THE STOOL BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE
A SOLDIER’S LAST ADVICE TO ZAMBIA
By Col Hamwiinde Munamunungu ( Rtd ), center in the picture 📸
I am not a Professor. I am a soldier who watched Zambia.
I am an old man now.
I do not wake up to a bugle. I wake up to birds on my farm. I do not wear a uniform. I wear a chitenge and a hat against the sun. My gun is in a cupboard. My pen is on the table.
But I still think like a soldier. A soldier thinks about what he is defending. For 50 years, I thought I was defending a border. Now I know I was defending something bigger. I was defending a stool.
Let me explain.
In Barotseland, when I was young, I watched a village remove a chief. They did not kill him. They took his stool. They said: “We gave you the stool. We can take the stool.” That chief walked home carrying his mat. He was still respected. But he was no longer chief.
In Lusaka in 1991, I watched Zambia remove a president. They did not kill him. They took his stool. They said: “We gave you the stool. We can take the stool.” Kaunda walked out of State House carrying his own bag. He was still respected. But he was no longer president.
In Atlanta in 2026, I watched America remove an old idea. They did not burn America. They took the stool and gave it to Keisha Lance Bottoms, to Juliana Stratton, to Aaron Ford, to David Crowley. They said: “We gave you ( Trump ) the stool. We can take the stool.”
It is the same lesson, in three places, in three generations. The stool does not belong to a chief. It does not belong to a president. It does not belong to a soldier. It does not belong to a tribe. It belongs to the people.
That is my last advice to Zambia. It is simple. I will say it like a soldier gives orders – short, clear, no confusion:
1. Keep the Palaver. Keep the Ballot.
Never let anyone tell you that talking is a waste of time. The palaver under the mango tree and the ballot box in Lusaka are the same thing. They are the people speaking. When you stop talking, you start fighting. When you stop voting, you start couping. Talk. Vote. Always.
2. Keep the Maize. Keep the People Fed.
A soldier can defend a border. A soldier cannot defend a hungry nation. If the pot is empty, the government will fall, even if it has 10,000 soldiers. Feed the people first. Everything else comes second. Hunger is the most powerful opposition party. Do not fight hunger with speeches. Fight it with maize, with water, with jobs.
3. Keep the Forest. Keep the Rain.
I marched through a forest in Kapiri Mposhi in 1971 that no longer exists. If we lose the forest, we lose the rain. If we lose the rain, we lose the maize. If we lose the maize, we lose Zambia. Plant a tree every rainy season. Teach your children that a tree is not charcoal. A tree is rain. A tree is food. A tree is Zambia.
4. Keep the Soldier In The Barracks, And The Politician In State House, And Never Mix Them.
My young soldiers, listen to me. Your oath is to the Constitution, not to a man. If a president fails, let the people remove him by ballot, not by bullet. If you take power by gun, you will never give it back by vote. You will become the problem you said you came to solve. Zambia has never had a coup. Let it stay that way. That is our proudest record, more proud than any medal I ever wore.
I am retired. I will not see the Zambia of 2050. You will. My generation gave you independence. My generation gave you peace. My generation gave you the example of 1991, when we removed a president without blood
Your generation must give Zambia something else: A Zambia where any child – from Mwinilunga or from Mongu, from Chipata or from Choma, boy or girl, rich or poor – can dream of taking the stool, and can do it peacefully, by talking, by voting, by serving.
If you do that, Zambia will never fall.
If you forget that, Zambia will fall, not to an enemy from outside, but to hunger, to greed, to corruption, to forgetting.
I started as a young soldier in Kapiri Mposhi in 1971, defending Zambia’s border. I am ending as an old man in Mumbwa in 2026, defending Zambia’s memory.
My mission is finished. Yours is just beginning.
Remember: The stool belongs to the people.
We must continue loving Zambia our country.