PART I: Early Zambian History The original inhabitants of modern day Zambia were Bushmen (also called San), who were hunters and gatherers and who also lived a nomadic life with Stone Age technology. Mainly they gathered fruits and nuts, but they also hunted antelopes. Since the early farmers practiced slash and burn (also known as Chitemene) agriculture, they had to constantly move further south when the soil was exhausted. The indigenous Bushmen were either assimilated into the new culture or pushed aside into areas not suitable for agriculture. With the introduction of agriculture the population grew, and more and more land became cultivated. By the eleventh-century and twelfth-century a more advanced society was beginning to emerge. Even though most villages still were self sufficient, long distance trade was developing. Copper mining was intensified, and copper crosses were probably used as a currency. Ivory carvings and cotton textiles were other export commodities. One of the most famous archaeological sites for this period is Ing’ombe Ilede. The increase in trade resulted in larger political units and more complex social structures. The period between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the emergence of organized Iron-Age Kingdoms as well as widespread immigration. Four kingdoms were established in this period - among them the Kazembe-Lunda in the north centered around the lower Luapula River, the Bemba in the north east, the Chewa in the east and the Lozi in the west centered on the upper Zambezi River. The territory of the present Zambia, being far inland, did not have direct contact with non-Africans until relatively recently in its history. Arab and Portuguese traders were visiting by the eighteenth century. The first recorded visits by Europeans to Zambia were the Portuguese: Manoel Caetano Pereira (a trader of mixed Goanese and Portuguese descent) in 1796 and Dr. Francisco Jose Maria de Lacerda (an explorer) in 1798. Both came via Tete in Mozambique to Mwata Kazembe’s capital to try and get the chief's agreement to a Portuguese trade route between their territories of Mozambique and Angola. Lacerda died within a few weeks of arriving at Kazembe’s but left a valuable journal which was carried back to Tete by his priest and which was later translated into English by the explorer Sir Richard Burton. However, it is believed the Portuguese first settled in Zumbo, Mozambique, in 1720, which is just across the Luangwa River from Zambia, at the confluence with the Zambezi River. Around 1820 they had settled on the Zambian side at Feira (now Luangwa). So it is very likely they were visiting Zambian territory between 1720 and 1820. The first Briton to set his foot on Zambian soil was Dr. David Livingstone. In 1851 he started his famous exploration of the upper Zambezi River, and in 1855 he became the first European to see Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders), the waterfalls on the Zambezi River, which he renamed after Queen Victoria, and the Zambian town near the falls is named after him. Livingstone later died in Zambia at Chitambo village in 1873. When the first Europeans arrived, the most powerful states in pre-colonial Zambia were the kingdom of Barotseland in the upper Zambezi, and the kingdom of Mwata Kazembe on the Luapula. The Lozi people of Barotseland had prevented access to their land by Arab and Portuguese traders. When the kingdom was first established is uncertain, but it was certainly in existence by the eighteenth century, the Lozi calling themselves Aluya and their country Ngulu. Its ruler was called the Litunga, and had two capitals: in the dry season he stayed at Lealui, while in the rainy season he moved to Limulunga a move that is still celebrated in the Kuomboka annual festival. The first certain historical fact concerning Barotseland is in the early nineteenth century trek of the Makololo, a clan of the South African Basotho or the Tswana people. Utterly defeated by Shaka’s new Zulu Kingdom in the 1820s, the Makololo under the guide of Sebitwane were forced to march north until they conquered the Lozi and became the aristocracy of Barotseland, with Sebitwane as new Litunga. Sebetwane proved an able leader, and is spoken of with warm respect by David Livingstone, who met him in 1851 shortly before his death. He was succeeded by his daughter Manochisane, who early stepped down in favour of her half-brother Sekeletu. With him the Makololo Empire appears to have started to fall to pieces, especially after his death in 1863. A year later internal dissension in the ruling class brought to a revolt by the Lozi that is said to have exterminated the Makololo aristocracy and forced the survivors to migrate to present-day Malawi. In 1888, Cecil Rhodes, spearheading British commercial and political interests in Central Africa, obtained mineral rights concession from local chiefs. In the same year, Northern and Southern Rhodesias, now Zambia and Zimbabwe were proclaimed a British sphere of influence. To start with the territory was administered by BSAC, which showed little interest for the province and used it mainly as a supplier of cheap labour. PART II: Road to Independence In 1923 the British government decided not to renew the company's charter; as a result, Southern Rhodesia or Zimbabwe was annexed formally and granted self-government in 1923. After negotiations the administration of Northern Rhodesia or Zambia was transferred to the British colonial office in 1934 as a protectorate with Livingstone as capital. It was later transferred to Lusaka in 1935. A Legislative Council was established, of which five members were elected by the small European minority (only 4,000 people), but none by the African population. In 1928 important discoveries were made in the region from then on called Copperbelt – enormous copper deposits were found, transforming Northern Rhodesia from a prospective land of colonization for white farmers to a copper exporter. Already in 1938 it produces 13 per cent of world's copper extracted. The sector was immediately monopolized by the Anglo American Corporation (AAC, North America) and the Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST, South African), which would control the sector till independence. The bad security conditions and increased taxes helped to trigger a strike of African mineworkers in 1935, known as the Copperbelt Strike. The strike was crushed by the authorities that killed 13 miners in the repression. During the Second World War (1939-1945) white miners came out on strike in 1940. Realizing the importance of their products for the war, they demanded higher salaries. This strike was followed by another by African mineworkers. Even before the war, there had been talks about merging the two Rhodesia's, but the process had been halted by the British authorities, and brought to an absolute stop by the war. Finally, in 1953, both Rhodesia's were joined with Nyasaland (now Malawi) to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Northern Rhodesia was the center of much of the turmoil and crisis that characterized the federation in its last years. At the core of the controversy were insistent African demands for greater participation in government and European fears of losing political control. A two-stage election held in October and December 1962 resulted in an African majority in the legislative council and an uneasy coalition between the two African nationalist parties. The council passed resolutions calling for Northern Rhodesia's secession from the federation and demanding full internal self-government under a new constitution and a new national assembly based on a broader, more democratic franchise. On December 31, 1963, the federation was dissolved, and Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia on October 24, 1964.
United Nation Independence Party (UNIP) won the first legislative election in Zambia, gaining 55 of the 75 seats. The Zambia African National Congress or ZANC won 10 seats, and the National Progressive Party won all the 10 seats reserved for whites. Kenneth Kaunda was elected prime minister, and later the same year president, as the country adopted a presidential system. PART III: The Kaunda Era Kaunda adopted an ideology of African Socialism, close to that of Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. Economical policies focused on central planning and nationalism, and a system of one-party rule was put in place. In 1968 Kaunda was re-elected as president, running unopposed. During the following years Zambia adopted a one party system. In 1972 all political parties except UNIP were banned, and this was formalized in a new constitution that was adopted in 1973. The constitution framed a system called "One-Party Participatory Democracy", which in practice meant that UNIP became the sole political factor in the country. It provided for a strong president and a Unicameral National Assembly. National policy was formulated by the Central Committee of UNIP. The cabinet executed the central committee's policy. In legislative elections, only candidates running for UNIP were allowed to participate. Even though inter-party competition was out of question, the contest for seats within UNIP was energetic. In the presidential elections, the only candidate allowed to run was the one elected as president of UNIP at the party's general conference. In this way Kaunda was re-elected unopposed with a yes or no vote in 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1988. After independence Zambia adopted a left wing economical policy. The economy was to some extent run by central planning, under five year plans, private companies were nationalized and incorporated into big state owned conglomerates. The government’s goal was to be self-sufficient, which it sought to achieve through import substitution. At first the plan worked out and the economy grew steadily, but in the mid 1970s the economy started to decline drastically. During the period between 1975 and 1990 Zambia's economy dropped by approximately 30 per cent. The reason for this was that the Zambian economy was heavily dependent on the copper industry, which had previously been nationalized. During the 70's the price of copper sank drastically, resulting in a large deficit for the state owned enterprise. Another reason for the drop was Zambia's involvement in the neighbouring countries politics, and the transportation problems this resulted-in. To deal with the crisis Zambia took big loans from the IMF and the World Bank, hoping that copper prices would rise again soon, instead of issuing structural reforms. Conflicts with Rhodesia resulted in the closing of Zambia's borders with that country and severe problems with international transport and power supply. However, the Kariba Hydro Electrical Station on the Zambezi River provided sufficient capacity to satisfy the country's requirements for electricity. TAZARA, a railroad to the Tanzanian port of Dar-es-Salaam, built with Chinese assistance, reduced Zambian dependence on railroad lines south to South Africa and west through an increasingly war ravaged Angola. Civil strife in neighbouring Mozambique and Angola created large amounts of refugees, large numbers of whom fled to Zambia. Internationally, Zambia was an active member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and hosted a summit in Lusaka in 1970 and Kenneth Kaunda served as the movements chairman from 1970 to 1973. Among the NAM countries Zambia was especially close to Yugoslavia. Outside the NAM Zambia also had close relations with the People’s Republic of China. The one party rule and the declining economy created disappointment among the people. Several strikes hit the country in 1981. The government responded by arresting several union leaders, among them Frederick Chiluba. Between 1986 and 1987 protests arose again in Lusaka and the Copperbelt. These were followed by riots over rising food prices in 1991, in which at least 30 people were killed. The same year the state owned radio claimed that Kaunda had been removed from office by the army. This was not true, and the coup attempt failed. PART IV: The Chiluba Era These extensive protests made Kaunda realize the need for reform. He promised a referendum on multiparty democracy, and lifted the ban on political parties. This resulted in the quick formation of eleven new parties. Among these Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), led by former union leader Frederick Chiluba, was the most important. After pressure for the new parties the referendum was canceled in favour for direct multiparty election. After a new constitution had been drafted, elections were held in 1991. They were generally regarded to have been free and fair, and Chiluba won 76 per cent of the presidential vote, and the MMD 125 of the 150 seats in the National Assembly, with UNIP taking the remaining 25. Economically Chiluba, despite being a former union leader, stood to the right of Kaunda. With support from the IMF and the World Bank, to which Zambia was heavily indebted, he liberalized the economy by restricting government interference, privatizing state owned enterprise, such as the important copper mining industry, and removing subsidies on different commodities, most notably on maize-meal. When the one party rule first was abolished in 1991, many expected a more democratic future for Zambia. These expectations were however clouded by the MMD's treatment of the opposition. Questionable amendments of the constitution and detentions of political opponents caused major criticism, and some donor countries, such as the United Kingdom and Denmark, withdrew their aid. In 1993 the government owned newspaper The Times of Zambia" reported a story about a secret UNIP plan to take control of government by unconstitutional means, called the "Zero Operation Plan". The plan included industrial unrest, promotion of violence and organizations of mass protests. UNIP did not deny the existence of such a plan, but underlined that it was not a part of their official policy, but the views of extremists within the party. The government responded by declaring a state of emergency and putting 26 people into detention. Of these seven, including Kenneth Kaunda's son Wesley Kaunda were charged with offences against the security of the state. The rest were released. Prior to the 1996 elections, UNIP formed an alliance with six other opposition parties. Kenneth Kaunda had earlier retired from politics, but after internal turbulence in the party, due to the "Zero Operation Plan" scandal, he returned, replacing his own successor Kebby Musokotwane. Chiluba's government then amended the constitution, banning people whose parents were not both Zambian citizens from becoming president. This was directly aimed at Kaunda, whose parents were both from Malawi. In protest UNIP and its allies boycotted the elections, which were then easily won by Chiluba and the MMD. In 1997 matters escalated. On October 28, 1997 a coup-d’etat took place, as a group of army commanders took control over the national radio station, broadcasting a message stating that Chiluba was no longer president. The coup was brought to an end by regular forces, after Chiluba had again declared a state of emergency. One person was killed during the operation. After the failed coup the police arrested at least 84 people accused of involvement. Among these were Kenneth Kaunda and Dean Mungomba, leader of the opposition party the Zambia Democratic Congress. The arrests were condemned and criticized as illegal inside as well as outside Zambia, and accusations of torture were made as well. Kaunda was released in June the following year, but 44 of the soldiers who took part in the coup were sentenced to death in 2003. On November 18, 1996, Zambians voted in parliamentary and presidential elections-the second multiparty elections since the end in 1991 of twenty-seven years of authoritarian and mostly single-party rule, under former president Kenneth Kaunda. The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) won the majority of seats contested and President Frederick Chiluba was returned to office in these 1996 elections although several opposition parties, including the former ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP) boycotted them. Unfortunately, numerous human rights violations before the vote undermined the democratic process, making the playing field for these elections tilted in favor of the ruling MMD and seriously undermining the legitimacy of the elections themselves. This has set a negative tone for the country's development over the next few years. Zambia had been heralded as a model for democracy in Africa after a peaceful transfer of power in November 1991, when the MMD and its leader Frederick Chiluba gained a landslide victory over President Kenneth Kaunda and his UNIP party. In contrast to the authoritarian Kaunda years, Zambia initially made overall progress toward respect for civil and political rights, with some liberalizing reforms. But by 1993 these reforms appeared to have stopped and the Chiluba government increasingly resorted to the same methods used under Kaunda's rule to suppress criticism. The one-party mentality is still deeply ingrained in many of the country's new leaders: critics of the ruling MMD are often regarded as critics of "democracy." The result is that Zambian citizens are still plagued by serious human rights violations such as restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, intimidation of those in the legal system and harassment of opposition political parties. Some of these abuses are a legacy of the Kaunda years, but in many cases the human rights violations are the result of new initiatives by the Chiluba government. State intimidation of the opposition increased significantly in 1995 when former president Kenneth Kaunda announced a formal return to politics, with the avowed aim to contest the country's 1996 presidential elections. The run-up to the November 18, 1996 multiparty elections saw a number of abuses. There is evidence that duplicate National Registration Cards have been issued to some voters, that the names of others have been omitted from voters rolls and that duplicate names have appeared on the rolls. There have also been incidents where registration officers asked for a fee for registration and turned away known UNIP supporters. The ruling MMD deliberately blurred the distinction between party and state. In Lusaka's Soweto Market the MMD conducted a voter registration exercise, its militants pressuring people to put down their store numbers and to confirm affiliation to the MMD in return for registration. Human Rights Watch/Africa also obtained documentation showing a government/ruling party scheme to expand the police with MMD supporters before the elections. The government also reportedly distributed relief maize and fertilizers as a campaign tool in a by-election. Government officials have also threatened to deny state services and programs to constituencies that did not vote for the ruling MMD. The conduct of the ruling MMD at the Moomba and Mkaika by-elections in April was marked by intimidation and violence, although UNIP supporters too resorted to violence. People were beaten up by party cadre from both sides, strategic camps of these cadres were placed close to polling stations and there were serious irregularities with the voter certificates. In Mkaika houses belonging to UNIP supporters were burnt down and there was other extensive physical violence laid to supporters of UNIP and the MMD by each other's cadres. The main opposition party, UNIP also engaged in electoral abuses in other by-elections. UNIP cadres assaulted MMD supporters and villagers they suspected of supporting the MMD. Such inter-political clashes in the by-elections restricted freedom of movement among villagers in several constituencies. This intimidation resulted in the constituency being divided into partisan political zones which curtailed freedom of movement among the villagers in the area. Nor could politicians from both sides freely campaign, hold meetings or move around. The government forced a radical amendment to the 1991 constitution through the MMD-dominated parliament in May 1996, rejecting demands that major constitutional reforms first be agreed by a Constituent Assembly and subjected to a referendum, as proposed by the Mwanakatwe Constitutional Review Commission in 1995. Particularly controversial was a provision in the Constitutional Amendment Act (1996) that imposed new requirements on persons seeking to hold the office of president. These included that the person be a Zambian citizen born to parents who are Zambian by birth or descent and that the person not be a tribal chief. These requirements appeared to be precisely tailored to disqualify specific opposition leaders from running for president, including former president Kenneth Kaunda. Some of the new restrictions appeared to violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Zambia is a party. Articles 25 and 2 of the covenant guarantee to citizens the right "to be elected at genuine periodic elections" without "unreasonable" restrictions and without distinctions" such as birth, national origin, or political opinion. The disqualification of all but second or third generation Zambians from office appeared unreasonable, especially in light of the transparent political motivation to exclude UNIP leaders from the race. The constitutional amendment was vigorously challenged by opposition parties, civic associations, human rights and women's groups, in part because it would damage the opposition's chances effectively to participate in the upcoming election. The article in effect banned UNIP leader Kaunda-who is partially of Malawian heritage-and UNIP's vice presidential candidate-a tribal chief-from running. In June and July 1996, a shadowy group called the "Black Mamba" was blamed by the government for a spate of bomb blasts in Zambia and killed one person and injured another seriously. Eight UNIP officials including its vice president Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta were arrested in connection with the bombings in June and were committed to the Lusaka High Court charged with treason and murder. The trial provided little evidence to suggest that these UNIP members were involved in any violent conspiracy against the state. It appeared that they were detained solely because of their political affiliation. They were acquitted of treason and murder charges by the High Court in November. The independent press was also a target for government intimidation. The Post newspaper has been under particular attack. In February 1996 police arrested three of its editors and banned edition 401 before its distribution because it reported that the government was secretly planning to hold a referendum on the constitution without giving much warning to the public. That day's on-line edition was also banned, making it the first act of censorship on the Internet in Africa. The three journalists face a minimum of twenty-five years in jail on charges under the Official Secrets Act, for receiving and publishing, "classified information." On February 22, 1996, the Zambian parliament made an unprecedented decision to sentence to jail for an indefinite period without a trial and in absentia The Post's editor Fred M'membe, Bright Mwape, the managing editor, and columnist Lucy Sichone, for articles they wrote claiming certain parliamentarians lowered the dignity of the House. M'membe and Mwape, prisoners of conscience for the expression of their views, were released in March 1996 after the Lusaka High Court ruled that they had been wrongly sentenced in absentia. Judicial independence came under attack from government supporters in 1996 especially after the Supreme Court in January struck down provisions of the Public Order Act, finding that the requiring of permits for meetings was a contravention of the Zambian peoples' constitutional rights. One particular focus of these attacks has been the championing of exclusivist ethnic politics, with the judiciary characterized as mainly from Eastern Province or Malawi. Leaders of opposition parties and civic groups have also had their nationality status challenged by government officials. The support of international aid of up to US$1 billion a year has been vital to the progress of the economic reform program of President Chiluba. As Zambia's largest revenue earner, aid has accounted for some 70 percent of gross domestic product. In 1996 international aid pledged was down a third from the 1992 peak of $1.2 billion in nonemergency aid. At the heart of the decline in donor commitments were issues of good governance, accountability and democratic practice. PART III: The Mwanawasa Era Levy Mwanawasa, a prominent Zambian lawyer, was Zambia’s Solicitor General in 1985, but decided to go back for private law practice in 1986. At the inception of the MMD in 1990, Mwanawasa was tipped as the favourite to become MMD’s president but he declined the office. He, however, stood as a Member of Parliament and won with an overwhelming majority. He was named Vice-president of the Republic of Zambia in December 1991 by the then newly elected president, Frederick Chiluba. He left his private law firm in 1992 to concentrate on running the country. Mwanawasa resigned his vice-presidency portfolio citing insubordination from his fellow colleagues in the government and abuse of office by some ministers in government in 1994. Two years later, he contested for the ruling party’s presidency against the incumbent President Chiluba, but lost. The National Executive Committee of the MMD elected Mwanawasa as its presidential candidate in 2000. In the presidential elections that followed in 2001, Mwanawasa emerged victorious defeating ten other candidates to become Zambia’s third republican president. He took office on January 2, 2002. President Mwanawasa ran for the second term in 2006 returning his presidency. Michael Sata was considered his major challenger, but President Mwanawasa received 43 per cent and formed a new cabinet. Mwanawasa was chairman of the South African Development Community (SADC) when he was taken ill in June 2008. In that role he had been critical of the controversial election in Zimbabwe and had said he sympathized with Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai when he withdrew from the run-off because of attacks on his supporters. Speaking earlier this year of Zimbabwe and the exodus of millions of its citizens, Mwanawasa said the country “has sunk into such economic difficulties that it may be likened to a sinking Titanic whose passengers are jumping out in a bid to save their lives.” Mwanawasa won praise abroad for tackling corruption and turning the copper-rich Zambia into one of the continent’s biggest success stories. The International Monetary Fund and other Western donors extended billions of dollars in debt relief after Mwanawasa curbed government spending and launched the biggest anti-corruption drive since Zambia won independence from Britain in 1964. Mwanawasa’s economic policies helped usher in strong growth, which averaged 5 percent over the last six years, while inflation declined to single digits in April 2006, for the first time in over three decades. Some people perceived that his strong fiscal record had done little to benefit most Zambians especially in poverty alleviation. But most people agree that Mwanawasa was headed in the right economic direction. President Mwanawasa continued to battle for his health in France. On Monday August 18, 2008, Zambia’s Vice-president, Lupiya Banda said that the president’s health had suddenly deteriorated and he had undergone emergency surgery. And then shortly the vice-president announced on state television: “Fellow countrymen, with deep sorrow and grief, I would like to inform the people of Zambia that our president Dr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa died this morning at 1030 hours (4:30 a.m. EDT),” Hon. Banda continued: “I also wish to inform the nation that national mourning starts today and will be for seven days.” At the posting of this article, Zambia is still in mourning. Our-Zambia stands with Zambia and looks forward to democratic and fair elections of the fourth Zambian president. |