A post liberation war hero, President Chiluba punctured the myth surrounding Africa’s founding fathers’ veil of omnipotence , infallibility and indispensability when he humbled Kenneth Kaunda in a free and fair election in 1992.
President Kenneth Kaunda presided over Zambia’s independence in 1964. He ruled Zambia with an iron fist for a good 28 years. Two generations later, FTC, standing barely 1.5 feet tall defeated the more physically built and taller President Kenneth Kaunda in what became a watershed election in Southern Africa. With his traditional white hand kerchief in hand Kaunda conceded defeat to Chiluba’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), marking yet another first and peaceful transfer of power in a country that had not known any other leader since independence.
When the MMD was formed in 1990, Fredrick Chiluba had cut his teeth in the labor movement, where he organized and participated in labor politics. As a workers’ movement leader Chiluba was not limited by his height in terms of what he can achieve for the movement and his country. His detractors often denigrated him for his height without recognition of his abilities.
The similarities continue in Zimbabwe today where the Movement for Democratic Change leader and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is often vilified as a tea boy of little intellectual achievement. For such are the tactics and strategies adopted by the “liberators now turned oppressors” of their people that nothing is out of bounds of civil discourse long as it helps them score very cheap political points.
Chiluba saw it all. A co bus boy or conductor, Chiluba started from very humble beginnings. His political acumen, fearlessness and resilience in the face of apparently insurmountable odds lead him and his protégés like the late Third President of Zambia Levi Mwanawasa to challenge the narration that only those political parties that ushered in independence should rule their countries regardless of their less than stellar economic and human rights records. UNIP, the party of Kenneth Kaunda had become so corrupt and bereft of ideas that its sell by date had long come and gone.
Chiluba takes his place in the political history of Southern Africa as the man who introduced words like democracy and multi party. For example, a look at all liberation war parties show a death of democracy in what they stood for.
Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), Zimbabwe African People’s Party (ZAPU), United National Independence Party (UNIP), Malawi Congress Party (MCP), People’s Movement for Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), African National Congress (ANC), Pan African Congress (PAC) are all very conspicuous by the absence of democracy in the names.
These were political parties formed at a certain point in time, with a specific objective to liberate their people from colonialism and not necessarily to bring about democracy and multi party politics. Democracy and multiparty were/are foreign to their lexicons.
This is why in Zambia UNIP was able to rule without challenge for so long. In Zimbabwe ZANU PF still thinks it should rule without challenge. In South Africa, Tanzania, Angola and Malawi the script reads eerily similar and us the people have to fight again in order to bring about democracy in our countries.
That is why Chiluba occupies a very important part of the history of democratic movements in the region. He was able to inspire the new generation to look beyond the founding fathers for democracy and rule of law.
It was not in their DNAs, the liberation political parties to open the political space to all citizens. Instead of truly liberating their people, the new ruling class mimicked, with tragic consequences the same brutal tactics employed by the colonial rulers to suppress and subjugate the indigenous populations.
Instead of overhauling the colonial laws, like Law and Order, the new rulers invented every reason they could come up with to maintain and strengthen those oppressive laws, often citing, albeit childishly legal impediments to their repeal.
In Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda outlawed all opposition political activity and turned a nation into that phony “ One Zambia One Nation, One Zambia One Leader, and That Leader is Kenneth Kaunda stupid mantra”. In Zimbabwe the preoccupation with a one party state and subsequent Unity Accord with ZAPU in 1987 sealed the nation’s fate that has condemned our country to the dictatorship of ZPF.
It is unfortunate that ZPF has managed to wood wink, bribe, cajole and bludgeon some very gullible youths to believe that democracy and multi party politics and free and fair elections are synonymous with neo colonialism. The Zimbabwean equivalent is VaMugabe for ever forever VaMugabe nonsense.
These political parties that ushered independence will all die the moment they lose power. They are not democratic in and of themselves such that any loss of power tears them at the seams.
They become so corrupt and rule by intimidation, fear and unbridled propaganda. These old parties operate like the mafia. The big done cannot be challenged, nor is he required to groom next leadership.
They know once their time is up they implode, are all incarcerated or go underground. It is sad that this situation often leads to many innocent citizens killed and whole economies collapsing because the words democracy and multi party are foreign to their diction. They scare the s**t out of them for no apparent reason other than desire for ruling in perpetuity.
President Chiluba in spite of all his transgressions, corruption and love for everything exotic, including designer shoes will always be remembered for bringing hope to the oppressed people. He was real dynamite, a true son of Zambia and an inspiration to all Zimbabweans that those tears the leaders often shed are indeed crocodile tears.
These leaders of yester year did their part liberating our countries but they are not suited for the challenges of leading their countries to the next higher level of political and economic emancipation. President Chiluba and the MMD took the baton from an exhausted and intellectually plateaud Kaunda.
He no longer had any idea whether he was coming or going. All he cared for was self preservation and making sure the boys and girls continuously had their heads buried in the feeding trough, with dire economic consequences if I may add.
For that reason I salute President Dr Frederick Titus Jacob Chiluba for showing the way. Once again Zambia has demonstrated its leadership role and we expect nothing short of this from Bwezani Banda as the SADC tackles the Zimbabwean issue. Livingstone was a step in the right direction. RIP FTJC.
Andrew Chaponda…….chapsaj@gmail.com
Post published in: Opinions