Leadership in Zambia

One of the reasons for me to come to Macha is to find out how leadership is emerging in this area and if we can contribute with the CHE School of Synnervation. The last few days we have been speaking with some of the growing leaders. Tomorrow we will meet one of the chiefs. Chiefs are the formal leaders in the traditional line. The emerging leaders are primarily young people who grow in leadership positions through social and economical development.

Traditionally the leadership in rural Zambia is through the lineage of chiefs, headmen and senior headmen. We've been taught about the value this still has in modern rural Zambia and how it is integrated in juridical and police law enforcement. hen does one go to a chief, to court or to the police. This depends on the beliefs and value system of the individual in question, but there are also some general guidelines. When there is theft or violence you go to court or the police for most other disputes one can easily go to the chief as well.

But I actually wanted to share about the leadership by the young bright emerging leaders in Macha area. We've spoken with Gregory, responsible for the IT developments and management of Linknet; with Veneta, responsible for the storage of the Ubuntu village; with Oskar, responsible for the network and hardware in Linknet; with Lydia, responsible for the financial transactions of Linknet and many of the local projects and with Fred, responsible for the radio station and community development in Macha. Fred is also our host during our stay in Macha.

It is quite amazing how these young people take responsibility and grow from a chanceless position to where they are now. In terms of Spiral Dynamics integral the life conditions in Macha are purple or tribal oriented. The individual is part of the collective and community and relationship is highly valued. Ego is not as strongly developed as in most Western countries and some individual oriented questions are not understood. This says nothing of about the intellectual capacity, on the contrary, I am impressed by the quality of leadership. Without knowing the terminology they show us Spiral Dynamics in action. And this is very exciting for me.

Macha is missionary territory and most of the people in this region are Christian. So on Sunday we went to church. Fred took us to a local church which was an adventure for us and for the other visitors of the church. We were welcomed by very warmhearted people and Fred was invited to hold a speech. I can write another long story about the leadership but you can also get an impression for yourself. Here is the speech Fred Mweeta held. Here is an ambitious man with heart for his country and who is willing to sacrifice Self for the well being of his community and his country.

I am honoured to get to know people like Fred, Lydia, Gregory, Veneta, Oscar and Gert Jan and I am looking forward on the next days with them. These are people with a purpose in life and who - through their actions - bring hope for the future of Macha, Zambia and Africa.

I am also very excited to find out if and how we can support each other in leadership development. The first steps are made for what will hopefully become a sustainable, effective and joyful long term relationship between Macha ande Linknet and the Center for Human Emergence and the CHE School of Synnervation.