Yesterday was Zambia’s Independence Day–a day when we celebrate self-governing and freedom from foreign-rule. So, far it is evident that our freedom has cost us a lot as a country. Though we have traditionally proclaimed ourselves independent we remain dependent in many ways. As a citizen of this beloved country I would like to share my thoughts on this forty-ninth anniversary. In my view, there is little or nothing to celebrate about. Here is why;
Endless Elections/Fighting
Yesterday, someone asked me if we have transparent elections in Zambia. My response was that yes we do because we have a somewhat working system of being able to follow through from the time a ballot is cast to the time it is counted. However, the process leading up to the election is not free and fair as often there is vote buying, threatening voters, fighting and evening killing. Forty-nine years after becoming part of the free world, you would think that as a country our focus will shift from having meaningless elections to ensuring that we have a strong constitution. If we were independent as a country, we should by now have a working electoral code of conduct. Why is it taking us almost 50 years to know how to manage elections? I was once told by MMD cadres at Kamwala market that, “ndise tezo pasa vilonda ku mufumbwe.” Is this something to celebrate about?
Failing Economy
Our economy has the potential and capacity to grow. In fact, it has been growing considering a GDP of about 7.3% recording last year. The world’s fastest growing economy, China, has a GDP of 7.8%. Our neighbour south, Botswana, has a GDP of 6.1% and yet it is the best managed economy in Africa. Why are we unable to grow our economy over the years despite that we continue registering a substantial growth rate? Where are we getting it wrong? I believe that in order for us to see real results in terms of economic growth we need to have economic managers to do this. This means that we need to manage our spending as well as our borrowing. Jobs will have to be created so that the spending power among the citizenry will grow. Social services will have to be expanded to reach everyone including those in rural areas. When our economy is managed like that of Botswana maybe we shall have something to celebrate out.
Grandpa Leaders
Personally, I think as a country this is where we have gotten it wrong for decades. We continue to believe in Grandpa-like style of leadership. Zambia, like many other African countries continues to elect politicians who are in their 60’s and 70s. The average age for an African leader is 63. The average age for an African citizen is 19. Look at the huge generational gap. The Zambian President is 76 years old and has been in politics since 1963–when UPND opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was only a year old and United States President Barack Obama was only two years old.
Evidently, the bully-like style of governing continues to envelop Zambia. Sata’s madala leaders such as Guy Scott, Daniel Munkombwe and Alex Chikwanda have completely run out of ideas. They continue to introduce retrogressive policies. In order to be fully independent, Zambia will need to elect energetic leaders who shall stand up for the country. Leaders who shall take center-stage in working for the poor. Leaders who shall hold our beacon high up to the whole world. Leaders who shall let freedom ring and allow people to express themselves whether or not they agree with them. That is the kind of independence I would like to celebrate. But do you think, we can get this from the current crop of Grandpas?
Hunger
With 60% of its population living in extreme poverty this means Zambia has 8.4 million people, who go to bed hungry every day. This would be a combined population of Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka and North-western provinces all starving on a daily basis. Is this really the independence we need to sing about? To me, Zambia has never really been independent. We are far from being independent as long as we still have people dying of hunger.
For us to feel independent, we need the freedom to choose what jobs to do, the freedom to speak what’s on our mind, the freedom to go wherever we want, the freedom to belong to any religious group we want, the freedom to belong to any political party we want, the freedom to speak Luchazi, Ila, Soli, Tumbuka, Mambwe without being intimidated and the freedom to participant in the governance of this country even when we are not Bemba. That’s the freedom we yearn for. That’s the freedom my great grandfather fought for.
Meanwhile, as usual, for me it’s that time of the year when I celebrate my birthday with family and friends. As everyone celebrates the misery of our country feel free to join me in raising your glasses and say “happy birthday Wesley!” if you find “happy birthday, Zambia!” not exciting.
By Wesley Ngwenya
And this is what a country has achieved after 49 years…. what a big joke
The joke is on you. You’ve bolted but expect others to achieve things for you! You’r
Dude, you’ve bolted but expect others to achieve things for you! You’re living in a world ‘achieved’ by others. You are the the joke!
I hate writers like Wesley and that other sick guy called Ruwe.All they do is condemn without offering solutions.You are not helping things by doing that in the comfort of your diaspora home.Go back in Zambia and offer solution than lamenting from afar.Some things are easily said than done.No birthday wishes from me.You can suck on your article.
what i see on that picture is actually abuse of children… others call it independence celebration… after 49 years
Hola @ you mother Zambia!
There is only one home at the end of the day…. God bless you mother, had it not been for you, who knows what then, with all lifes endurances, you are the one.
To all the freedom fighters and all their families, thank you for the love you had in order for us to be free from all that was, might have been! Words alone will never be enough for all the sacrifices you made for dear life, i say thank and pay homage to you.
the secret meetings in the dark clouds of danger, whispering voices of our determined heros, cold nights, abandoned families in order to secure a non segregated life for the future generations, what strong men and women you must have been, in the face of danger you forged on and fought hard till Zambia was born.This one is for you.. cheers!
ambians, for once try to appreciate what you have and who you are, you can be the engineer, make so much Mulla, drive the most advanced ride on earth, be in the most prestigious company of the recognised worldwide or whatever, at the end of the day, you are nothing but an African, staunch Black, Zambian to be specific, but there will always be one place were you will feel at home, belonged, that is no other other than ZED Zambia, so love one another and cherish this day for in the eyes of them all, you are just an African, Zambian for that matter, so you can blog all you want say stuff about one anther over, all in all you aint s*** but Zambian! The only one who appreciates and knows who you really are is Zambia, so cut the crap and celebrate who you are that is Zambian period!
Hihihihihi… meant to say Zambians. Sorry about that.
To my online Buddies on LT, Ndobo, Nostra, Enka, High speed mama, Zambian Namayo, Mature, The Engineer, oyaya, Saulosi, Mfumu and all those i havent mentioned my fellow bloggers, enjoy your Independance day, remember, you are cherished, take care and have a blas life is short enjoy it, most importantly remember who you are… love you all and God bless ya all, takecare Mwaah!
….thinking of eloping with someone here… hey you ndobo, don’t say, nostra and enka shh! high speed mama and zambian namayo ask the engineer to fix my car so that you take the lobola to the president of zambia cos cindy is mine LOL!
happy independence you guys..
love you all.
“Sata’s madala leaders such as Guy Scott, Daniel Munkombwe and Alex Chikwanda have completely run out of ideas. They continue to introduce retrogressive policies. In order to be fully independent, Zambia will need to elect energetic leaders who shall stand up for the country. Leaders who shall take center-stage in working for the poor.” My dear Wesley i think you have missed the point here.I don`t think it is wise for you to admonish our aged leaders.Much as we would like to have young leaders like HH,Chipimo,Bwalya and Maybe even Masumba as president we should forget that old people are indispensable.Most times age comes with wisdom.Personally i would rather have an old man with good policies as a leader than have a young man with no sense of direction.Sorry no birthday wishes from me.
*we shouldn`t forget that old people are indispensable*
You mean building the infrastructure such as roads and rail lines is running out of ideas?
Ba Saulosi mwakasa. Wisdom comes from God and not age. If these old leaders are wise why are we in such a mess
You are heading right there and I hope you make it. To get to Dr Kaunda’s age is no joke and that means he did a lot of good things that entaled Jehovah God to permit him o live this long. But for you kids, you have to even get past 40.
Happy birthday Wesley.Me not celebrating filth in Lusaka and the daily killing of our people on the roads, in townships while money is spent for useless bielections and Sata’s big tribalistic cabinet with many grandpas.Happy birthday Wesley.
Happy birth day Wesley, as for Zambia, Happy birth day Bembas, dine and wine with you family dense forest in government and diplomatic missions.
What a crappy article! No birthday wishes from me too because you are a loser ka Wesley.
I have always said it, there is not a single independent state in Africa. The are whatt I call imetation states. We shall only become an independent nation when we become total dependent on ourselves
@Saulosi, when I read the first three sentences of your blog, I thought you were an imposter; thereafter I knew it was the genuine Saulosi.
@ The Engineer (Australia) – I cannot agree with you more. How very pathetic; 49 years later and nothing to show for it.
guys 49 yrs of independence and check out the schools, roads, hospitals, industries we have,living standards, literacy level, housing infrastructure ,economy, what would u rate Zambia 1 out of 10.
what can a country achieve when two dictators come together to denounce the young leadership. kaunda and sata have colonial thinking which has no place in our modern world of free society. these two gullible people are taking us backward. happy birthday wesly! nice article.
Bufi fye , how old was Kaunda, Chiluba and Mwanawasa when they took over the Presidency of this country.
49 years of independence- despite the -ve outlook, social-economically, we have enjoyed peace; & to some extent freedom – to some extent because your freedom is not absolute; you are free in as far as you do not infringe on other peoples’ rights & properties. Now coming to wesleys article, i think independence is both individual & collective as a country. a zambian is independent and free in terms of power of choice, but social-economically he/she is not in good shape. This is why zambia cannot say squarely that its independent. What is main cause of zambian social-economic retrogression? low productivity & negativity. High alcohol consumption & HIV top of list of root causes. fortunately, with power of choice, an individual can change this -ve outlook into a +ve one. God bless zambia.
There is more to it than meets the eye. We like to look at the surface instead of looking through and around the problem. What we all need to understand is that, when Zambia became independent the Bristish were not happy at all. So the British made sure Zambia fell to its knees and become dependent on them once again. This is were we have failed, instead of breaking the cycle and figuring out ways to become a power state we keep going around in circles.
U should have called yourself fruitcake! All the failed states African or otherwise always have to blame their colonial masters. But remember that these colonialists are the ones who left strong reserves (positive balance) a strong currency (remember the Kwacha was almost 1:1). Most of the infrastructure was built by them (railway linen hospitals, roads, schools,etc) Who ran all that down? Look at Botswana, they had very little reserves but see how prosperous it is with the discovery of diamonds. Look at South Korea it had the same per capita income as Zambia in 1964
I find this article not very interesting. We are lucky that we celebrated our country 49th Anniversary in peace. Other countries there is bloodshed every day. Just near by Mozambique is under threat from Renamo and this if not handled properly may spill into Eastern province. Suffering has always been tere for ages.You talk of hunger or lack of freedom. Zambia is one country where there is relative freedom of speech and association. Giving too much freedom to someone ahs got its own problems. VIVA ZAMBIA @49yrs.
And this loser sits down on his computer to write this garbage ? Provide solutions and not be an armchair critic.You reasoning is like that of that chat called Engineer(Australia).Get a life.
Mutale that is loser mentality, typical of Zambians you mean you don’t see sense in what he is writing, your country always vote for old people which the writer can’t control instead of young vibrant individuals , America rejected McCain because he was old, look at Zed life expectancy is low meaning there are a lot of young people being ruled by a Nkote. how in the world are you going to be on the same page with an old man it’s like your grandfather controlling your house it’s chaotic. different priorities, Sata is really a grandpa Am not even surprised when he goes missing or slow to act.
This article is not deep enough, like most people here have said, lets point out the wrongs as well as point the way out of our ills. By many standards, I could argue that elections are generally free and fair, although the current Govmnt is trying to undo the free part. Grandpa leaders, well, if people to fill the void are in the so-called diaspora or too busy trying to make ends meet in the private sector, you will always have old guards and empty cadres to map the political route of the country. Hunger, well is more to do with job creation or lack of it, as it were. Vast land, plentyful water thousands or millions of youth. All they need is inpiration and leadership, especially from Zambians coming from abroad. Problem is you guys from abroad are content with watching movies at Odeon,…
toyota Zambia, isuzu and CFAO keep selling more and more units on a daily basis. Jeeps are now plenty on the road. surely this is sign of a growing economy…. Proflight has today launched a new flight to Dar, whilst KCC, the Lounge, Portico, News, Zero Degrees, the Bank, East point, etc shall all be packed with beer buying revellers. Shoprite countrywide, etc etc etc are all in the money. is this surely not a sign of ” MO MONEY???” when last were you in meanwood? houses are rising fast. Kamwala south? etc etc?? Zambia is growing at 6% this year, you check how many other countries are growing that fast. As i type, Airlink is landing; making it the 5th commercial arrival from South Africa today alone. Havent you seen Emirates? PF is working.
That is for the elite; minority, just drive to kanyama, misisi, bauleni etc just a few minutes from where you are then reality will strike you.
have you ever seen how much beer is drank in those areas? Taverns are full from 4 am.
@ Huawei you just hit the nail on the head. excessive consumption of alcohol is not sign of progress, but to the contrary; its sign of hoplessiness, dejection, and total human failure. just ask yourself what time these people engage in productive activities, when they are drunk all day or atleast half there life?
very rubbish article. You tribalist who always i against Bembas….e .
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.
@nebo, how does god come into this all? God set into motion the evolution and then he does not interfere. He has given human being reasoning and power to evolve and better their lot. God has never and will never interfere. All religions are businesses and polarisers. One shall try to be good to fellow human beings, be devoted family man and add value to society. That is godly.
@ Alfred Bulaya, these chaps still do piece-work, whilst others drive buses and are call boys. whats inportant is they have families, presumably that they love; thier wives are most likely selling and earning something for food, and their children go to school, clothed. would you want to say that the fact that most of them have many childred is also a sign of hoplessness, dejection and human failure? fact is they drink because they have a healthy disposable income. Chibuku for your own information is great business, and is not sold in the elite clubs. there is infact a market that drinks it with impunity. A market that has been blessed with “mo money in your pocket.” Check the high density areas tomorrow for your own confirmation. Money is plenty.
i also encourage you to pass through Nangwenya Toyota or Action Auto on Monday. go and see ow many cars will be going in for service….
@ Huawei your view of things and my perspective are totally different. Let’s agree to disagree. Your KPIs are not consistent with universal norms. Social-economic indicators in Zambia are poverty levels +70%, unemployement +30%, human development index too low that’s why poverty circles are difficulty to break; the scenario should change so that people start thinking beyond just putting food on table and having a beer to investments; real estates and value addition/creation. Until then our independence won’t mean much.
@ Shortcake
You have not explained why the British had made sure Zambia was on
its knees?What do you mean breaking the cycle? Which cycle?
The reason why Zambia has failed is that the same people have ruled the county since independence, the only difference this time is that they are doing different shifts.This is the same narrative running thru all the bloggers. The problem is that failures always find somebody to blame for their mess.
Zambia, unlike Botswana, was born with a copper spoon in its mouth. At independence, in 1964, it was the richest country in Africa north of the Limpopo river. Now, 49 years later, Zambia is still a toddler economically and politically. It should pain any sane an pride Zambian that the country is still struggling to the extent that it is. Zambia’s infrastructure development is still dismal, to say the least. Now, with nearly 50 years of independence under its belt, why is tribalism still a hot issue? Why is it that many communities within Zambia still don’t have running water 24/7? What reason has Zambia got to lag behind its Southern neighbors such as Botswana and Namibia? Why should we still have schools with no proper buildings and hospitals with no medicines? ZAMBIA IN THE SUN!
lets check our debt levels and not Continue to borrow heavily and accumulate debt there by kicking the can down the road as the common saying in Finance there by curing the propensity and the addiction to shorterminist a quick and fix as it reducing as much as possible the portifolio of creditors we are building and taking stock of the costs in deficits
We need also avoid crossing the Ponzi point of no return in debt accumulation avoiding an endless contraction of debt in a rollover type financing previously accumulated debt as it well in principal and interest costs.
Reducing dependence means taking the iniatiative to control and manage.The unions also should there part to support the minister in ensuring that the can is not continuously kicked along the road
Excellent article Wesley! As expected the ‘na tolafye’ cadres are not happy with your excellent analysis. Zambia would be in a far better place if we avoided electing tired tribal Madalas as our leaders.
Happy belated birthday.
Zambians, you need to change your mindset.
Get rid of laws passed before independence and/or replace them.
Work on your self esteem, foreigners and other countries are not better the you.
The following is from the post newspaper of 25th October, 2013. Contrast this with What KK said about Sata saving economy from collapse. Let people vote who is telling the truth.
Simbao said it was also illogical for anybody to think that MMD could not bounce back into power.
“Usually when people are selfish, things don’t work well. And so this business of thinking that because MMD was once in power, it should forget bouncing back, is not correct, the merits have to be brought out and everybody knows that the MMD picked up a collapsed economy and brought it up to a buoyant one,” he said.
He said by the time the MMD was leaving office, the economy was buoyant such that the IMF was no longer on the ‘neck’ of Zambia.
“Actually the MMD must be given respect; and anyone being UPND…
I feel sad for you #Huawei and few others who think that we have made progress because of many second hand cars on the road of people drinking in townships. Zambia is not making progress when we can’t have our own national airline, when streets are food of vendors, when government is full of oldies, when appointments are mainly from one terrible and family tree, when president goes out whiteout the nation knowing where he is. Meanwood has no proper roads. Is that progress? People use the bush or same streets for toilet. Is that progress? Barotseland is not celebrating. Is that progress. Deaths during bielections. Is that progress. We were teaching Botwanan’s. Now Botswana does not really need us. That is progress.
Very disjointed and poorly structured article, I get feeling that it was written by a grade 4 dull pupil.