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| {{Infobox_location|title = Zambia|image = 1920px-Flag of Zambia.svg.png|imagecaption = The flag of Zambia. Green stands for the nation's lush flora, red for the nation's struggle for freedom, black for the Zambian people, and orange for the land's natural resources and mineral wealth. Additionally, the eagle flying above the coloured stripes is intended to represent the people's ability to rise above the nation's problems.|map = 1024px-Zambia (orthographic projection).svg.png|mapcaption = Territory claimed by Zambia.|location = Southern Africa|inhabitants = 16,591,390 (2016)}}The '''Republic of Zambia''' is an authoritarian [[Capitalism|capitalist]] [[List of States|state]] in Southern Africa, bordering the states of Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, DR Congo and Tanzania. | | {{Infobox_location|title = Zambia|image = 1920px-Flag of Zambia.svg.png|imagecaption = The flag of Zambia. Green stands for the nation's lush flora, red for the nation's struggle for freedom, black for the Zambian people, and orange for the land's natural resources and mineral wealth. Additionally, the eagle flying above the coloured stripes is intended to represent the people's ability to rise above the nation's problems.|map = 1024px-Zambia (orthographic projection).svg.png|mapcaption = Territory claimed by Zambia.|location = Southern Africa|inhabitants = 16,591,390 (2016)}}The '''Republic of Zambia''' is an authoritarian [[Capitalism|capitalist]] [[List of States|state]] in Southern Africa, bordering the states of [[Malawi]], [[Mozambique]], Zimbabwe, Botswana, [[Namibia]], Angola, DR Congo and Tanzania. |
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|
| == History == | | == History == |
|
| |
|
| == Early history == | | === Human Settlement === |
| The presence of archaic humans in Zambia at least 200,000 years ago was shown by the discovery of the Broken Hill skull in Kabwe in 1921 — this was the first human fossil ever discovered in Africa.<sup>[1]</sup>
| | Humans have lived in territory claimed by the state for at least 200,000 years, as the first human fossils discovered in Africa were found there (in 1921). The first societies, known as the Khoisans, were nomadic foragers who collected fruit and nuts and occasionally hunting antelope. |
|
| |
|
| The earliest known modern humans to live in the territory of
| | === Iron Age === |
| modern-day Zambia were the Khoisans. They were bushmen, brown in
| | In the 400s, the [[Bantu Migration]] occurred, who developed self-sufficient villages of wattle-and-daub huts, introducing [[agriculture]], growing sorghum and beans while raising cattle and goats. They also had iron tools and weapons, alongside pottery making. The Khoisan population was destroyed by a [[genocide]] or assimilated into the new culture. |
| complexion, hunter-gatherers who lived a nomadic life, with stone age technology. Mainly they collected fruit and nuts, but they also hunted antelope and other animals.
| |
|
| |
|
| The Khoisans were the only inhabitants of most of Zambia until the 4th century, when Bantu<sup>[2]</sup> started to migrate from the north. They had far more developed technology - they were farmers and had iron and copper tools and weapons, as well as knowledge of pottery-making. They lived in small self-sufficient villages of wattle-and-daub huts, growing sorghum and beans, as well as keeping cattle and goats.
| | Trade began to develop in the new society, and copper coins were used as a currency as mining intensified. The society exported ivory and imported cotton textiles, rivers were also dammed to give societies access to [[water]]. Four new kingdoms, the Kazembe-Lunda, Bemba, Chewa and Lozi emerged around the Zambezi river as the most powerful [[State (Polity)|states]] in the region. |
|
| |
|
| The Tonga live in southern Zambia along the Zambezi River are the
| | === European Colonialism === |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>earliest settlers among the modern ethnic groups in Zambia today. The
| | Representatives of the Portuguese Empire came to the territory via Mozambique in the 1700s, trading between the empire and the new kingdoms of Mwata Kazembe and Barotseland began. In the newly formed Makololo Empire, which refused to trade with Ottomans and Portuguese, it collapse into a civil war over fights between the ruling class over who should rule, destroying the empire. |
| name Tonga is apparently from a word in the Shona language that means
| |
| "independent."
| |
|
| |
|
| Since the early farmers practised slash and burn agriculture, they had to constantly move further south when the soil was exhausted. The indigenous khoisans were either killed, assimilated into the new culture or displaced into areas not suitable for agriculture.
| | In 1888, during the Scramble for Africa, Cecil Rhodes obtained mining rights from local chiefs. The [[British South Africa Company]] took control of the territory later that year and used it as a source of labour. It became a major exporter of copper, producing 13% of the world's copper in 1938, although in [[Zambian Copperbelt Strike (1935)|1935 a strike broke out]] over unsafe working conditions and high taxes. Triggering another strike in 1940 during the high demand for copper in [[World War II]]. After the war, [[Rhodesian Railway Strike (1945)|railway workers across the country went on strike]]. |
|
| |
|
| With the introduction of agriculture the population grew, and
| | === Independence === |
| more, and more land became cultivated. By the 11th and 12th centuries a
| | In 1964, Zambia was granted independence from the [[British Empire]] as part of [[Decolonisation in Africa|decolonisation]]. The ideology of African Socialism was adopted, building an economy based around central planning and nationalisation modeled of Julius Nyerere's policies in Tanzania as well as building relations with [[China]] and Yugoslavia. In 1972 Zambia became a dictatorship, banning all political parties and firing dissidents in the government. The policies of import substitution worked until 1975, where the economy contracted by 30% between 1975 and 1990. This was because copper prices fell due to the USSR flooding the market, leading Zambia to take on loans from the IMF and World Bank, leading to the imposition of Structural Adjustments. |
| more advanced society was beginning to emerge. Even though most villages
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>still were self-sufficient, long distance trade was developing. Copper mining was intensified, and copper crosses were probably used as a currency. Ivory was an export, and cotton textiles an import. One of the best-known archaeological sites for this period is Ing-ombe Ilede near Siavonga close to the Kariba Dam, uncovered in 1960. The increase in trade resulted in larger political units and more complex social structures.
| |
|
| |
|
| == From 1500 to 1900 ==
| | Zambia also allied itself with anti-colonial movements in Africa, allowing ANC members from South Africa to take shelter in the country, leading to occasional raids by South African special forces. The Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army had a military base in the country, and shot down two civilian airlines with USSR supplied heat-seeking missiles. This led to the closing of Zambia's borders, leading to electricity and food shortages as refugees poured into the country from Angola. |
| The period between the 16th and the 19th centuries saw the emergence of organized Iron Age kingdoms as well as widespread immigration. Four kingdoms were established in this period - the Kazembe-Lunda in the north centered on the lower Luapula River, the Bemba in the north east, the Chewa in the east and the Lozi in the west, centered on the upper Zambezi River.
| |
|
| |
|
| The territory of the present Zambia, being far inland, did not
| | === Collapse of Dictatorship === |
| have direct contact with non-Africans until relatively recently in its
| | Massive discontent with the dictatorship and commodity shortages occurred, leading to a [[Zambian Strike Wave (1981)|strike wave in 1981]], protests in the late 1980s and [[Zambian Food Riots (1990)|massive food riots in 1990]] and an attempted military coup. This resulted in the ban on political parties being lifted and the first elections occurring in 1991, ending one-party rule. The new government, led by a former trade unionist, began a campaign of massive austerity and privatisation leading to falling incomes and economic stagnation. Many more coups have been attempted and the country remains authoritarian to this day, despite this bleak future, copperminers' went on strike in [[Zambian Miners' Strike (2007)|2007]] and [[Zambian Miners' Strike (2012)|2012]]. |
| history. Arab and Portuguese traders were visiting by the 18th Century. The first recorded European visitors to Zambia were the Portuguese Manuel Caetano Pereira (a trader of mixed Goanese and Portuguese descent) in 1796 and Francisco de Lacerda (an explorer) in 1798. Both came via Tete in Mozambique to Mwata Kazembe's capital to seek the chief's agreement to a Portuguese trade route between their territories of Mozambique and Angola.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Lacerda died within a few weeks of arriving at Kazembe’s but left a
| |
| valuable journal which was carried back to Tete by his priest and which
| |
| was later translated into English by the explorer Sir Richard Burton.<sup>[3][4]</sup>
| |
| | |
| However, it is believed<sup>[''by whom?''][''why?'']</sup> the Portuguese first came in 1720 to Zumbo, Mozambique, just across the Luangwa River from Zambia, at the confluence with the Zambezi River. Around 1820 they had settled on the Zambian side at Feira (now Luangwa). So it is very likely they were visiting Zambian territory between 1720 and 1820.<sup>[5]</sup>
| |
| | |
| The first Briton to record having set foot on Zambian soil was David Livingstone. In 1851 he started his well-known exploration of the upper Zambezi River, and in 1855 he became the first European to see Mosi-oa-Tunya, the waterfall on the Zambezi River, which he named after Queen Victoria - the Zambian town near the Falls is named after him. Livingstone later died in Zambia in 1873.
| |
| | |
| When the first Europeans arrived, the most powerful states in pre-colonial Zambia were the kingdom of Barotseland in the upper Zambezi, and the kingdom of Mwata Kazembe on the Luapula.
| |
| | |
| The Lozi people
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>of Barotseland had refused Arab and Portuguese traders access to their
| |
| territory. When the kingdom was first established is uncertain, but it
| |
| was certainly in existence by the 18th century, the Lozi calling
| |
| themselves Aluya and their country Ngulu. Its ruler was called the Litunga. He had two capitals: in the dry season he stayed in the middle of the Zambezi flood plain at Lealui, while at the start of the rainy season he moved to Limulunga, above the flood water level, a move that is still celebrated in the annual Kuomboka festival.
| |
| | |
| The first certain historical fact concerning Barotseland is the arrival in the early 19th century of the Makololo, a clan of the South-African Basotho or Tswana people. Utterly defeated by Shaka's new Zulu Kingdom in the 1820s, the remnant of the Makololo, under the leadership of Sebetwane,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>were forced to march northwards to escape. They conquered the Lozi and
| |
| became the aristocracy of Barotseland, with Sebitwane as new ''Litunga''.
| |
| | |
| Sebetwane proved an able leader, and is spoken of with warm respect by David Livingstone, who met him in 1851 shortly before his death. He was succeeded by his daughter Mamochisane, who stepped down early in favour of her half-brother Sekeletu.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>With him the Makololo empire appears to have started to fall to pieces,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>especially after his death in 1863: a year later internal dissension in
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>the ruling class brought a revolt by the Lozi that is said to have
| |
| exterminated the Makololo aristocracy and forced the survivors to
| |
| migrate to present-day Malawi.
| |
| | |
| Towards the end of the 19th century, British hunters, then traders, then settlers started to arrive.
| |
| | |
| == Colonial Period ==
| |
| Cecil Rhodes.
| |
| | |
| Main article: Northern Rhodesia
| |
| | |
| In 1888, Cecil Rhodes, spearheading British commercial and political interests in Central Africa, obtained a mineral rights concessions from local chiefs. In the same year, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, now Zambia and Zimbabwe, were proclaimed a British sphere of influence. In the beginning the territory was administered by Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSAC), which showed little interest in the province and used it mainly as a source of labour.
| |
| | |
| The most important factor in the colony's economy was copper, the discovery of which is due partly to an American scout, Frederick Russell Burnham,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>who in 1895 lead and oversaw the massive Northern Territories (BSA)
| |
| Exploration Co. expedition which established that major copper deposits
| |
| existed in Central Africa.<sup>[6]</sup> Along the Kafue River
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>in then Northern Rhodesia, Burnham saw many similarities to copper
| |
| deposits he had worked in the United States, and he encountered natives
| |
| wearing copper bracelets.<sup>[7]</sup>
| |
| | |
| In 1923 the British government decided not to renew the company's charter; as a result, Southern Rhodesia was annexed formally and granted self-government in 1923. After negotiations the administration of Northern Rhodesia was transferred to the British Colonial Office in 1924 as a protectorate, with Livingstone as capital. The capital was transferred to the more central Lusaka in 1935. A Legislative Council
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>was established, of which five members were elected by the small
| |
| European minority (only 4,000 people), but none by the African
| |
| population.
| |
| | |
| Flag of Northern Rhodesia.
| |
| | |
| In 1928 enormous copper deposits were discovered in the region which then became known as the Copperbelt,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>transforming Northern Rhodesia from a prospective land of colonization
| |
| for white farmers to a copper exporter. By 1938 the country produced 13%
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>of world's copper extraction. The sector was developed by two
| |
| companies; the Anglo American Corporation (AAC) and the South African Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST), who controlled the sector till independence.
| |
| | |
| The poor safety record and increased taxes triggered a strike of African mineworkers in 1935, known as the Copperbelt strike. The strike was crushed by the authorities; six miners were killed.
| |
| | |
| During the Second World War
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>white miners came out on strike in 1940. Realising the importance of
| |
| their products for the war, they demanded higher salaries. This strike
| |
| was followed by another by African mineworkers.
| |
| | |
| Even before the war, there had been talks about merging the two
| |
| Rhodesias, but the process had been halted by the British authorities,
| |
| and brought to an absolute stop by the war. Finally, in 1953, both
| |
| Rhodesias were joined with Nyasaland (now Malawi) to form the Central African Federation.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Northern Rhodesia was the centre of much of the turmoil and crises that
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>afflicted the federation in its last years. At the core of the
| |
| controversy were insistent African demands for greater participation in
| |
| government and European fears of losing political control.
| |
| | |
| A two-stage election
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>held in October and December 1962 resulted in an African majority in
| |
| the legislative council and an uneasy coalition between the two African | |
| nationalist parties. The council passed resolutions calling for Northern
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Rhodesia's secession from the federation and demanding full internal
| |
| self-b under a new constitution, and a new national assembly based on a
| |
| broader, more democratic franchise. On 31 December 1963, the federation
| |
| was dissolved, and Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia on 24 October 1964.
| |
| | |
| == Independence and Cold War ==
| |
| A book published by the government upon independence.
| |
| | |
| At independence, despite its considerable mineral wealth, Zambia
| |
| faced major challenges. Domestically, there were few trained and
| |
| educated Zambians capable of running the government,<sup>[8]</sup> and the economy was largely dependent on foreign expertise. Most of Zambia's neighbouring countries were still colonies or under white minority rule.
| |
| | |
| The United National Independence Party (UNIP) won the pre-independence elections, gaining 55 of the 75 seats. The Zambian African National Congress won 10 seats, and the National Progressive Party won all the 10 seats reserved for whites.<sup>[9]</sup> Kenneth Kaunda was elected Prime Minister, and later the same year president, as the country adopted a presidential system.
| |
| | |
| Kaunda adopted an ideology of African socialism, close to that of Julius Nyerere in Tanzania. Economical policies focused on central planning and nationalisation, and a system of one party rule was put in place.
| |
| | |
| === Towards one party rule ===
| |
| In 1968 Kaunda was re-elected as president,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>running unopposed. During the following years Zambia adopted a one
| |
| party system. In 1972 all political parties except UNIP were banned, and
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>this was formalised in a new constitution that was adopted in 1973. The
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>constitution framed a system called "one-party participatory
| |
| democracy", which in practise meant that UNIP became the sole political
| |
| factor in the country. It provided for a strong president and a unicameral National Assembly.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>National policy was formulated by the Central Committee of UNIP. The
| |
| cabinet executed the central committee's policy. In legislative
| |
| elections, only candidates running for UNIP were allowed to participate.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Even though inter-party competition was out of question, the contest
| |
| for seats within UNIP was energetic. In the presidential elections, the
| |
| only candidate allowed to run was the one elected as president of UNIP
| |
| at the party's general conference. In this way Kaunda was re-elected
| |
| unopposed with a yes or no vote in 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1988.
| |
| | |
| S.M Chisembele, Cabinet Minister Western Province.
| |
| | |
| This did not, however, mean that there was no dissension to the imposition of a one-party rule in the country or within UNIP. Sylvester Mwamba Chisembele
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>who was Cabinet Minister for Western Province (previously Barotse
| |
| Province) together with UNIP leaders from 7 out of the 8 Provinces
| |
| established a Committee of 14. The objective of the Committee of 14
| |
| which consisted two leaders from each of the 7 provinces was the
| |
| establishment of a democratically elected council of two leaders from
| |
| each province to rule the country by consensus with the President as
| |
| Head of State. If this had been achieved, it would have meant the
| |
| curtailing of the absolute power residing in President Kaunda. The
| |
| Committee of 14 attended a meeting in State House at which President
| |
| Kaunda agreed to consider their proposals. However, later he banned the
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Committee of 14 and this action was followed by the suspension of
| |
| Sylvester Chisembele and several leaders were sacked.<sup>[10]</sup>
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Chisembele later rejoined the Cabinet as Minister for Eastern Province
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>and two years later in 1977 he was transferred in the same position to
| |
| the Copperbelt Province, where the political situation was tense,
| |
| especially so because of the forthcoming General Elections. Simon M.
| |
| Kapwepwe and Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula, who, before the declaration of a
| |
| One Party State, had been leaders of the UPP and ANC political parties
| |
| respectively, had joined UNIP with the intention of challenging for the
| |
| Presidency. However, their attempt to challenge President Kaunda for the
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Presidency on the UNIP ticket failed as both were prevented and
| |
| disqualified by the manipulations of President Kaunda, who stood
| |
| unopposed. Simon Kapwepwe and Harry Nkumbula challenged the resultant
| |
| 1978 election of President Kaunda in the High Court, but unsurprisingly
| |
| their action was unsuccessful.
| |
| | |
| === The economy and the copper crisis ===
| |
| After independence Zambia adopted a left-wing economic policy. The economy was to some extent run by central planning, under five year plans, private companies were nationalised
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>and incorporated into large state-owned conglomerates. The government's
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>goal was to be self-sufficient, which it sought to achieve through import substitution.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>At first the plan worked and the economy grew steadily, but in the mid
| |
| 1970s the economy started to decline drastically. During the period
| |
| between 1975 and 1990 Zambia's economy dropped by approximately 30%.<sup>[11]</sup>
| |
| | |
| The reason for this was that the Zambian economy was heavily
| |
| dependent on the copper industry, which had previously been
| |
| nationalised. During the 1970s the price of copper sank drastically,
| |
| partly due the USSR, the second largest producer, flooding the market. This resulted in a large deficit
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>for the state-owned enterprise. Another reason for the drop was
| |
| Zambia's involvement in the neighbouring countries politics, and the
| |
| transportation problems that resulted.
| |
| | |
| To deal with the crisis Zambia took big loans from the International Monetary Fund and the Worldbank, hoping that copper prices would rise again soon, instead of issuing structural reforms.
| |
| | |
| === Foreign policy ===
| |
| Internationally,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Zambia's sympathies lay with forces opposing colonial or
| |
| white-dominated rule. During the next decade, it actively supported movements such as the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) under the independence war and under the subsequent civil war, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in Southern Rhodesia, and the African National Congress (ANC) in their struggle against apartheid in the Republic of South Africa, and the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in their struggle for independence for Namibia.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Zambia also hosted some of the movements. For instance, the ANC exile
| |
| headquarters were in Lusaka, and ZAPU had a military base in Zambia.
| |
| This resulted in security problems, as the South Africa and South
| |
| Rhodesia raided targets inside Zambia on several occasions.
| |
| | |
| Rhodesian counterinsurgency operations extended into Zambia after Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) rebels shot down two unarmed Vickers Viscount civilian airliners (Air Rhodesia Flight 825 on 3 September 1978 and Air Rhodesia Flight 827 on 12 February 1979) with Soviet-supplied SA-7 heat-seeking missiles. In retaliation for the shooting down of Flight 825 in September 1978, the Rhodesian Air Force
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>attacked the ZIPRA guerrilla base at Westlands farm near Lusaka in
| |
| October 1978, warning Zambian forces by radio not to interfere.<sup>[12]</sup>
| |
| | |
| Conflicts with Rhodesia resulted in the closing of Zambia's
| |
| borders with that country and severe problems with international
| |
| transport and power supply. However, the Kariba hydroelectric station on the Zambezi River provided sufficient capacity to satisfy the country's requirements for electricity. TAZARA, a railway to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>built with Chinese assistance, reduced Zambian dependence on the
| |
| railway line south to South Africa and west through an increasingly
| |
| war-ravaged Angola.
| |
| | |
| Civil strife in neighbouring Mozambique and Angola created large numbers of refugees, many of whom fled to Zambia.
| |
| | |
| Internationally, Zambia was an active member of the Non-Aligned Movement
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>(NAM), and hosted a summit in Lusaka in 1970. Kenneth Kaunda served as
| |
| the movements chairman 1970-1973. Among the NAM countries Zambia was
| |
| especially close to Yugoslavia. Outside the NAM Zambia also had close relations with the People's Republic of China.
| |
| | |
| In the Second Congo War, Zambia backed Zimbabwe and the Congo but did not participate as a belligerent.
| |
| | |
| == Multi-party democracy ==
| |
| | |
| === The end of one party rule ===
| |
| One party rule and the declining economy created disappointment among the people. Several strikes hit the country in 1981. The government responded by arresting several union leaders, among them Frederick Chiluba. In 1986 and 1987 protests arose again in Lusaka and the Copperbelt.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>These were followed by riots over rising food prices in 1990, in which
| |
| at least 30 people were killed. The same year the state owned radio
| |
| claimed that Kaunda had been removed from office by the army. This was not true, and the 1990 Zambian coup d'état attempt failed.
| |
| | |
| These extensive protests made Kaunda realise the need for reform. He promised a referendum on multiparty democracy, and lifted the ban on political parties. This resulted in the quick formation of eleven new parties. Among these Movement for Multiparty Democracy
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>(MMD), led by former union leader Frederick Chiluba, was the most
| |
| important. After pressure for the new parties the referendum was
| |
| canceled in favour of direct multiparty election.
| |
| | |
| === Frederick Chiluba and the MMD ===
| |
| After a new constitution had been drafted, elections
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>were held in 1991. They were generally regarded to have been free and
| |
| fair, and Chiluba won 76% of the presidential vote, and the MMD 125 of
| |
| the 150 seats in the National Assembly, with UNIP taking the remaining 25.<sup>[9]</sup>
| |
| | |
| Economically Chiluba, despite being a former union leader, stood to the right of Kaunda. With support from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>to which Zambia was heavily indebted, he liberalised the economy by
| |
| restricting government interference, re-privatising state-owned
| |
| enterprises, such as the important copper mining industry, and removing
| |
| subsidies on various commodities, most notably on corn meal.
| |
| | |
| When one party rule was first abolished in 1991, many expected a
| |
| more democratic future for Zambia. These expectations were however
| |
| clouded by the MMD's treatment of the opposition. Questionable
| |
| amendments of the constitution and detentions of political opponents
| |
| caused major criticism, and some donor countries, i.e., the United
| |
| Kingdom and Denmark, withdrew their aid.
| |
| | |
| ==== Coups and emergencies ====
| |
| In 1993 the government-owned newspaper ''The Times of Zambia''
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>reported a story about a secret UNIP plan to take control of government
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>by unconstitutional means, called the "Zero Option Plan". The plan
| |
| included industrial unrest, promotion of violence and organisations of
| |
| mass protests. UNIP did not deny the existence of such a plan, but
| |
| underlined that it was not a part of their official policy, but the
| |
| views of extremists within the party. The government responded by
| |
| declaring a state of emergency and putting 26 people into detention. Of these, seven, including Kenneth Kaunda's son Wezi Kaunda were charged with offences against the security of the state. The rest were released.<sup>[13]</sup>
| |
| | |
| Prior to the 1996 elections,
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>UNIP formed an alliance with six other opposition parties. Kenneth
| |
| Kaunda had earlier retired from politics, but after internal turbulence
| |
| in the party due to the "Zero Option Plan" scandal, he returned,
| |
| replacing his own successor Kebby Musokotwane.
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>Chiluba's government then amended the constitution, banning people
| |
| whose parents were not both Zambian citizens from becoming president.
| |
| This was directly aimed at Kaunda, whose parents were both from Malawi. In protest UNIP and its allies boycotted the elections, which were then easily won by Chiluba and the MMD.
| |
| | |
| In 1997 matters escalated. On 28 October a coup d'état attempt
| |
| <nowiki> </nowiki>took place, as a group of army commanders took control over the
| |
| national radio station, broadcasting a message stating that Chiluba was
| |
| no longer president. The coup was brought to an end by regular forces,
| |
| after Chiluba had again declared a state of emergency. One person was
| |
| killed during the operation. After the failed coup the police arrested
| |
| at least 84 people accused of involvement.<sup>[14]</sup> Among these were Kenneth Kaunda and Dean Mungomba, leader of the opposition party the Zambia Democratic Congress. The arrests were condemned and criticised as illegal inside as well as outside Zambia, and accusations of torture were made as well.<sup>[15]</sup> Kaunda was released in June the following year, but 44 of the soldiers who took part in the coup were sentenced to death in 2003.<sup>[16]</sup>
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| ==== 2001 elections ====
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| Prior to the elections in 2001
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| <nowiki> </nowiki>Chiluba tried to change the constitution to allow him to run for a
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| third term. He was forced to step back on this point after protest from
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| within the party as well as from the Zambian public.
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|
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|
| == Major Social Struggles == | | == Major Social Struggles == |
| R
| | * [[Zambian Copperbelt Strike (1935)]] |
| | |
| * [[Rhodesian Railway Strike (1945)]] | | * [[Rhodesian Railway Strike (1945)]] |
| | * [[Zambian Strike Wave (1981)]] |
| | * [[Zambian Food Riots (1990)]] |
| | * [[Zambian Miners' Strike (2007)]] |
| | * [[Zambian Miners' Strike (2012)]] |
|
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| == Notable People == | | == Notable People == |
