In Praise of a Zambian Hero: Collins Mbesuma
By Kalunga K. Shawa
Greetings fellow Zambians. I write this article just after we have celebrated our Heroes and Unity day. It has become traditional on this occasion for us to only focus on remembering the great heroes who fought for our independence in the past and to completely ignore our more modern heroes. I wish to break with custom this time by opting to celebrate and uplift one of our contemporary heroes, Collins Mbesuma. On Monday (the 4th of July) while having lunch, just when the radio was turned on, my ears were greeted by the wonderful news that Mbesuma, Zambia’s prolific soccer star, had finally secured a contract in the lucrative English Premier League. I was so elated and immediately went into a discussion as to how deserving he is and what it will mean for him financially (he will most probably earn a few tens of thousand pounds a week). During the past few weeks I had been talking to my friends and colleagues speculating as to when he would be offered a professional contract in Europe. I had also been hoping that he would get into a team that would ‘guarantee’ him a ‘permanent’ place in the starting line-up, so that he would have a chance to display his goal scoring prowess. Mbesuma is a true hero by any measure and his many achievements can attest to that. Unfortunately, I have not been privileged to watch most of his games in the South African league but even once when I turned on the television set and was lucky to see him on ‘African Soccer’ (ZNBC), he scored! The statistics also show that he is a superior player, being the top scorer in the competitive South African league and indeed receiving a number of accolades and prizes. I was fortunate to watch Mbesuma bring Zambia victory and glory when we played Malawi on our soil. He showed great tenacity and stamina (both physical and mental) as he kept trying to score, at times ‘marked’ by three defenders but eventually he prevailed and scored. That was not enough for the hero, he wanted to win and he continued to apply himself until he won a penalty. Needless to say Mbesuma scored and Zambia obtained a positive result: Zambia 2 - Malawi 1. Upon reflection it has dawned on me that if all Zambians in positions of authority and importance were like Collins Mbesuma this would be a great nation. Collins Mbesuma knows his job description and he executes it very well. He is a striker and strikers are meant to score. He is indeed a very productive individual and fortunately is being rewarded for his greatness. Let us imagine for a moment that Mbesuma did not perform well, would it make sense for him to be bought and sent to Europe even though he was not of superior talent? No. Or, at present, would it make sense for South African players to complain about Mbesuma and say he should not go to Europe, a South African should go instead? No. Productive individuals should be rewarded and never should their rewards be sacrificed for the benefit of the less deserving. In light of this, can we see that it is not prudent to let the unproductive benefit at the expense of the productive? Closer to home we may ask the question; should a large government be allowed to place a heavy tax burden on the productive members of our society for the sake of keeping unproductive jobs? Some of you may recognise what I’m ‘talking’ about… Socialism. Socialism, even in a subtle form, whenever it appears, leads to downfall and demonstrates a wrong lesson to individuals that are unproductive and undeserving (and vice versa) Mbesuma provides a lesson, and shows us the power of an individual to achieve greatness and success. I have no doubt that even where he is going, our hero will not stop short but work hard and indeed achieve greatness and hopefully domination of the league top scorer slot. I have to mention here that the individual is supreme under the system of capitalism and those that are deserving, like Mbesuma, are rewarded. Also, I would like to provide a simple illustration to dispel the fallacy that under capitalism (as the trite saying goes) ‘The Rich get richer and the Poor get poorer’ when in actual fact capitalism enables the rich to get richer and indeed the poor to get richer as well. I believe that Mbesuma was ‘sold’ by a Zambian team (presumably Roan United) that gained from the sale and indeed ‘bought’ by a South African team which ‘lost’ money to gain the value of a great striker. Notice, if you will that both teams gained, the Zambian (poorer) team got richer and so did the South African team (Kaizer Chiefs). Also, now that Mbesuma is going to England, Kaizer Chiefs has gained some revenue and the European team, I tell you, will gain tremendously from his world class services. Mbesuma will continue to gain and become a wealthy man to be loved by his fans, both club and country and indeed to continue in his pursuit of happiness. Mbesuma, literally and figuratively has not stopped short of the goal. He left Zambia and went to South Africa where he put his heart into scoring for his club bringing him fame and now fortune. He did not rest on his laurels but put in hard work to become top scorer and a great asset to his team. Anyone who has been privileged to watch him would acknowledge that he has now become too big for the South African league and deserves to play in the greatest soccer leagues of the world. For as they say, he is now in the ‘Big Leagues!’ It is at this time when our nation is in dire need of heroes, that we salute you; Collins Mbesuma, a true hero, keep it up! You can comment on this article here | Back to ZOL Homepage |