DECODING HAKAINDE HICHILEMA

By Kellys Kaunda

DECODING HAKAINDE HICHILEMA

Since Zambia will be going to the polls to elect a leader for the next five years, let me try to decode the incumbent.

When I spoke about Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu and declared both of them as fit to be President of Zambia, some of you labeled my articles as more of advocacy than analysis.

Then you went on to ascribe to Hichilema qualities that sounded sophisticated, superior and unique.

You described Makebi Zulu as a novice who doesn’t come anywhere near who Hichilema is.

This is just a word salad devoid of any helpful analytical value. In fact, it’s demeaning in its intentionality.

If you want to use scientifically sound tools for the analysis of human beings to understand what and how they do what they do, you will need an interdisciplinary approach.

You find helpful tools in sociology, political science, communication and psychology.

But more relevant is the latter with a special focus on personality traits, emotional intelligence and social psychology.

To decode Hichilema, you need to look into his background – his childhood, his education, his family life, his professional experience and his political life.

In addition, listen to the recent interviews where he deals with the question of how he acquired his wealth.

In decoding Hichilema, the terminologies with sound analytical values will include emotional intelligence.

It’s a common human trait transfered across every environment where success depends on the support of others.

Hichilema knows how to tune into his own emotions and establish who he is and who he will need to work with to achieve his personal goals.

This is further elaborated in social psychology that helps to explain individuals who understand group dynamics which they then use to help them achieve their objectives and goals in life. And Hichilema has exemplified them in his political life.

There’s something called Generalised Resistance Resources. Every day of our lives, we experience obstacles which we deal with in a variety of ways to get where we want to go

When we stay focused on our goal, as Hichilema did while in the opposition, you build resistance resources which you, unconsciously, deploy every time you face an obstacle.

Because life is full of challenges, human beings share the foregoing values as nature’s survival kit.

These values are transferable – they go with what ever profession or vocation you choose or the circumstances of your life.

To sum up, the same way that all human beings share the same basic biological constitution is the same way they share the same basic psychological constitution.

The supposed uniqueness some of you think Hichilema has over other Presidential hopefuls constitute political constructs that are as baseless as assigning special qualities to someone based on their race.

The point I am making is that the qualities that Hichilema has that led to him becoming President are not a mystery and neither unique to him alone.

Even the guy who pushes a wheelbarrow across the street as he seeks to earn a living has them.