

As is common for him, just his first few words caused a lot of excitements and standing ovations by the fellows.

Later, President Obama gave a wide ranging speech from issues such as corruption to women’s rights, development and US-Africa relations.

The 44^th US President spoke for about 30 minutes and then devoted over an hour to a question and answer session which saw fellows asking him questions on various issues.

He also recognised three youths for their hardwork in various areas such as governance, human rights and entrepreneurship.

President Obama also described John Paul Usman as a dedicated youth who will earned himself the title of Mandela Washington fellow and will continue having it even in death.

Usman drowned in June a few days after arriving in Virginia for the six weeks training under the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

Trade

President Obama said he was working hard to ensure that the volume of trade across the Atlantic grows every year.

“We are working hard to boost trade with Africa. I’m just from signing an executive order which will encourage more American companies to invest in Africa. This year am also hosting the second US-Africa Business Forum,” said President Obama.

President Obama addressing the Mandela fellows

He said when trade increases between the US and Africa, more jobs will be created.

Youths

Possibly the most important part of his speech was a line were he pledged to ensure the Mandela Washington Fellowship continues to bring young African leaders to the USA beyond his retirement.

“I will continue with the YALI (Young African Leaders Initiative) program even after I leave office next year because I believe in it.”

He also disclosed that over 250,000 youths across sub-Sahara Africa had so far joined the YALI online Network where they are organising grassroot activities.

President Obama added that over 150,000 certificates had been issued to youths who had completed online courses on various issues.

Democracy

Answering a question from a Congolese fellow who asked him to personally sort out the on-going conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Obama said there was need for Africa to make a different and not blame the past.

“We should not always blame the past for what we are going through. It is now our time to make a difference. If people in the past messed up, our current generation must make a difference and make democracy thrive.”

He however conceded that democracy was not only a problem in the developing world but even in the oldest democracies.

He said democracy was hard even in the US but all players in the country were committed to its tenets.

On His Two Terms In The White House

President Obama spent more time to talk about his two terms in office which come to an end on January 20, 2017.

Fellows raising hands to ask questions

“The financial crisis of 2007 to 2008 was the biggest challenge. It hit us just when I entered office. But we worked hard and averted the worst of the crisis,” he said in response to a question posed by Charles Tembo of Zambia on Facebook.

The ongoing conflicts in Syria and South Sudan also pose a challenge to his presidency.

He said these wars are a source of his daily frustration.

Media

President Obama called for a free press in Africa adding that the media promotes transparency and accountability to those in public offices.

He said in America, the media always probes in order for the public service to serve the people efficiently.   

President Obama said most leaders who fight the media are those who overstay in office or those who have something to hide.

“In my two terms, I have also had a fair share with the media. Sometimes I read newspapers and think ‘no they are being unfair to me.’ But sometimes I see what they report and I smile.”

He however accepted that American TV networks always reported Africa with stereotypes saying Africa appears only when there is war, poverty or disease.

President Obama has encouraged African journalists and every African to take the lead in telling the African success story.

His Advise To Young Politicians

When asked by Folanski Aina of Nigeria what his words were to aspiring politicians, President Obama said anyone who thinks of going to politics must first check himself or herself.

“If you want to join politics, first ask yourself a question: ‘What do you want to do for people?’ Can’t you do that even without being elected? It is not only with an office that you can serve people.”

He said his ascendancy to the national scene was not easy.

President Obama disclosed that when he was a Senator in Illinois, he ran for US Congress but lost and when he tried for the second time, he told his wife Michelle that when he loses he will leave politics but he ended up winning.

Some of the Zambian fellows during the Town Hall

He revealed that when then Democratic presumptive nominee John Kerry chose him to speak at the party’s National Convention in 2004, he did not know that the speech would earn propel him to stardom and help him get nomination for the presidency four years later.

“John Kerry accidentally picked me to speak at the convention in 2004. The following day, I was all over in the media and a crowd of hundreds stood outside waiting to greet me.

I walked towards them with a friend of mine and I told them ‘I’m not more smarter than I was yesterday.”

His Legacy

President Obama said he wants to be remembered for having been a good parent who brought up his children well.

“I don’t want to be remembered for having given that powerful speech at some conference or things like that….. One day when I will be on my deathbed, I will be happy to remember how I held the hand of one of my daughters and walked her in a park.” 

Mandela Washington Fellowship: Its Meaning To Villagers Like Me

By Paul Shalala in Syracuse, New York

On arrival at Syracuse Airport with fellows from South Africa

I have lived a life of poverty, a life full of problems, a village life of being a kachema wangombe (cattle herder) and now i can dine with Kings, Presidents and comrades from all around the world.

Am Paul Shalala, the boy who in the 1990s used to wake up at 04:00hrs and help his father tie cows, go to the field and plough.

Am the same Paul who used to walk to Kasalu Primary School, learn and later go home to look after our cows two of whom i fondly remember being named Kingdom and Manyando.

Am still the same Paul who later went to Mumbwa High School, Evelyn Hone College and worked for New Vision newspaper, MUVI Television and now the Zambia National Broadcasting corporation (ZNBC).

Oh by the way am still the Paul who solely runs this blog you are reading The Zambian Analyst.

Am still the same village boy who has at least traveled to a few countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe to cover events and later receive phone calls from my fellow villagers to confirm that they heard my voice on TV1.

What am i trying to say with all this confusion am creating in your precious mind?

Am Paul Shalala, a villager who never ever dreamt of ever stepping a foot in an American University.

With fellows Chipo, Kelly and Namaku on transit in Johannesburg

But yesterday, i was given an access card, a meal card, a room, an ATM card (really) and a tour of Syracuse University, a prestigious university located in the small town called Syracuse, a few kilometers north of New York City in an area the locals call the upstate.

By the way this is not just a simple university, its the institution which educated Joe Biden, the current Vice President of the United States.

This is no Matero University (where fake PhDs can be produced in 30 seconds).

I never paid anything to find myself here.

Actually, children of the rich are the ones who were supposed to be here, not ine Mumbwa-Mumbwa.

But who am i to find myself at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University?

What did i do for me to deserve this chance to be among the 1,000 Mandela Washington fellows who are currently studying at various universities for the next six weeks?

 Here is a bit of background in case some of my villagers are reading this.

In August 2006, when Barack Obama visited Kenya as a first term Senator, it was the first time i ever heard of this son of a Kenyan man who was destined to be the world's most powerful politician for an eight year period..

In the run up to his 2008 historic election as the 44th President of the United States, Obama had a lot of sympathy from many of us in Africa for obvious reasons.

At our village in Mumbwa with my kid bro Mukena in the 1990s

At the time i was a cab reporter in Lusaka and i remember interviewing some people to get their reactions to his election and what it meant for Africa.

In a major policy speech in Accra, Ghana in July 2009, President Obama said the future of Africa was in the hands of its young population and there was need for Africans to seize the opportunity.

In the subsequent years, Mr Obama established the Mandela Washington Fellowship which has over the past four years sent thousands of African youths to American universities to study business and enterprenueurship, civic engagement, energy and public management.

The selection of fellows for this program is so intense that in the past two years i had been applying and failing but on the third attempt, the US State Department selected me.

This fellowship is an opportunity for poor, little educated and unexposed young Africans like me to mingle with America's highly educated Professors, visit historic places around the country and at the end of the fellowship see Obama in your own eyes and take a selfie with him.

Obama went to the White House as the first Black (not vama African-American) President though of course Africa argues that the first black American President was Bill Clinton due to his many beneficial contributions on the continent.

I know by now some of you may be wondering why am taking you around in this article.

In short, this article is meant to show that it is possible for a village boy like me to one day walk the streets of Yale, Havard, Rutgers, Wagner, Virginia Tech, Columbia and many other prestigious American universities if they believe in themselves and push themselves to the limit.

As i sit down in my small hostel room at Syracuse University, i remember the words my father Namasiku Kamuti Shalala told me while we were hearding cattle together in 1996 in my native Lozi language: "Mwanake bupilo kikutiya. Aubata kubonahala inge yabutali, kikuitiisa kwasikolo nikubala," (when you want to look intelligent among people, you must work hard at school and read alot),

Dad's words inspire me a lot and since he uttered them, i have seen his wisdom having an impact in everything i do.

With Dad and my two grandmothers at our village in 2014

This coming week i will start my studies in Public Management and i will be in the same class with other African fellows who have Masters Degrees, Bachelors Degrees and several other academic qualifications.

I will share the same seats with an elected Councillor, Government officials, Media personalities and several other high ranking people from across Africa.

But ndemuchangu (poor me), the small kachema (Cattle herder) from Mumbwa will sit quietly, listen attentively and learn from these highly acclaimed lecturers and get the best that the American education system can offer to poor me.

By the way, am still the same Paul from Lubanze Village in Nangoma area of Mumbwa, am just privileged to be in New York today.

Am still that same Lozi villager who comes from that Tonga village in Mumbwa.

And when am done with the fellowship in August, i will go back to my beloved Zambia to continue doing my news job at ZNBC.

I will reclaim my villager tag upon landing at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka.

But for now ladies and gentlemen, allow me to forget about my villager status and sample the American foods and explore this great nation since my status here is that of a fellow: shhhh they don't know that am a villager.

B Flow Storms Hollywood, Records Soundtrack For A Movie

By Paul Shalala

B Flow with producer Thom Russo

Zambia's multi-award winning rapper B Flow has stormed the world acclaimed Hollywood and recorded a soundtrack for a forthcoming movie.

B Flow, whose real name is Brian Bwembya, recorded the soundtrack for a forthcoming movie which stars Dannish superstar Thomas Buttenschon.

The Zambian artist visited Hollywood last week at the invitation of 16 time Grammy award winning producer Thom Russo.

This is what B Flow wrote on his Facebook page about the visit: "I was INVITED by Michael Jackson's Producer Mr Thom Russo. Am talking about a man who has won 16 GRAMMY AWARDS for producing artists like Michael Jackson, Baby Face, Jay-Z, John Travolta, Faith Evans and a lot more on albums that went platnum selling between 1 million and 20 million copies worldwide per album."

He also revealed that during the visit, he also recorded some songs for his forthcoming album.

B Flow at the UN Headquaters in New York

"We also have two songs for my 4th album. Again allow me to stress that am NOT paying any money for these songs. Thom Russo is producing them for free as a gift to me because he thinks am doing a great job back in Africa because am using my talent for a good cause. I will soon post some video clips from the studio plus much more," he added.

B Flow is among 21 young Zambians who are in the USA for the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

At the end of July, B Flow will be among thousands of African young fellows who are expected to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington for a Presidential Summit which is the highlight of the fellowship.

During the six weeks fellowship, B Flow is based Wagner College in New York where he is learning Civic Leadership but occassionally travels across the US for music-related engagements.

Luckily for the rapper, he has been granted a further six weeks to do internship within New York.