AFRICANEWS
ZAMBIAChiluba's true autocratic coloursby Boro Klan(800 words)
Thirty two years after independence, Zambia is still deporting nationals who were born in that country, says Human Rights Watch/Africa. In a report released last December, the group reports that William Banda, a senior member of the opposition United National Independence Party (UNIP), who had lived in Zambia since Independence in 1964, was arrested on the grounds that he was not a Zambian, but a Malawian. The Chipata High Court which tried him ruled that he was not a Zambian because he could not prove that he had been born in the village he claimed to be from. He was deported to Malawi on August 31,1994. UNIP politician John Chinula was also deported to Malawi in September 1995. He claims that police injected him with a strong sedative shortly before his deportation. Mr Chinula had never had his nationality challenged until immigration officials questioned him, his father and his father's two wives in January 1995 about their origins. Mr Chinula claims that everything about him and his family are Zambian: his parents still live on his farm in the Copperbelt province and have not been deported. Many hoped Zambia would be seen as a model for democracy in Africa after a peaceful transfer of power in November 1991, when current President Frederick Chiluba beat former president Kenneth Kaunda in a landslide victory. Mr Chiluba promised reforms and even made some steps towards this direction but, by 1993, the reforms were stopped and the Chiluba government resorted to the same dirty methods used by Mr Kaunda's rule to suppress criticism, says Human Rights Watch/Africa. State intimidation of the opposition increased significantly in 1995 when Mr Kaunda announced a formal return to politics. Fearing to face Mr Kaunda last November's polls, Chiluba easily forced a radical amendment in the constitution through his Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD-dominated parliament). Particularly controversial was a provision that imposed new requirements on persons seeking to hold the office of the president. According to the new requirements, a person wishing to become president must be a Zambia citizen born to parents who are Zambian by birth or descent and that person must not be a tribal chief. These requirements appeared tailored to disqualify specific opposition leaders from running for the presidency particularly Mr Kaunda and his party deputy chief, Inyambo Yeta. Zambians deserve better, says Human Rights Watch/Africa. For 27 years after independence, Zambia was under a partial state of emergency which had been declared by the British three months before independence. Mr Kaunda renewed the emergency every six months. Emergency regulations also suspended several clauses of the Bill of Rights, allowing the government to control political debate, giving it powers to restrict freedom of expression and association and to indefinitely detain any person "for the purpose of preserving public security." One of the most glaring cases of abuse of power cited by the human rights group occured on February 22, 1996 when the Zambian parliament made the unprecedented decision to sentence to jail- for an indefinite period and without trial and in absentia - three journalists with The Post newspaper. Reason? The three, Mr Fred M'membe, the editor, Mr Bright Mwape, the managing editor, and columnist Lucy Sichone had written articles claiming certain parlimentarians lowered the dignity of the House. The trio were freed in March 1996 after the Lusaka High Court ruled they had been wrongly sentenced in absentia. Plots, or alleged plots have formed the core of Zambian politics since 1993. Earlier that year, President Chiluba declared a state of emergency stating that the political climate was being systematically poisoned by "a few of our citizens who are bent on plunging this nation into chaos." This move came after reports by the state-owned Times of Zambia that a plot by the former ruling party, UNIP, to overthrow the government by unconstitutional means, code-named Zero Option, had been uncovered. The plan was allegedly destabilise the country through industrial unrest, violent crime, and a general mass uprising against the government. Twenty-six people were detained in connection with the Zero Option plan, many of them senior member of Mr Kaunda's party. The November elections did little to reduce the tensions in the country. To prepare for the poll, the government awarded an electoral registration contact to Nikuv, an Israeli firm for US$18.7 million. Many Zambians were annoyed at the high price noting that the money could have found better uses in a country as impoverished as theirs. Appeals by South African president Nelson Mandela to president Chiluba to allow Kaunda to contest the polls fell on deaf ears. Said Chiluba in response to Mandela's request: "Mr President, we thank you for your genuine concerns and wish to assure you the elections will proceed peacefully. Our commitment to democracy and good governance are irrevocable."
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