Zambian Independence Day
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On October 24, 1964, the country now known as Zambia gained its independence from Great Britain. Previously (1911 - 1964) it had been known as Northern Rhodesia, whose name the British gave in honor of Cecil Rhodes, one of the greatest representatives of colonial capitalism in Africa with his mineral exploitations, especially diamonds and gold.
Starting in the mid-20th century, the countries of the African continent began to gain independence from their colonizers, with Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana being the first country to achieve it in 1957.
In Zambia, this independence came from the hand of Kenneth Kaunda, the country's first president. The struggle for freedom was spreading throughout the continent, and liberation songs were emerging in each country, such as the following two poems about the days of arrest of Kaunda and other leaders that we have translated below:
what sounds like a lament?
on the way to jail
my brother went alone.
what songs are these
what regrets do they look like?
let me sing
for my heart relieve.
(*The Capricornists were followers of the Capricorn Society, a group organized by white liberals to keep Zambia and Malawi under British influence but with a multiracial government)
Despite being the country's first official president in democratic elections, he outlawed all other parties, coining the slogan "one Zambia, one nation." His way of governing led to several coups in the eighties, all of them in vain, but in 1990 he was forced to legalize the multi-party system that continues to this day. In 1991 he was finally dismissed, leaving Frederick Chiluba in charge, who ushered in a time of economic growth and decentralization. Kaunda passed away in June 2021, and then-President Edgar Lungu declared 21 days of national mourning.
Kaunda was replaced in chronological order by the aforementioned Frederick Chiluba, Levy Mwanawasa, Rupiah Banda, Michael Sata, Edgar Lungu and the current president, Hakainde Hichilema.
It is also important to note that thanks to Kaunda's support, the headquarters of the African National Congress (the party that Nelson Mandela came to preside over in South Africa) was located for a long time in Lusaka, and for this reason Zambia was one of the main places of resistance against apartheid. He was also key in the liberation movements of Mozambique (Portuguese East Africa) and Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia).