Sixty-Two Years of the People’s Struggle
Sixty-two turns of the dry and the rain,
Since the lowering of the heavy colonial jack,
Yet the hand that toils in the deep copper vein
Still asks: When is our true heritage back?
From where the mighty Zambezi crashes and roars,
To the valleys where the swift Luangwa flows,
Across the rugged Muchinga escarpment that soars,
A restless wind of awakening blows.
We raised the green, the red, the black, the eagle’s flight,
We dreamed of equality, of shared land and bread,
To turn the long-worn shadows into vibrant light,
And honour every patriot who went before and bled.
We remember the fire of Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe’s tongue,
The radical stance for the worker and land,
The courage of Julia Chikamoneka when the fight was young,
Defying the empire, making her boldest stand.
We honour Kenneth Kaunda, who held the nation’s core,
And, Harry Mwanga Nkumbula, who rallied the line—
They broke the shackles, they opened the sovereign door,
But the fruits of their victory must be yours and be mine.
For flags alone, do not set the captive free,
Nor feed the hungry child, nor heal the broken town;
True freedom is a soil that feeds the collective tree,
Not foreign capital that weighs the worker down.
Our rivers run with wealth, our soil is rich and deep,
Yet our people wake to burdens, to austerity and debt.
This is no time for comfort, this is no time to sleep,
While the promises of freedom remain unrendered yet.
To every miner drilling in the darkness of the earth,
To every mother farming under the scorching sun,
To the youth who seek a purpose, a country of their worth:
The battle for our true sovereignty has only just begun.
We do not seek a freedom that belongs to just a few,
Where wealth is locked in towers and poverty is wide;
We want a land of justice, reborn and built anew,
Where solidarity and labour walk closely side by side.
Rise up, Zambia! Not in mere applause,
Not in the hollow noise of empty, passing cheers—
Rise up united for the common people’s cause,
And reclaim the broken promise of these sixty-two years.
Fred M’membe