Power is sweet, even unavoidable, at times. Call him president, commander-in-chief, head of the security council, party chief, and chairman of everything from innocuous intra-governmental agencies to multi-lateral conglomerates baptised into China’s mainstream socialistic agenda; Xi Jinping may be brewing a cocktail too detrimental to the future of democracy in Africa.

Most people oppose dual citizenship because they think that people in the Diaspora already enjoy life there. As such, the addition of dual citizenship is seen as a bloated advantage. This is not correct.

Zambia’s new President Edgar Lungu, elected less than two months ago, collapsed last weekend and was flown out of the country for specialized treatment. In a country that has lost three presidents in ten years, why did the voters ignore reports about Lungu’s poor health?

The campaigns lacked any clarity about how the candidates would tackle the huge socio-economic problems bedeviling the Southern African nation. But now that there is a new president in office for the next 18 months, he must strive to heal the deep ethnic cleavages and craft and implement a programme that will improve the quality of life of the majority of Zambians.

Is 2015 the year of change in Zambia? With the 20 January presidential by-election fast approaching will there be a shift from a growing democracy to a mature democracy? Can the nationa finally shed the coat of corruption and become a truly democratic society that can trust and rely on its elected officials?

The late leader was not a visionary. No one can point out to exactly what he stood for in the transformation of the Zambian nation. In their search for a leader to replace Sata, Zambians must awaken to the reality that a person’s popularity is not sufficient.

In a few months, Zambia will turn 50. A sober assessment of how the country has fared since independence would show that some notable progress has been achieved. But serious challenges still persist. Zambia now needs new blood, new formulae and new commitment to drive its economic and political agenda

The economy of Zambia is in bad shape under the helm of President Michael Sata. Sata’s liability is not in the fact that he is too old, or some of his ministers are ancient, his deficiency is in the fact that he lacks an economic vision for the country