banks – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

The ‘Legendary’ Macky 2!

All roads led to the Barclays sports complex in Lusaka last Friday night where controversial rapper, Macky II (above) launched his album. Almost every artiste was at the complex to either watch or support the controversial rapper’s ‘Legendary’ album launch. The show which was initially scheduled to start at 18:00 hours picked up momentum after 22:00 hours and that slowness in attendance can be attributed to Friday being a working day and that people had to go home and prepare for the big show.

After 22:00 hours the security men at the gate had a tough time to control the crowd that flabbergasted them and it had to take several hours for the security to admit the revelers. Not even a free show for a Zambian artiste has attracted the crowd that Macky II attracted last Friday at least so far this year. The Zamtel Chalila powered show started with performances from artistes such as T Sean, Tiye P, Ama Blax, Hamoba, Ken One, Pilato, Chef, Petersen, CQ and Exile.

Despite the name that the supporting artists have made for themselves, the revelers were only interested in the man of the moment though Petersen managed to stir the audience with his Ma Offals and Makwebo Mu Church songs. After the curtain raising performances had finished around 01:00 hours on Saturday morning, the master of ceremonies, K Smash announced the coming of Macky II who stormed the stage while the lights were lit off to mark the grand stage entrance.

Clad in a bulky black jean, blue hood, a purple t-shirt and marching purple airforce one shoes with black sun glasses, the Kopala Swag pioneer went straight into churning his old tunes before embarking on the songs that are on his Legendary album. From 01:00 hours to around 04:00 hours, Macky II performed different songs including Nangu Banchinge with Exile, Mukulu with JK, Ndeloleshafye with Pilato, Seka Uponoke with Chef but the most hilarious moment of the night was when another controversial artist General Kanene joined him.

The embattled Kanene featured on Macky II’s Ndimupondo featuring all-stars song and Mwishina Lyenu but later got the microphone and temporary stole the show from Macky II. General Kanene performed a sample of P Squares Chop My Money amid laughter and excitement from the fans that seemed to have loved his performances and after performing two songs, his third track skipped and could not play but the fans called for his longer stay on the stage.

Macky II continued with his performance and performed Amaka yakwa Lesa and while in action he chased a skimpy dressed girl from the stage amid approval from the audience!

9
SEP

Africa, banks, entertainment, Lusaka, music, Zambia

The Kashitas Repeat ‘The Experience’

The latest edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, was rather different for several reasons. Firstly it aired at an earlier time of 18.00 hrs, so that the show did not clash with the final of the Africa Cup Of Nations in which Zambia was participating (and won, whoopee!) Secondly the show went out on the day Whitney Houston’s untimely death was announced, so we revised the play list at the last moment to feature many of her top hits. Sad…

Last but not least, for once we talked some ‘politics’ on the show with our guests Andrew and Caroline Kashita (above). Andrew was a senior minister in both the UNIP and MMD governments in Zambia and we wanted, and got, his expert opinion on a couple of important national and local matters. Andrew and Caroline have appeared on our show twice before.

‘The Experience’ airs every Sunday, usually from 20.30 to 21.30 hrs and is sponsored by Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia. The show is a great mixture of music and chat and is popular locally especially as we give away a prize of a dinner for two at the lodge each week, to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our ‘oldie of the week’. On this particular show the track was ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion and the prize was quickly snapped up.

The Kashitas told us they’d been married for 32 years and had a total of four children (two together), all of whom were doing well overseas, they also have one grandchild, Chansa, aged 3. They told listeners they enjoyed coming to Livingstone for a week twice a year to relax away from the hustle bustle of Lusaka. The break also afforded them the opportunity to rest and recuperate at Chanters, and to catch up with some reading, as well as developments in Livingstone. “Why do you always choose Chanters?” Milli Jam wondered “Richard’s an old friend and his lodge just suits us very well!” Was the sweet reply. They also mentioned the ‘convenient location’.

The Whitney Houston tracks we featured on the show were ‘One Moment In Time’, ‘I Will Always Love You’, ‘Dance With Somebody’, Saving All My Love For You’ and ‘I Look To You’. Great selection! Our pick of the week was Lady Antebellum’s ‘Dancing With You In My Heart’. We also featured one song for the Zambian footballers ‘Chipolopolo’ by MAG44, T10, Pompi and Chungu.

We asked Andrew Kashita about the sale of a large share holding in Zanaco (Zambia National Commercial Bank) to a Dutch bank, currently under investigation by the Sata PF Government. Andrew told listeners that as a former chairman of the bank, he felt the sale of the bank to a foreign bank had been against the spirit in which the peoples’ bank had been created in the first place, and also that it had been severely undervalued at the time of the sale. He very much hoped that the situation would be corrected by the sale of more shares to ‘ordinary’ Zambians. He was not however in favour of the sale being reversed but he did feel that the bank should have a Zambian chairperson.

We also asked him to comment on the state of the road from the outskirts of Livingstone to the Falls and he said that he felt the ‘shameful’ situation had arisen from either wrong specifications, poor work by the contractors or poor supervision. He felt that the culprits should be identified and the road repaired free of charge by those concerned, as soon as possible.

We wondered if the Kashitas would be doing any of the many tourist activities available in Livingstone and they told listeners that they were very much looking forward to the sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone the next day. They also planned a visit to the Drift Cemetery in the Mosi-o-Tunya National Park. They told listeners they would return to Lusaka towards the end of the following week using Mazhandu Family Bus Service, as usual.

17
FEB

activities, Africa, banks, development, entertainment, football, friends, infrastructure, music, politics, radioshow, Zambia

Take Barclays With You – When You Die!

A friend sent me this true story – perhaps knowing how much I just love Barclays Bank (Zambia) Ltd!

A lady died last January. Barclays Bank billed her for service charges on her credit card for February and March. They then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been £0.00, now it was somewhere around £60.00.

A family member placed a call to Barclays Bank:

Family Member: ‘I’m calling to tell you that she died in January.’

Barclays: ‘The account was never closed. The late fees and charges still apply.’

Family Member: ‘Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.’

Barclays: ‘Since it’s two months past due, it already has been..’

Family Member: ‘So, what will they do when they find out she’s dead?’

Barclays: ‘Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!’

Family Member: ‘Do you think God will be mad at her?’

Barclays: ‘Excuse me?’

Family Member: ‘Did you just get what I was telling you, the part about her being dead?’

Barclays: ‘Sir, you’ll have to speak to my supervisor.’

Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member: ‘I’m calling to tell you, she died in January.’

Barclays: ‘The account was never closed. The late fees and charges still apply.’

Family Member: ‘You mean you want to collect from her estate?’

Barclays: (Stammer) ‘Are you her lawyer?’

Family Member: ‘No, I’m her great nephew.’ (Lawyer info given)

Barclays: ‘Could you fax us a certificate of death?’

Family Member: ‘Sure.’ ( fax number is given )

After they get the fax:

Barclays: ‘Our system just isn’t set up for death. I don’t know what more I can do to help.’

Family Member: ‘Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don’t think she’ll care.’

Barclays: ‘Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.’

Family Member: ‘Would you like her new billing address?’

Barclays: ‘That might help.’

Family Member: ‘ Finchley Memorial Cemetery , Great North Road, Finchley,
London, Plot Number 1049.’

Barclays: ‘Sir, that’s a cemetery!’

Family Member: ‘Well, what the f*** do you do with dead people on your planet?’

29
DEC

banks, service, uk, Zambia

Desiree Mzimela & Helen Mtshali

“Are you on Twitter”? I asked Desiree (left) and Helen, pictured above, as we got into the car on Sunday evening. “Oh yes”. They replied. “What are your Twitter addresses”? I continued. “Well” said Desiree “I’m @DezMzimela and I’m @helenthetruth” said Helen. “I knew it”! I said, which wasn’t quite the truth (sorry), but as the weekend had progressed, I’d had a sneaky feeling that this Helen was @helenthetruth whom I’ve been following on Twitter and whose been following me, for some time now. “Did you book to stay at Chanters Lodge because of Twitter”? I asked. “Yes” Helen replied. “Magic”! I said, and meant it. Then we were on our way to the Zambezi FM studios in Livingstone, where the girls had agreed to be our guests on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild, our regular Sunday night radio show – a great mixture of music and chat airing between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs.

Helen is an investment banker in South Africa and Desiree, a trained physiotherapist, is an assistant director (rehabilitation) with the Department of Health in the Eastern Cape. The girls met at secondary school – Hunt Road School in Durban – and have been friends ever since. They were great fun, telling listeners all they’d packed into their short stay in Livingstone. Desiree had taken the sunset cruise on the African Queen on Friday evening (before Helen had flown in) and had been clubbing the same night, dancing til the small hours. On Saturday evening they’d taken the Royal Livingstone Express enjoying a fabulous six course dinner with wine, on that lovely old reconditioned steam train. On the morning of the show I’d taken the girls to Victoria Falls, they’d loved the loud rushing water and had also managed to bungee jump, fly the flying fox and ride the zip line as well! From there they’d taken the elephant safari with Mukuni Big 5 and ended up having tea at the Royal Livingstone. Great itinerary!

The music on the show was smokin’ hot as usual. Akon’s ‘Love Handles’ and Diddy Dirty Money’s ‘Your Love’ featuring Trey Songz and Rick Ross made a racy start to the show. After some chat with the girls Milli Jam dropped ‘Mailo’ by Jay featuring Petersen, back to back with ‘Palamo’ by Karasa featuring Alpha. Half way through the show we spun Adele’s world-wide smash ‘Someone Like You’ coupled with Jennifer Hudson’s ‘I Remember You’ – title track of her cracking new album. Later we played Akon’s ‘Just A Man’ and Lupe Fiasco’s ‘Stereo Sun’ – a track from Lupe’s album ‘Lasers’ which had just reached number one in the US album charts. ‘Boom’ by Snoop Dogg closed the affair.

We gave away the usual dinner for two to the first person to text us our guests’ country of origin and Ivy was the first of many to get it right – South Africa. The girls told listeners they were both Zulu by tribe, and were clearly proud of it. Helen lives in Joahnnesburg and Desiree eNgocobo. When Milli Jam popped the question, Helen told listeners she was single and Desiree just giggled! They were asked where they’d like to be and what they’d like to be doing ten years from now and they both agreed that they wanted to have lots of money, a husband and children – in that order we gathered. They both planned to pursue their careers and charmingly their care for womens’ rights in Africa. I’d bet they achieve all of that – and more! Great show!

22
MAR

activities, Africa, banks, Chanters, entertainment, guests, health, livingstone, music, radioshow, rsa, tourism, Twitter, victoriafalls, wildlife, Zambia

“Dollarisation”

Well, I don’t agree with the bankers that we should stop quoting in US$! Imagine if we were to start quoting in Kwacha on our website! It’s hard enough for tourists to get their head around the Kwacha value to the US$ when they arrive, never mind trying to work it out before they’ve even booked. The bankers should think again. Mrs Melu is however right that the cost of doing business in Zambia remains high – check the cost of fuel and electricity for starters! This from Lusaka Times.

“The Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) is lobbying regulators to put in place a law that will deter businesses from quoting in United States (US) dollars as the tendency increases transaction costs. BAZ vice chairperson Mizinga Melu said dollarisation is also a serious issue since it increases costs of doing business in Zambia.

“Dollarisation is an issue because quoting in dollars translates in cost of doing business. We are lobbying the regulators to put a law to stop quoting in dollars,” she said. Mrs Melu, who is also Standard Chartered Bank managing director, was answering a question on what the financial market was doing on dollarisation during the bank’s second quarter performance media briefing in Lusaka yesterday.

Recently, the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) conducted a survey whose findings were outlined in a publication entitled ‘Issues on the Zambian Economy’. The findings noted that the Zambian economy has been highly dollarised. BoZ recommended the introduction of measures to cushion commercial banks from some of the effects of dollarisation.

According to the study findings, the major contributing factor to dollarisation is volatility in the exchange rates and the high levels of inflation. The study also found that dollarisation has also arisen due to uncertainty about donor inflows and balance of payment support. Mrs Melu, however, said there is need to develop infrastructure as it has been identified as a major contributing factor to the cost of doing business. “The cost of doing business remains high. It is important to continue to develop infrastructure, hence diversification in other sectors thereby create jobs.”

On the recent fraud activities that affected some banks, Mrs Melu said although confidence has been affected, the players in the market remain vigilant and those affected were reimbursed. “Although it was a very small quantity of people affected in our market compared to other markets, it is not acceptable but not unusual. We remain vigilant as a bank,” she said. Recently, BAZ issued a notice advising customers to be watchful when using debit cards especially abroad.

17
AUG

banks, Chanters, rates, Zambia