WE HAVE BEEN TRAUMATIZED LONG ENOUGH
It cannot be denied that the reigning capitalist mode of production is directly responsible for the long list of calamities we are enduring today. Neo-liberal capitalist policies religiously pursued by the ruling United Party for National Development have not only disoriented the ruling party but have also caused massive trauma in the struggling mass of the population. Since coming to power three years ago, the UPND’s neoliberal policies have had a deleterious impact on the livelihood earning capacities of a great majority of our people.
During the run up to the general elections of 2021, the promise of a better life, building a corrupt free society, restoration of democratic heritage, among others, produced a motive force that propelled the UPND to power with relative ease. But no sooner had the UPND assumed state power than they aborted the promise for a more dignified life for our people. Today, we are being treated to unparalleled forms of greed, corruption and sheer insensitivity. We have ended up with a government that is thoroughly detached from the people’s daily struggles for water and sanitation, food, housing, jobs, transport and many more. Predatory (kandilepo) politics conceived from ferocious greed, insatiable lust for power and material wealth, prestige and self-aggrandizement is a key escalator for grand corruption.
While our leaders and government officials are reportedly competing for choice properties, choice cars, choice accounts, 60 percent of Zambians are living below the poverty line and nearly half the population has been condemned to the most extreme forms of subsistence with no prospect of a better life under the current regime.
In the context of wholesale national meltdown of power supply, the alarming statistics of poverty are bound to worsen further. I shudder to imagine what would become of Zambia at the turn of 2026. But the masses have also a share of blame in the current malaise. In the face of unrestrained plunder of our public wealth, we have maintained a silence that closely resembles a special type of docility. How can we keep quiet in the wake of economically and socially devastating power outages, for example. The dislocation of industry from prolonged power outages is profound. The number of voices talking about the impact of drought vis-à-vis power imports and exports is relatively minute. There is need for more voices to speak to the mismanagement of the economy. I know just like everybody else that the political atmosphere prevailing in our country is toxic with arbitrary arrests and prolonged detentions simply for speaking out, but if we do not voice out, who will?
As 2026 draws nearer, it is crucially important to find the necessary leadership, a leadership with the right bearings to put an end to poverty, power outages, corruption, election rigging, unemployment and all that constitute the existing intolerable underdevelopment. It is possible to break out of the poverty cycle and live and lead better lives. But overcoming poverty is a collective call. Socialism (ubwananyina) is the way to go.
We have been traumatized for far too long. We have suffered humiliation for far too long. Be that as it may, it is certainly not time to throw our hands in the air in resignation. My message to you comrades is: If there was ever a moment in the history of our country where despair was not an option, this is that time. If there was ever a time in the history of our country when we needed to stand up and fight against the forces of oligarchy and authoritarianism, this is that time. And if there was ever a moment in the history of our country when we needed a new vision to bring our people together in the fight for justice, equity and peace, this is that time. A troubled past and a beleaguered present must never be a barrier to our collective determination to build a more humane and more just society.
Faston Mwale
Deputy General Secretary – Political
SOCIALIST PARTY