By Wesley Ngwenya
Zambia is this weekend celebrating its 45th Independence from Great Britain. Forty five years ago the spirit of independence was very evident in the events prior to 24th October. Even after the day, the independence spirit hang on for several weeks after. However, today one has to look around for that. The celebrations luck the vibe, enthusiasm and excitement. What happened to all this? Is there any reason for Zambians, after all, to even celebrate this day? What are we celebrating?
To me, it seems like forty-five years after independence we, as a country, are not independent. This day has actually become a day to celebrate dependence day. As a country we are far from being independence. Here are some of the reasons we are still dependent on other nations.
Absolute Poverty: The poverty that has continued to rise continues to be a challenge to many Zambians. There is abject poverty in many households around the country. For millions of Zambians who cannot afford two decent meals a day, Independence doesn’t mean much. It is nothing to celebrate about or reckon with. Many of us Zambians would rather spend the day looking for food for our families. After all that is the order of day throughout the year.
Bad Policies: The bad policies that our government continues to have to this day has immensely contributed to the dependency syndrome that we have in this country. Zambian government doesn’t seem to see the urgency to tackle poverty. In order to tackle poverty, government, has to put strong measures to ensure that right policies are put in place. Good policies create a favorable environment for economic growth. This is the responsibility of the government.
Corrupt Politicians: Politicians are the biggest burden on the Zambian economic. They amass so much wealth for themselves at the expense of millions of Zambians. They are bad at strategic planning. They are bad about managing money. They are bad at thinking about the future. In fact, I can only think of one thing they are good at—stealing. They have perfected the art of stealing that it is has become normal. Even ordinary citizens are unable to notice anymore the corrupt tendencies of our politicians.
Dependency Syndrome: The tendency to depend on handouts, especially, from the wealthy west is very problematic. We have been totally brainwashed and have stopped thinking for ourselves. We have become so automated to receiving handouts that we are no longer creative. If we did not receive so many handouts in the first place maybe today we would have been Independent.
Forty five years down the road we are much poorer than we were at Independence. The question I ask myself is where will Zambia be forty five years from now? I can guarantee you, as long as we continue having the same caliber of politicians we have today, we are going to be talking about the same issues we are discussing today. In fact, if nothing changes radically forty five years from today we shall be worse off than we are today. Leaders Rise Up to the Challenge because we are one Zambia one Nation.
excelent hit the up))
excellent hit them up!!!!!!!!!number one
I totally agree with the article, 45 years independence still dependent on donors, abject poverty etc etc ect!!!! Some might say this is negativity but its the reality in Zambia, when are we gonna change if we don’t change now!!???
Goodmorning Zambia & Happy Anniversary!
Yes, the hard times are still there but great expectations sdhall never cease…we keep hoping that one day, this nation we love shall excel to higher heights and become the hallmark of African development. God bless our nation and it’s people.
Bane mukafwa ku kukalipa ne chifukushi mwe m b w a mwe. Work hard ba fee colour and you will live happily ever after
Wesley ,
Your opinion out of unpatriotism and personal failure reveal your a character of a defeatist .In spite of the economic challenges confronting the country which after all are not insurmountable, Zambians have reason to stay patriotic and forward looking with determinism.We cannot foreit our responsibility to make a difference and join you in insulting the fallen heroes who shaded their blood for this political emancipation.It is their sacrifice that has presented us the opportunity to be self introspecting, and choice.We cannot join you in your passionate lamentation that the direct forces of colonialism were challenged and collectively rejected.October 24th presents us a people in our collective spirit to see the need for economic determimism.Happy Birthday mother Zambia!
Thanks to IMF and The World Bank.They kept us where we are now.
Thanks to IMF and The World Bank.They kept us where we are now.
Surrender is not an option for life.Keep your defeatist spirit to yourself.We will build on what is there.
…..from frying pan into fire……
As generations change 24 october will remain as just a day in history. Modern generation have new challenges to face, new battles to win in order to push the nation forward. The Cluster that had vivid memories of indepence struggle is diminishing -The new generation should fight for economic indepence and dedicate a new celebration day to conmemorate whenever that will be achieved.
Remember the Bible story. In Egypt Moses led the Israelites out of captivity and they celebrated thereafter. In Palestine they conquered the settlers and they celebrated. Finally Jesus came and redeemed the sin of the world and everybody is now celebrating in Christ. There is no need for us now to be celebrating the release from captivity of the children of Israel from Egypt.
CELEBRATE OCCASSION AT HAND.
#6 Chi colour cho ba!!!!
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!this is the kind of talk we should be blowing towards our politicians..hot s-h-i-t so they know we mean business,they should build more prisons coz they will occupy them..
chi #6 ubututu umona kwati RB akakupela job..fool…wakeup and smell the coffee,kaffir,
The points made are valid……however they also apply to 95% of The World !
Great Article!!!!!
ADVICE IS GOOD BUT THE WISE DON’T NEED IT AND THE FOOLS WON’T TAKE IT!
Zambia is doomed, honestly speaking.
kachepa # 14,
Who told you that he has no job already? You think everyone is disadvantaged like you or you think opportunities to fellow citizens would be delivered through you to know them all? Since when did these MMD mafias start communicating through you? If i may ask you, who and how many have been appointed waiting for posting to serve in foreign missions in the month as of this month of October?
THE CAKE HAS SHIFTED TO SHOW GROUNDS MWANYA BAKAPALA
WHAT INDEPENDENCE??
WE ARE POORER NOW THAN AT INDEPENDENCE, POVERTY,UNEMPLOYMENT,HIV/AIDS. THE BRITISH SHOULD JUST COME BACK AND GET THERE COUNTRY!!!
Gift is thanking God for Zambia’s political emancipation, whose anniversary (not celebration) is 24/10 for million of years to come.
However I wish 4 more for mother Zambia, I desire to see an economically emancipated Zambia.
Looking at the socioeconomic/sociopolitical strides that Zambia has made in 45 yrs, they are strides in the reverse, hence I see 24/10 as a date in infamy
I blame the Freedom fighters who chased the British away, We were not ready to manage our own affairs.
We could have been a first world colony of the British, with unemployment of 8%, no corruption, World class universities, good roads, railroad network throughout the country, clean cities and….the list is endless.
let them so called heroes rot in villages and we shall not respect them.
1984.Should not even ponder aspiring for public office.He is too much into blame game.
Happy Birthday Mother Zambia.We love you and will never let you down.The current crop of politicians(ruling and opposition alike) has failed you and its just a matter of time things will all good.
#6 Veteran… You are a ****ed up and twisted fool. You have eyes and yet you pretend not to see. You are out of this world. You will one day pay for siding with the devil. Quotes below: 1. A man who can not reason is a fool, a man who will not reason is a bigot, and a man who dare not reason is a slave–William Drummond. 2. A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him–Nicholas Bioleau. 3. Get fools on your side and you can get elected to anything–Frank Dane.
Wesley you are the man. You are right the Zambia of yesterday was always better than that of today. Contrary to what some people might think, I see no hope for Zambia let alone Africa. How I miss milk at nursery! Any one remember how much our parents were paying for us to go ku dome (pronounced door-may).
Its a great shame to be in independent Zambia and am not sorry to say,”I am not proud to be a Zambian.” What the hell is independence?Is it the number of years without colonial rule or is it development and self-reliance of a people? The devil VJ has contributed to Zambia becoming a laughing stoke and a damn basket case!Zambia began declining the moment Kaunda Fonkofonko became greedy and decided to destroy democracy and thwarting opposition like UPP and Kapwepwe and forming the one man participatory nonsense, where the frog took the place of opposition.In 1991 Zambian unknowingly ushured in the MMD with the middle name Multi-party democracy but they’ve done everything to destroy Zambia,corruption is now a way of life,poverty,begging,nichekeleko is now authentic Zambian culture.
Today Zambia has the same number of people in formal employement as in 1964 despite the population growing from 3 million to 12 million.People in formal employement are just around 300,000 shame! To reclaim Zambia from the demons,we need a Paul Kagame or Jerry Rawlings not this screwed up fake democracy of squables.People need shelter,food,health care,education,freedom of association-no permits from a biased police,freedom of speech and the right to be in control and in-charge of our own God given natural resources,not the foreigners like Chinese,Indians,South Africans and all the other infestors who are just abusing our people.Follow the example of Morales of Bolivia and Chavez of Venezuela,Fidel Castro of Cuba not Obama or Mandela!Zambia is not yet independent,the independence has been…
mulekeni umusungu ateke nakabili .
Zambia’s independence has been stolen by its useless leaders begining with chi Kaunda up to the present clown RB Kanitundila.To be independent we need to free ourselves from our current leaders and usher in a new era of me and my generation as we are the marjority.90% of Zambians are aged between 15 and 45. Even LusakaTimes thwarts our freedom of expression by blanking out words from our postings on this useless but only blog for us to express our opinion.LusakaTimes, democracy and freedom of expression is: borrowing from an ancient Chinese philosopher, “Even though I don’t agree with what you are saying,I’ll still allow you to say it.” LusakaTimes you are against my independence to express myself, you need to free yourself from MMD meddling!
-Our contribution to humanity has been great, but largely unnoticed and has contributed NOTHING back in return for we continue to struggle with the most bare necessities of life and wallow in poverty, disease and underdevelopment ( all happening in the absence of war).How can one explain such a situation? Engaging in a serious discussion about this (including how we allow it to go on) and enlightening our children about it, is the least we should be doing than celebrating our dependence.Surely someone MUST be joking to tell me that we have cause to celebrate on this day! For even the sense of solidarity and oneness that independence day used to bring has long diminished.
And please do not blame IMF and World Bank (including Western powers who run them) and corporations alike- for they only exert influence and get resources, If allowed to do so by a country and its people I.e: “You seem to have no direction, we shall show you the way”. When you put your house in order and set institutions and systems right, show seriousness and offer tangible business, industrialised nations do respect and can be most instrumental in nation building.
point of correction, the article title should have read 45 years of dependence and no direction
“I can’t follow things blindly. Someone has forgotten where he is coming from. He is only concerned with the present. Even the educated ones are allowing themselves to be blinded; they are following someone Sata blindly without questioning his decisions or actions. He has picked a white man as his vice-president. Rupiah Banda was late Mwanawasa’s vice-president and now he has succeeded him. Will Guy Scott succeed Sata as a party or Republican president if he died tomorrow?” Chitimukulu asked.
Chitimukulu said Zambians fought for independence and having a white man in Scott as Republican president would mean the independence struggle was in vain.
ii mfumu cipuba sana!
the greatest mistake that RB has made this year is to aquit FTJ. if ftj went to prison for stealing then any in coming president would be carefull not to steal,, but RB has openned the way for any leader to steal and go un punished, that is why we may conclude that RB also wants to steal or that is his vision , what a shame
#6 VETERAN /Ka shi Kapata /Shushushu There`s nothing unpatriotic when Wesley points out the failures exibited by RB and the demagogues surrounding him.What`s unpatriotic is your blind support for a foreigner in RB to continue running our country down.That`s not why our forefathers shed their blood to kick out a white man and replace him with a foreigner.RB has Zimbabwe to run to while the rest of us only have Zambia as our country.Economically,we have a long way to go to experience any emancipation.It`s a shame that the Kwacha which was once at par with British pound has gone south in terms of value since independence.I wonder if it`s time to celebrate or introspect.
Iwe wesley dnt spit on our freedom fighters grave,,,,,,,,,,,the importance of independance doesnt lie in precurrent economic woes n shud nt b overshadowd by tht. Independence is the emancipation from colonial british rule, n tht stil stands therefore we say HAPPY 45 YEARS INDEPENDENCE FELLOW COUNTRY MEN AND WOMEN
You guys are missing the point. Celebrating 24 October as Independence day is not about the current problems we are facing. It is not about the global crisis or whatever you want to define it. To the contrary, it’s the celebration of one brand of freedom. If u can’t understand this, pls die. You are wasting space, let alone oxygen.
It’s a celebration of a historical event, not the daily happenings. We celebrate the bigger picture that’s not dependent on the current problem but on historical happening – Kairos (in Greek). It happened once, ending one era and bringing another. If u think the current problems will be resolved at a particular kairos moment, dedicate that day for it. But pls keep this day for what it is- independence from the British direct colonial rule.
#36, Chapi and others… the Kwacha’s devaluation did not start with RB, you know that that. I hope. You also know historically how Zambia has moved: frm the 1972 oil crisis, to the on and off IMF/World Bank manipulations, to the change of the republic and now the global downturn! I also hope u know that the change of the republic meant a great shift in the monetary policy. There’s no way we would have moved frm independence to industrialised country in one flash! We cud have but in yo argument, pls include facts.
Some of u r even supporting the replacement RB with Sata- without disrespecting the old man, Sata is not NEW blood with new ideas either. You know this. PF maybe, Sata no. U know this.
Happy 45th Birthday Zambia the real Africa.Enough respect to those who laboured day and night to make Zambia an independent country.
#39 Fr Bwalya.My points are factual.RB is a foreigner and the Kwacha at independence was at par with the British poiund.The reason that has caused our country to be worse off 45 years after independence is down to gross mismanagement and lack of vision.We`re simply advocating for a change in the way our country is run.These tired and recycled politicians do not have an understanding of the way the economy is supposed to tackled in the 21st centuary.We therefore need fresh blood and vibrant leaders who have the heart and mental capacity to move our country forward.
It’s I.M.F ,The World Bank and puppet politicians that has put Zed in this situation.IMF require nations:
1. To sign secret agreement of items
2. In which they agreed to sell off key assets -water, electric, gas, etc.
3. In which they agreed to take economic steps which are really devastating to the nation involved
4. In which they pay off politicians billions of dollar to Swiss bank account to do this transfer of a countries fixed assets.
If they do not agree to these steps they are cut-off from all international borrowing. Today if can’t borrow money in the international marketplace, no one can survive, whether you are people or corporations or countries. If that does not work they overthrow the government and plant lies about the former government and/or even rewrite history.
Question–What instruction do the I.M.F. give our financial(politician) leaders?
Answer–Follow the conditions! This ultimately results in the loss of sovereignty.
The choices that I.M.F. offer are very simple:
Work with the I.M.F. and get wiped out!
Don’t work with the I.M.F. and be destroyed!
Therefore,the choice is- be wiped out or destroyed
#33 Peter. I think you and Nick Griffin can be very good friends. You are right! All blacks foreigners whether born in Britain or not, whether they were taken to Britain at a very young age (say 2-5yrs old), they need to be brought/sent back to Zambia/Asia and all sorts of places they were born! You and Chitimukulu need to find a place to live!
Its Zambia’s 45th Independence ——– from REALITY——- to sheer endless massive POVERTY.
All those coming here with “the contempt factor” happily posting negative messages, I kindly advise you to postpone your political debates to another day because we will not allow you to destroy the goodwill and hope of patriotic Zambians who wish to celebrate our country’s liberation from the evil grip of colonialism on this very important day. Unless you prove to me otherwise, I will conclude that you are very sad individuals with nothing to smile about in life.
A shift has taken place where majority of the people are not happy with the status quo. 2011 lets show our true colours!!!
45years yet nothing to show for it!
Its such a pity. 45 years of struggling. Independence or is it Dependence?
God,….. how the word patriotisim is misused, for political mileage is beyond the comprehension of any reasonable person. If you have no sane or reasonable counter opinion then throw in the word unpatriotic……… sad, shameful, selfish, bigoted are the least you can say about people who easily come up with that word. The patriot is the person who cares about the well being of the ordinary Zambian, and humans at large. The ones that are greedy, self centred, selling the assessts for own gain are the unpatriotic ones. Lets use other well reasoned arguements rather than throwing childish tantrums at divergent views. People want a prosperous country for all, make the cake bigger and you will all have a larger share. Can you honestly say Zambians are being unreasonable for wanting justice?
#5 and #12 grow up guys! Don’t spoil this blog with your insults. Much as we understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion let us express our opinions in a mature way. There are some of us who hate insults. So don’t make us stop reading this blog.
#46 Bushe walikwata amano iwe? How can someone with a s t u p i d Germany flag come on here and talk such nonsense. Of all the places the last place one would ever want to live is Germany let alone display their s t u p i d flag proudly like that. You are in Germany because you`ve run away from poverty in your country you f**l. I have been to Germany and I would never go back. They spit at you!
#52 wonder what made you run away from Zam.. was it poverty too? You seem to think that Chale is in germany because of that.! Were you spat at in germany?? Maybe it was just about you and not every black guy there let alone Chale. One is more likely to be spat at by “african brothers” than from germans. Lots of black africans in europe tend to behave like real bushmen and spitting in public is the norm. Just look around you!!
Afropean do you understand what Sokomuntu said or do you need to read through again?
In 1964 N.Rhodesia/Zambia had the same GDP as South Korea. That just about sums up the whole story!
Rubbish, what independence if you still lick the bottoms of those who colonised you? You depend on them and you always look fuulish begging from them. People are living in abject poverty while a few sit and eat the national cake. Make the national cake available to every Zambian!!!!!! YOU EVIL CREATURES.
Hard work and patriotism is what we are lacking in Zambia, our freedom fighters fought knowing there will be no greedinesses but we are experiencing the opposite.. Ba Kalis tried but the rest, FI NANGWA..
ZAMBIA, HAS TO BE UNITED.. AND HAS TO TRUE LOVE FOR EACH OTHER AS THERE IS NO EQUALITY..
WHY DID WE GET INDEPENDENCE?? SO OTHER CAN BE DESPISED BECAUSE OF BEING BORN NOT HAVING FAMILY RELATED TO THE BOSS..??
CHAPI, IF RB IS A FOREIGNER, THEN WHAT ABOUT GUY SCOTT? LETS BE REALISTIC.
Lets all be more patriotoic. nearly all great nations today went thru decades and sometimes of centuaries of darkness to get where they are. We should also fight on and not just fold hands and blame our leaders. Let us all push for a better Zambia in whatever way we can and using the various attributes the Almighty has given us…
73%poverty stricken..AIDS and less shelter and schools…what are celebrating?lack of leadership is just one other thing..we are tired of having that old bull in state house who doesn’t seem to care about our problems…
#41 chapi: With the quality of blogging that I see on this forum, I am not sure that I want to entrust the future of this country with you lot of “younger blood”. In fact this is why Levy (MHSRIEP) wisely chose to leave RB in his place; he could see the chaos that would arise after his death. I look at the insults (even by one Nalubamba, of all people a Chief!), the anarchy, the disunity, the failure to support each other, the senseless desire for Plot 1 especially. When I extrapolate these goings on, I imagine how worse off this country would have been without the wisdom of one Levy.
Iwe Chi Mulenga–Newcastle says:
Uli Chipuba kwati wiso Chisatana iwe.
#17 If you laugh at people because they are disadvantaged then you are big fool,if you can’t help them then you are even bigger one.coming to your short-sightedness.I know of people who were appointed in Foreign missions,but then thats the right of the prez,besudes even if we sent men and women in these places we hardly pay them a living wage so whats your point?…..