What saddens me even more is the recruiting agency engaged to carry out this work of finding a suitable “foreign” candidate who are even trying to justify it. From a business point of view it would make sense because the agency would make more money out of that particular service but ethically they would come out morally bankrupt and even earn some negative press as seen now!

It is high time we as Zambians put our foot down and stood our ground and hats off to ZIM (Zambia Institute of Marketing) for taking a stance and indicating that they would not be offering any practicing licence as well as lobby Immigration not to issue the work permit to the said candidate.

Bottom line, we have highly competent and gifted individuals within this country that are more than capable of utilizing their “learned” skills to market effectively – especially brand new Toyota vehicles!! Share on your walls and lets make some noise!

Walter Mwambazi is chiefly a Network Marketer, Facilitator, International Lecturer and Life Coach. He is also involved in the media industry specifically television and radio programs. He is both a syndicated columnist in the widest read daily paper in Zambia. Follow: @Walter_Mwambazi

It is time for Zambians to be realistic when we post certain statements on the media. By this time we need to accept certain things. We thank this media in the sense that we are able to access information soonest after things like the fatal accident that has claimed our brethren’s lives. Showing pictures of our late beloved’s is neither amoral nor unchristian. We just have to accept, though with bitterness, sorrow and deep grief ( as we are) and see things the way they happened.

It is unwise to conclude that showing pictures of our beloved deceased is wrong. Where have we gone wrong? We need to change. The world is dynamic and we are in a globla village. We should not go back to the ancient era where access to information was a hurdle. Let us just mourn our late brethren as Christian and avoid spicing our emotions and mediocre perspectives with grief.

We have to appreciate our media houses for their tireless efforts of swiftly alerting the public of all the happenings. Let no one frustrate and/or thwart the efforts of the media house by bringing up unfounded arguments in matters of this nature.

We just have to see how certain things happened no matter how painful, or challenging. Otherwise, hidding such things information ( pictorial inclusive) to the public is adding more harm than good to ourselves. We just have to see them. Let us just treat events with the dignity they deserve.

We have seen live pictures of disarsters in the world. I do not know if people shower insults on the innocent journalists and other media institutions for showing such happenings.

I said it before, and am saying it again; [allow me to steal a paragraph from my other post]

It is frustrating and am actually disappointed as I write to Zambia today. As one of my unsaid rules, I do not respond to tabloid trash on social media especially mean-spirited rumors about me. I am constantly being asked about how I managed and why I made a rumour about Chipolopolo qualifying of the group stages of the Afcon2013 tournament, am incredibly surprised that people actually read and believed that I started it yet none of my blogs or social media plartforms are carrying any articles about it. Ofcourse I am now writting about the rumour I’d never even thought of writing about, but the isn’t cool has been reading all the recent lies that made thousands of people in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital to start celebrations on wednesday 30th January, 2013. These celebrations spread to other parts of the country in just a few minutes thanks to the Internet, social impact through technology. This would have been wonderful news for Zambia, however, it was not true.

Some individuals made efforts to let the public know that this was not true but it seemed the efforts where not good enough as the news kept going further to the other parts of Zambia. While all this drama was going on, some comedians thought it as an opportunity to entertain their audience by connecting my name to it.

It was not too long before posts around Social Media; Twitter, BBM, Whatsapp, and Facebook started reviewing that I started the rumour on one of my blogs.

The moment I learnt about this, I couldn’t help but laugh. I asked myself, “do I have so much influence that I can prank the nation without saying a word?” I never tweeted or updated my Facebook, so then how did I do this? Do not judge me. But, wait, the  spread of  misinformation is just plain wrong, I can not be irresponsible and let my personality get a bad dent by not addressing this matter at this point. Get it loud and clear that these are rumors and none of them are true. If I have something to say or announce, I have no problem putting it up on my blog, you wouldn’t have missed it if I did!

I hope you get it straight.

Lol!

I mean ‘lots of love’ by the way.

30 seconds later, I saw another tweet;

The next was;

I saw the last one, or is it the one that I should call the beginning of  my story with Kabwata ‘Violitics’ in Pictures…

After following through  these tweets, I had lost track  and count, I just had to go and see this myself, and this is what I saw (who caused this mess? Do we have someone to blame?):

Bleeding Youth

If you thought ‘technology’ had no impact to people’s lives, then you have no idea why I use the tagline “Social Impact Through Technology”.  It lives me amazed to know just how a photo and a few catchy words can start a trending topic about an unknown person in just under 1 minute.  Be careful with Tech, it kills.
The publication of my pictures by minions on the Internet, on 17th January, 2013, stating that I manage an infamous Facebook page has made thousands of people split both in favour and against me. Some have gone an extra step to insult me, harass me, bully /threaten me.
Some of these ‘people who claim to be singers’ have even gone as far as calling me on my mobile to attack me, insults.

I have noted with severe concerns the spurious allegations made by the same people who sing who have even declared me a wanted person in death or in life on their Twitter and personal Facebook pages.

For instance, 

I have paid a closer look, carefully, and I have listened to everything that has been said and/or written. It is surprising how some people’s judgement is passed in their mind and one wonders how learnt people would act in such senseless and extraordinary ways, perhaps my judgement towards them was wrong?

Not to worry, people’s opinions on this issue matter the most even if most of them have been issued without applying wise thought.
A start-up classifieds website through their Facebook page, and some radio announcers who behind the scenes are the same people alleges that I am fuelling the management of a Gossip page with the sole purpose of assassinating Zambia entertainers’ and singers’ characters – which I publicly rule out to be a baseless allegation.

This classifieds website’s page together with the radio personalities, who claim to have “exposed” me, should understand that I do not depend on gossip or false news for my survival. I have noticed though that the classifieds website’s Facebook page seems to be one of the few pillars for their online business, a website that is experiencing a serious dwindling of membership and/or readership.

It is wrong to use another person’s name to gain popularity, you can not advertise your activities by mentioning ‘Nshinka Lupupa’, I may not have been as popular as you but your intentions are clear, your actions where done in bad faith.

Some Facebook users have lied to their followers that they are famous people in their country and that me [Nshinka Lupupa] through the “same page” had written about them. Interestingly enough the people that are suppose to support them do not think someone who has photoshoped pictures and 5000 Facebook friends is famous, they where comfortable calling this user a person who acts like they are famous – saying having a popular online profile in one or two social networks was a little closer to the truth.

One technology new comer posted a sentence on their blog which they later tweeted which read

Many have planned to take me to court for defamation / character assassination.  A few days ago, I was going through a well known blogger’s blog posts and found an interesting entry, in his first paragraph he wrote about defamation according to how he understands it and the law in ‘their’ country;

This blogger’s definition might not have been the correct one depending on the laws in the country you reside. Since am not writing to argue about defamation, I will dive straight to tell anyone who has a problem with my name to inform the authorities about this matter so that the law can take its course.

I do not have any personal relationship with any of Zambia’s singers, musicians, actors, models, and any other person who is mentioned on any of the Facebook pages – some of which I just leant about in these 5 hours.

The people behind these pages are your friends, the same people you go out with, the people you drink with and crack jokes with, if you keep secrets and eventually those secrets end up on the Internet, do you have to put the blame on someone else? Do you have to blame Nshinka Lupupa? Why not look at the people around you and ‘see what you can’t see’? If those stories have your personal lives depicted, doesn’t it make sense to say these people talking about you are people close to you and not me?

The person who made the statement that I managed the gossip page knew it wasn’t true, or didn’t care whether it was true or not and was reckless with the truth, they had doubts about the truth of a statement but did not bother to check further before publishing it.

I wish to distance myself  from the ongoing ugly dispute between some members of society that claim to have had their reputation ruined and a Facebook page which publishes stories about people and what they do in their day to day lives. I did not create this page, I do not manage this page, and I have never promoted this said page to anyone or anywhere, directly or indirectly.

Advertising on any platform (Internet, Magazines, Newspapers, etc.) regardless of what they write about  does not show affiliation of any kind, if any of the gossip pages had advertised my websites once or even more, that did not make me or my products part of the gossip pages or its operations.

Let me even put up a disclaimer; As an individual advertiser, am solely responsible for the content of advertising material which I submitted to all Zambian websites and all Facebook pages managed for the Zambian audience (that have more than 10,000 subscribers and fans), including ensuring that the advertising material complies with relevant legislation. I accept no responsibility for the content or other forms of materials on these pages, including, without limitation, any  celebrity news, scandals, false statements, copyrighted pictures,  truth, gossip, rumours and speculation, omission or inaccuracy therein.

I request everyone to stop these reckless acts and delete my pictures from their blogs, you are infringing my privacy and sharing material whose copyright I own.

And for those that are saying they will deal with me [not sure the dealings they wish to though], my number is                            , call me and I will be glad to meet with you. You can aswel pay me a visit at my office or home, you are all welcome.
Oops, I almost forgot, the story that am in Ndola hiding from you is not true, I can meet you even here if that’s where you live or happen to pass by this town while am  around.

Congratulations for not doing your research, but you will pay for that one finger. I say “Good Morning” instead of receiving a greeting I receive 20 insults under a minute? What better proof do I need?

Wish you luck.

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If you want to get your writing noticed and don’t have a website, you’re falling behind. A website is essentially your online business card—it shows editors and publishers you can do the job, nets potential readers and makes you accessible to anyone who might want you for a book or article assignment. My first website was just there to showcase my work, now, several iterations later, my website is a place to show editors my clips, entice writers to take my e-courses, convince them to buy my books, reach out to the media and land speaking engagements. If you don’t have a site, the time to act is now. It’s not as hard as you might think.

Here’s how.

DO IT YOURSELF

There are two main ways to build a website: Do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. First, here’s how to build a website using your own two hands (and a computer).

What you see is what you get. If you have time and some design talent, you can build your own website using a WYSIWYG program—which stands for What You See Is What You Get and is pronounced whiz-ee-wig. You don’t need to mess with code; with WYSIWYG programs, you can draw boxes, create columns, add graphics, input text and more, and the final result that goes online will look the way you created it on-screen. One popular WYSIWYG program is Adobe Dreamweaver (adobe.com), which costs some money. I used this program to build my first site.

If only I’d known about open-source software, I could have saved a bundle. There are WYSIWYG site building applications that are distributed for free online that allow users to create and manage a website with no technical expertise or HTML knowledge.

HIRED HELP

If you have zero design skill and no time to build your own site, you’re better off hiring a designer.

Let’s talk money. Nshinka Lupupa, who has designed writers’ websites (including my own,www.pamelasinkamba.com ), says costs vary widely. “You can get sites for less than K4,000,000, but these are typically people starting out and you may not get the best quality site,” he says. “A lot of writers, as long as their content isn’t too involved, can get a site for K7,000,000.” Some Web designers charge by the hour instead of offering a flat fee.  Musenge Muluwe, a female Zambian designer who has worked on writers’ websites, says prices can range from K375,000 per hour for a freelancer to K500,000 and up for a well established firm.

Finding a designer. The way you find a good designer is the same way you find a good hairdresser: Ask someone with a website you admire, “Who did your site?”

“I’m a big fan of word of mouth,” Spykerman says. “If you have writer friends who have had a successful experience with a designer, that can help build your confidence in that designer. I’d be hesitant to hire someone I hadn’t heard about from someone else.”

WHAT EVERY WRITER’S SITE NEEDS

Now that you have the scoop on how to build a site (or have one built), what do you do about the content? “Your site is to establish who you are, what your niche is and what separates you from the other authors out there,” Jacobsen says.

Here are the must-haves (or, in some cases, nice-to-haves) for a site that will wow editors and readers:

•    All about you. Somewhere on your site—whether it’s the front page or an “About Me” page—should be a bio that lets editors and readers know who you are and that you’ve got the goods. On my about me page of my site, I  give readers a brief roundup of what I offer, from articles to e-courses, with links to the relevant pages. My brief bio also appears on the “Media” page.

•    Your contact information. Don’t forget to tell people how they can contact you. “If the content on your site is appealing to an editor or publisher but they can’t easily find your contact information, that’s bad,”. “A dedicated contact page is important. Repeat that information on the home page.” An e-mail address or e-mail form is the minimum you should provide. You can include your phone number as well.

•    A picture of you. While not obligatory, a photo is a nice perk to include on your site.

•    A press page. If you’re selling a book, a press page can make it easy for the media to spread the word about you and your product. At a minimum you want your book announcement press release, some biographical information about the author, a graphic of the book cover and a headshot.

•    Testimonials. Testimonials and reviews can give you even more credibility than you naturally have. Other people can say things about your qualities that you can’t say yourself. It means more than if I were to say the same thing. How to get them? Ask! Your favorite editors will likely be flattered that you asked them for a testimonial. If it’s a book you’re plugging, include positive reviews you’ve garnered.

•    Samples of your work. To pique editors’ and readers’ interest, include sample chapters, your table of contents or clips of your articles. You can display clips in different ways: as text on your site, as downloadable PDF or Microsoft Word files, as links to online articles or even as password-protected documents so only the people you choose get a peek. Include at least some of your clips as text-only on your website, as this gives search engines more text to scan (so you may come up higher in search results); also, some editors may not like spending the time to open a downloadable clip. In addition, avoid having too many links to outside sites, as the links may change and turn up an error message when editors click them.

•    Buying 411. If you’re selling a book, be sure to have a way people can snap it up right then and there, whether it’s through a form on your site or a link to your book’s page on Amazon.com.

•    Personality. Included in the bio of freelance writer Judi Ketteler (judiketteler.com) is this statement: “A former gymnast, I also judge gymnastics and have been known to tumble in the backyard on occasion.” Don’t be afraid to let your personality show on your website.

 

Pamela Mwila Sinkamba is a remarkable and upcoming voice of contemporary literature. As a novelist, poet, educator, historian, playwright and child-rights activist, her writing is a voice that speaks to people from all walks of life about the real issues that affect modern society. Strongly condemning all forms of violence, her writing places a lot of emphasis on the need to restore the moral fibre of the society she lives in. The writer engages the reader to the extent of literally living in the society of the stories and this makes reading to the end a must. Pamela captivates audiences through the vigour and sheer beauty of her words and lyrics. The passion and virtuoso of her writing is the kind that brings out issues in a poetic and artistic way. Prolific in her own right, she sends out the message with captivating appeal.

“For others they are no formal structures to their blogs as a result their blogs just end up stacked on some website somewhere.”

“How do we make networks of bloggers who intend to become professionals in creative writing the centre stage of the success of Blogging in Zambia?”

In this audio clip, we discus the “art of blogging” on a Zambian perspective.

I am with Malama Malama, my Co-host, introducing Mutale Kapekele, “a woman representing a network of people who love  and are passionate about writing.   Every day, they share their professional and personal knowledge and thoughts of Zambia and about Zambia on various platforms. She is a business reporter, Zamwa Publicity Secretary , and a Blogger. She is also the  Founding Member and the Publicity Secretary  of the Zambian Bloggers Network.”

If you  have any questions, leave them in the comment section or catch me live on 105.1FM every sunday from 14:00pm to 15:00pm

My name is Nshinka Lupupa, and this is what am good at…
Follow me on Twitter: @nlupupa | Join the Coversation on Twitter: #amalocal
Facebook: /nlupupa
My latest Community Project: www.amalocal.co.zm 

The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children is an international campaign. It takes place every year from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day).
The period includes Universal Children’s Day and World AIDS Day.

Let’s share, leave a coment or send me a message via this link: www.nlupupa.com/about/contact

Picture Source: Juakali Contractors

The scheme is designed to convince the public to place their money into a fradulent investment. Once the scam artist feels that enough money has been collected, he disappears – taking all the money with him.

Five Key Elements of a Ponzi Scheme

1. The Benefit: A promise that the investment will achieve an above normal rate of return. The rate of return is often specified. The promised rate of return has to be high enough to be worthwhile to the investor but not so high as to be unbelievable.

2. The Setup: A relatively plausible explanation of how the investment can achieve these above normal rates of return. One often-used explanation is that the investor is skilled and/or has some inside information. Another possible explanation is that the investor has access to an investment opportunity not otherwise available to the general public.
3. Initial Credibility: The person running the scheme needs to be believable enough to convince the initial investors to leave their money with him.
4. Initial Investors Paid Off: For at least a few periods the investors need to make at least the promised rate of return – if not better.
5. Communicated Successes: Other investors need to hear about the payoffs, such that their numbers grow exponentially. At the very least more money needs to be coming in than is being paid back to investors.

Steps in the Ponzi Scheme

Ponzi Schemes are quite basic but can be extraordinarily powerful. The steps are as follows:

1.Convince a few investors to place money into the investment.
2. After the specified time return the investment money to the investors plus the specified interest rate or return.
3. Pointing to the historical success of the investment, convince more investors to place their money into the system. Typically the vast majority of the earlier investors will return. Why would they not? The system has been providing them with great benefits.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 a number of times. During step 2 at one of the cycles, break the pattern. Instead of returning the investment money and paying the promised return, escape with the money and start a new life.

Now that you have understood the ‘Ponzi Scheme’, do you think the local scheme that people have mistaken for a chilimba qualifies to be called a ‘Ponzi Scheme’?