Zambia: the heightening political crisis

the heightening political crisis ening of the consciousness within the new-colonialist countries exist- when Lionel Cliffe, a British lecturer at UNZA was detained for ZAMBIA, Events in the past month have brought to new heights the political crisis now affecting Zambia. The UNIP (United National Independence Party) government is now recognisably threatened on both left and right. It is probably less popular than ever amongst the urban population which constitutes the only significant barometer of political thinking. Foremost in articulating opposition to the regime were the students at UNZA (The University of Zambia in Lusaka) where a consistent campaign was conducted from the beginning of the new year against government foreign policy on Angola. Policy in that area has been determined by a number of considerations which were outlined at length in our article Zambia - Repercussions of the Angolan Civil War' (Inprecor No 43, Sth February 1976). Briefly these are: 1. The desire to reopen full trading relationships with the white south following the total failure to achieve any significant measure of import-substitution through attempted industrialisation programmes. 2. A fear of the dynamic involved in a victory for MPLA: an event which has already shown that it is likely to accelerate the process of opening full scale war by the oppressed population against the remaining strongholds of white racism. Such a development could rapidly open the way to a sustained anit-imperialist and anti-capitalist mobilisation throughout southern Africa. 3. Of late an actual dependence upon South Africa through the now well known measures of economic support provided by the Vorster regime to Zambia's ailing economy. It was this open collaboration with the forces of imperialism and racism which above all fuelled the protests of Zambia's university students. This generation has been brought up on a diet consisting of constant evocations of the sacrifices the country has supposedly made to support its brothers and sisters struggling against the white regimes. Thus the increasingly obvious contradiction of these principles involved in Zambia's Angolan policy was certain to raise big doubts. When a relatively small group of militants began to explain the roots of this policy and to campaign for its reversal they met with a mass response which went far beyond their wildest hopes or expectations. This development was a crystal clear lesson in the intrinsic relevance of international issues to the awaking between the Zambian ruling group and imperialism. As such they have given a clearer illumination than could a thousand articles for the more conscious sections of the population of the real • class nature of the regime. Serious organisation in solidarity with MPLA began at the university as soon as the new term opened on 5 January. The campaign was initiated largely by supporters of the 'Frantz Fanon Society", a socialist discussion group which has acted as a focus for the regroupment of radicals on the campus. This body is the only overtly political organisation at. UNZA, where attempts to establish a branch of UNIP have been frustrated for many years by opposition from students expressed through their union. Their agitation met with an immediate response from the mass of students, culminating in a one day strike called on 15 January whose objective was to demand that the government immediately reverse its stand on the Angolan civil war and give full support to MPLA. On that occasion the campus was occupied by striking students and mass meetings were held throughout the day to discuss the reasons behind the action. Every effort was made by the authorities to suppress any news of this event. While it was headlined on Luanda radio it was ignored by the Zambian press, radio and TV. Throughout the day the campus was surrounded by armed police, but no attempt was made to enter the premises. 5 All traffic was diverted on the Great East Road which passes the front entrance of the university in order to avoid passing travellers observing the big posters which had been erected proclaiming solidarity with MPLA Indications of the government's concern with the situation at UNZA only became publicly manifest on Sunday 25 January when demonstrations were staged in Lusaka and copperbelt centre. Ndola. in support of official policy on Angola. At the latter the featured speaker, Central Committee member, Frank Chitambala, indirectly revealed the real reasons behind the event when he mentioned "misguided foreign lecturers' at UNZA who had supposedly been 'fomenting trouble amongst students by whipping up support for a line opposed to government's foreign policy. In Lusaka news of the demonstration plans came late to L'NZA activists. They were therefore able to engate in preliminary leafletting aimed at dissuading potential participatns only at Evelyn Hone College, a further education establishment. Their efforts led to not a single student from that institution participating in the demonstration. But militants were still able to somewhat disrupt the plans of UNIP. Arriving at the demonstration assembly point before the organisers, they distributed large numbers of leaflets explaining the reasons for giving support to MPLA. They were read and digested by the 800 or so Lusaka secondary school students who had been anjoled into attendance in order to march to State House (the presidential residence) to display their solidarity with the government's stand. Their efforts became clear during the course of Kaunda's speech. Utilising his well known gimmick of crowd involvement he on several occasions bellowed the question: Who do we support? In response to this instead of the hoped for answer of A government of national unity". came a clear chant of 'MPLA After these opening salvoes events moved rapidly towards confrontation. On the evening of 28 January Kaunda came onto radio and TV with a speech announcing the institution of a full state of emergency' throughout the country. Since Zambia had been under a 'partial' state of emergency since Rhodesian L'DI in November 1965 it was difficult immediately to assess what were the precise legal changes introduced now. But great emphasis was laid on the suspension of all guarantees under Article Three of the the consitution which is concerned with elementary democratic and civil rights. Its revocation amounted to a total removal of any basic freedoms of speech, assembly ete. and to arming the police force to enter any premises without warrant. Saturday 31. January saw the first arrest under the new powers 28 days. No reasons were given, but his wife stated that police had removed literature on Angola from their house on the campus. Ironically Cliffe was well known as an activist in the Committee for Freedom in Mozambique Angola and Guine in Britain between 1971 and 1974. Prior to this he had worked for ten years at the Tanzanian university of Dar es Salaam where he had acted for a long period in an advisory capacity to the government. Zambia's position on Angola was demonstrated very starkly by the detention of an individual whose record showed Cliffe's detention threw the university into a state of ferment which culuminated in a general strike on 5 February. On this occasion student anger was directed particularly at two members of staff accused of collaboration with the government attempts at repression. As Dean of the Arts and Social Science Faculty, Ndem, a Nigerian, had refused to call a meeting of staff to discuss Cliffe's jailing. Mutukwa, a Zambian colleague of Cliffe's in the Political Science Department, was accused of being a party to the government's attempts to implicate the former in the organisation of pro- MPLA actions on the campus. The strike demanded the immediate dismissal of these two men. • Government response was rapid. On Saturday 7 February armed armed police surrounded the campus. The excuse was an incident ssive policies. On the night of 7th police moved onto the campus andlinks began to organise to rebuild their support. They undoubtedly escalated their brutality in a clear attempt to provoke a confrontatiorPlayed an important role in certain of the mobilisations against which could enable closure to be blamed on the students. These tac. the commission. This party is of course in no sense a progressive radicalised and had come to appreciate the real nature of their 'hum- ian border to Zambian traffic by road or rail, charging that its rein which a student who was well known to be amongst the numerous police agents at work in the area pulled a gun on a group of colleagues who had begun to taunt him in the refectory. A near riot situation had developed and the police stooge appears to have been lucky to have escaped from the premises without injury. A full blockade was now effected so that those inside could receive no food and the half of the campus inhabitants who had gone into the centre of Lusaka for the day were prevented from returning to their lodging and forced to sleep rough. Simultaneously three more members of staff were arrested. 1. A Dutchman, Siemensma, who was reported to have been sending (presumably accurate and therefore embarassing to the government) reports to the media in Holland on the situation at UNZA. 2. An Italian lecturer in the Department of Sociology, D. Longhi, who was stated to have been 'instrumental in attempting to secure 3. Perhaps most embarassingly for the government, a stateless South mobilisation. African refugee, Robert Molteno, who had been on the staff for eight years. In that time he is known to have acted as a government advisor for several periods. He is also known to the entire first year secondary school population as the author of a prescribed textbook entitled The Zambian Community and Its Government which is compulsory study for the newly introduced course in Civics. The latter has the object of inculcating an admiration for the one party state and its institusion in the minds or young Lambians and it must be said that Molteno's book does as good a job as possible on the difficult task of making the former appear "humanist" and democratic. But on this occasion his crime appears to have been to take government spokespersons at their word and to have been centrally involved in organising the production of a letter which was signed by 75 members of staff protesting Cliffe's detention as a blow against the principles of academic freedom and calling for his immediate reinstatement "with honour". Africa in struggle supplement nol ZAMBIA Humanist rhetoric = capitalist reality order now! Clearly the decision to finally close the university was heavily influenced by the fact that there now appeared to be assembling a solid bloc of staff and students opposed to the government's repretics largely failed. But on Monday 9 January Education Minister, Mulikita came onto the radio to announce indefinite closure of UNZA which he said was being effected in order to avoid the 'inevitable bloodshed and damage to property" which would ensue: were it to remain open. Students were issued with 10 Kwach. each for travel expenses, bundled into buses under police and army supervision and dumped at Lusaka's main bus station to await transport to their homes. 21 students were added to the 4 lecturers in detention. They included the entire executive of the students union and a number of known activists in the organisation of the events of the previous week. This move clearly made it absolutely impossible to consider keeping the university open for fear of the protests which would follow. Thus was ended four weeks of intensive political ferment at the university in the course of which hundreds of students had been anist' government's policies in at least one crucial area. Government spokespersons prided themselves on having given a salutary lesson to upstart students and above all to those lecturers who had 'infiltrated' the instituion as 'agents of superpowers. But the Zambian public was clearly less impressed. The following Sunday 15 February the government controlled newspaper the Sunday Times printed one of its supplements entitled the people talking' which involve comments on a topical current event by 20 or 30 "members of the public". Not one person could be produced to express outright support for the closure of UNZA in the special devoted to this issue. The general level of comment was best summarised by the individual who described the fact that the government could spend so much energy on dealing with a couple of thousand student dissidents while displaying remarkably little fervour in tackling the economic problems affecting the average member of the public. An early impression would suggest that, far from having achieved its objective of alienating student activists from the mass of the population, the government may have acted in a way which has contributed to cutting down barriers between the two groups. It is not yet known when the university will will reopen and no word has yet appeared on the fate of the detainees. But it appears likely that when the student population does return to the campus it will not have undergone any significant demoralisation or reduction in its capacity for anti-government Central to continued morale will be the fact the MPLA has itself become victorious, and that, despite attempts to cover this up in various complex formulae, Zambia will be forced to grant de facto if not de jure recognition to the new government - a move dictated above all by the desire to ensure the rapid re-opening of the Benguela railway. In this new situation it is going to be actually embarassing to say the least to continue to hold 25 persons in detention for any lengthy time for advocating a course of action now forced by events on a reluctant administration. Thus when students do return to UNZA it is certain that they will be collectively conscious that the course for which they fought has been victorious. Such a situation will place the struggle for a further development of political consciousness on extremely favourable terrain. But opposition at the University to the government's stand on Angola was not the only threat facing the government in this period. On the copperbelt a massive response was evoked by the government's plans to integrate mine housing with that of the local authorities. Hitherto mineworkers have been accomodated in mine houses frequently located in compounds entirely seperate from those of the rest of the population. In these they have enjoyed rents on average well below those of local authority tenants. Some services such as water have been supplied free and, due to the more efficient nature of management, essential matters such as the maintainance of property have been more promptly dealt with. Thus the announcement that local authorities would now take over management of all mine houses was greeted with dismay. In Chingola, Kitwe and Luanshya the official commission of of inquiry detailed to investigate the issue was greeted by rowdy meetings organised by local branches of MUZ (Mineworkers" Union of Zambia). At Rokana mine in Kitwe on 21 January it was prevented from carrying out any public hearings by a siege of their meeting place by thousands of miners. Amongst those quick to capitalise on the situation were the remnants of the UPP (United Progressive Party), a 1971 breakaway from UNIP led by ex-Vice President Simon Kapwepwe, which was banned in 1972 immediately prior to the introduction of the one party state. But trading on their historic base of support on the copperbelt (Mufulira was the only place in which they managed to win a parliamentary election during their brief existence) ex UPP activists who have always maintained informal 'opposition to UNIP: In fact one of its main planks in the early nineteen seventies was for the reopening of full economic relations with the white south. The leadership furthermore was always composed overwhelmingly of Bemba, the tribal gropuing dominant on the copperbelt, who had seen themselves excluded from political office by Kaunda's constant emphasis on maintaining a balance in leading positions. Thus its support has often tended to be based The active re-emergence of this tendency was accompanied by a renewed polarisation inside Zambia's one party parliament. Here leading spokesperson for the right is undoubtedly Arthur Wina, ex- Minister of Finance and MP for Livingstone who is now a leadingt businessman and chairman of the ZNCCI (Zambian National Council for Commerce and Industry). In parliament on 21 January Wina launched a full scale attack on the continued closure of the Rhodes: opening despite any political considerations, was an economic necessity for the country. He was immediately supnorted by large numbers of Members of Parliament, some of whom, used the opportunity to launch attacks on Zimbabwean freecom fighters who were accused of having failed to use the correct tactics in unifying and thus miraculously liberating themselves. was exhausted with supporting these ungrateful traitors to Africa. Despite the speaker of Parliament's attempts to put down the shutters on this debate by declaring that the matter had been conclusively dealt with in Kaunda's refusal (24 January) to consider the question, Wina popped up again on February 4. His new speech speech broadened out into what could reasonably characterised as the beginnings of a manifestor for the right. Once again he demanded the border be re-opened to 'save a collapsing economy'. He went on to attack the easy target of the government's totally in- Zambia. effectual attempts to promote cooperative farming in We should give support to commercial farmers before we use our It is not groups money on experiments in collectivised farming etc. of people who are going to feed the nation but individuals. He went on to draw unfavourable comparisons with the situation in Malawi which, he claimed, was able to feed itself and even incre. ov agricultural exports because of its unashamed faith in private enterprise farming. On the same lines Malambo MP, Whiteson Banda, declared 5 February that 'development programmes will never succeed without the help of foreign investment. The Party and Government's shift towards socialism is scaring away would be investors and, if not relaxed, will lead to the collapse of the economy' Thus the past few weeks have seen the clear re-emergence of a right wing tendency which is impatient to despatch with the clap trap of Kaunda's "humanism'-and verbal commitments to socialism (however far away are the actions of the government from this goal) in favour of an explicit orientaiton towards the development of a clearly private enterprise economy. Further potential embarassment oto the government wer economic measures taken at the end of January. On 30 January Minister of Finance, Mwanashiku, presented his budget which increased prices of petrol, beer, tabacco and other luxuries'. But on Sunday 1 February came an announcement of penal increases in the price of maize meal, the staple food of Zambia's population. A 50Kg bag of breakfast meal was increased from K4.10 to K9. Roller meal was upped from K3.20 to K3.96. In an attempt to justify the former Kaunda was actually quoted as saying that breakfast meal was a luxury food, eaten only by the 'apamwambas" (top people). In fact, as was pointed out by numerous members of the public asked for comment by the press, roller meal was so crudely manufactured as to be virtually uneatable and to involve a large amount of waste. Hence breakfast meal had been generally used by larger and larger sections of the population to whom the doubling of its price was a body blow for their living standards. Unfortunately statistics are unot yet available on the rate of inflation over the immediate past period. But in the first sim months of 1975 the low income index increased at an annual rate of 14 per cent while wage increases are legally limited to 5 per cent per annum. The latest increase on Zambia's staple food will without doubt accelerate the rate considerably....and serve only to fuel the flames of discontent already quite apparent. Thus the immediate perspective for the Zambian government is one of difficulties on every front. Despite its present disclaimers it remains extremely likely it will try to gain temporary respite through the further development of trading and financial links with the white south, a reopening of the Rhodesian border providing it with its quickes. potential route to the sea, and (after a decent interval) recognition of MPLA in Angola to ensure use of the Benguela railway. But these measures will not resolve the problems arising from the gross imbalance of its "mono mineral' economy and the conjunctural effects of world wide recession of the imperialist economies. The crucial task in the immediate future will be to convince the radicalised student population of the need to begin work directed towards the working class whose living standards are under attack. It is certain that at least one of the considerations involved in the government decision to close the university was the fact that radical elements involved in the struggle to win support for beginning to pose the need to take a clear the MPLA were already clear public stance and even attempt to initiate actions on the question of the price increases described above. That leap in consciousness which has taken place on Angola must now be use used to develop a more rounded understanding of the preoise nature of Zambia's neo-colonialist regime. Such a task is all the more urgent because the thoroughly bourgeois politics of individuals like Wina and Kapwepwe have a superficial attraction which can lead to their winning in the immediate period big influence amongst workers. While in the long term their projects are even less likely to secure economic development and a rise in prosperity than are those of the UNIP government, they possess a superficial attraction because of because of their promise to arrest the decline in living standards. It seems likely therefore that we are moving into a period in which the credibility of the UNIP leadership will dwindle still further in the face of a growing threat afrom both left and right. It is of decisive importance that the left whose potential has been 7 revealed by events at UNZA over the past month now begins to develop the capability to intervene on much wider fronts. John Blair, 20 February 1976. 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