adminMubanga Lumpa
Zambia are two neighbouring states that do not only share a common border along the Zambezi River but also share a common history.
For instance, from 1953 to 1963 the two countries were, along with Nyasaland (now Malawi ) part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which officially ended on 31 December 1963.
After independence from British colonial rule in 1964, Zambia’s foreign relations were mostly focused on supporting liberation movements in other countries of Southern Africa which were still under colonialism and white minority rule.
Zambia had committed and declared her unwavering support for the freedom struggle against colonialism and white minority rule in many other parts of Africa. Zambia’s first President Dr Kenneth Kaunda had declared on 26 April 1966, that “Zambia will not be independent and free until the rest of Africa is free”. It was this pan-African view that informed the idea that for as long as her fellow Africans were not free, Zambia’s hard won independence would be meaningless.
Thus, Zambia as a Front Line State (FLS) supported and hosted a number of Southern African liberation movements such as the African National Congress, Pan African Congress and the Unity Movement of South Africa, Movement for the Popular Liberation of Angola and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, Mozambique Liberation Front, South West African People’s Organisation of Namibia, Zimbabwe African National Union and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union.
For Zimbabwe, the liberation struggle and negotiations for the independence was carried out by mainly two liberation movements. These were Zanu-PF led by former President Robert Mugabe and PF Zapu led by the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo.
Following the independence of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, Zambia continued to enjoy good relations with that country including other Southern African countries in the region particularly through regional bodies such as the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), whose goal is to further socio-economic co-operation and integration as well as political and security co-operation among 16 southern African states.
However, the events in the past few weeks have seen a new political trajectory in Zimbabwe. On 21 November 2017, Cde Mugabe resigned as President bringing to an end 37 years of his stay in power. Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, then took over the highest job on the land.
Like many other African liberation leaders, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is not a stranger to Zambia. In fact, some commentators have described him as having been “bred and schooled” in Zambia. During the liberation struggle for Zimbabwe, his family relocated to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1955 due to the repressive political situation in his country after getting into trouble with colonialists as they were politically active. It is in Northern Rhodesia that President Mnangagwa completed the remainder of his education from 1956 to 1957 at Mumbwa Boarding School located about 159 Km west of the capital city Lusaka. He later enrolled for a building course at Kafue Trade School, about 60km south of Lusaka and later at Hodgson Technical College (formerly Lusaka Trades, now Lusaka Business and Technical College).
President Mnangagwa later enrolled at the City and Guilds Industrial Building for a four-year course. However, he was expelled from the college with other students in 1960 for his political activism in the United National Independence Party (UNIP), Zambia’s nationalist party and the student movement at the college. He returned to Zimbabwe in the early 1960s where he continued with his political activism. After the formation of Zanu-PF in 1963, he actively participated in the struggle against colonialism and was arrested and imprisoned. After his release, Mnangagwa was deported to Zambia where he enrolled at the University of Zambia (UNZA) to study law from 1973 to 1974. He later studied for his postgraduate LLB Degree after which he was admitted to the Bar of the High Court of Zambia in 1976. Thus, this narrative can just be a brief summary of how Zambia has been home for many African leaders like Cde Mnangagwa.
During his inauguration speech at the National Sports Stadium in Harare President Mnangagwa spoke of the need to pursue progressive economic policies and the need for Zimbabweans to work together to improve the economy and join in the struggle for the economic revival of their country.
While this call is genuine and timely, this task can never be left to Zimbabweans alone but also the collective efforts of other African countries. For Zambia, its geographical position as a landlocked country in the region is important and informs much of the country’s economic co-operation and diplomacy with other neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe since the country’s independence in 1964.
Other neighbouring countries should also come on board, and in the spirit of Pan Africanism, assist each other to uplift the lives of its people.
The author is a Zambia-based social commentator and blogger.
Online Reporter