Letter from Zambia

Africa is a vast continent comprised of nations which because of their colonial past have different histories, just as they have variegated geographical landmarks that distinguish them. Thus African nations do not share many things in common except the forcible grouping together of tribes regardless of the interaction that existed before colonialisation.

In the attempt to create nations, different ethnic groups have been split between boundaries and the expression of nationalism has therefore not been through the medium of cultural or ethnic identity, but defined within the context of the country in which the language of the colonial master became the lingua franca.

It is imperative to note, therefore, that such a situation in which countries find themselves has made nation building and African unity a difficult task.
The political developments taking place in Zambia today are African in nature and therefore similar and comparable to political events taking place elsewhere. In Africa, parliamentary democracy defined through multi-party politics still remains a test case today. Political leaders in Africa are finding it hard to relinquish power through the medium of the ballot box. The current political scenario in Zambia may easily degenerate into political violence if left unabated. The Catholic church and some western NGOs have kept on to criticise the ruling MMD government both through the press and privately-owned radio stations. Radio ICENGELO – owned by the Catholic church has become the mouthpiece of the voiceless people on the Copperbelt.

The widening gap between the rich and poor is something the ruling MMD government of President Rupiah Banda does not seem to be concerned about. Indeed, privatisation of the Zambian economic sector can only succeed by strengthening the private- and profit-making social sector, otherwise than defending and safeguarding the economic upkeep of the peasants and workers.

Massive and periodic job losses in the formal and informal sector have come to characterise the economic policy of Zambia’s economic liberation ever since the MMD came to power in 1991 to date. During the leadership of Dr. Kenneth Kaunda education was subsidised by the state and every child had a right to free education from primary school to university level. Every year the UNIP government carried out massive recruitments of teachers, doctors, nurses, policemen and soldiers.

The change from one-party participating democracy to multi-party democracy saw the implementation of economic liberalism (defined as privatisation) under the MMD government of President Fredrick Chiluba. This entailed the liquidation of state-owned mining, industrial and financial companies. The privatisation of state-owned companies led to massive job losses – in most cases the retrenched workers have not yet received their retirement salaries.

But we cannot mop up the fact that the UNIP government had experienced economic decline from 1980 to 1991 – the MMD inherited a bankrupt economy as the case may be. But it must be emphasised that the manner in which privatisation was carried out by the MMD was less than transparent.
It was in an attempt to monopolise power that Kaunda introduced a one-party state in 1973 on the excuse that Zambia was facing tribalism under multi-party politics. He introduced the philosophy of humanism in order to weld the different ethnic groups together under “One Zambia One Nation”. He declared a state of emergency – political detentions without trial (political criticism was banned). It is a fact that both the ruling MMD and political opposition have shown no restraint in manipulating the masses through feeding them with prejudices against other tribes in order to win their support. Thus tribalistic sentiments in Zambia originate from politicians or political parties. The voting patterns that emerged from the previous three general elections depict tribal and regional allegiances in the sense that people voted on the basis of ethnic patronage.

Every economic gain achieved under the late President Levy Mwanawasa has been dissipated by the global economic downturn of 2009, making it possible for the PF leader Michael Sata to increase votes in the coming 2011 elections. General elections in urban areas of Zambia are determined by economic factors, especially for food prices, the cost of education and availability of employment. The ruling MMD has concentrated on building roads, hospitals, schools and subsiding peasant farmers. In rural areas where the party received massive votes, working class political consciousness is visibly absent in rural village communities. The failure of African leaders to relinquish power through the medium of the ballot box means that elections in Africa are conducted in a win-or-die situation. The experience of many African nations with regard to their armed forces have been sad in that they have stifled democracy with their intervention, purportedly in their attempt to correct the mistakes of their political bosses also had failed to adhere to the principle of democracy through perceived violations of the constitution. When military leaders come into power, they not only breach the constitution, they become traitors to the oath of allegiance they swore to the nation.

The reluctance of the ruling MMD to accept the PF and UPND as viable future political options is a bad omen for multi-party politics in Zambia.

Socialism is the only practical political alternative to capitalism and our message to the workers of Zambia remains the same – the creation of a classless moneyless and stateless society.
KEPHAS MULENGA

Zambia: THE ABUSE OF POWER

Zambia: THE ABUSE OF POWER

On 8 August 2009 a Zambian magistrate delivered a final verdict on the long-awaited ruling concerning the corruption case of former and second republican President Fredrick Chiluba. The Court found that Chiluba was innocent from the alleged stealing of K200 billion and declared that all monies and assets seized from him by the Task Force be returned to him. The head of the Task Force, Mr Marx Nkole immediately resigned on the grounds that he was shocked by the Court’s ruling. This is the case in which a London magistrate had found Chiluba guilty of misappropriating K200 billion from the Zamtrop account (a government account) some time back in 2008.

The whole matter revolves around the head of State, President Rupiah Banda. Old and tired, Mr. Banda is slowly and recklessly making mistake after mistake, in a country in which the majority of workers and civil servants have lost interest in the ruling MMD. It is a fact that president Rupiah Banda is still haunted by the Vista of Humanism conceived under a One Party State. Banda is busy appointing and removing cabinet ministers without regard to public feelings. Indeed the Zambian constitution has invested so much power into the head of state: a head of state in Zambia is above even their judiciary, parliament and government. It is without doubt Mr. Banda who personally instructed the judiciary to quash the corruption allegations against Mr. Chiluba. Let it be remembered that Mr. Banda was among those UNIP malcontents who suffered very much under the leadership of Fredrick Chiluba. He was among those who were physically molested or detained by the MMD government in 1992 (during the abortive UNIP comeback bid to power).

Thus the pardoning of Mr. Chiluba is a well timed political gesture aimed at winning political support from Northern and Luapula Provinces where the MMD has been doing badly in previous general elections. Mr. Chiluba has a patriotic and fanatical following from Luapula and Northern Provinces—he is a Bemba-speaking politician. President Rupiah Banda is a sturdy politician and strongly appreciates the existing ethnic and tribal allegiances. There is a political crisis in Zambia and the recent judgment in the case of former republican President Chiluba duly testifies to the abuse of power by the head of state. Public service employees are living under unpredictable eventualities. The nurses and teachers who went on a prolonged three months’ strike had to forfeit their salaries by the period they were on strike. There is a law that forbids illegal strikes in Zambia.

The private media in Zambia is misleading workers by making the strikers into scapegoats of the political opposition. Because the workers in Zambia have not achieved its class consciousness—they may have recourse to ethnic and tribal loyalties and so jeopardise its political consciousness. The WSM does not support the recent electoral pact between the PF and UNDP (political opposition). We advocate socialism without regard to nationality, but we are not deaf to the plight of working-class labour movements and trade unions in their efforts to improve their living conditions.
KEPHAS MULENGA

Politics of Poverty in Zambia

Further to an earlier post we have been sent this article .

It is not everyone who is in full support of the British magistrate’s court ruling against the former Republican President Frederick Chiluba that he must repay 80% of public funds siphoned through the Zamtrop account in London.

This is a civil case in which it is alleged that Chiluba and his associates fraudulently spent about £25 million of public funds during his days as president of Zambia. On May 31 the High Court of Zambia ordered the freezing of $25 million-worth of assets and money owned by Frederick Chiluba and his co-accused accomplices.

Chiluba has strongly defended himself—by accusing the British prime minister Tony Blair of colonialism and intimidation. He said that the money he spent on his luxurious clothes (K200 million was mostly received in donations from overseas wealthy individuals and corporations. Indeed the corruption charges against the ailing former president has been received with mixed feelings within Zambia—because of the evident lack of political and moral sympathy from President Levy Mwanawasa (the man Chiluba has appointed to replace him in 2001).
It is the case that the judiciary and the anti-corruption force have failed to find tangible evidence on the alleged corruption charges against Chiluba.

The political intimidation of Frederick Chiluba has dealt a big blow to the political fortunes of the MMD—it has lost the erstwhile emotional and political sympathy among the disgruntled working class communities in the urban and mining communities—especially in Lusaka and the Copperbelt. This will remain to be fact because the political strength of the MMD depends upon working-class political sympathy and not otherwise.

Indeed, the ailing former president still enjoys political and tribal loyalties among the Bemba-speaking communities in Wapola (?) and the Copper-belt mining towns.

The careless and unguarded political utterances by President Levy Mwanawasa has helped to inflame tribal ill feelings among the Bemba-speaking political hooligans in Zambia. It is a fact that Mwanawasa is physically and emotionally unpredictable—when compared to his predecessors Chiluba and Kenneth Kaunda. More or less Mwanawasa has succumbed to the vice of ethnic and tribal loyalties in the sense that political appointments are made on the strength of the existing ethnic and political patterns.

We in the World Socialist Movement believe that corruption is a vice endemic within the political and economic structures of capitalism. The struggle against corruption must be viewed to be a struggle against property—we have always cautioned the peasants, workers and students to guard themselves against choosing sides between the warring religious, ethnic and racial factions. We advocate international working-class solidarity—socialism as the only alternative to capitalism.
ENB (?)

Corrupt Chiluba

Zambia's ex-President and former trade union leader Frederick Chiluba has been found guilty of stealing $46 million (£23 million) of public money by a UK court. Mr Chiluba laundered the money through two London-based law firms. He officially earned about $100,000 while in power from 1991-2001 and yet he paid an exclusive boutique shop in Switzerland $1.2 million. Mr Chiluba had a reputation as a "smart and expensive dresser".

Justice Peter Smith said "This was at a time when the vast majority of Zambians were struggling to live on $1 a day and many could not afford more than one meal a day"

There are approximately 7 million Zambians living in poverty according to Hilary Benn, the UK International Development Secretary.

Successor, President Levy Mwanawasa said that he would grant a presidential pardon to Mr Chiluba if he admitted the allegations of corruption and returned 75% of the cash he allegedly stole.

Hmmmm...???...that still leaves Chiluba with $11.5 MILLION .

To paraphrase a William Cowper quote :-

Thieves at home must hang; but he that puts into his overgorged and bloated purse the wealth of the people , escapes