Zambian politics pdf

The ECZ claimed that registration had been more heavily advertised than ever before, but there had been general disappointment with the low level of registration, which was well short of the target of 3,6mn, although higher than the registration figure of 2,2mn. Moreover, the Commission blamed the poor registration figures on the lack of financial resources but, especially, logistical problems that caused the late delivery of registration materials to inaccessible rural areas.

Democracy and Multiparty Politics in Africa 15 among Zambians that the electoral process does not have enough impact on them to make participation worthwhile. The current proliferation of more than 40 political parties and the welter of political corruption scandals have only intensified the cynical and popular view that Zambian politicians are driven entirely by self-interest, and that whoever occupies the top positions in future will behave no differently from their predecessors.

The ruling MMD was always capable of surviving sufficiently intact to wage a relatively successful election campaign, and it could make use of its government incumbency to fully utilise the state apparatus to bolster its election effort. In fact, there have been numerous allegations of vote buying and diversion of government funds to MMD party-political activities. Quite pointedly, as Southern African Centre for the Co-ordination and Resolution of Disputes Saccord director Lee Habasonda asserts, corruption lies at the very heart of the political establishment in Zambia.

In the run-up to elections, political opponents were increasingly harassed by the MMD Youth, while fraud in the voter registration process was widespread — with rigging in the presidential and legislative polls almost inevitable. Analysts also point to the fact that freedom of assembly and association in Zambia has been gradually diminishing; political parties often are denied permits to hold rallies or to undertake meet-the-people tours.

Donor countries and agencies will aim to ensure that governance promises made are quantifiable, and will seek to tie fresh aid delivery to the fulfilment of specific governance targets. However, governance is far less easily quantifiable than macro-economic performance and the government, informed by the deep-seated patronage-driven imperatives of Zambian politics, will almost certainly find ways to carry on broadly as before without jeopardizing donor funding.

Many Zambian children still die of preventable diseases, while safe drinking water, essential medicines, and decent sanitation facilities are out of reach of the ordinary citizen. However, the president has sought to deflect criticism at home, pointing to his relative success in mediating in the war-torn DRC. Immediately after Chiluba capitulated to intense public protest to his third-term bid, and anticipating the next elections to be heavily contested, the MMD started hunting desperately for a presidential candidate with an untainted reputation.

Eventually pulling Levy Mwanawasa from obscurity only led to increasingly bitter behind-the-scenes infighting within the MMD and further fragmentation of the party. Mwanawasa, a respected University of Lusaka-educated lawyer, belongs to a small ethnic group in central Zambia, the Lenje. Tactically, the very reason for Chiluba to select Mwanawasa as the MMD presidential candidate was that he was untainted by corruption scandals.

Mwanawasa promises that his government will provide a clear policy direction on issues of development, and programmes aimed at poverty alleviation and job creation, acceleration of industrial activity, promotion of manufacturing, and reversal of the decline in agricultural production. Nevertheless, Mwanawasa will have a tough time working within a party tainted by corruption and mismanagement.

As things stand today, he has no political following or constituency of his own and knows nothing, or very little, about what is going on inside the MMD.

Chiluba has positioned himself by manoeuvring loyalists into strategic positions in both government and party. Therefore, Mwanawasa will perpetually remain dependent on Chiluba for his tenure in office and for political survival, inevitably leading to political impotency. As far as Chiluba is concerned, Mwanawasa has completed his course in political reorientation; he has undergone, metaphorically speaking, a successful political lobotomy The Post of Zambia, 27 August With a Chiluba stand-in essentially, a puppet figure in the person of Mwanawasa nominated as presidential candidate, the MMD hoped that it still had a good chance to win the presidential and legislative elections, even with substantially reduced majorities.

In a scenario where there were as many as 11 presidential candidates, and without provision for a run-off election between the two candidates with the largest number of votes — a provision dropped when the widely condemned constitutional amendments were rammed through parliament — it was always likely that a president would be going into State House without any clear majority support.

Tragically, this proved to be an even bigger challenge than defeating the MMD at the polls. Such an alliance or coalition was sure to remove the MMD from power. With all 9 parties vying for the same constituency, this was a real opportunity lost by politicians who could have put their differences aside and forged a broader alliance. Social behaviour, even more so in a politically charged situation, will never be easily susceptible to prediction.

In fact, Chiluba created a very costly political vacuum, and it was only massive election rigging that eventually secured Mwanawasa and the MMD their positions in government. The elections in Zambia were held on 27 December A complicating factor in holding elections in late December would always have been the fact that the rainy season might not have come to an end, preventing the smooth running of the poll, including the ability of, especially, rural voters to reach their polling stations and to freely express their electoral preferences — thus, being effectively disenfranchised.

Other detrimental factors were that the vote took place just after Christmas, and was not scheduled on a public holiday. Amidst allegations of massive vote-rigging and electoral fraud, the MMD presidential candidate, Levy Mwanawasa, garnered Democracy and Multiparty Politics in Africa 19 witnessed. It became clear in the final stages of the election campaign that support for Christon Tembo and the FDD was faltering and that Mazoka and the UPND was pulling away from the other opposition presidential contenders.

Significant, though, is the fact that the combined opposition vote for Mazoka and 9 other presidential candidates was Only Table 1. The FDD, who secured 12 seats, also won one province: Lusaka 6 of 12 seats. What these results show, then, is that the MMD will no longer be able to play the same dominating role in Zambian politics than in the to period.

The new parliament contains unprecedented numbers of opposition members, will be the most representative since Zambia gained independence from Britain in , and will therefore not be the compliant body the government has become used to. However, the horse-trading and allegiance-buying season has now commenced; party cadres are reportedly negotiating with opposition MPs, apparently with offers of patronage from the Zambian president, which might well, in the end, secure the MMD a majority in parliament.

Moving from the opposition to the MMD is, however, not being encouraged, since an anti-defection clause in the constitution will force risky by-elections on the MMD. But, as far as coalition and alliance- formation are concerned, various permutations now enter the realm of possibility.

Table 2. The MMD had a large majority in the last parliament, and the body has thus acted as little more than a rubber stamp for legislation handed down by the cabinet.

Democracy and Multiparty Politics in Africa 21 have powers to censure government ministers. The speaker of the National Assembly may accept and reject motions for debate, and the post would have been a key prize for the opposition parties. The opposition parties rejected the initial proposal of the clerk of the National Assembly that there should be a secret ballot, accusing the government of wanting to bribe opposition MPs to vote with the government without being detected. In the end, the vote was open, and the result highlighted the ability of the MMD to secure the votes of opposition MPs.

This makes it more likely over the short to medium term that the MMD will persuade certain opposition MPs to vote in its favour on legislative issues. In a surprising move, Mwanawasa has taken the post of defence minister himself, and has reshuffled almost the entire command of the armed forces. By replacing the army commander, Lieutenant-General Georjeago Musengele, with Isaac Chisuzi, he removes a link with Chiluba and reduces the likelihood of the army hierarchy remaining beholden to the former president.

In another move to establish his authority, Mwanawasa oversaw a comprehensive reshuffle of the civil service, with many dismissals and new appointments, particularly at the senior level.

Members of this election observation team visited all nine provinces and 47 of 72 districts during the pre-election period, as well as polling stations and 20 constituency tabulation centres during the elections to assess the voting and counting processes.

In its 7 March final statement on the Zambian elections, which provides a comprehensive overview of all the problem areas, the Carter Center made the following observations4. First, there was an uneven playing field in the pre-election period due to problems with voter registration, the delayed announcement of the election date, misuse and abuse of state resources, involvement of civil servants in political activities, unbalanced coverage by the state-owned media, and biased application of the Public Order Act, which disadvantaged the opposition and created barriers for full participation by all stakeholders in the electoral process — especially, providing critical information in a timely manner.

Requiring Zambians to obtain a national registration card NRC as a prerequisite for receiving a voter registration card VRC was a barrier that disenfranchised approximately one million otherwise eligible voters. Second, although many of the election problems can be attributed, in part, to a flawed electoral law, the ECZ had the authority and discretion to formulate and implement regulations to ensure that the elections were administered effectively and transparently.

Unfortunately, however, the ECZ leadership lacked the political will to take the necessary steps, often using the flawed electoral law as an excuse for inactivity. Most of the complaints brought against the ECZ could have been resolved if the commission had engaged stakeholders. At the provincial and district levels there were concerns about inadequate resources and facilities, and failing communications systems.

Third, there were inadequate logistical arrangements for the polls and a lack of procedures to ensure transparent vote counting at the polls. Democracy and Multiparty Politics in Africa 23 counting, while in others counting began as soon as boxes began to arrive. Although party agents and monitors were generally present during counting, they were not always able to verify the count and to adequately inspect ballot papers for spoiled ballots.

In addition, the transparency process was hindered by the fact that Zambian law does not provide for party agents to sign and receive copies of polling station result forms, or for the results to be posted for public view at the polling station.

As a result, the polling station results were vulnerable to manipulation. Last, the ECZ has failed to implement a transparent verification process open to all party agents and observers.

There are serious unanswered questions about the accuracy of the results. Although it is now several months after the elections, the ECZ says that final results cannot be announced until the verification of results at the district level has been completed. The legal regulations outlining the verification process are weak, and do not provide sufficient opportunities for stakeholders to check the results.

In most cases, political parties and domestic observers were not informed or invited to monitor the verification process, and in some instances as in Solwezi were barred from participating. The process is uncoordinated and random, and therefore almost impossible to monitor. Moreover, it is virtually impossible to obtain solid information about the verification process, in some cases due to poor communications, and in most cases the outright refusal of election officers to release any information.

In fact, some district level election officials have been instructed by the ECZ not to supply information about the verification process to anyone, apparently under the pretext that any such documentation will be presented as evidence in court.

The major problem areas are large and unexplained variations between the number of votes cast for presidential and parliamentary candidates;5 an unusually high number of constituencies where no invalid ballots were recorded; and discrepancies between figures obtained from the constituency and national levels.

Zambia is at a critical point in its democratic development. It is clear that in the December elections, the people of Zambia voted for change and expressed their support for a multitude of political parties.

But, clearly, the MMD is feeling regional strains; power within the party has shifted away from the north to the Central Province, home of Mwanawasa, who is Lenje, and a stronghold of Mazoka, a Tonga — here the dominant Tonga, Ila and Lenje groups share a history and identity.

Amid the intrigue, respect for Mazoka, once tarnished by a tribalist tag, is growing; he has changed style and now co- operates much better with the other parties in the so-called united opposition front, which is dominated by his UPND. Also, his decision to call off a plan for nation-wide civil disobedience avoided an embarrassing possible flop, and removed the pretext for Mwanawasa to crack down on the opposition.

There have been threats by other opposition leaders that they would take to the streets to protest their claim that the ruling party rigged the elections.

However, the police have threatened to invoke public order laws, dating from the colonial era, to quell any violence that might occur. These provide for the police to arrest anyone who demonstrates without a permit, which must be obtained from the authorities 14 days in advance Southern Africa Report , 5.

Analysis of the parliamentary election can only be provisional while the credibility of the official results is in doubt, but it seems that the ethnic base of party politics, apparent in the early s, remains — it was one reason why former President Kenneth Kaunda introduced the one-party state in Zambian legal experts say challenges to the result in individual constituencies have a far greater chance of success in the courts than the petitions currently before the Supreme Court over the presidential election result.

While the reason for this was ostensibly to expedite the land-reform process, the sub-text was the creation of a climate of fear and terror in the country. In terms of the provisions of the current Zimbabwean constitution, Mugabe could nominate a further 30 MPs: 10 chiefs, 8 provincial governors, and 12 ordinary MPs — all ZANU-PF — giving the ruling party a comfortable majority of 92 seats in a member House of Assembly.

So, between June and the presidential election in March , this violent campaign had to be cranked up several notches. On a number of occasions, the Kabimba and GBM factions engaged in fierce battles, the cause of which was the struggle to succeed Michael Sata. On 10 th September , for instance, the two factions waged running battles that resulted in the death of more than one person and several injuries.

This phase of fierce factionalism seems to have ended only after Kabimba was elbowed out of the PF. While it was an open secret that the fight for succession would arise, what took many by surprise was how soon it came and how ugly it has turned out to be.

On February 18, , PF cadres disrupted a panel discussion and harassed participants at Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka in full view of armed police officers who did nothing. PF cadres led by its Eastern Province Youth Chairman stormed the Lusaka Central Police Station and assaulted police officers in uniform and continue to enjoy their freedom today. Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda, the man who led this assault was a leading contender for the Petauke seat under PF which he is still pursuing as an independent candidate supporting President Edgar Lungu.

Muna Ndulo, Professor of Law, Cornell University Law School, and Director Cornell Institute for African Development in his paper titled political violence in Zambia and state responsibility argues that the tyranny taking root in Zambia deprives the people of the capacity to resist bad governance because of the pervasive atmosphere of terror, fear and insecurity created in them by repeated arrests, police harassment and unwarranted prosecutions. It intimidates them and induces in them a mood of cautiousness so as not to risk their lives or liberty, resulting in an attitude of resignation, submissiveness and timidity.

Those perceived to be opponents of the Government are attacked, assaulted, their meetings disrupted while a highly compromised police force unashamedly looks on. All political rallies were banned and political parties were advised to find alternative means of campaigns and door to door campaigns were restricted to only three people per household at any given time.

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Book Summary: This edited collection was produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the journal Comparative Education, one of the most established and prestigious journals in the field. Each chapter was written by a leading scholar of comparative and international education. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in the theory, method and practice of comparative education today or in its development over the past 50 years.

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This book was originally published as a special issue of Comparative Education. Skip to content. READ MORE Book Summary: This book looks at what went wrong and right during Zambias first fifty years of nationhood and based on this makes some recommendations, where necessary, on the way forward for the country in the areas covered in the book.

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Gifford, Paul. African Christianity: Its Public Role. Gunda, Masiiwa Ragies. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press. Hastings, Adrian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hinfelaar, Marja. Hoad, Neville W. African Intimacies: Race, Homosexuality, and Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Kalito, Abraham. Kalu, Ogbu. African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kaoma, Kapya.

Globalizing the Culture Wars. Colonizing African Values: How the U. Kunda, James. Lewis, Desiree. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Maxwell, David. Mbembe, Achille. On the Postcolony. Berkeley: University of California Press. Meyer, Birgit. Mosse, George L. New York: H. Lusaka Times, 27 February. Mvula, Steven. Lusaka Times, 25 February. Mwewa, Musaiwale. Namaiko, Chila. Ndjio, Basile.

Parsitau, Damaris. Phiri, Isabel A. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Reimer, Samuel. Vancouver: UBC Press. Sadgrove, Joanna, Robert M. Senkwe, Kampa. Smith, J. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Tamale, Sylvia. Grand Rapids: Wm. Yong, Amos.