Book Review: Zambia – The Freedom Struggle and the Aftermath

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 11:19:04 +0000

Author:                       Sophena Chisembele

Publisher:                   Axminister

Price:              K220

Another is that the leading proponents of the struggle were Dr. Kenneth Kaunda and Simon Kapwepwe.

This book by Sophena Chisembele  debunks those myths and instead  places  the vortex of the struggle for Zambia’s independence, including its return to multi-partism,  in Luapula province and in the laps of freedom fighter Silvester Mwamba Chisembele

Secondly, Silvester Chisembele is also posted as one among the many, who opposed the nation’s slide towards the dictatorial One Party State, from as far back as 1962.

According to the book, the seeds of the one Party State, and the current difficulties of enacting a more democratic constitution, were sown before independence. This was when KK and his close associates held “private talks with outgoing Governor and British officials” and endorsed the provision of “absolute power” in the Office of the President.

Thus the 1964 Constitution “gave all power to one man and thereby established dictatorship right at the start of Zambia’s independence.”

In all this, it is claimed that KK had “his own agenda” whose objective was to  “legislate by manipulation the establishment of a One Party State” that eventually came into being in 1973.

Beyond that, this Constitution poignantly  stated that Zambia’s president shall be KK. How such a personally-tailored clause could have been implanted into the national Constitution is inexplicit.

Moreover, the  337 page paperback  which was launched in Lusaka a few weeks ago by one of this country’s leading  historians, Prof Ackson Kanduza,  uses the life-story  of  Chisembele, to reflect upon Zambia’s past events.

It is therefore argued that  although the struggle for independence was mostly fought in Luapula, President Kaunda distanced himself from Luapula  after being told by Northern Rhodesia Governor Sir Evelyn Hone that the province would be a source of problems for him was Luapula.

As a result, throughout Kaunda’s 27-year old stay in office he “distrusted the Luapula leadership” and so its politicians “were kept at arm’s length.”

For instance, In Kaunda’s  first  16- member cabinet of 1964, no minister was from Luapula. The Cabinet was dominated by the Northern Province which had five. Accordingly, Luapulans felt marginalised but not shocked. They expected it.

It all started soon after the 1962 United National Independence Party (UNIP) conference at Magoye in Southern Province,  where Luapula delegates led by Chisembele objected to  KK’s calls for “Democratic Centralism” within UNIP.

Kaunda wanted UNIP to allow him to nominate delegates  to the powerful UNIP National Council. Luapula firmly rejected this. Other provinces supported KK.  At the end of the conference, Chisembele’s car tires were slashed and on his way back home, he was involved in a mysterious road accident on the Congo Pedicle Road.

In 1969 when other Provinces realised the dangers of leaving too much power in one person, they formed a Committee of 14 that worked to have the Constitution changed.

The Northern Province abstained from this Committee. Later, the Committee met KK at State House and told him that they wanted.

• An elected National Council of two representatives from each province to lead Zambia by consensus with KK as Head of State;
• A powerful elected National Council Chairperson chosen on a revolving basis, but with a fixed term of office;
• Members of UNIP Central Committee to be elected from the provinces and not appointed by KK.

Obviously, Kaunda did not like this. In separate meetings, he cajoled and threatened members of the Committee of 14 – except those two from Luapula.

For Luapula, KK adopted a different strategy: He offered Chisembele a Parastatal firm called Buffalo Threads Transport  to ensure Chisembele’s “financial future and that of his family.”  The offer was rejected.

There are other juicy parts of the book, among which are claims that KK was always considered by fellow UNIP-ists as not being “a true national” but one  who “had been born in Nyasaland.”

Further, it is said that Kapwepwe and others  only agreed to KK leading UNIP prior to 1964 because the  “Nyasalander” could be controlled and removed after independence.

In terms of corruption, the author believes that the sleaze was more pronounced after MMD took power. Whereas in UNIP’s time the most corrupt were KK and “his cronies”, after 1991, the skulduggery was “extensive and it appeared to be a free-for-all for government leaders, party cadres and civil servants.”

For example in May 1997 when Chisembele was summoned by President Chiluba to State House to discuss the Chisamba farm and the two Lusaka restaurants which had surreptitiously been seized from him, Chiluba offered him K3 million to start all over again. The offer was turned down.

On President Sata, the author acknowledges that Sata led the campaign for Chiluba to abrogate the two-term constitutional limit.

Also, many politicians did not trust Sata “because he had been a policeman, working for the British,   during the freedom struggle.”  After independence, KK brought Sata into politics because Kaunda was courting support from traditional leaders like Sata’s father, the “influential headman in Chitulika village in Mpika.”

On President Mwanawasa, the book states that Chiluba’s persecution was only “designed” to increase Mwanawasa’s popularity.

While Mwanawasa was internationally hailed for his anti-corruption rhetoric, he may not have been spotless.

During his time, Mwanawasa was embroiled in accusations of corruption including rumours that involved “huge sums of money passing through dubious companies.” Besides that, President Mwanawasa failed to explain “his acquisition of land and farms previously owned by government institutions and parastatals,” including the land grabbed from the University of Zambia.

There is also the issue of a Chisamba farm that was given to Mwanawasa’s  Vice President Pastor Nevers Mumba. This farm belonged to Zambia Railways. Then there is the suspicious case of Enock Kavindele being paid K1 billion as compensation for a case he had against government.

Clearly, this is a great book which gives some insights into Zambian politics. If one had to believe in its central thesis, then none of our presidents from Kaunda to Sata have been clean. However, the book’s greatest value may be in its attempt to smash the ‘calabash’ carrying the myth that one province and “One Great Leader”  brought its Zambia independence.

For me the chuckle is in knowing  that my double-cousins ‘up north’ have grimly been pugnacious over our maize field, Zambia –  without me knowing about it!

• Review by Dr. Sam Phiri, Department of Mass Communication, University of Zambia, Lusaka