Most leaders want to ridicule system that
moved them out of poverty –M’membe
THE ignorant attempt to smear socialism and socialists to hide their greed and corrupt quest to become billionaires won’t do, says Dr Fred M’membe.
But he notes that most leaders today who are a product of free education and other socially oriented programmes “want to ridicule a system that moved them from poverty and then support imperialist policies that only benefit a few foreign interests”.
He reminds President Hakainde Hichilema that “socialism is not about or synonymous with shortages of cooking oil and other essential commodities”.
Dr M’membe said capitalism has for centuries failed “our people”.
“Let them show us where capitalism has succeeded in Africa,” he demanded
On Saturday, during late president Frederick Chiluba’s 11th memorial service at Embassy Park, President Hichilema praised the second president and his courage for liberalising the economy.
“The new dawn government is proud of the vision that president Chiluba had for this country. One of the things Chiluba and his team did was to drive the liberalisation of this country’s economy. Remember one party state: Socialism, Communism, which failed. There is no question about that. Communism and socialism failed,” said President Hichilema. “It did not just fail here, it failed even in the heart of communism. So when I see advancement of those issues, sometimes I say, ‘do we want to go back to shortages. We heard of the cooking oil, queuing for cooking oil’. When I got married to that lady seated (points at his wife Mutinta) there was no juice in the shops because we married in the late eighties. We couldn’t organise drinks. The Coca-Cola you take for granted today, was not there. So, I remember one of the parastatal leaders called Mantanyani tried to concoct Tip Top to try and take the space of Coca-Cola and Fanta; and even that Tip Top we had to queue to buy a crate or two. We should not lose those memories and start propagating things that can destroy the economy. Dr Chiluba was courageous to move the economy into a liberal sphere, an open economy and almost automatically things started happening. And Coca-Cola reappeared. You who love Coca-Cola, if you were born in the eighties you wouldn’t have it because it was not there because of the economic policies. So, I think you must learn lessons. We must build one legacy to another and carry on.”
But Dr M’membe said it’s very sad that some key political leaders of “our country don’t know or understand what caused shortages of cooking oil and other commodities during the last part of Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s reign”.
“These leaders are out of ignorance attributing the shortages of many consumer goods under the Kaunda era to socialism. Firstly, the Kaunda government was not a socialist government. At most, Dr Kaunda can be said to have been a social democrat. And these were extremely honest leaders who cared more about their people than self-enrichment. They had opportunities to enrich themselves like their colleagues did in Kenya and other African countries who robbed their people of land,” he noted. “The period of shortages was at the height of the liberation struggle in Southern Africa when the country was totally blockaded – with no dealings with South Africa, Namibia, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Angola, Mozambique, and Botswana was not the prosperous Botswana of today. Tanzania was also not the Tanzania of today. And [crude] oil prices had shot up worldwide. They had to start companies to produce their own cooking oil and other commodities. And these were the companies some of these leaders denigrating them today came to privatise at very exorbitant fees or commissions and enriched themselves.”
Dr M’membe said “thanks to the very high sacrifices our leaders and our people had to make that made it possible for our leaders today to go to South Africa and do deals with representatives of corporations that colonised, exploited and humiliated us for centuries”.
“People who claim to be economists should have a better understanding of things than this. This is really an exhibition of crass ignorance and dishonesty. Socialism is not about, or synonymous with, shortages of cooking oil and other essential commodities. How can someone in this era and age think having or drinking Coca-cola is a big achievement, an indicator of economic and social prosperity? What is Coca-cola anyway? A mixture of carbon dioxide, water and caffeine! Of what nutrition value is Coca-cola? It is actually dangerous for the human body,” he reminded President Hichilema who is an avid Coke taker.
“And what is wrong with our people coming up with their drinks? Is this how empty and pro-imperialist they are? What will remain of this country at the end of their rule? Coca-cola will be everything! They will own everything. What will remain under the ownership of our people?”
Dr M’membe said socialism is about a better life for all “our people anchored on equity, solidarity, humility and honesty”.
“And socialism has shown how poor nations can get out of poverty in the shortest historical times. Look at the achievements of Cuba – a country fought and blockaded for over 63 years. Without the minerals Zambia has, Cuba in 2020 had a GDP (gross domestic product) of around 107.35 billion US dollars. GDP is an important indicator of a country’s economic power. GDP in Zambia was expected to reach US $24 billion by the end of 2021. In the long-term, the Zambian GDP which has been pursuing unbridled neoliberal capitalist policies for more than 30 years is projected to trend around $27 billion in 2023, according to some econometric models,” he noted. “India’s socialist state of Kerala is leading in many economic and social indicators and scientific achievements. Whatever their attempts to credit China’s achievements to capitalism, that is a great socialist state pursuing socialism with Chinese characteristics. And this what its leaders say. They attribute their economic successes to socialism. We also have the successes of Vietnam.”
He stressed that the ignorant attempt to smear socialism and socialists “to hide their greed and corrupt quest to become billionaires won’t do”.
“No matter what they say or do socialism will one day triumph in our homeland. Capitalism has for centuries failed our people. Let them show us where capitalism has succeeded in Africa? And more interesting is the fact that the most achievements scored in Zambia can be attributed to certain socialist inspired principles that were implemented in the country. The creation of free education, infrastructure development, creation of state owned enterprises that employed many and some which still stand today are as a result of having a human face towards national economic development which in itself is socialism,” Dr M’membe said. “Most leaders today who are a product of free education and other socially oriented programmes want to ridicule a system that moved them from poverty and then support imperialist policies that only benefit a few foreign interests. Zambia definitely needs a citizen-led economic development agenda which under a socialist government will be attained. We want Zambians to have genuine businesses and not these crooked dealers, tenderpreneurs calling themselves businessmen. Like China, Zambia will manage to free its people from poverty through socialism with Zambian characteristics. It’s socialism and only socialism that can guarantee our sovereignty, dignity and prosperity.”