To What extent had the Zambian leadership been the source of conflict in the year 1990?

A. A Plan of the investigation

To what extent had the Zambian leadership been the source of conflict in the year 1990?

Zambia is a South Eastern African country which has never had any massive battles or wars in its history but there have been small conflicts such as food riots and coup attempts. This internal assessment will focus on one year, 1990. The aim of this investigation is to find out to what extent had the Zambian leadership been the source of conflict in the year 1990. The investigation will cover the causes of the riots in 1990, the cause of the coup attempt conducted by Lieutenant Luchembe and also the causes and effect of inflation in the year 1990. An analysis of these sections should indicate the main source of conflict in 1990. The research will use sources such as the internet to gather more information about the topic in question, Zambian newspapers from 1990, political songs and interviews from witnesses and political books. In section B I will give information about the background of the Zambian political history, and I will give the reason why both Lusaka and the Copperbelt riots took place. I will also show the economic issues which caused inflation and therefore rise in the price of food. In section C I will evaluate two main findings, in section D the analysis of the findings and finally a conclusion in section E.

B. Summary of evidence

Government

Zambia, formally Northern Rhodesia, was colonized by the British from 1924 to 1964(1). On October 24 1964 it took its independence. When Zambia took its independence, its first president was Kenneth Kaunda and he served the country from 1964 to 1991, His party was known as United National Independence Party (UNIP). In 1972, Kaunda declared a one-party state and all the other parties were banned. 'Kaunda's socialist policies and autocratic style prevented the realization of his expressed goals.' (3) His goals were to built homes and schools, and health care facilities. 1990 was a 'tumultuous year' (4) it included riots in the capital city and a coup attempt conducted by Lieutenant Mwamba Luchembe. According to an article by Phillip Chirwa(5 newspaper article by Phillip Chirwa, Coup plotters planned to try Kaunda) a Zambian Daily mail newspaper reporter in the paper of 1990 said that the reason why Luchembe conducted the coup was because he felt that his seniors including the government were using up all of the money in country which everybody below them were suffering. The coup first started with an argument between the liuetanent and his senior and then it developed to a more serious situation. The argument took place at a "Squash Club" (6 newspaper article by Phillip Chirwa, Coup plotters planned to try Kaunda) and then later the lieutenant ended up house arresting everybody in the club and the threaten the government. According to the article Luchembe and his men "accused their seniors of having obtained huge sums of money to entertain themselves and their families on cheaper Mosi(7) beer while ordinary soldiers were subjected to buying expensive spirits." There at this point it can be seen that Luchembe was saying that the government was paying the people less money but yet they were expected to buy expensive things but the government officials were pay a huge sum of money but yet they cold buy cheap things when they desired. Brian Chilala, a Zambian musician wrote a song about the government and it was banned as soon as it was released to the public. The song spoke about why the government does not care about the people after they vote for them and as soon as the government become wealthy they turn their backs to the people.(8. song by Brian Chilala)

Economy

The Zambian economy is based primarily on its state controlled copper industry (6) and when there was a decline in world copper prices in 1975, it caused problems for the Zambian economy. Because the "economic situation in Zambia was"(7) it caused "low standards of living, lack of basic food stuffs, rising unemployment, poor social infrastructure and the rapid depreciation of the Zambian Kwacha."(8)(Kwacha is the national currency) The government in late 1982 "reduced government subsidies, raised farm-producer incentives, and devalued the currency, first by fiat and then by introducing a foreign-exchange auction system in 1985." (8) In December 1986, there were riots in response to the rise in the prices of staples and food shortages, rioting started in the copper producing region, known as Copperbelt, and at least 15 people were killed in the riots(9). There were more riots in 1990 in the Capital city, Lusaka and at least "27 people died."(9 newspapers rioting Death Toll reaches 27 by mail reporter, 28-6-1990).

Riots

This then brings us to the issue about riots. The rioting was developed from the anger about the "increased mealie meal prices." (10. Enemies fan riots-KK, 28-6-1990 by mail reporter) These riots lasted for about a week. Many people were hurt and some even lost their lives. "two people were injured at Kabwe's Kasanda mine market where the police opened fire after hundreds of people broke into Kabwe Milling company depot at the market and ransacked the shop" (11 Rioting death tolls reaches 27, by mail reporter, 28-6-90) When some of the rioters were arrested, it was said by the government that "it is to investigate reports that children aged 10 were detained as suspected rioters while others had their bones broken during the first two days of rioting,"(12.Rioting death tolls reaches 27, by mail reporter, 28-6-90) This image showed the government so brutal and savage that they would go as far as hurting children to stop them from having power, one reason that a rumor like this was be made is because the government is not liked among the people and they are trying their best to over throw the government. At this point the main source of the riots was the government. It was later announced by General Masheke, that "the government had not become so brutal to start breaking bones of children involved in riots" (13. Rioting death tolls reaches 27, by mail reporter, 28-6-90). The riots that started as cry for decrease in food prices were seen as "evil". (14. Enemies fan riots-KK)the president said that these evil actions would fail. According to the President (15. Enemies fan riots-KK) the people were mislead by the enemies that want to get rid of the government, the president also said that "the motives for inciting the people to displace the party was in the hope of taking over claim credit for the prospective economic recovery now in sight as the nation has embarked on its last phase" (16. Enemies fan riots-KK) among the riots, there was a coup attempt from within the lower ranks of the military, conducted by Lieutenant Mwamba Luchembe,On June 30, 1990 At least 24 Zambians died. 'Between June and October of 1990, 23,000 workers took part in illegal strikes and the government alleged that ZCTU was playing a politically motivated role in them.' (10). Faced with growing social unrest, the president finally signed legislation in December 1990 allowing the existence and organization of other political parties. In June 1990, the government, in order to meet IMF's conditionality, reduced maize meal subsidy. There were food riots for two weeks which spread from Lusaka to Kafue and Kabwe, and 26 civilians and a policeman died. There was little the government could do to help the people.

C. Evaluation of Sources

Sources used for evaluation are:

African Media and Conflict. A Harvest of Treason Trials by Goodson Machona.

The article "A Harvest of Treason Trials" by Goodson Machona was based on how the Zambian leadership had been the source of conflict. It starts from the years when it was colonized by the British until the year 1997. But even though it talks about many events, the year 1990 and it events will the focus. It says that "In May 1990, government increased the price of mealie meal, triggering a wave of riots in Lusaka and the Copperbelt." (11). It is saying that the cause of the riots in 1990 was due to the fact that the government increased the price of a common and traditional meal named mealie meal. Because the source of the increase of the price was the government, therefore it was the government that was the source of the riots that occurred. During this same time an army an army lieutenant, Mwamba Luchembe took the advantage of the situation and he conducted a coup attempt of his own in order to over throw the government. Even though the lieutenant was working for his own country, he believed that there was a wrong government in charge and so he wanted to overthrow them. He tried to do so on July 29, 1990. But he did not have any success because his coup attempt only lasted for four hours in Fact he was seen as an embarrassment by the chief of his tribe. (12)and then he was arrested. There was a "politician, Chiko Bwalya" who was celebrating the coup attempt and he was arrested. Because a political, an army Lieutenant showed that they did not like their leadership shows that there was something wrong with this government and it also shows that it might have been the source of conflicts that occurred inside the country. The value of this source is that it shows many events that were happening and it shows why they happened. The limitation of this source is that it was written by an editor of a newspaper called the ''The Post"

A Song of the Strong by Mary Namakando. November 1991.

This article was written about the cause of the food problems in the country. Mary interviews a Zambian woman named Joyce Kayaya who has been a farmer for many years. When she was asked about what she thought about the food riots, she replied, "the food riots we heard about in the towns were simply a result of laziness, laziness in the sense that if there are so many other people like me who produce so much maize, why is there such a shortage that the Government has to buy from other countries?"(12) The article says that Joyce is not the only on who asks this question but many Zambians. Joyce believes that Zambia has so much land to farm on and grow food to feed the family, so people should not go to the city when they don't have money to take care of themselves or a job. But they should say in the countryside and farm to produce food. Then food riots would not be a problem. So Joyce does not understand why people are complaining about the food prices when they are not producing enough food for themselves. The value of this source is that it based on a Zambian woman who has lived life a hard way. She is a farmer and so when she is talking about food she knows what she is talking about. But the limitations are that farms are expensive to get so some people do not have farms and therefore they would not have a choice but to go to the cities. And also there are many reasons why people go to the cities. And Joyce is only talking from her point of view. And also she is only talking about the food and not the coup attempt.

D. Analysis

The riots started according to Zambian newspaper articles because the people were angry about the increase of mealie meal, the most consumed meal by Zambians. But the newspaper does not mention why the prices increased, it does not even show any blame on the government at all. The reason that, newspaper does not have negative reactions towards the government is because it a government owned newspaper. But it does show the reactions of the people. The newspaper slogan is "we serve the country without fear or favour"(12), which can be seen as propaganda at this point. But the government can also be given credit according to Joyce Kayaya the people of Zambian are also the source of the riots that occurred. And also according to president Kaunda, there was evil in the country that was starting all these riots. (14) Both these sources are political, and therefore it can be understood why they made these claims.

E. Conclusion

To a Large extent was the Zambian leadership the source of conflict. The riots in the Capital, Lusaka, and in the Copperbelt were to due to the fact that the food prices were increased. The people of Zambian blamed the government for the increase in food prices. Due to inflation the price of the maize meal, one of the most consumed meals in Zambia was increased by price the people's wages were changed, at this point some people could not afford to buy food to feed their family or themselves, this looked like a road to starvation. Because the people were rioting to fight for their own rights, a coup attempt conducted by Lieutenant Mwamba Luchembe, was also another action to show that the people were not happy with what was happening in the economy and in the country and not even the government itself. The coup was an attempt to over throw the government but it only lasted four hours. Lieutenant Luchembe was not happy with the way that his seniors treated him and his men.

List of sources

References

1. http://www.c-r.org/pubs/occ_papers/af_media/machona.shtml (11)

3. http://open-site.org/Regional/Africa/Zambia/Government_and_Politics/Politics/

5. http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bgnotes/af/Zambia9209.html (7)

8. http://wvioaptus.wvi.org/africa.nsf/0/6ef6e60274242d5743256c46002dbbda?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=5

9. Zambia Daily Mail 1990, 28/06/1990

9. http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=4713

10. http://www.c-r.org/pubs/occ_papers/af_media/machona.shtml

11. http://www.newint.org/issue225/song.htm

6. http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bgnotes/af/Zambia9209.html

7. http://www.c-r.org/pubs/occ_papers/af_media/machona.shtml

8. http://www.c-r.org/pubs/occ_papers/af_media/machona.shtml

9. http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bgnotes/af/Zambia9209.html

13. Zambian Daily Mail Newspaper- http://www.cpu.org.uk/forum_2003/cr_zamb.html, 18th march 2005, By Martin Kapende, Business Editor, Zambia Daily Mail

7. Mosi beer, http://home.planet.nl/~meind154/Verz/overig/zambia01.htm, Zambian and Northern

Breweries Plc

Newspape, Daily mail

13. Joyce the farmer http://www.newint.org/issue225/song.htm, The first ingredient, maize, takes us to Zambia to meet

farmer Joyce Kayaya. As she tells Mary Namakando, in her view

the country's food problems have a simple cause. The harsh

demands of the global market seem a world away, new internationalist

issue 225 - November 1991

14. Newspaper article

"the outbreak of sectional violence which characterised the first nine years of post-independence Zambia and attributed to the divisive nature of plural politics."

The problem also caused the production of copper to fall 'to less than 500,000 metric tons per year from a 1976 high of 720,000 metric tons'. (7)

'from one-third to one-half of government revenues, and more than 90% of Zambia's foreign- exchange earnings.' (6) 6. <http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bgnotes/af/Zambia9209.html (8>)

sisukas

1. Nevertheless, the Luchembe and 'Solo' coup attempts were a reflection of serious political tensions. The general view was that the failure by government to respond to political demands by opposition politicians in the political arena influenced some soldiers to seek changes using unconstitutional methods. It is important to point out that the response by Zambians to the two coup attempts was different. The Luchembe coup attempt received a lot of support from the civilians because it came at a time when Zambians wanted President Kaunda out of State House. Zambians greeted the 'Solo' coup attempt with contempt. <http://www.iss.org.za/PUBS/ASR/10No4/Phiri.html> CIVIL CONTROL OF THE ZAMBIAN MILITARY SINCE INDEPENDENCE

Implications for democracy

B J Phiri

Senior lecturer at the History Department, University of Zambia

Published in African Security Review Vol 10 No 4, 2001 <http://www.iss.org.za/PUBS/ASR/10No4/Content.html>

Although there were some misgivings over the 1996 Presidential and parliamentary elections, boycotted by UNIP, there was a general feeling that a coup was not the answer. Even Lieutenant Luchembe, leader of the failed coup attempt in 1990, joined those who condemned the 1997 coup attempt. In his view, the era of military take-overs was long gone. He argued that there was no cause for them because democracy was in place.17

2. When the World Bank and Fund demanded an increase in prices they wanted to devalue the kwacha (the local currency) in December 1986,

book

In 1990, the regime was forced to agree to hold a multi-party election. In October 1991, UNIP was swept from power by the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), the party of the coalition, page 72, Publication Information: Book Title: The Politics of Cultural Performance. Contributors: Lionel Caplan - editor, Humphrey Fisher - editor, David Parkin - editor. Publisher: Berghahn Books. Place of Publication: Providence, RI. Publication Year: 1996. Page Number: 72..

3. 24 October 1964: The Republic of Zambia was accorded full independence within the Commonwealth. Dr Kaunda became the first President, and his UNIP party won a legislative majority. Publication Information: Book Title: A Political Chronology of Africa. Contributors: David Lea - editor. Publisher: Europa Publications. Place of Publication: London. Publication Year: 2001. Page Number: 484.

14-17 March 1990: The Government party rejected proposals for the creation of a multi-party political system.

29 May 1990: The national council of UNIP proposed a referendum on the introduction of a multi-party

25-29 June 1990: Anti-government rioting occurred in Lusaka, following an announcement that the price of maize meal was to increase by more than 100%.

30 June 1990: A junior army officer, Lt Mwamba Luchembe, attempted a military coup d'etat; he was arrested, although later released.

1 November 1990: The Government was reorganized.

17 December 1990: President Kaunda assented to constitutional amendments terminating the political monopoly of UNIP.

Appendix:

Economic song:

Bemba Language

Tomato tomato bwalunda

Onion na yena ya lunda

Nshokonono na shena sha dula

Mwebwa ku teka twi pu sheko

Li lya twa mu votela, mwa leka wuku tuposako aman no

Li lya mwa yi ka la bwino, mwa pakamu,

Mwa leka wuku posako aman no.

Translation

The price of tomatoes is increased

Onions are expensive too

And also the grasshoppers are expensive

You, the government, let us ask you

Why is it when we vote for you,

You stop caring for us

When you are living a good life

You turn your backs at us

And you stop caring for us.