OUR NATION IS HURTLING TOWARDS A DANGEROUS PRECIPICE

OUR NATION IS HURTLING TOWARDS A DANGEROUS PRECIPICE

Fellow citizens, comrades, and members of the press.

Our nation is hurtling toward a dangerous precipice. The democratic foundations and economic sovereignty of Zambia are not merely under threat. They are being systematically dismantled before our very eyes. As the Socialist Party, we refuse to sit idly by while the hard-won liberties of the Zambian people are traded away for authoritarian control. The time for polite diplomatic silence is over; the crisis facing our republic demands immediate, uncompromising action.

To understand the terrifying depth of our current crisis, we must confront the history of state terror, brutality, and political intolerance in our country. Every regime has used the fist of the state to suppress its people, but what we are witnessing today under the current administration is a cold, calculated, and systematic weaponisation of the law designed to completely obliterate dissent.

The Evolution of State Terror and Repression in Zambia

During the UNIP era, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda enforced a state of emergency that lasted nearly three decades, using overt autocracy to crush any push for multi-party democracy and locking up political rivals or union leaders under preservation of public security regulations that entirely bypassed normal judicial procedures.

When the MMD took power under Frederick Chiluba and subsequent leaders, this overt autocracy transformed into state-sponsored violence and treason fabrications, weaponising the police and party thugs to attack the opposition, utilising the failed 1997 coup attempt as an excuse to unleash immense cruelty on political opponents, and detaining prominent founding figures under harsh conditions using unbailable offenses to paralyse political rivals.

The PF era under Edgar Lungu brought street-level terror and cadreism, allowing highly violent party cadres to take over bus stations, markets, and streets to violently attack opposition mobilisation, close media houses, and create a climate of physical fear while abusing the Public Order Act to carry out frequent, arbitrary arrests of opposition figures who were routinely bundled into police vehicles and held in deplorable cells.

Today, the current UPND administration under Hakainde Hichilema has introduced a regime of institutional tyranny and legal exhaustion. This government masks its state cruelty behind international public relations while operating a terrifying architecture of state intimidation, using the National Anti-Terrorism Centre to raid institutions and abduct opposition figures under fabricated state security charges. Following the heavily disputed August 2026 general elections, the state has launched a sweeping purge. From locking up Electoral Commission officials to arresting top opposition leaders and seizing the passports of vocal critics, prolonged detention without bail has become the definitive tool to silence Zambia.

1. The Weaponization of the State and Borderline Authoritarianism

The current administration has turned state institutions into instruments of political persecution, targeting opposition leaders, civil society, and critical journalists.

• The Abuse of Legal Detentions: We are witnessing an alarming trend where state security organs carry out arbitrary arrests and prolonged detentions, openly defying constitutional timelines and judicial directives.

• Erosion of Independent Oversight: The systematic pressure placed on the judiciary and independent oversight bodies threatens to remove the vital checks and balances required to prevent a slide back into a dark era of a de facto one-party state.

• Our Demand: Law enforcement must immediately cease serving as the political enforcement arm of the ruling party. The Constitution must be respected, and judicial independence must be fiercely protected.

2. The Crushing Economic Reality and the Copper Betrayal

While government officials boast of macroeconomic stability, the reality on the streets of Lusaka, Kitwe, Ndola, and our rural communities is one of desperate survival.

• The Foreign Mining Concession Scandal: The state continues to grant lavish tax holidays, zero-rating incentives, and mineral royalty concessions to foreign multinational mining conglomerates on the Copperbelt and in the North Western Province. This is a betrayal of national sovereignty.

• The Cost-of-Living Crisis: Ordinary Zambians are bearing the full, crushing brunt of the tax burden. Families can no longer afford the skyrocketing cost of basic commodities, fuel, and mealie-meal, while national resources are siphoned abroad.

• Our Action Plan: The Socialist Party demands a radical overhaul of our resource governance. Zambia’s mineral wealth belongs to Zambians. We must end these neo-colonial mining agreements and redirect that wealth to fund robust public healthcare, free quality education, and real structural jobs.

3. The Chilling of Free Speech and Public Grievances

The democratic space in Zambia is shrinking at an unprecedented pace. The right to gather, speak, and protest is being aggressively throttled.

• Suppression of Dissent: Peaceful political mobilization is routinely blocked under the guise of public order, while state-aligned actors operate with absolute impunity. By silencing the public safety valves of free speech and assembly, the current regime is driving legitimate grievances underground, creating a volatile climate of political tension.

• A Call to Unity: No regime can successfully govern by fear. We call on all working-class citizens, youth groups, trade unions, and civic organisations to unite in solidarity.

We must remain vigilant, organised, and resolute. We will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced, and we will continue to fight for a Zambia where national wealth serves the masses, and where liberty is the birthright of all, not the privilege of a few.
In unwavering solidarity,

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party