Letter from the United States
Vol III
By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
33 year old Zohran Kwame Mamdani is serving as a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district, based in Queens, since 2021
A few weeks ago, Mamdani shot to national prominence when he won a record-setting primary victory, and became the presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City.
New York’s GDP is estimated at $1.78 trillion, ranking it third in the United States behind California and Texas, and is more than the entire economies of the African countries combined!
Zohran Mamdani did not just win the New York City Democratic mayoral primary convincingly, he beat his chief rival, former governor and one considered democratic royalty, Andrew Cuomo.
A savy use of social-media, connecting with the electorate, and mobilizing and stitching together diverse , multi-racial and reactivation disengaged voters.
A Ugandan-born Muslim, Mahmood Mamdani’s parents were Gujarati Muslims who were born in the British territory of Tanganyika, which is now Tanzania. They were part of the Indian diaspora in East Africa.
But what has brought all this attention and controversy is not his heritage or popularity but his political and economic views that are considered too radical for America.
Mamdani identifies himself as a social-democrat.
The Republican are not happy.
They think he is a communist!
And communism here is viewed as defeating or threatening American core values and interests.
Since his win the attacks have increasingly become more Islamophobic and xenophobic, including baseless allegations about his citizenship status and the role of his religion.
These criticisms often stem from his stance on Israel and Palestine, his support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and his reluctance to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada”.
Many of his critics have equated his views as promoting antisemitism or anti-Jewish.
America is complex but fascinating country.
From its big cars, to its wide roads, to the size of its portion of meals.
Even the shopping trolleys are the widest I’ve ever seen anywherelse!
Everything in America is big, and outsized.
Talking about its meals, from one single shopping mall, you can likely find a representation of the world’s gastronomical delights with a boundless variety of regional and seasonal dishes.
From Japanese Sushi, to Mexican tacos or burritos, to Texas Barbecue to feijoada from Brazil and to Chinese or Thai sweet and sour chickens and ducks.
Then there’s a chain of take-aways and drive throughs.
Even some banks have drive throughs fully fledged for ATMs, and with tubes for large deposits or withdrawal without leaving the comfort of your car!
Some of the most popular fast-food chains include ; McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Dunkin’, Burger King, Subway, Chipotle, and Domino’s.
Sadly you do not find African foods in yhese chains and restaurants.
You have to search hard for shops and markets that sell or stock or serve African foods.
I’m on the hunt for African foods.
This brings me to the letter written to President Hakainde Hichilema by Sishuwa Sishuwa.
Dr. Sishuwa is a Honorary Research Associate in the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town and a Senior Lecturer in History at Stellenbosch University.
His letter symbolizes the making of terrible dictator before your own eyes.
A man who won the 2021 presidential election with a commanding lead majority, who came on the promise to repair the economy, restore human rights practices, restore democracy and the rule of law, enhance rights and freedoms but has turned himself into a small pitiless tin-pot dictator, killing, torturing, brutalising and imprisoning his critics and opponents, looting the Treasury and plundering national, natural and other resources.
A man who has destroyed democratic institutions such as the Electoral Commission of Zambia and obliterated the independence of Parliament and the Judiciary.
A man so obsessed with the dead body of his predecessor in the same measure as his toxic obsession with his re-election in 2026 that he has forgotten that leadership is but a service, an honour to serve, an opportunity to transform the country not for the sake of the next election but for the good of the next generation.
Until next week, enjoy the week.
Mwamba you are a nutcase.
Keep on dreaming.We are happy with HH Muamba.If you know whats good for you,find a job there.Your home country Tanzania can never take you in Muamba.You have been eating free Zambian money for decades,like they say,”all good things come to an end”,move on it will never happen again anytime soon.Eat that money you benefited wisely.You can’t say anything sensible without mentioning HH! It’s good that he closed you from eating free money
Mwamba you attempt to show relevance using this article is a reflection of the mental state of your mind. Disjointed.
If lets prove how your logic is warped. Zohran Kwame Mamdani may have won the Democratic primary for the Mayoral race against the former Governor largely because the former Governor resigned for this position after an embarassing saga.
Politics is a weird terrain and highly unpredictive. In 2020 Donald J Trump lost the Presidential elections to Joseph Biden. And one would have predicted that even after Biden dropped out of the 2024 elections, his VP Kamala Harris would have had an easy path to the Presidency. And she lost. Right now you are gloating and thinking that “there that my point exactly”. The underdog can win. The underdog and criminal convict Trump is performing badly. And the folks who elected him have buyers remorse. The latinos; who form the secondly largest voting block in the US population; swayed the elcetions, thinking that Trump will allow the status quo to continue. Alas; they have borne the brunt of the racist minded (deputy Chief of Staff in the White House and supporter of the modern day Brown shirts in America). And the latino who have been entering the country by the bus load. Are undocumented now face deportation enmass. Sometimes not for being illegal immigrants, but the colour of their skin.
Like it or not do you think Trump will retain the majority he has in both houses of the legislature after the mid terms? If he loses it wont we see impeachment proceeding launch against him? And his loss will not just be because of the backlash of the latinos.
The big beautiful bill that has been passed his highly flawed, affecting the most vulnerable while giving tax cuts to the wealthy and adding to the national debt.
For a serial bankrupt individual Trump should never have been elected. And while you support this “upset candidate for the Mayor’s race”. What does he have to offer? Is he like Jasmine or AOC? Where is his appeal? Is that appeal sustainable such that his message is attainable?
Ba PF your message right now is that “ECL was PF”. But are you capable of leading? How? You cant elect a President? Your message is vain and empty. Your track record is questionable.
Similarly; we see the same with the Kalabas, Mmembes and Katekas of this world. As an opposition you have spent too much time standing around expect Edgar Lungu to be your saviour. Why? You wanted to use his resources. Will have access to them now he is gone? Money alone cant buy happiness and Trump through Musk thought he could buy his way into the White House. Yet, once there. Chimbwi na lubana.
So ba Smart Alick….give it up. You will soon be flipping burgers as you dont have the skill set nor the resources to stay there. Who will grant assylum to a person who thinks he is entilted to assult the law? Is that not the reason why Trump is deporting latinos? They are “violent criminals”. Nomba imwe ba Mwamba how will you leave that out in your petition? Assulting a Policeman?
Thank you for your informative piece. It is good to know Zohran Kwame Mamdani is the so of well-respected Ugandan academic Prof. Manhood Mamdani. I remember his great article I read in the late 90s entitled “The Social basis of Constitutionalism in Africa”. It opened my eyes to a narrow Western interpretation of Rechtstaat or Rule of Law in Africa.
I meant to write “the son of well-respected Ugandan academic…” Once again, thank you Emmanuel for your informative piece. I appreciate you.
Kaoma.You can find this biopic anywhere on the net.Just commend Mwamba when he solves x*x=25
Tell us what invention you have come up with yourself, or what remarkable solution to any of Zambia’s problems you have provided.
What remarkable solution to any of Zambia’s problems have you yourself been able to provide?
You had to wait for Mwamba to research for you, this news has been trending for the past one month…
I read a lot more than you guys who, thanks to a poor reading culture, cannot even finish reading Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa’s articles. Where do you think I got information about Zohran Mamdani being son of Prof Mamhood Mamdani’s? Certainly, not from Emmanuel. But I still commend him that he is well informed about matters beyond Zambia and is able to relate this with what is happening home. He is the kind of journalist other Zambian journalists and members of the public can learn from.
Praising and mesmerised by the America way of life like a small village boy who has come to town for the first time. America which you didn’t contribute to its economic greatness but enjoying it like a bloody Leech but daily busy throwing mud and castigating your adopted country Zambia and those trying hard to mop up the mess that you left behind. What a shame for a grown up man like you, a free Loader.
This is an apt description of Mwamba with his silly talk about the big cars and wide roads, like he’s in awe.. Im sure he has seen this before in America and other places. What kind of ‘ambassador’ is this?
His assessment of Mamdani sounds so AI generated. He should know, if he understood American politics, that Mandani progressive stance resonates because New Yorkers are fed up with exorbitant prices for food, rent, etc. This is a global problem, also seen in Zambia. Unlike Zambia, America is run by a moron who is about to slam hard working low and middle income people with more hardships as he attempts to remove services they pay for collectively through taxes to give tax breaks to rich people. Mamdani’s win is also a litmus test for how much of this Americans will take going forward.
Where did the democracy we claim our country to be come from? From within Zambia itself? What is the problem of learning from other countries with a longer tradition of democratic governance? Do we not even benefit from developments in the developed world? Where do the medicines for TB, Malaria, Covid-19 etc come from? Are we able to develop our own? Do we even have our own curriculum for a medical degree, engineering or the natural sciences in general? Do we not draw a lot on what exists in the developed world?
Self loathing won’t get you far friend. Get some pride.
What pride? Of being ruled like we are in a Banana Republic? I have studied, lived and worked abroad in Europe and know how life is like out there compared to what we go through here. I came back out of loyalty to my country, my aging parents and my family.
I live in the US and have most of my life. I don’t really see it as a source of anything other than this is where i live, went to school and work. Only a self loathing loser speaks as if it’s something special. I feel sorry for you.