By Dr Munyonzwe Hamalengwa
This December is the 20th anniversary of the death of honourable Mainza Chona (Chona or Mainza Chona herein after). This is my dedication to him intended to keep his memory alive for the great service he did for this country. Mainza Chona was my uncle.
Mainza Chana (1930 to 2001) is truly one of the unheralded heroes of Zambia. He neither courted publicity nor exalted status within the Zambian political establishment. Although Chona liked to present himself as a simple and humble villager from Nampeyo in chief Chana country east of Monze in the Southern Province of Zambia, he was a tough, highly sophisticated and urbane lawyer and political operative. If he did not kill you with his smile, appearance of simplicity and humour, he killed you with powerful arguments uttered amidst joyous laughters. John Mwanakatwe in his autobiography entitled, ‘Teacher Politician Lawyer: My Autobiography’ (2003) writes that, Mainza Chana “was a patriot per excellence …he was extremely popular with party officials because of his sense of humour”. Humble he was, simple, he was not. You just have to take into consideration how long he lasted in politics and the various political positions he occupied from 1964 to 1991 in Zambia. According to one authority, Mainza Chana occupied more and varied political positions in Zambia than just about everybody else.
Chona was the first president of the United National Independence Party (UNIP) which became the ruling party at Zambia’s independence in 1964. In his own humble way, he ceded the position to Kenneth Kaunda when the latter was released from detention. He could have fought to retain the position but he did not. Chona’s loyalty to Kaunda, UNIP and Zambia remained constant throughout his political career. Despite the occasional frictions within Zambian politics and between president Kaunda and Chona and others, Chona’s loyalty to Kaunda, UNIP and Zambia and not necessarily in that order could never be doubted.
I witnessed Chona’s loyalty to Zambia at first hand. One time in 1982, Chona came to Washington, DC. I was living there at the time. He asked me to escort him to the airport on his way back to Zambia. We waited for the Zambian Embassy to send a limo to take Chona to the Washington International Airport (now Reagan International). We waited for a long time for the limo to come. Time was running short. I pleaded with Chona to just take one of the numerous taxis that were around otherwise he would miss his plane. He insisted on waiting for the limo. Eventually, the Iimo came and he smiled and told me, “I knew they would come through”. But I chided him by stating that he would have missed his plane just waiting for a limo, which may never have come, when a taxi could have done. His explanation for his behaviour was simple:
but overpowering: “I did not want to embarrass the Zambian Ambassador and therefore the Zambian government by leaving for the airport on the assumption that they were unreliable by not sending the limo”. It was Chona quite alright, always placing others above his own interests, always making others look good. He did this without rancour, year in year out throughout his political life.
Chona died without having accumulated vast amounts of wealth like some of his contemporaries did. In this sense, the first generation Zambian politicians were much ahead in terms of moral suasion than the contemporary crop of politicians whose raison d’etre seems to be the accumulation of wealth at the expense of ordinary citizens and the country as a whole.
Anyone who expected to discover a pot of gold at the death of Chona was solely disappointed. There was none. I remember visiting him at his small house in Lusaka in 1992: compared to the houses of his contemporaries, Chona may as well have been living in the village. When you went to his village, you did not find an imposing mansion or mansions as you would find in the villages of quite a number of his contemporaries. Now the contemporary politicians have mansions that resemble universities or hotels or similar structures. But what you found at his village was a simple
clinic for the benefit of the villagers and not for his benefit. The road to his village and the clinic is not even paved. This is a man who was once the prime minister of Zambia, minister of home affairs, minister of justice, secretary general, et cetera.
Yet, Chona had an opportunity to amass as much wealth as he wanted. He was the first Zambian to be qualified as a lawyer. He qualified at Grays Inn
in London during the fifties. Instead of just studying and returning home to open up a law practice (restricted though it was) and make some money, he joined the political process and he never looked back. After independence he held so many positions which he could have used like others to accumulate private wealth but he did not. No one can ever point to any corrupt practices on the part of Chona throughout his political life. This speaks volumes compared to what has been written or said about his contemporaries and especially what has happened in relation to the new crop of Zambian politicians.
Chona paid dearly for his dedication in Zambia, like a lot of the first generation politicians. Simon Zukas reports in his excellent autobiographical book of his life and Zambian politics entitled, ‘Into Exile and Back’ (2002) that “Mainza Chona established the {London Office of UNIP} while he was in the UK to avoid arrest in Northern Rhodesia on a charge of sedition”. So we had Zambian refugees like Chona well before independence. The sacrifice here is that Chona could have been prevented from practising law precisely because of this criminal charge of sedition. A lawyer should have no criminal conviction against him at all.
You cannot run from the long arm of the law. Chona was eventually charged with and convicted of sedition in a case reported as: R. V. CHONA (High Court of Northern Rhodesia, 1962). This case is reproduced in the book entitled , “A Case Book on Criminal Law” compiled by John Hatchard and Muna Ndulo ((1983) at pages 306 to 310. At the outset of this ironical decision, we are told that Chona was charged with sedition for publishing “a document describing the evils of colonial rule” while in his capacity as national secretary of UNIP. The colonialists did not want the evils of colonialism to be described. Would that not be laughable today? In those days, it was no laughing matter. Iam so sorry I never talked to Chona about that charge and conviction. But brushes with the law then was regarded as a badge of honour and Iam sure Chona wore it with pride.
There was once a website dedicated to Chona (www.MainzaChona.com). Chona would not be proud that a website had been designed to honour his legacy. But it is the only thing his family to whom he was undividedly devoted alongside his politics can do to honour the memory and legacy of this quiet and unheralded giant in Zambian politics. There should be books about him. There should be roads and buildings and airports etc named after him.
Chona wrote one novel in the 1950s called ‘Kabuca Uleta Tunji’ (Tomorrow Brings a Lot”, about a triangle love affair in the village with humorous turns and twists and tragedy that would keep the reader laughing until night time. I have a copy of the English translation somewhere. Chona had agreed for me to write a biography of him but the project was aborted because of his death. He had given me a lot of information and was gathering newspapers and photos at the time of his untimely death. He was my uncle.
The afore-mentioned website was a feast for the eyes, ears and mind. It was divided into several sections and like any website could be read according to one’s interests. It is hoped that a full blown account of Chona’s life will be published some day in the future. Given the dearth of good autobiographies and biographies on Zambian politicians, especially the first generation politicians, this website and a full blown biography later would be significant contributions to our understanding of our political past and the genesis of the future of Zambia. Because of his humbleness and contributions to Zambia, Chona ought to be nursed as a continuing living tree.
The author is the Dean of the School of Law at the Zambian Open University, Lusaka.