MARY Mwanza is a single mother and security guard with a local firm in Ndola. Being of humble education, she does not earn much and often, she struggles to pay for her 17-year-old daughter's school.

Although her daughter has been in and out of school several times, Mary has been trying as best as she could.

Her heart was broken when she learnt about the inclusion of a degree clause in the Draft Constitution, requiring anyone wishing to become president of Zambia to possess a university degree.

She thought the whole idea was unfair in a country where so many people do not have access to quality education, due to socio-economic reasons.

Ms Mwanza believed that people were gifted in different ways even without tertiary education. A university degree was not always a determinant for authentic leadership.

In her opinion, what makes a good leader or president had nothing do with a university degree but a good character and a healthy frame of mind.

"While I value education, it's not everything. People should look out for vision and character as essential qualities when it comes to choosing a leader," she said.

Her fear was that Zambia would have been deprived of its vast human resource if the clause had been constitutionalised.

The good news, however, is that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) recently resolved to drop the requirement of a first degree or its equivalent from the qualifications for a presidential candidate and agreed to revert to the status quo as provided for in the current Constitution.

Considering submissions from the public on the Draft Constitution, the NCC plenary resolved unanimously to remove Article 108 (e) from the Draft Constitution.

According to article 108 (e) in the Draft Constitution, a person shall be qualified to be a candidate for selection as president if that person has obtained, as a minimum academic qualification, a first degree or its equivalent from a recognised university or institution.

The decision followed the receipt of 182 submissions from the public rejecting the clause in the Draft Constitution.

So far, some people have welcomed the development, while others insist the degree clause should have been included in the new Constitution.

Vice-President George Kunda described it as a bad clause.

Those who were against the inclusion of the clause in Draft Constitution, argued that a lot of people would have been discriminated against, had the clause been implemented in new Constitution.

But those who supported the inclusion of the clause base their argument the fact the office of presidency needs one who is well informed, as time have changed.

Leadership coach and motivational speaker Mubita Nawa said it was a bad idea to put the clause in the Draft Constitution in the first place.

Whereas education adds value to leadership, he said it was not the ultimate requirement for one to be president.

"What matters is integrity, vision and the ability to work well with others," he said.

He said dropping the clause, was justice for all Zambians, saying the Constitution should be well embracing and inclusive to all Zambians.

Central Diocese bishop for the Anglican Church in Zambia Derek Kamukwamba described the scrapping off the clause as the "best thing that ever happened".

He said leadership was an inherent ability bestowed to man by God, saying it would have been discriminatory if the clause was implemented in a country declared as a Christian nation.

"In the first place, we have been against this as the Church. Leadership comes from God. Limiting it to a degree would have been unfair," he said.

He gave an example of former Republican president Kenneth Kaunda who governed the country despite being a school teacher.

According to him, the NCC has an obligation to listen to the concerns of the people, than to serve their own interests.

But Generation Impact executive director Panji Chipeta said the idea of dropping the clause from the Draft Constitution was in bad faith.

He argued every job description had qualifications and the office of presidency was not an exception.

"I don't think it's a good thing. Times have changed and knowledge has increased. I know of great leaders, like Britain's war- time Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who led his country through a difficult period to great heights, but that was then, this is now," said Mr Chipeta who represents a youth organisation aimed at creating an impact in young people.

He urged young people, to concentrate on education and position themselves for service in the country.

Tanya Nyirongo a student at National Institute for Public Administration (NIPA) said the degree clause should have been implemented, as the office president needed one with eloquence.

Ms Nyirongo said the degree clause would have motivated many people work hard and value education.

"There must be standard. We should not leave matters regarding the presidency so open without the basic qualification of a degree," she says.

Mwape Mumbi a Cultural Knowledge worker in Kabwe welcomed the idea, saying the requirement of a minimum university first-degree, as educational background to qualify for presidency could not have been more ill conceived.

He said before the degree clause could be considered in future, Government needs to improve social services like health and education as currently universal access to education in Zambia was still a dream yet to come true.

He said the baics qualification for presidency should rest on the premise of proven excellent managerial and organisational capabilities. When it comes to authentic leadership, his proves, degrees are not everything.

"For example, there are several American presidents including, its first president George Washington who never had degrees yet achieved a lot for their country.

Abraham Lincoln's formal education consisted of about 18 months of schooling; he was largely self-educated.

"George Washington may have attended a school near his home for the first few years. He was not taught Latin or Greek, as was common among the "educated" of the time, and never learned a foreign language. Nor did he attend college His formal education ended around the age of 15.

"Getting to the modern era, where paper degrees supposedly are a surrogate for intelligence, Harry Truman did not earn a college degree. Ronald Reagan graduated from an institution of little note, Eureka College."

And Ndola businessperson Benjamin Simukwai also supports the decision to drop the degree clause, saying it did not serve a concrete purpose.

"I think the dropping of the Clause was timely. In the interest of national peace the degree clause raised a lot of animosity when it was introduced, because it was seen to have targeted certain politicians," he says.

Although he is not glorifying ignorance, he said academic qualification was no guarantee for quality and effective leadership.

In his view, the clause was vague, as anyone with any degree would qualify to be president.

"What would a degree in Fashion designing or music contribute to the effective running the office of presidency?" he asked.

According to Mr Simukwai there were certain qualifications, which were equivalent or higher to a degree. For example a Fellow in the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) has a higher qualification than a person with a degree in Accountancy but would be segregated against because his or her academic qualification was not called a degree.

He said in 1991, Zambia had a decorated cabinet of ministers with degrees but they achieved little compared to the first Republic of Kenneth Kaunda.

Cecilia Nyirongo, a vendor said Zambia belonged to all Zambians regardless of qualifications.

She said every Zambian should have a constitutional right to run for presidency without academic barriers.

Further, in a democracy, governors owe the existence to the governed which is why the decision to elect leaders was purely a mandate of the people, not law makers.

Her point is Zambia does not belong to few educated individuals but to citizens.

She said degrees do not make leader but character and inherent abilities.

"There are some people who are very educated, but their thinking is questionable. Some of them don't qualify to be role models in society," she said.

Mupeta Mweshi, a Solwezi resident argues leaders that govern a nation and those manage a company are different. Those who govern a country are elected while those that manage an institution are appointed.

While it was important for even those that are elected to be educated, a degree was too high a level.

According to him the attributes of a leader should be confined to the wishes of the people.

Attributes like morals, focus and vision, social life and generosity are key to choosing a leader than focusing of degrees.

"Voters hope that if these qualities are extended to the top, they will be governed better.

" Note that those qualities are not even taught in universities but they are either influenced by background or you are born with them," said Mr Mweshi, who believes in the school of thought that leaders are born not made.