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Presidential Politics Presidential Politics A president I will, rather than a king For a precedent is only one thing To follow the rule they create for him To borrow peace and kill joy they seem. BRIEF INTRODUCTION This chapter focuses on the presidency of Zambia. As an institution called the presidency, and as a person who occupies that office, the presidency in Zambia has been pivotal to the very ethos of national politics. The presidency is discussed in relation to the military. The historic interaction between the presidency and the military in Zambia explains why even under extreme national distress, a coup has never materialized (See Chapter Nine). Qualities that will define the president of Zambia in the 21st Century are discussed. MAJOR THEMES: Politics ≈ Militarism Leadership Presidential Politics Qualities of C21st Zambian Presidents §10.1 Fascination with Presidency n Zambia, the Republican president is the most powerful person in the nation. He or she is constitutionally the Head of State and head of government. The presidency, also known as I the Office of the President, is an institution in itself: The Zambian president is vested with extensive powers that include presiding over the Cabinet, initiating or vetoing legislation, establishing or dissolving ministries (with legislative approval), and immunity from criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office. Rounding out the Executive branch are the Vice- president and Cabinet. The later formulates policy, answers to the National Assembly and oversees government operations. In Zambia, the president is – Head of State, head of government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He also initiates bills, signs laws, appoints ambassadors, negotiates treaties and grants pardons. He presides over Cabinet (comprising the president, Vice-president, the Secretary of State and twenty-four MPs appointed by the president).1 1 1 The Burden of Zambia, pp. 4-5 Page As a child growing up first in Mibenge village and then in Chingola, I had always been fascinated with issues of leadership. In Chapter One I detailed how at Zambia‟s 19th Independence Anniversary at Mibenge Primary School I was overwhelmed by the veneration of Kenneth Kaunda, the first Zambian president. I was barely nine years of age. As a teenager in Chingola, I had the pleasure of being part of a crowd of pupils who stood for over six hours welcoming the all-powerful Kaunda. Then in 1991, I was among the throng of people who gathered at Buyantanshi Park in Chingola to hear the late Frederick Chiluba who went on to becoming Zambia‟s second Republican president. Unlike other teens whose interest was just to have a brief glimpse of their Head of State, even at an early age, my interest in leadership politics was ubiquitous. My real fascination with presidential leadership began when I was returning from welcoming Kaunda in that crowd of pupils from Luano Primary School. Matter of factly, my initial attraction to the presidency was a protest. As we walked that long road from Chingola Civic Center towards Kapisha a distance of about 35 to 45 kilometers, I was livid at Kaunda. As I listened to a symphony of grey, blue and white, green and white, khaki, and red and white uniforms whirring methodically to the rising and falling waves of the sun and the wind, and still running on an empty stomach as former president Kaunda was heading majestically to his presidential lodge in Kitwe, I questioned why so much of the scarce resources were spent on one man at the expense of a struggling nation.2 I was bombarded with unanswered questions. That evening I slept on my old pieces of sacks and began to dream. I dreamt I was the President of Zambia. Rather than having hungry children lining up to greet me, I visited their schools incognito. I visited their homes and saw how they lived. I went back to Lusaka and sent the soldiers with plenty of food, clothes and books for the kids. I then called a press conference simply to inquire whether the kids were having enough food. At the press conference, I learned of one child who had had no food for days. I took that child to State House and had my personal chefs prepare for him a sumptuous meal. After that child had eaten, I apologized to him and promised never to allow another child go hungry again! That was one of the best dreams I ever dreamed. The better part of it was that this dream became a part of me. I triggered it almost at will from time to time. I woke up at the middle of the night, being interrupted either by bed bugs or because I had to go outside and pass urine in a usually smelly and unsafe pit-latrine. But each time I returned to continue my sleep I would retrigger the same dream. These dreams were my only assets, something not even my extreme poverty condition could take away. Of course, when I woke up, I had to face a plain reality. Certainly, the person of the president can do more than what a million can put together. He or she can do all this because of power. With that power, the ruler can choose to silence opposing voices, eliminate enemies and travel the whole world and dine in palaces and hotels of exceptional elegancy. Or he or she can use the power to bring jobs to the unemployed, provide food to the hungry, and empower minds with knowledge and enlightenment. The choice is his or hers. This power was given to the Zambian president right at independence. After gaining political independence from Britain on October 24th, 1964, Zambia went through three phases of governance. These are plural politics from 1964 to 1972; One-Party system from 1973 to 1991; and a reversion to plural politics from 1991 onwards. Although Zambia is made up of nine 2 2 While in the Copperbelt, former president Kaunda lodged in Kitwe. Other presidential lodges available to former president Kaunda were at Kasaba Bay, Mfuwe and at his Shambalakale farm in Chinsali. Page administrative provinces, most political activities happen in the national Capital of Lusaka and on the Copperbelt Province. Historically, these two provinces have been hubs of political agitation and operation. Politically, the governance of Zambia rests in the central and local governments. “Government power is, however, concentrated in central government, which administers government functions at national, provincial and district levels. Local authorities (councils) enjoy only limited administrative authority.”3 Political representation is distributed among 150 constituencies. These 150 constitute elective seats in the National Assembly. The Republican president is also the president of the National Assembly. He is represented in the National Assembly by the Republican Vice-president. The Republican president nominates eight more members to the National Assembly. Thus, the Republican president, the Republican Vice- president, the 150 MPs, and the eight nominated members comprise the Zambian Parliament. Parliament legislates on behalf of the Zambian people. §10.2 Presidential Excesses From leadership fascination, I have become an ardent researcher on presidential politics. In fact, if there was any one thing I fantasized about in my private reflections were questions like how would it be like living in State House. I promised myself that one of the first things I would see when I visited Lusaka was State House. In 1990, my brother Charles took me to Lusaka for the first time. I resided at my cousin‟s place in Emmasdale just nearby Emmasdale Church.4 In 1996, shortly after going to Lusaka to attend my first year of university at UNZA, I decided to walk all the way to see State House. State House, also known as Plot One, “is the name given to the presidential office in Zambia. This two-storey building [was] constructed under the colonial government...and is the place where the president [takes] crucial decisions which [mold] the nation‟s destiny.”5 I walked all the way along Independence Avenue until I reached what I believed was the nation‟s most powerful residence. As I walked passed Plot One, I observed intently how two soldiers stood there at attention guarding the main entrance to State House. I saw a brown house inside a long and high fence. There were some animals strolling delicately in the thickets inside the fence. And Chisala adds that, “Behind the building there was a nine-hole golf course and it was engulfed by a thicket where wild game and birds grazed and sauntered peacefully.”6 The same thoughts that ran through my mind as I walked passed Edward Shamutete‟s residence in Chingola in the 1980s again flooded my mind. How does life feel like being there? How does the president spend a typical day? Who cooks for him? Where does he sleep, and how does his bedroom look like? What about his children and wife, how do they spend their days? These and many other questions tormented my poor soul, as I walked - tired, hungry and thinking. In 1997, in the company of the Bread of Life youth under Pastor Lisulo Lisulo, I traveled to the neighboring Zimbabwe.7 When we reached Harare, the Capital City of Zimbabwe, I sneaked away and walked all the way to see the government house where the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, resided. The Zimbabwean government house, unlike the Zambian State House, 3 th Government of the Republic of Zambia, Interim Report of the Constitution Review Commission, Lusaka, June 29 , 2005, p. 12 4 In 1992, Emmasdale Church was renamed Bread of Life Church International, located at 136 Chinyunyu Road.
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