Zimpapers Logo

Lusaka – Zambians yesterday put aside political diversity to celebrate the country’s 50 years of independence where in the capital city of Lusaka, first president and founding father Kenneth Kaunda, a distinguished freedom fighter, was among thousands of people gathered in the 65,000 seating capacity Heroes’ stadium to celebrate the golden jubilee.

The celebration in Lusaka was led by Acting President Edgar Lungu who is also Defence Minister as well as Justice Minister. This is the first time that Zambia is commemorating its independence in the absence of its president, as Michael Sata is currently abroad for medical check-up.

The country is commemorating the 50th independence anniversary under theme: “Commemorating God’s Favour of Zambia’s 50 Years of Independence for Continued Peace, Unity, Democracy, Patriotism and Prosperity”, amid concern of the challenges facing this southern African country.

While the theme aspires to encourage the nation to continue to pursue the ideals of democracy and to strive for prosperity for all, serious concerns have, however, been raised, particularly over the unacceptable high levels of poverty in Zambia.

As the country reflects on the 50 years of independence, serious concerns raised included why 50 years after independence over 60 percent of the people are living in extreme poverty; over 50 percent of expecting mothers give birth without the care of qualified midwives; and 50 percent of newly born babies receive no post-natal care.

“We are a better country than one were thousands of students with distinctions are turned away from the doors of our universities because their parents cannot afford to pay tuition fees and the government denies them Scholarships. We are a better country than one were over 40 percent of our children are undernourished,” outspoken opposition leader of the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) Edith Nawakwi says.

“We are a better country than one were divergent views are suppressed or are met with brute force. We are a better country than one were our farmers have to protest just to get their hard-earned dues. We are a better country than one were over 46 percent girl children below the age of 18 are either pregnant, married or have had a child. Zambians we are a better country than this.

“We all have a sacred duty to ensure that the next 50 years should not look like the past 50 years,” the FDD leader said.

President Sata, in a speech delivered on his behalf by acting President Lungu on the eve of the independence day, acknowledges that the country has still some challenges to overcome in its quest to deliver higher levels of prosperity, but that the nation is determined to face the future with heightened energy and enthusiasm to consolidate political, economic and social progress.

“Today, we celebrate this day in history when our fore fathers emerged victorious 50 years ago. Their tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for us to be here today.

“When we look back, we are proud of our achievements as a nation. At independence, we created a new country eager to rule itself but challenged in several respects by such constraints as poor human capital attainments inherited from colonialism. We, however, met the challenges of nation-building with single minded determination and enthusiasm,” President Sata said in the message.

He said the primary task for Zambia and the future generation, moving beyond the Golden Jubilee, is the modernisation and transformation of the country through sustained rapid economic growth.

The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) said they will commemorate the 50th independence anniversary but will not celebrate the event, charging that since the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party came into power three years ago, the country has witnessed repression, violations of fundamental human rights, freedoms and liberties, biased media coverage, police brutality, political violence and destruction of the rule of law
“For instance, I, Hakainde Hichilema, a citizen of Zambia, is a virtual prisoner as my freedom of movement has been curtailed by the police and PF thugs. I am in and out of Police cells and prison. I am on court bail now,” UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema stated in his message. – AFP