REVISITING ZAMBIA’S POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY:
A LETTER TO THE NOW GENERATION
IHAVE been prompted to write this article on Zambia’s political and economic history because of the following extract which a young “blogger” had posted on Watchdog on August 12, 2014: “I was surprised to find out that Zambia my country is topping the list of the poorest countries in Africa, whilst Seychelles is topping the richest countries in Africa with Botswana trailing behind. I cried the whole night and asked myself: where did we go wrong?”
The truth is that the success or failure of any one generation is influenced by the success or failure of the preceding generation or generations. And just like in a relay race, the outcome depends at the very points each runner hands over the baton to the other.
In Zambia we have had two revolutions i.e., the revolution that led to the attainment of independence from the colonialists in 1964 and in 1991 when the corrupt multi-party “democracy” replaced UNIP’s one-party dictatorship.
The point is that after over 50 years of Zambia’s independence, what sort of packages has the previous generations handed over to the new generation!
Anver Versi, the editor of “New African” magazine wrote: “One of the favourite conference topics over the past few years has been Africa’s ‘youth bulge.’ We are told that by 2030, Africa will have the largest youth workforce in the world.
“If projections go as expected, the question is what can we do with the knowledge of this fact? The optimists see this as a boon i.e., the so-called ‘ youth dividend’; while the pessimists point out that a huge population of energetic young people, with frustrated dreams, may lead to social chaos unless they can be gainfully employed.
Again, most people seem to accept this premise; so the issue now is, how can we set into motion measures that will ensure that this youthful energy will be harnessed into productive activity i.e., in short will there be enough employment for this demographic?”
I think the first thing we need to note from this is how Anver Versi has put it: “What can we do with the knowledge of this fact?” I repeat, what he is saying is: “What can we do?”
This simply means that he is inviting we Africans in general to begin to brainstorm on this important issue and I must therefore remind the so-called Lusaka Times bloggers to concentrate on trying to help our youths by exploring the various avenues to tackle this imminent catastrophe instead of their usual habit of concentrating on unreasonably attacking my contributions, i.e, “that was why President Sata de-gazetted you……..”
In his book, “The Humanist in Africa,” Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s first Republican President wrote: “I have never made the mistake of under-valuing the European contribution to Zambia through administrators, missionaries, professional men, farmers and industrial workers. Because the institutions of government were, on the whole, in good shape when they handed them over to us, we were able to takeoff into independence from a lofty platform.”
In the book “One Zambia, Many Histories: Towards a History of Post-colonial Zambia.” edited by Jan-Bart Gewald, Marja Hinfelaar and Giacomo Macola, it is written: “,,,,,,at independence from Britain in 1964, Zambia, rich in copper deposits and agricultural potential, was rated as one of the most prosperous countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
“To be sure, there were huge inequalities in income distribution, but these, many interested observers assumed, would soon be reversed by the enlightened social policies of President Kenneth Kaunda’s United National Independence Party (UNIP), the protagonist of nationalist agitation in the early 1960s and Zambia’s ruling party from 1964.
“Unfortunately the great expectations of independence were soon dashed for the overwhelming majority of Zambians. Mismanagement, patronage, corruption and growing political authoritarianism all took their toll.”
An international organisation, the National Citizens’ Coalition reported in Social Watch Report 2002: “When former President Chiluba took office from President Kaunda in 1991, the poverty rate was 56 percent. When he left the government after 10 years, poverty had risen to upward of 80 percent.
Large-scale corruption had diverted resources meant for the people of Zambia, while they watched in sorrow and desperation as their country headed towards becoming the poorest in the world.
And here is what the South African Communist Party, Secretary-General, Dr. Blade Nzimande observed when he visited this country: “The one striking feature of the Zambian society is the extent to which the structural adjustment policies pursued by the Chiluba presidency have rolled back many of the gains made during the first two decades of Zambian independence after 1964.”
The Chiluba presidency privatised virtually all the stateowned enterprises, leading to massive job losses and the rolling back in the provision of education and health services in particular.” (Sunday Post April 9, 2006).
The veteran politician Ba Sikota Wina wrote:’’…over 100, 000 people lost their jobs between 1992 and 1997, while the Gross National Product (GNP) per capita had fallen to below US$300 ranking, making Zambia one of the least developed nations in Africa with poverty levels at 83 percent.
I do not think it requires the genius of Solomon or the creative and analytical mind of a political scientist or of a giant economist to realise that Zambia to-day is in a political and economic quagmire.
And I think that to have a somewhat clear view of our present predicament, it is essential to look back to our history. Of course, political history can be variously defined.
However, in my own opinion, political history consists in analysing and illustrating how social authority is organised and applied in any given place and time; it is how different peoples react to the challenges of their development and environment.
In this article, I have dealt with imperialism and capitalism in relation to Zambia’s political and economic history. The word “imperialism” stands for “domination.”
Now listen to Dr. Caleb Fundanga, a former Bank of Zambia Governor about what I am talking about: “The crisis that sub-Saharan Africa is facing today can be seen as having to a large extent been created by the world financial system, which encouraged ill-advised borrowing and investment in import substitution industries in the 1960s; despite the fact that these policies obviously caused imbalances, this was not given serious consideration so long as the debt continued to be serviced.
In the recent deep repayment crisis, these institutions which themselves advocated disastrous policies are now turning around and blaming poor nations for supporting the same policies.’’ (From the book “Planners and History”).
+Of course there are brief climatic periods in history when the destiny of any nation seems to resolve itself for better or worse as is the case today in our country. The important questions we are now facing are: What happens now? Where do we go from here? And by which means?
Then how do we go about it? Can regime change, as some people have been suggesting solve the current state of affairs in Zambia? Can, for example, regime change from PF to the main opposition UPND party bring about viable political and economic changes in Zambia?
Let us listen to what Shisuwa Shisuwa a radicalised genius who calls “a spade, a spade,” and whom in Bemba can be described as a person, “Ushitina napo lwiswile” wrote in Diggers: “Given the increasing unpopularity of the incumbent, do you think the UPND is the answer to the current political and economic problems?
“Suffice it to say I don’t think that UPND offers a radical or truly transformation agenda, if it’s manifesto or the public pronouncements of its president Hakainde Hichilema is anything to go by.
It may be that the UPND and HH are reluctant to outline a detailed vision for this country for fear that under scrutiny it would reveal that it would do little to make the lives of the majority of poor Zambians better and instead widen the privileges that western, Chinese and South African multinational corporations already enjoy
“……As far as an increasing number of Zambians are concerned, Hakainde Hichilema has little to offer other than a desire for power and is bolstered by multinational corporations who want their man…”
One notable feature of the current Zambian politics is that it does not induce any sense of reality because it does not take place via viable Souissi
...To be continued
I have never made the mistake of under-valuing the European contribution to Zambia through administrators, missionaries, professional men, farmers and industrial workers. ” — Dr Kaunda.
Unfortunately the great expectations of independence were soon dashed for the overwhelming majority of Zambians. Mismanagement, patronage, corruption and growing political authoritarianism all took their toll.”