Kasebamashila Kaseba
HOW HH7 WAS UNPRESIDENT’IAL, FLAT, PREDICTABLE, UNCREATIVE, UNIMAGINATIVE, UNQUOTABLE AND UNCONVINCING IN NEARLY THREE HOURS OF 365 DAYS OF NEW DAWN UPND HH MORE LIKE SITLL OPPOSITION UPND HH
—- when eagle one couldn’t fly high on hot fm number one for news and entertainment —-
Eagle One HH7 on Hot FM was neither hot nor cold for both news and entertainment as by the station’s motto.
In trying to relax him about entertainment or sports, HH who previously featured on Hot FM “Top 10 at 10” in some guest DJ capacity his time said he sings to himself in the shower as entertainment or takes walks or loves nature.
HH also featured by phone on the same Hot FM station and programme to deny causing the ZAFFICO riots that it ruined their relationship with Hope Chishala. UPND cadres went for Hope.
HH also once phoned Hot FM Hot Seat featuring FDD Edith Nawakwi for accusing him of buying a Lima Bank iin Kabulonga.
He performed very well against her except for being unstrategic or indecisive.
He later hosted Hot FM at his Community House through dozen other relay stations for an interview on the same Lima Bank Kabulonga House.
While 09:00 was good time for a press conference, it was outside Hot FM’s “Red Hot Breakfast” from 06:00 to 09:00 programming.
Meaning the presenters were ready for work shift at 06:00 for yet all-work-and-no-play workaholic HH was not.
Instead, the presenters were disturbed from both their schedule and station to suit HH at State House.
I once had a meeting with one PF MCS Deputy Minister who gave me a 07:00 appointment. I was impressed. His reasoning was that Ministers without escort or sweepers could easily get stuck in after 07:00 traffic.
On the other hand, I have had about five opportunities to produce HH on Prime TV and elsewhere.
HH has serious problems with time or is now unbound by time and his words.
First opportunity in 2015, he cancelled the scheduled Prime TV flagship Oxygen of Democracy after his advance people were already at Prime TV.
Later when on the second attempt, he asked that we reschedule to much earlier than 20:30 to before 19:30 Prime TV Main News for security.
That disturbed programming as he worked with or through the owner without an iota of editorial independence separating the owners from the producers.
Another one was with other party presidents when I mainly produced Mulongoti including through Muvi TV.
Another was at his initiative when we met at some function.
He came through and featured on Prime TV Oxygen of Democracy time after 09:30 news.
He waited and was jovial to tease me to news analyse him on location or in his presence.
When I once interviewed KK for Times of Zambia at UNIP Freedom House after his release from prison for treason, in 1998, I was impressed with his answers and knack to unload questions.
HH one improvement is he allowed journalists to interrupt him before he reverted to his usual hang on.
Today, HH was as usual predictable, rambling for about three hours and uncategorical say on six nagging or overhanging questions he failed to answer or put rto rest or bed or close.
1. Community House to State House shift and wife cooking for him as president.
He talked about high cost of renovations of delapidated Nkwazi House of 1974 as opposed to State House of 1935 as well as seeing no need to shift.
He also said his wife still cooks for him. Reports are also that he actually goes home for wife-cooked lunch with the presidential motorcade than carry packed or delivered lunch. This is a state security matter.
2. Constitutional and law reform.
He was non-committal and without clear timeframes. He is still promising, ill-iinformed and contradictory of Zambia Law Development Commission (ZLDC) he failed to accordingly name especially on defamation of the president.
3. HH assets and liabilities declaration (as petitioned by Sean Tembo in the Constitutional Court) as well as relinquishing of management of his riches.
He generalised and went to EL and 2015 decoration or nomination. The same he did with Kabulonga Lima Tower House until it was too late. He declined and saw no need or conflict in being president fighting corruption and private property proprietor.
4. Mumbi Phiri murder detention without trial.
He waxed general.even self contradictory with his 127 days improvement example plus MP culpability referred to PF and subordinates.
4. Disgruntled youths insults of him and soldiers brutality.
He seened to condemn the youths and commend the soldiers at the same time. He saw more offense in the youths more than DEC director Mary Chirwa moral corruption. The same way he sees marijuana being more harmful than alcohol when the case is vice versa.
5. UPND cadreism I’m station, markets and streets.
As above he was self contradictory commending with old habits die hard and condemn with self praises of restoring peace and rule of law.
6. Greg Mills CEO the Brenthurst Foundation and the caprtive president and puppet of the west.
He again defended, rationalised and generalised and globalised a specific question.