Zambia: A land of unsung heroes – By Rupiah Banda
THE 8TH ANNEVESSARY OF THE LATE DR. FREDRICK J.T CHILUBA 2ND PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA MEMORIAL LECTURE BY HIS EXCELLENCY MR. RUPIAH BWEZANI BANDA 4TH PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA :DELIVERED AT THE MULUNGUSHI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE ON 16TH JUNE, 2019
We are gathered here today to remember my late President and Brother, Dr. Frederick J.T. Chiluba, the Second Republican President, who led our Great Nation from 2nd November 1991 to 2nd January 2002.
I am deeply humbled to have been asked to speak in honour of the torchbearer for our return to multi-party democracy. Before I share my thoughts on the socio-economic and political contribution that Dr. Chiluba made to our country I would like to shed some light on the close personal relationship that the two of us shared. However, even as I do so, I want to emphasise that this lecture is not just about Dr. Chiluba, but about us as Zambians getting back to our roots and our value system that makes us (Zambians) unique. This is a system predicated on the spirit of love and forgiveness.
As you all know, Dr. Chiluba and I were initially on opposite sides of the political divide and, indeed in 1993 I was detained by the authorities for more than 50 days for alleged involvement in the “Zero Option” saga. A few days after my release on a nolle prosequi, my brother-in-law, Stanley Makulu, passed away. Stanley (MHSRIP), had been one of Dr. Chiluba’s interpreters and naturally he came to the funeral house to pay his respects to the family. As a senior member of the family I was nominated to receive the President. Still sporting a huge beard courtesy of Chimbokaila remand, I welcomed the President and led him into the house to pay his respects. The President was very gracious and spent a long time chatting with and comforting us. Before his departure he did something remarkable and unexpected, he leaned over to me and offered his apologies to me for my arrest and detention. He explained that as a President he had been presented with certain information and had to act on the facts that he had. The gesture deeply moved me and from that day forward until that fateful day that he left us we became good friends and Brothers.
In later years, during the illness and subsequent passing of my late wife, Dr. Chiluba would be a source of comfort and support to my late wife, my family and myself turning up at my home unannounced, with bible in hand to pray at my sick wife, Hope Mwansa Banda’s bedside. Remember, at that time he was the Head of State and I was a senior leader in the opposition fighting to oust him from power! If I may quote the Great man himself; “That’s the beauty of Democracy”. Dr. Chiluba understood that it was not personal…we were free to disagree politically but we were not enemies.
The day before Dr. Chiluba passed away, he asked to see me at State House, and naturally I asked my staff to make time for him in my schedule as I thought he had an urgent matter to discuss with me. He joined me for lunch, and we spent the rest of the day just chatting as two brothers about a range of issues, nothing urgent or pressing. On that day, that would be his last on this earth, Dr. Chiluba had just wanted to spend quality time with a dear friend and brother. I feel incredibly blessed to have had that unknowing farewell. Naturally, when I received the news of his sudden demise I was shocked and devastated.
In political and economic circles we know him as the Father of our multi-party democracy and economic liberalization. In our everyday lives we remember him as the harbinger of political freedom, human rights and liberties.
Dr. Chiluba and his government’s liberalization policies brought about a new spirit of economic enterprise among Zambians, led to better public transport services, increased access to health and education facilities and services and the empowerment of thousands of citizens with home ownership.
A born Freedom Fighter and Nationalist, he attended Kawambwa Secondary school, where he and other young freedom fighters organized, agitated and protested against the myriad injustices of white colonial rule, that stripped Zambians of their dignity and closed all doors to basic human liberties and opportunities for socio-economic advancement. As a result of these protests the school was closed and he was expelled. Not one to give up, he sought employment to support himself and his quest for an education, which he continued to pursue via distance learning. He settled in Ndola, working for Atlas Copco, and ever the defender against injustices he joined the unions to fight for worker’s rights and improved conditions. His leadership skills, tenacity and courage did not go unnoticed in the Union and he rose rapidly through the ranks to ultimately become Chairman General of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). As head of the ZCTU, Dr. Chiluba was an outspoken critic of Dr. Kaunda and the UNIP government and in 1981, having called a wildcat strike that paralyzed much of the economy, he and other union leaders were detained, until their detention was ruled as unconstitutional. His leadership of the ZCTU and courage in the face of adversity attracted a large constituency and he was the obvious front-runner to lead the newly formed Movement for Multi Party Democracy (a name that he had actually suggested to the Garden House Conference in July 1990). Indeed, one can draw many parallels between Dr. Chiluba and the Nobel prize winning former President of Poland, Lech Walesa, who had ascended to the Presidency just one year before Dr. Chiluba. Walesa, had founded and headed Solidarity, the Soviet Bloc’s first independent trade union and he had been a vociferous critic of the injustices of the Soviet regime in Poland.
Dr. Chiluba’s landslide victory over Dr. Kaunda on 31st October 1991 was a monumental achievement and Former US President, Jimmy Carter and other International observers heralded the Zambian elections as a defining moment in the democratic reforms that were sweeping through Africa following the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet Socialist system of one party rule. Zambia was a pioneer and a beacon for democracy on the continent and within a few years many countries had followed suit, replacing one party democracy with multi-party politics.
“The hour has come to rebuild our nation…” Dr. Chiluba proclaimed during his first inauguration speech and he immediately began the difficult process of transforming the economy and accelerating development through an open market liberalized system, which opened the Zambian economy to the world through trade and investments. These steps were to create more opportunities for entrepreneurship in various sectors of the economy, and subsequently this led to significant growth of the Zambian middle class. Dr. Chiluba’s economic achievements are numerous, but I would like to highlight some that we all take for granted, but which have had an enormous impact on the growth of our economy since 1991;
✓ The liberalization of imports and exports, ending the agony of long queues on basic household goods such as mealie meal, salt, sugar, bread, cooking oil, soap etc. Today it is taken for granted that as long as you have the money you can simply go into a shop and buy whatever you need.
✓ The legalization of the foreign exchange system that was essential for international trade to flourish.
✓ The mobilization of internal revenue, through institutional statutory reforms that led to the creation of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). The introduction of a modern, well-staffed Revenue Authority enhanced the collection of domestic revenue to help fund public development and reduce donor dependency.
✓ De-regulation of prices, which enabled both local and international investors to build and grow their business and in-turn create further employment for our people.
✓ The privatization of public companies, many of which had not been run efficiently and had become a huge burden on the fiscus. “Privatisation is a bitter pill, but it is a pill that will cure.” Dr. Chiluba famously said in the face of much resistance to privatization. Yes, initially jobs were lost and people suffered, but ultimately privatization led to huge investments in mining, agriculture, transport and telecommunications that could only come about in a market driven economy.
One notable example of this was in the transport sector, where Zambians were allowed to invest and import buses and minibuses duty free. This drastically improved our intra city and inter city public transport network that had previously been served by the likes of the under-capitalised UBZ etc. Gone are the days of waiting hours, or even days for transport. As Dr. Chiluba would say “You do not have to wait for buses. The buses will be waiting for you.”
“The greatest lesson we can learn from the past…is that freedom is at the core of every successful nation in the world.” Dr. Chiluba once declared and in the political sphere he also made great strides to promote freedoms and the respect for human rights, anchored on institutions and laws that would support and protect our nascent democracy. Some of these include;
✓ Ensuring freedom of the press.
✓ The establishment of the Human Rights Commission.
✓ The transformation of the Police Force into a Police Service, that should serve and protect.
✓ Public service reform
✓ The establishment of a constituency development fund
It is sad that in recent years the legacy of Dr. Chiluba has been under attack from an unscrupulous and selfish cabal in a ruthless quest for power who painted him as a selfish enemy of the people. This is not the Chiluba that I, or millions of Zambians knew, ever approachable, cheerful and humble, Dr. Chiluba brought the Presidency closer to the people. On his housing empowerment drive he would make impromptu visits to peoples homes to hand them their title deeds or offer letters—those smiles of absolute joy will forever be etched in the memory.
Who can forget his tours, made with pride, as he went to inspect newly built modern markets and those joyful exchanges of jokes and laughter as he bought fish, groundnuts and vegetables from proud new market tenants.
Dr. Chiluba touched so many lives in so many ways, visiting the sick in hospitals, the old and the vulnerable, he would console us in our homes during funerals. To use my own words, truly he was a President for all Zambians.
And lest we forget, what an orator he was! At his rallies and in speeches he would mesmerize and enthrall his audience with a vast vocabulary and great humour.
In his declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation, he was also submitting himself to God in words and deeds. He was a man guided in his duties by God. He always maintained the Bible as a permanent reference from which to start and end the day. Each cabinet reshuffle or policy pronouncement would be preceded by a period of fasting and prayer…only sipping water for sustenance.
In conclusion, I hope you will all join me in remembering Dr. Chiluba as the Father of our Democracy—the harbinger of a new era of political freedom, respect for human rights and civil liberties and economic liberalism. Let us remember his 10 years in office as a period in which brave and momentous decisions, policies and actions were taken that have changed our lives for the better. Indeed, he has left an indelible mark on our lives, our children’s lives and on the lives of generations to come.
It is incumbent upon those of us gathered here, who knew the man and who appreciate his selfless contribution to the betterment of our nation, to forever defend and exalt his legacy, so that Dr. Chiluba can take his rightful place alongside the other great sons and daughters of the soil who sacrificed for and served our Country. At this juncture, it is opportune to remind ourselves of some of those gallant men and women, such as Godwin Mbikusita Lewanika the founding president of the African National Congress (ANC), the mother of all political parties in Zambia, Mr. Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula, the second President of the ANC, Mr. Timothy Kankasa and his dear wife Mama Bessy Chibesakunda Kankasa, both fierce freedom fighter in their own right, Munukayumbwa Sipalo, Mainza Chona, Bob Litana, Peter Matoka, Dingiswayo Banda, Alex Shapi, Nalumino Mundiya, Dauti Yamba.
We shall forever be grateful for Dr. Chiluba’s life and that of all our freedom fighters, for their service to our Great Nation.
THANK YOU