The rise of Gilbert Liswaniso AKA General Mosquito
It has been said repeatedly that leadership is incompatible with personal comfort, stability and security. In many societies, to decide to be a leader is to choose to be inconvenienced repeatedly.
At the heart of United Party for National Development (UPND) youthful leadership is Gilbert Liswaniso. Small in outlook but thick in attitude, actions and aspirations. He is known as General Mosquito within his political circles.
When it was unfashionable for one to align oneself with the UPND and to undertake works for the ‘main opposition’ then, Mosquito was at the center of it all defying the fear. Asked how he defied the fear of working for an opposition that was taken as utmost enemy of the then ruling party, Mosquito answered : “FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real”
He went on to say the absence of courageous people to defy all odds is a recipe of a subjugated society.
For him he believed that a continued fight against the former ruling party was not for his own good but to liberate Zambia from the pitfalls of corruption, caderism and all vices that killed the Zambian dream. Further, never was a time when Liswaniso thought himself as a means to an end in the equation. He has always thought himself as a cog in the machinery. Often times than not, Mosquito has told people that there is so much that one can do and one has to do their best to play their part.
As UPND National Youth Chairman, Mosquito led from the front and personally taking the bullets of persecution. His vigour and belief in success never failed him. He poised as an example of a worrier in the movement. He was one of the many faithful generals Mr. Hakainde Hichilema deployed countrywide to galvanize support for the UPND.
In fact, there is enough evidence that suggests on several occasions, Gilbert Liswaniso was approached with a bag of corruption to betray his leader but he refused to give in to personal satisfaction. His philosophy has always been that, if you’re going to do something on earth, the most important question to ask oneself is “are my actions just enough to contribute to human welfare?”
The recent test of General Mosquito’s leadership was when he vehemently openly pleaded with all UPND youths and others countrywide to stay calm and maintain peace while the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) delayed to announce results in the just ended elections. Leaders dictate cause. His constant call for peace and calms played a vital role in averting an imminent reaction from people as impatience grow over declaring of Hakainde Hichilema as the winner of the election.
He is not drunk with the power that his position arms him with. He is a down to earth fellow who is always picking rationality above else. In fact, if you do not know him, you can mistake him for an ordinary person. He power and influence are not in tandem with his attitude, towards people.
The General, Mosquito, Gilbert Liswaniso will go in the anals of Zambian youthful leadership at party level as one disciplined envoy of peace, love and conscious. The future leader is here.