Business Times Africa Magazine 2017 /vol 9/ No2 BT2Edition2017_web | Page 38

ZAMBIA
We need to talk about Zambia
as it falls from grace under
President Lungu
NIC CHEESEMAN
Professor of Democracy,
University of Birmingham
the headlines, and whether one agrees
with the bishops’ evaluation or not, one
thing is clear: it’s time to start talking
about Zambia.
Democratic success
EDGAR LUNGU
President of Zambia
Z
ambia has often been ignored
by the international media. One
reason for this neglect is that it’s
been comparatively unexceptional, on a
continent with more than its fair share of
extremes.
Since the reintroduction of multiparty
politics in 1991, the country has neither
been a clear democratic success story
like Ghana or South Africa , nor a case of
extreme authoritarian abuse, as in Cote
d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe.
Instead, Zambia has occupied a
36 Business Times Africa 2017
middle ground lacking a hook with
which to sell coverage of the country,
journalists have tended to steer clear.
But in the last few months things began
to change. First, the opposition leader
Hakainde Hichilema was arrested on
trumped up treason charges.
Shortly after, the Conference of
Catholic Bishops released a strongly
worded criticism of the government
that concluded: Our country is now all,
except in designation, a dictatorship.
As a result, the country has returned to
Until now, Zambia’s progress under
multi-party politics has been quietly
impressive.
Although the level of corruption has
remained high, and a number of highly
controversial, elections, the country has
consistently pulled back from the brink
when authoritarian rule appeared a
possibility.
Things appeared to be going
downhill, for example, when Zambia’s
second president, Frederick Chiluba,
manipulated the constitution to prevent
his predecessor, Kenneth Kaunda, from
running against him on the grounds
that he was not really Zambian. This
strategy was clearly illegitimate. After all,
Kaunda had run the country for over two
decades.
But,
Chiluba’s
position
was
weaker than he understood and he
overplayed his hand by trying to secure
an unconstitutional third-term. He
ultimately left office when his second
term expired at the end of 2002.
While Zambians have been willing to