Struggle for a just society never ends
Struggle for a just society never endsBy Editor
Thursday May 01, 2008 [04:00]
There is need for us to recognise the fact that many people contributed to our struggle for independence. And this being the case, we have a duty to all of them to ensure that our independence is safeguarded and is used to deliver our people what independence should deliver.
As Swedish Ambassador to Zambia Lars Ronnas reminded us on Tuesday, the Scandinavian people also contributed heavily to the independence struggle not only in Zambia but in our entire region.
Out of these efforts must be born nations of which all humanity will be proud. Of course, although their contributions to our struggles were not acts of charity arising out of pity for our people, but an affirmation of our common humanity, there cannot be duties without rights. All those who contributed to our liberation struggles have a right to see to it that their efforts were not wasted.
And it would have been immoral for them not to have done what they did, to keep quiet while imperialism, racism and fascism sought to reduce an entire people into a status worse than that of beasts of the forest. And it will also be equally immoral to keep quiet and watch us squander for our present and future generations the opportunities offered by independence.
Ambassador Ronnas is right when he says that although our region is today a liberated one, the struggle to achieve and uphold a just and decent society was a permanent one. There are still a lot of deficiencies that we need to combat, that we need to wage struggles against.
It cannot be denied that although politically apartheid has been defeated in our region, it still continues to live with us in the poor housing of our shanty compounds and rural areas; in the bulging stomachs of hungry children; in the darkness of homes without electricity; and the heavy pails of dirty water that rural women carry for long distances to cook and to quench their thirst.
We must agree that real liberation is not achieved by the mere act of proclaiming independence; it is only achieved when economic domination over a people is brought to an end.
The important thing is to give the happiness to our people that the denial of political and economic rights and perpetual subjugation denied them.
It is the duty of our political leaders to steer our people through the tide of history and enable them to be among the very best in all areas of human endeavour.
And now that our people are no longer subordinated to any other country, they have an opportunity to build democratic nations and decide upon their own future forms of government and discovering and themselves dealing with any dangers which might arise – without being told or ordered by anybody else on what to do.
There is need for us to exert ourselves much more, and break out of the vicious cycle of dependence imposed on us by the financially powerful; those in command of immense market power and those who dare to fashion the world in their own image.
We have had to contend with the consequences of conquest in a denial of our own role in history, including the denial that our people had the capacity to bring about change and progress.
It would be a cruel irony of history if our actions to regenerate ourselves were to unleash a new scramble for our countries which, like that of the nineteenth century, plundered our wealth and left us once more the poorer.
Conflict threatens not only the gains we have made but also our collective future.
Our rebirth is now more than an idea, its seeds are being sown in our regional communities, the groupings we are busy building.
And one destabilising conflict among us is surely one too many – we can’t afford it.
For as long as the majority of people in any of our countries feel oppressed, feel they are not allowed democratic participation in decision-making processes, and cannot elect their own leaders in free and fair elections, there will always be tension and conflict. And such conflicts will certainly push our people deeper into poverty and backwardness.
Like we treated our liberation as a common challenge, we should also treat the question of peace and stability in each one of our countries as a common challenge. And those who saw it as their duty to participate in our liberation struggles should also be allowed to see it as their right not to allow us to abuse the rights of our people under the guise of national sovereignty.
We say this because to deny any person their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. We should never allow our political leaders to get away with clichéd catechisms which tempt all who become part of an apparatus. We should not tolerate hypocrisy and humbug.
It cannot be denied that the Scandinavian countries were truly our allies in our struggles to free ourselves from the yoke of colonial and racist oppression. And there is no reason they should not continue to be our allies today because as Ambassador Ronnas correctly pointed out, our norms and principles remain the same to guide us as we engage in efforts to resolve issues where democracy, peace and the wellbeing of our people are at stake. But no true alliances can be built on the shifting sands of evasions, illusions and opportunism.
It is important that we get back to the norms and principles that made us allies, friends and comrades in our liberation struggles. However, we have every reason to remain eternally grateful for the support that we received from the Scandinavian people and their governments.
Even if everything changes tomorrow, we will still have no reason to be ungrateful. And for this reason, we urge all our people to join Dr Kenneth Kaunda in thanking the Scandinavian people and their governments for their selfless support to our liberation struggles and in our development efforts today.
Labels: KENNETH KAUNDA
posted by MrK @ 5:52 AM
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