STANFORD EBRARE

DT
963.6
K3A5
KAUNDA
ADDRESS TO THE
MULUNGUSHI CONFERENCE
AND A GUIDE TO THE
IMPLEMENTATION ...
 NO I N N I S

LIBRARIES
 UNIV

R
NFO
ERSI
TY

STA
DEC 1967
STACKS
LIBRARY

ADDRESS
BY

HIS EXCELLENCY
DR . KENNETH D. KAUNDA
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA
TO THE

MULUNGUSHI CONFERENCE
AND

A GUIDE TO THE IMPLEMENTATION

OF HUMANISM IN ZAMBIA

Presented to the Annual General Conference of the United

National Independence Party at Mulungushi
14th-20th August 1967

PRINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER, LUSAKA

Om-U398 3-87
D ) 943.6
КЗ А5
HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO
THE UNITED NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE PARTY AT
MULUNGUSHI : 15th AUGUST, 1967
 We are back once again to this historic rock of Mulungushi . It is here,
lest we should forget, that we passed a resolution that led us to the birth of a
new nation. It is important that we observe a minute of silence in memory
of the heroes who fell after the resolution that led to the revolution .
It is clear to any impartial observer that in UNIP and its Government
there is no stagnation . There is always something new as we actively shape
the future of our country .
Here, for the first time, we have two outstanding sons of Africa who are
leading their own countries steadily to social , economic and cultural inde
pendence , thereby consolidating political independence .
It is indeed with great pleasure that I welcome in our midst President
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, President of TANU, who is also President of the
United Republic of Tanzania .
Indeed, I have equal pleasure in introducing to you President Dr.
Milton Obote who is President of the Uganda People's Congress as well as
President of the Republic of Uganda.
What these two sons of Africa have done for their respective countries
in particular, and for the cause of the African independence movement and
African unity needs no elaboration by me . Their contribution is well known
to all of you. I will invite them later to address you.
Coming back to our local affairs, may I thank you and, through you ,
all our people in the Party for expressing confidence in me. I am , of course ,
referring to the decision you took to return me unopposed as Leader and
National President of this mighty Party. It was and still is a very humbling
experience.
I do wish to take this opportunity to declare publicly that I will continue
to remain entirely at your service and will always do my best to work for an
early attainment of our goal which is to bring about a state of affairs in
which the common man finds peace, security of mind and body .
I am conscious of the fact that the magnitude of the responsibilities
you have decided once again to put on my shoulders calls for loyalty,
devotion and love for the common man. I will try not to betray him . With
God's guidance and blessings and, indeed, with the support you have given
me I am bold enough to say success is assured .
May I now say a word or two to all of you on the elections we are holding
this weekend. My first word actually goes to the whole nation . I would like
to take this opportunity to thank all those of my comrades and colleagues
who have been with me in the Central Committee for two three - year terms.
I have found all of them very dedicated to the cause of the common man .
They have been loyal to me and to the country .
It was a privilege to serve with these young people and to see them take
some very difficult decisions. I am grateful to God for their presence in this
country and at this particular time. I am looking forward to working with
them once again in any capacity in which the people at this Conference will
decide to place them . To those of them who may not succeed , I want to
say that I take these elections as a family affair and none shall be considered
vanquished ; there is a place for all .
3
 The success of the whole political revolution in this Republic has
depended very much on the wise guidance they have given as a team to the
country. I have no doubt at all that in this second stage of the revolution ,
this country will not lack their guidance whether they succeed or not.
Secondly, I address myself to those of you who are candidates, whether
you were members of the outgoing Central Committee or not. You have
all taken a pledge which says ... " I ... pledge that I shall be loyal and
faithful to the United National Independence Party, to its President, to
>

the policy of Zambian Humanism and obey any call in the interests of
consolidating and safeguarding the integrity of this, our Republic of
Zambia .. .

This is a pledge not only to God but also to the people of the Republic
of Zambia, and I ask you to take it seriously. The only way in which you
can take this seriously is by accepting the decisions that will be taken this
weekend by the five thousand-odd delegates, representing the four million
odd people of this country .

It is important that I tell my audience that I am determined to see to it

as Leader and National President of UNIP that each one of those comrades
who are fighting these elections accepts the ruling or judgment of the people.
This, I want to stress, is one of my most important duties to this young
nation .

To you our electors at this Conference, let me say you carry аa. very grave
responsibility. You are being called upon to elect a few people in whose
hands you are going to entrust the future of this nation at least for the next
three years . Cast your vote for the best candidate. Remember you are
casting your vote on behalf of many thousands of people from your region.
Comrades, this is the right place for me to refer to rumour-mongering.
This is a very dangerous thing. Here I am referring to two types of rumours
and both of them I condemn very much indeed. The first type is that type
of rumour -mongering which I associate with the Party Central Committee
elections. We have fallen easy victims to this very bad habit. There has
been so much mud -slinging that we have forgotten we are children of one
family .

The second type of rumour-mongering is that organised by outside

forces. So many unsigned circulars about civil servants; about politicians;
police and army officers; about trade unionists ; about almost everyone
you can imagine on earth who holds some rank in the Party or Government.
All these people have had some sort of story circulated about them. The
best way in which we can kill these rumours, whether they are in the first
category or in the second , is by doing the following.
If someone should come to you and say “ So and so was corrupt or was
doing this and that ” —if you are a true patriot you must be able to
summon sufficient courage to say to that fellow— “ Let us go and see the
person himself so that you can testify before him that what you are saying
about him is in fact true ” .

4
 If he is telling the truth he will say, “ Yes, let us go. ' Then , of course ,
the authorities will be able to take up the whole matter. If, on the other
hand, he should say something different, tell him there and then he is a liar.
You should also warn him that the next time he comes to you with such
stories, you will expose him .

If you should receive a circular letter that is not signed , you should
realise that it comes from an enemy of the State and pass it on to the police
immediately .
I should end by saying that there are many ways in which you can kill
rumours, but none more effective than by challenging the germ -carrier to
face the light.
Brethren, here we are all aware that the third year of independence is
drawing to a close, for in two months time we shall be three years old as the
sovereign and independent Republic of Zambia. Let me mention once
again that we were only a year old when evil men , determined to do what is
wrong, took over control of Rhodesia illegally. They are men whose sole
claim to power hangs on two strings - colour and military might.
Needless for me to say to you that they have been backed by people of
equal minds from many quarters of the world. Nearer to us they have got
champions in the like leadership of Vorster and Salazar who, together with
them, from that day of illegal declaration of independence up to now have
tried to squeeze life out of this young Republic.
There is no denying that these are powerful forces in that they have got
almost everything that makes a modern state strong and lack only the one
important and Godly thing. ... The foundation of their Governments is
not the people as a whole.
Nevertheless this world is still crude and in many quarters MIGHT is
very difficult to distinguish from RIGHT, and so the unholy trio helped,
as I said earlier, by many other sinister forces in various parts of the world,
have gone all out to try and portray Zambia as a new state on the verge of
collapse.
However, this young Republic was born out of the womb of struggle
and , indeed, after a very long time. Instead of sitting down to lament and
moan the Party, the people and their Government decided to show they
were made of steel but with hearts of gold.
It was not an easy thing to turn this real curse to this young nation
into aa blessing. Brethren, need I give examples of this ? On the moral side
we have gone ahead not only firmly believing in , but also practising non
racialism and non -tribalism . We have gone ahead firmly believing that
every law-abiding person in Zambia, citizen or resident alike, will have the
same protection under the law of the country.
In other words, believing in God as we do and His whole creation, we
have refused to be moved about by the policies of men who would like
Zambia to collapse because they are so much afraid of our human approach
to life.

5
 And so the rule of law—which , in any case, was never in any danger
from us — has been maintained while , at the same time, we have dealt firmly
>

with subversive elements in our society in accordance with the constitution

and law of the people's Republic.
In the same way we have advanced on the material side . Just in case
some doubting Thomases should listen to my speech let them know that out
of U.D.I. has been born Nkandabwe and now Siankondobo coal mines.
Out of U.D.I. has been born the oil pipeline between Zambia and Tanzania .
Out of U.D.I. has been born organisations such as :
Zambia Tanzania Road Services.
Zambia National Wholesale Corporation .
Zambia Steel and Building Materials Corporation.
Zambia Clay Industries Limited .
Zambia Sugar Company .
Tazama Pipelines Limited .
Zambia Railways.
Zambia Airways .
Agricultural Research Council of Zambia.

In other words,the single-mindedness of the people's Party, the prople's

Government , the Civil Service ; the single-mindedness of the people's
Army and the people's Police has seen us through yet another year of
serious challenges and difficulties.
Brethren , it is important to record that because we have remained true
and loyal to the common man and humanity as a whole we have given the
lie to what the pandits of untruth, prophets of gloom and doom and many
others in that category were saying was going to happen.
At great cost to this young nation we have built and built and built.
Now we can look back and say thanks to God's guidance and, indeed , to the
determination of His children in Zambia and well wishers outside the country ,
we have not only survived but have in fact forged ahead to develop at a very
fast pace .

So it is that I take this opportunity to say to all of you Party workers

and leaders, to all of you Civil Service heads , to all of you Senior and Junior
Army and Air Force Officers present, and, indeed , to all of you Senior and
Junior Police Officers present, you have done wonders. Congratulations to
you all and please convey the same to those that you have come to represent
here .

May you continue to serve with humility your fellow men as you struggle
to defeat whatever is still imperialistic and colonialistic around Zambia as
well as within . May God bless you ; may He strew the path you tread with
knowledge and wisdom , sufficient to make you humble but dynamic servants
of the common man , sufficient to make you fight that which is evil and defend
that which is right and just not only to our fellow human beings within
Zambia but the world over.

6
 Comrades, what I have just said has only been possible because of our
ability to organise ourselves at all levels of the nation. I said to the National
Council held in Lusaka on the 26th of April of this year that much of what
we have done has been achieved because we observed the importance of
SPEED AND ORDER .

All this is in the speech included in the publication under the title
“ Humanism in Zambia ” so I will not go over it, but I think it is important
that we as Party workers and leaders, we as leaders in the Civil Service, in
>

the Army and the Police, should understand precisely what type of democracy
we are being called upon to defend .
The type of democracy that exists in Zambia is one that is based on the
importance of man . In other words,, we are working to establish a man
centred society. The problems of developing and maintaining a man -centred
society in a young country like Zambia have already been outlined in
“ Humanism in Zambia " and so we will not spend time on this. However,
all of us are invited to read carefully what is contained in the interpretation
of “ Humanism in Zambia " . This is designed to help each one of us to
understand how we might rebuild a man -centred society based on mutual
aid .

It is important to state that the most important single unit in our

democracy isman himself,and let me emphasise that this man is not defined
according to his colour, tribe, religion, creed or political leanings. Indeed ,
not even his material contribution is considered .

It is simply that he is man, the beginning and the end of everything on

earth. With this as our understanding we are now engaged in the process of
democratising the whole structure of the people's Government. This is a
very difficult job to do in that it is a continuing process.
From what I have said it must be clear to you all that we are all
engaged in an exciting but challenging task . We were determined before
Independence , and we are determined now, to help mould a new civilisation
in Zambia based , as already pointed out, on the importance of man regardless
of his colour, race, religion , creed or any other matter that has formed an
artificial barrier between men and therefore a curse and hindrance to the
march of humanity towards the right goal.
It is gratifying to hear UNIP leaders at all levels talk about and defend
this human approach to life. Gratifying in the sense that this as the basis
and foundation of our new society is understood, appreciated and, indeed,
followed at all levels of Party leadership. Needless for me to mention the
Civil Service , the Army and the Police for there, too, we see it in practice.
It cannot be over-emphasised, indeed we should never be tired of re
peating and repeating the message that the only way to make this
civilisation shine more and more like the Morning Star is for all of us, not
only citizens but residents as well , to be true to the cause of humanity
regardless of what the racialist minorities all around us think , say and do.
It cannot be an easy affair but I have always had the greatest confidence
in you and, indeed, all our people, to determine the right path, and having
so determined , to stick to it through thick and thin .
7
 I have already referred to the importance of each one of us understanding
the type of democracy we are building in Zambia. If you asked me what
this was , I would say Isaw four pillars of democracy in Zambia. I will now
explain precisely what I mean by this.
FOUR PILLARS OF DEMOCRACY IN ZAMBIA
First Pillar

One of the most important and difficult cornerstones of democracy

is to see that the will of the people is done. What will help to bring this
about is obviously to see that their will is not only established but main
tained insofar as the election of leadership in their Party is concerned . It
is with this in mind that the Constitution of the Party provides for four levels,
the basic one being the branch level.
Here all leaders are elected by the people for effective organisation.
Each branch in rural areas has a number of villages under it. In urban
areas it has sections. A number of branches grouped together form what is
called аa constituency. A constituency organisation has all its leaders elected.
From here we move on to the regional level where leadership is either
elected or nominated by the Central Committee . This , in a way, is what we
might call the Civil Service of the Party.
Finally, we have the headquarters of the Party which is the home of the
Central Committee. The Central Committee consists of fifteen members, all
of whom are elected except four. These four are nominated by the President
of the Party .
Elections at various levels take place according to an established order.
The Party can claim to enjoy a fully -developed democratic system within
its own body politic.

Second Pillar
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
The voice of the people is heard very readily here too. While , as in the
Party, elections are naturally confined to registered members of the Party
only, Parliamentary elections are for anyone who meets the qualifications
laid down in the Constitution of the Republic, namely, that he is a citizen
of Zambia and has attained the age of 21 .
The Constitution provides that Zambia shall be divided into Con
stituencies for the purpose of elections to the National Assembly, and that
each Constituency shall return one member to the Assembly. It is again
provided that the boundaries of each Constituency shall be such that the
number of inhabitants is as nearly equal to a population quota as is reason
ably practicable.
The population quota is the number obtained by dividing the number of
inhabitants of Zambia by the number of Constituencies. The effect of those
provisions of the Constitution is to ensure that no one part of the country is
permitted to return more members than its share of the population would
justify.

8
 The country is divided into a given number of constituencies. At the
moment there are seventy -five constituencies which return one member each
to the National Assembly. In addition , the Constitution empowers me to
nominate five Members of Parliament.

Let me now take this opportunity to announce to the Conference and the
country that Government has decided to amend the Constitution in order to
provide that the next National Assembly shall consist of 105 elected members
and five nominated members. As you are aware the ten Reserved seats will
fall away on the dissolution of Parliament, which means that the 105
elected members of the new Parliament will all be democratically elected
by the masses .
Comrades, may I remind you that the Party does not wish to encourage
selfishness in Members of Parliament and speaks in terms of “ a constituency
belongs to the people through the Party ” and should not be an instrument
for a selfish few to use against the people to further their own selfish needs
and ends. Everyone knows that a Member of Parliament on a UNIP ticket
is not allowed to treat his Parliamentary constituency as his own property
because it is not his own .

As already pointed out , we emphasise the Constituency belongs to the

Party. This is why during the quarterly ten - day “ Meet the People " visits
Members of Parliament are directed by the Central Committee to cover other
constituencies and are free at other times to visit the constituencies which they
represent in the conventional sense .
A UNIP Member of Parliament is part and parcel of the whole, and does
not therefore carry out his own policies in aa constituency. Only independent
Members of Parliament can do that for that is what the people in that
particular constituency will have chosen .
Needless for me to emphasise that the guiding line of the Party is
HUMANISM and we cannot allow anyone to treat human beings in any given
constituency as if they were his own property. We believe that the people
have a right to make claims from their Government through their Party.
This they do naturally through the Party leadership at all levels and that
is why Members of Parliament go wherever the Party sends them for, as >

Members of Parliament, they must speak for all the people in Zambia and
not just one section.
Naturally note is taken of the fact that certain day to day problems
will develop from constituency to constituency but there are channels of
having these peculiar problems solved through the Party and the Member of
Parliament for the constituency.

Third Pillar

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

At the Local Government level the people are once again allowed to
elect their own representatives who are referred to as Councillors whether
it is in rural or urban areas. Each Council area is geographically cut into
wards (or small district constituencies if you like) .
9
 Anyone who qualifies to register in accordance with the provisions of
the Local Government ( Elections ) Regulations is allowed to choose his or
her own representative through the ballot box . We attach great importance
to this, because it is here that we expect, as time goes on, much work of
development to take place. At the centre we are keen to decentralise because
the idea is to “ develop from below ” .

In other words, as we get more and more effective councillors and quali
fied local government officials, we would hope that the implementation of the
Development Plan itself would be so much decentralised that a lot of work
can be done by councillors, civil servants and political leaders at the district
as well as ward levels .

I have said before there is no reason why, for example, things like primary
schools, district roads and bridges, afforestation schemes, dispensaries and ,
indeed, economic, social and cultural development should not be handled
at this level .

This will not only lead to more and more participation by the people—
at local level in the running of their country's affairs, but it will also
help ease the load that Ministers and officials carry at the centre. As has
been pointed out in “ Humanism in Zambia ” this can only come about if
councillors, both in rural and urban areas take their responsibilities seriously .

Fourth Pillar

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The Constitution of the Republic provides that there shall be aa President

of the Republic . He has power to dissolve Parliament. To avoid any
President becoming a dictator, whenever he dissolves Parliament, he also
dissolves his own position , and when Members of Parliament are being
elected he also must seek re -election if he wishes to continue in office .

In other words, the President of the Republic of Zambia has to be

elected at the same time as Members of Parliament. The people who are
qualified to elect Members of Parliament are also qualified to participate in
the election of a President.

In addition, it should be pointed out that after representatives of all

the branches of UNIP have met at a regional conference they elect any
specified number of delegates to represent them at the General Conference
at which the Central Committee members are elected . Whoever is elected
President of the Party at the General Conference, he and his new Central
Committee take over the administration of the Party immediately. On
assuming office the President appoints four members to the Central
Committee .

On a dissolution of Parliament, the Party puts him up as its candidate

for the Republic's Presidential elections and when he succeeds, he takes
over control of the Government.
10
 Once he assumes office all the executive power of the Republic vests in
the new President and he immediately appoints:
The Vice - President.
Cabinet Ministers.
The Attorney -General.
Ministers of State .
Parliamentary Secretaries.
During his tenure of office the President has power to appoint :
The Chief Justice .
The Secretary to the Cabinet.
Chairman of the Public Service Commission .
Zambian Ambassadors and High Commissioners.
Permanent Secretaries.
Army and Air Force Commanders.
The Commissioner of Police.
I have outlined as briefly as possible the way the Constitution of the
Republic works on the political side, and I have also tried to bring out how
the Party functions in relation to the Republic's constitution .
Let me emphasise once again that although we can justly be proud of
our Constitution we should not stop making serious efforts in the direction
of evolving a system that would make it possible for us to make the humblest
of our citizens not only feel they were participating in the affairs of the
state, but in fact should so do .
I am always intrigued by the Greek city state democracy. The question
is can we effectively apply that type of democracy to a country like Zambia ?
In other words, how can we make full participation of the common man in
state affairs more feasible than it is at the moment ? This is a question that
must be in our minds all the time . Our system is as good as any in the world
today, but I am sure we can make it better still .
True democracy—that is a Government “ of the people, for the people
and by the people can only be reached anywhere on earth when important
day -to -day decisions are taken on the basis of a plebiscite. We might
argue this was impossible when you have got to make very quick decisions.
The very fact that we cannot achieve this because the world is moving faster
and faster is the heart of the challenge to the human being.
If we are going to make ourselves move so fast as to allow the need
for speed to override the importance of the common man's participation in
the effective running of his affairs, we are being overtaken by our own
institutions, and the machinery that we designed to run them. The writing
on the wall must be clear to all thinking men and women.
It is important that all Party officials constantly explain at seminars
and other meetings how the Party and Government work so that the people
know exactly how they might
Contribute to the economic, social, cultural, scientific and political
growth of the country ; vent their feelings on any subject personal to
them or otherwise.
11
 This must be done if institutions are not going to be more important
than the common man whom these institutions are supposed to serve first
and foremost. It is important for me to emphasise that Party leaders at all
levels must always distinguish between Party discipline and suppressing
the people's feelings on any subject. As already pointed out, the question
of order was emphasised in my speech to the National Council of the 26th
April, 1967 , so I shall not discuss that here.

PATRIOTISM

Brethren and friends, here we meet as leaders of our people , the general
public, the Civil Service , the Army , the Air Force and the Police . It is
important that we understand that what we are doing is being done for the
good of the common man.
I have always defined the common man as that man who, without help
from the people's Party and Government, is likely to become a victim of
exploitation in this merciless world, and goodness knows he is by far, far
in the majority, and that is what makes our task so formidable but, of
course, without him no one will be anywhere. He is strangely and in
explicably our Ward as well as our Master and we are him .
I call for patriotism and the Oxford Dictionary defines a patriot as a
lover of his country ” . What are we being called upon to love as patriots ?
The beautiful, physical setting of Zambia ? These are secondary to man ,
and their only importance is how they can be developed in the service of
man. To me the geographical features of a country are nothing, it is the
people who live within the country who are important.
It is you , Party leader and trade union official, who fought for independ
ence because you wanted the common man to enjoy a fuller life. You
senior civil servants and your officials are there primarily to help give this
common man a better life .

You , senior and junior Army and Air Force officers are there because
you love your people and you want to defend them against any outside
aggression or, indeed, against any unlawful activities within the country.
And you , senior police officers and your men are there to see that law and
order is maintained as this is necessary for the protection and development
of the common man.
It is therefore imperative that all of us be true and honest servants of
the common man, and this is why I call for patriotism to permeate through
all channels of thought, word and deed in each one of us.
In other words , our role in all this has changed from what it was before
Independence. I would like to say that all of us in various walks of life must
think and think again, of how best we can evolve a system in which we
will all be active participants in response to this call of service to the common
man because we cannot do that effectively if we continue to think of our
selves as small entities entirely independent of the whole.
This is a challenge to this generation and, as I have said before, it is of no
use sticking to old methods of doing things only because they were done in
that way before. If they are good methods we must obviously continue to
12
use them but only after a very critical and careful examination and re
examination ; so please feel free, whether you are in the Party, in the Trade
Union movement, in the co -operative movement or, indeed, in the Civil
Service, the Army, the Air Force and the Police, to give me advice as to how
you think we might improve on our present methods of doing things in our
various fields and, indeed , how we might improve on our working relations.
There is always room for something better.
ONE -PARTY STATE

Before we analyse Humanism in Zambia let us discuss the question of a

one -Party system . Now , if what has been happening at both the Parliamen
tary and Local Government levels is anything to go by, we are obviously
very close to the attainment of the one-Party state .
There are a number of points of principle which need re -stating here :
(1 ) That we are in favour of a one -Party state .
(2) That we did not believe in legislating against the opposition.
(3) That by being honest to the cause of the common man we would,
through effective Party and Government organisation, paralyse
and wipe out any opposition thereby bringing about the birth of
a one-Party state.
(4) That we go further and declare that even when this comes about
we would still not legislate against the formation of opposition
parties because we might be bottling the feelings of certain people
no matter how few .
For the sake of emphasis and because these are important matters, I
repeat:
(a) a one-Party state is coming to Zambia because the masses of our
people recognise that we are sincere and true to each one of
them . They know we realise that all the institutions we took over
and those that we have established ourselves are all servant
institutions of the common man and the positions we hold in
these institutions are as servants, and not as masters ;
(6) the masses of our people trust us because we have said that the
one-Party state was going to come about as a result of the people
voting for the Party freely for a people's democracy and this has
continued to be our guiding line.
This means, among other things, just as within the Party the leadership
must get the mandate at all levels from the people from time to time, so it is
that at the Parliamentary , Local Government and, indeed , Presidential
levels, we must go to the people in accordance with the ORDER we have
established . We cannot do this by legislation .
As already pointed out, every indication on the political horizon shows
that at the next general election UNIP will be returned with an overwhelm
ing majority , if not 100 per cent. I prefer, Comrades, that we went on like
that getting that overwhelming majority through honesty, hard work ,
sincerity, love and loyalty to our people and, indeed , through effective
Party , and Government organisation , rather than through legislation
against the opposition.
13
 I have constantly reminded you that leadership in a society like ours,
which is humanistic in its approach, must avoid the trappings of power and
constantly work for something that will form the sound basis for a sound
society.
A leader who knows what he is doing must constantly and continuously
bear in mind that one of his primary tasks is to help the growth of leadership
within his Party. He must use all means at his disposal to enable those who
work with him to exercise the authority of their leadership so that they do
not find it strange to lead or command should this be necessary earlier than
is constitutionally provided for ; or, indeed, when the time comes, as by law
established .
Any leadership that does not do this fails in one of its principal tasks.
Let the people continue to be the judge and the source of authority and power.
HUMANISM IN ZAMBIA

How do we interpret Humanism in Zambia in terms of all human

activity ? Humanism in Zambia will not be worth the paper it is written on
if it is not given practical interpretation in the day -to -day lives of the people.
This obviously is a serious challenge and something that we cannot hope to
do overnight.
It is a continuing process but elsewhere we are making a start on
definitions of various parts of it and so it must be emphasised that Humanism
in Zambia as a way of life will need, on the part of all of us who believe in it,
understanding it clearly and also doing everything we can to live up to it.

HUMANISM THROUGH POLITICS

A humanist looks at politics as a God-given opportunity for contributing

all he can to the growth of the development of man towards the attainment
of a better society. To do this he needs certain tools and this is where
political power, money and other things that are of material benefit to man
come in. They are merely essential tools and not an end in themselves.
With this background let us delve further into the field of politics. To
begin with we all understand that almost allimportant decisions are political.
If they are not, then they are either directly or indirectly influenced by
political considerations.
If we accept this as basically correct, then we can understand how
important each of the four pillars in the Zambian democracy is. This is so
because each one of these pillars is controlled fully or in part by all of us
here at this Conference.
If we are not to agree unwittingly with those who have claimed before
us that politics was a dirty game then we must constantly-repeat con
stantly-be on the lookout for those elements among us who tend to look at
politics as a source of material benefits to themselves.
To love, serve and help the weak must be the thinking to guide us in
what we say and do. If these alone become our lodestars then we will not
derive financial and other benefits from the political power we wield except
that which we earn in an honest way .

14
 We will not seek to use the political power we have to avenge ourselves ,
nor, indeed , shall we be tempted to treat as less human what we might
refer to as 63 other people ” simply because we are different from them in
terms of tribe or colour.

In short, whatever we try to do will be guided by the knowledge that

whatever appears on earth with a body and soul similar to ours is God's
creation and will not be discriminated against. If they do wrong against us
as individuals or as a society we have already an ORDER of dealing with
them, that is as by law established .
If, on the other hand , what is established by our law is not sufficient,
we have again channels already established to deal with any inadequacies
insofar as the law of the country is concerned . This can be raised at the
Party level, at the Local Government level, at the Parliamentary level ;
indeed , at the Presidential level by any person .
We shall not, therefore, take undue advantage of anyone because of the
political power we wield. This is how we should see humanism through
politics. Only in this way will Zambians of the present day and age con
tribute towards a more perfect society, namely a completely man - centred
society.

HUMANISM THROUGH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The whole of a country's economic activities can only mean one thing
to a humanist — the creation of more wealth that should be used to the
advantage of the common man .
In other words, wealth should be used to bring about a welfare state.
This, of course, has been stated before us and has almost become a conven
tion . A humanist must see in this something much more than the con
ventional.

By this is meant that, first of all, our people as individuals are made
aware of the potential within them . Through co-operation between the state
and them the best in this field is brought out of them .
In other words, there is to be co -operation between the state and the
common man to help him live a fuller life through his own contribution.
Exploitation of one man by another is something that a humanist will not
entertain . The ability in some of our individuals to rise above their fellow
men is recognised by a humanist and is , indeed, encouraged, but, in the end,
ways and means must be found to make those individuals with extra talent
share the results of their extra talented activities with their fellow men
directly or indirectly.
If this did not happen we would run into the same old pattern of the
strong exploiting the weak. Accepting the exploitation of one man by
another is not only evil and therefore ungodly, but is responsible, to a very
large extent, for so much poverty in the midst of plenty between individuals
within nations as well as between nation and nation . Indeed , this human
exploitation is almost responsible for the fear of one by another. In the end
this inevitably leads to war .

15
 A humanist, by not wanting to see the exploitation ofone man by another
will, therefore, encourage himself as well as others to learn to develop a spirit
of hard work not only on their own but also in co-operation with others
around them : this at both national as well as international levels. Because
a humanist accepts this approach to life he is international in character and
would not like to see his own nation exploit other nations in any form at all.
A humanist as an employer will see that he does not exploit his em
ployees. In other words, he will not only pay them what is due to them but
will also encourage or help develop the best in them. In the same way, an
employee who is aa humanist will not wish to exploit his employer by loafing
half the time he is supposed to be at work, thereby earning money by false
pretences.
Brethren, let me take this opportunity to say a word to all our labour
leaders here present — a word that I hope they will spread to all our workers
in this our motherland .

Any labour leader who has a one-way traffic mind is simply not good
enough for this country. The type of labour leader we want in Zambia is the
one who has the courage of his convictions and will speak without fear or
favour to an employerwho is manhandling his fellow men simply because
they work for him : and , indeed, will speak with equal authority to the
workers if they suffer from indiscipline and lack of concentration on what
they are supposed to do.
Every worker from the President of the Republic of Zambia, President
of the Party, to any other worker or employer-must be made to understand
the importance of discipline at work for only if this is done can we create
the wealth we need to distribute amongst our fellow men.
Some of our people have a very false sense of money. They think
money isa question of Government makingmorecoins or making more bank
notes. The truth must be told to our people. They must also be told what
inflation can do to a country, and there are many examples on this con
tinent. This, I would say, is the greatest challenge on the part of trade
union leaders in Zambia .
These are basic points from which we should be able to follow and try to
understand why this party and Government has outlined their approach to
economic activities in Zambia in the way it has in the pamphlet “Humanism
in Zambia " .
The aim is clear. We havea responsibility not only to Zambian nationals
and all others within our borders, but to the rest of mankind . We must
move solidly and fast towards the attainment of a man-centred society.
This cannotcome by mere wishes. We will need to believe in what we think,
say and do.

HUMANISM THROUGH CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Culture, like any other branch of life, is like clear water. If you put this
in a green pail it looks green ; pour the same water into a black pail it looks
black ; in a red pail it looks red ; in a blue pail it looks blue, etc.
Up to the time of independence ; indeed, up to now, cultural activities
tended, and in many ways still do, take a provincial or even tribal base.
16
This is understandable, for like the clear water I have referred to , we can
put this water of culture in a tribal or provincial pail, or, indeed , out of our
own choice we can put it in a national pail and thereby help consolidate the
nation .

To this extent let me pay my compliments to those who sent a cultural

team to TANU's Saba Saba days in Dar-es - Salaam . Coming from a con
ference with President Kenyatta and President Obote in Nairobi, President
Nyerere and I were met by this team at the Dar -es- Salaam airport.
I was impressed by the fact that I knew they all belonged to different
tribal groups and that they had come from various provincesof Zambia, and
yet they all sang and danced together songs from all parts of our beloved
Republic.
I watched very carefully our Tanzania brothers and sisters who were
around — and they were quite many. Indeed, I asked questions which led me
to the conclusion that they, that is our Tanzanian brothers, did not realise
that these people had come from various provinces of the country. I must
admit that I, myself, could not have told who was who.
Let me give other examples. On 4th April, 1966, when I visited the
David Livingstone College in Livingstone I was greatly impressed to see
boys and girls from all parts of the country singing together with great
enthusiasm various songs in a number of our languages. You could not tell
who had come from where because they were wearing - quite rightly — the
mantle of Zambia.

Later I had occasion to be present when the Kabulonga Girls School

performed at the Evelyn Hone College one night. Again , these future mothers
sung in many Zambian languages and yet I knew they had come from
different parts of the country .
Indeed, on 31st March, 1967, when I visited Chipembe I was again
equally impressed by the way these future mothers and citizens performed
together without distinction of province or tribe. I hope that much the
same thing is going on at all other schools.
A humanist, therefore, will look at this wonderful variety of cultural
activities from various tribes, districts, provinces and racial groups in
Zambia as something that enriches the nation as a whole. Nay — a humanist
will go beyond that and declare honestly and sincerely that this is Zambia's
contribution to international growth of culture, for in the end a man - centred
society that a humanist aspires and strives for belongs to man—and man
remains man — whether he comes from the North or South Pole — from the
East or the West .

HOW DOES A HUMANIST VIEW THE COLOUR AND

TRIBE OF A MAN ?
A humanist does not suffer from racial or tribal prejudices at all. He
makes no apology for having been born what he is ; nor, indeed , would he
like others to be apologetic for being what they are . He takes the view that,
for one thing, no manhad any sayin how he was going to be born .
17
 Pride in colour or tribe , therefore, should not be the same as the pride
that we have in the clothes we wear or anything that we have the right and
ability to choose. To the theist this is God's choice. Indeed, even the atheist
will know from his own experience that he had no say in how, where and
when he was going to be born . A man - centred society will only be achieved
if there is universal respect for the human being regardless of his colour,
race or tribe.

HOW DOES A HUMANIST LOOK AT RELIGION ?

So many times wars have been fought between men of different religious
beliefs. A humanist looks at this as a sad thing , because religion is about
God ; and God, to the believer, is the fountain of life — human life.
This being the case , it is clear that when men start quarrelling about
>

religion they are in fact betraying their own “ undevelopedness ” since, as

already pointed out, the believer has it that all human life flows from God
and religion should , therefore, be left very much an affair between the
individual and his Creator.
May I remind my audience what I have said already that an analysis of
“ Humanism in Zambia " in the form of interpreting it into action is being
circulated . But mention should be made here that I am recommending to
the Conference that the Central Committee should be allowed to take
firm action against any Party leader who deliberately misleads people in his
interpretation of our philosophy of Zambian Humanism.
At this juncture I would like to mention one or two things before
concluding my speech .
Zambia, as a non -aligned country, must take occasions like this one to
restate her position in the international field . In this respect, let me take this
opportunity to thank all nations, organisations as well as individuals who
have contributed to our fight against the Rhodesian rebels .
We intend to continue with this fight even if the colonial power herself
that is Britain led by Mr. Harold Wilson - has let down not only Zambia
but the rest of the thinking world. Our stand is right and just not only to
Zambia , but also to the rest of mankind.
Now , Zambia is a member of many international organisations. There
is the United Nations , the Commonwealth Organisation, the Afro - Asian
Solidarity Conferences and , indeed, the Organisation for African Unity.
Our strong beliefs in humanity lead us to entertain the idea of an eventual
world Government.
We take our membership of these international organisations as a good
beginning towards the attainment of this goal, because by this membership
we are actually eating at those physical as well as other factors that stand
between us and a world Government.

UNITED NATIONS
Recently, a number of incidents in the field of international conflict
military or otherwise — have demonstrated clearly how helpless the World
Body could be . However , out of this apparent weakness has been born one
clear thing-some rather unexpected strength. What I mean is that all
nations atleast know this world cannot do without that World Body.
18
 United Nations' failures are not really, in the final analysis, rightly
blamed on the organisation . They are our own failures as individual nations
that is, those nations that make it up. After all , the name is UNITED
NATIONS. In other words , this means nations that have come together
in search of world unity . So all the weakness must be placed at the door of
each one of those nations that make it up.
The United Nations can be just as strong as each individual nation
wishes it to be — that is , the total percentage of that willingness to make it
strong by each individual nation, is its exact strength - no less, no more.
If I may move on to another point. ... It has become a habit these
days to blame everything on the debit side on big nations in the United
Nations. Perhaps this has some justification because of the way in which
these “ big brother nations behave but also because all of us so - called
small nations still limply want to lean on MIGHT IS RIGHT even if we
do not say so in as many words.
I say this because if we , the so -called small nations had the moral fibre
and courage to come together and refuse to be blackmailed , could go a long
way towards filling the gap which the world misses to - day in the sense that
MIGHT does not always believe in morality .
Let me emphasise that this is our only hope ; indeed, the hope of the
rest of mankind . So long as this missing link continues because all of us
small nations — want to worship at the altar of foreign aid, so long will that
World Body remain ineffective to the detriment of mankind .
It is misguided criticism that is levelled at the Secretary -General and
his officials. They can only be as effective as we, the nations that have put
them there, are prepared to let them be. I hope it is not too much to express
the feeling that on the 22nd birthday of the United Nations, all nations
big and small - will resolve to work harder and better than they have done
in the past year, thereby giving true meaning to these two very important
words UNITED NATIONS.

COMMONWEALTH
One cannot imagine a better equipped organisation that could have been
a very effective instrument for bringing a very big part of the human race
closer and closer in all its activities.
The Commonwealth Organisation has many advantages over the
United Nations. It has one common language. Most, if not all the member
states share to a very wide extent a common law. Although the origin is
imperialistic, it has definitely worked itself out to a position where members
are free and equal in their association — in this last respect just like the
United Nations membership.
It should also be pointed out that the Commonwealth is a multi -racial
organisation . In other words, all the racial groups, as we know them on this
earth , are represented .
It is to me, therefore, a painful pity that politically the Commonwealth
foundered on the rock of a short- sighted and rather dangerous “ kith and
kin ” approach made by of all people, a leader of a British Labour Govern
ment to the Rhodesian rebellion .
With all Zambia's strong belief in the importance of the Commonwealth,
we will be less than honest if we led the world to believe the organisation
19
could still stand as a force to reckon with politically. The challenge, if I
may venture to say so , is to all of us to revive this organisation to what it
was before U.D.I. but I think the main portion of this challenge goes to white
leaders in this Commonwealth .
Do they sincerely believe in a multi -racial Commonwealth or do they
not ?

Only actions here can save the situation.

We do not, however, take a negative approach and Zambia's suggestion
is that we might keep the organisation going only insofar as technical,
scientific, cultural and trade co-operation is concerned . This is necessary in
order to buy time which we need to find out whether a proper medical
operation on the Commonwealth can revive it, since all attemptsto revive it
through political artificial respiration have now failed .

AFRO-ASIAN, LATIN-AMERICAN CO - OPERATION

Under great difficulties more and more people are going to schools in
these three areas. As it happens, at the same time, science and technology
are making time and space more co-operative. This means that in the field
of interaction more and more people in these three continents are able to
judge how fairly, or otherwise, they were being treated by their fellow men
in other places of the world .
To come to the point, wealth is concentrated — wealth and all that goes
into producing it — is concentrated in an area which is also populated by
white people. It so happens, too, that from the same orbit came those who
colonised Latin America , Africa and Asia.
Needless to say, it is these same areas where economic organisation is so
powerful and so expansive in nature that the vested economic interests I
have referred to , would like the status quo to continue ; that is the three
continents should continue as cheap sources of raw materials as well as
continue to be cheap dumping grounds of their products, regardless of the
human element found in these areas.
I say this as an exercise to provoke reaction - and I sincerely hope it
will be favourable reaction from those of our friends who dwell in the
comparatively small area that I have mentioned.
From this it would appear to me that we can never rule out this sphere
of human activity as a source of possible conflict between men of colour.
I know only too well that there are thousands, if not millions, of people who
think properly who would like to see this gulf between the richest and the
poorest bridged. All we can do is hope and pray that their voices grow
stronger
This, of course , is only one side of the story. We know we have been
colonised. We know we have been exploited in the past both politically as
well as economically, but no amount of argument to the contrary can ever
convince me that all these three continents can continue to be exploited by
the Northern tip of this earth I have referred to already, without our co
operation directly or indirectly.
Certainly we have no reason for self-pity at all. True, because of this
long-term exploitation we might have lost quite a bit of ourselves, but surely
it must be clear to all of us that what we lack is the will and desire to
20
deliberately establish genuine co -operation between ourselves. We do not
mean that we should start on a grandiose scale to beat those who exploited ,
and still exploit us, at their owngame . This is obviously more thanwe can
bite, still more than we can chew.
We can , however, begin in a small way. For example, Africa , as she is
to -day, can achieve quite a lot. Land, air and water ways are areas where
the need for co -operation is so clear that one wonders why so much has not
been done as yet. Indeed , tele and other methods of communication are
yet another. We need to co -operate more. Our weakness lies in the fear of
what I might term the shadow of colonialism . Selfism , of course, has no
room in our ranks if we are to develop towards the achievement of all this.
On this point I would like to end up by appealing to those who would
be saviours of the situation to act and act very quickly. The young people
who are going to schools in the Southern tip I have referred to, may not be
as patient as we their elders have been . My appeal , therefore, goes to those
who wield power on both sides of the gulf — the rich side and the poverty
stricken one — to help bring about better standards of living on this side of
the gulf. This is necessary if wars are to be avoided and peace re -established .
Indeed, my appeal goes to those who wield power in Latin America,
Africa and Asia to see what can be done to make more and more joint efforts
in the field of development go beyond the talking point. This in the end, if
it takes place quickly, will serve as the only surest way of bringing real and
lasting peace to this troubled world .

O.A.U.

For centuries now , Africa has been interpreted and understood only
through the eyes of outsiders. It has been painted as a “ dark continent
so effectively that this “ dark continent ” interpretation began to be accepted
even by the African people themselves as correct.
Today she is saddled with immense problems ranging from some of the
worst forms of colonisation to poverty , hunger, ignorance and disease.
Economic exploitation of the masses by a privileged few — mainly from
outside the continent, helped at home by a number of military and political
addicts and puppets—is still very much the order of the day.
The struggle to influence Africa extends beyond the border of Eastern
and Western conflict, for it exists within both the Western and Eastern
Camps. Indeed , racialists in the minority controlled countries around Zambia
capitalise to the full on the cause as well as the effects of the interaction of
all these forces within the continent.
If in this nutshell analysis of Africa's problems I have succeeded in
making you feel like I do-utterly disgusted—I am happy. I would , however,
feel completely guilty if I made you begin to believe Africa was hopelessly
weak because it is not .
What I have said , however, shows we have a formidable task before us.
The journey is obviously a long one calling for sincere, inborn and deep
rooted determination to fight what we know to be evil and to aim at leaving
this world a little better than we found it through sincere service to this
continent and, indeed , to mankind as a whole.
21
 Prophets of consternation , doubt and defeatism are now using Africa's
current weaknesses to feather their own nests . No sensible African leader
disputes the fact that African states have been weakened by military coups
and many other factors, some of them more than a century long . But we
refuse to agree with those who say this was sufficient reason to co -operate
with what is essentially evil.
We admit the task cannot be solved in one generation. Again, that is
no reason for not making an honest and decent straightforward start on the
road to real freedom . We agree , and I have said so before, a good leader is
he who knows his own weaknesses ; but this is not the end . A good leader
knows his country's weaknesses and, at the same time , plans to make it
stronger. To wither like a dry leaf dropped off its branch , and, worse still ,
to decide not to even make a start on the road to removing that which is
essentially evil no matter how powerful it might be , is to betray the entire
human race, including those of our fellow but misguided human beings
themselves .

To sum up what I have just said about Africa I would say — Africa
suffered one of the most devastating blows by the slave trade. Indeed,
the colonisation of the continent has sapped Africa politically, economically
and, above all, morally and culturally.
After centuries of this slave trade and colonisation came the process of
de -colonisation , which began to bear fruit only within the last twenty
years. While the racist regimes east, south and west of us are making a last
ditch stand to reverse the process of de-colonisation, the East/West conflict
and the divisions within their various camps have taken advantage of
Africa's weakness : and , either because of a genuine fear of each other, or
because of their own selfish interests or, indeed, both, they have aimed and , in
many cases, succeeded at influencing individuals either within parties or
governments or, indeed, military commanders and all this ends up in utter
confusion in some African countries. Needless for me to say this can only
help the exploiters.
May I now move on to point out that I see no room for fear and retreat
here, nor, indeed , need we allow ourselves to be depressed , as I said earlier,
by what is happening.
All we need do is to look at what has been happening in these so-called
more developed countries since the dawn of this century to realise that they
are not far off ahead of us. For us it is simply a question of knowing what
to do and when to do it. It is a question of us believing entirely in our cause
which is the cause of the common man , the cause that transcends all racial ,
national or, indeed , religious barriers . The cause of the common man here
abounds everywhere.
If Africa sees the cause of the common man as the only true cause,
Africa will deal justly with all parts of this world whether it be in the
Eastern or Western camp.
I have spoken very much in general terms but each one of the in
dependent African states can fit in somewhere in my analysis. This analysis,
however, cannot be considered complete without my saying a word or so
on the recent developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(Kinshasa ).

22
 I have sent messages to thank the Emperor of Ethiopia , His Imperial
Majesty Haille Selassie, as well as President Johnson for their help to
President Joseph Mobutu during this crisis. We ourselves have decided to
send 10,000 bags of maize. I can tell you I wish we could do more and I do
hope the time is coming when we will be able to do more should anything like
that happen to any sister country in Africa .
To our leaders in Africa I say, the seriousness of the situation in the
Congo can be ignored only at the risk of further peril to the continent. That
a group of mercenaries can take it upon themselves to fly into an independent
country , take advantage of our comparative weak position in the military
sense and hope to depose people's leaders and replace them in order to serve
big economic interests that employ them, is a very serious and sad develop
ment in human history.
What can we say about this ? This is no better than slave trade days;
than the days of colonisation - days which bring to one's mind, when one
reads history, the true meaning of MIGHT IS RIGHT. This is an even
more dangerous method of colonisation : more dangerous because it tends to
use local political addicts and puppets: more dangerous because big monopoly
interests are involved. To these anything that stands between them and
getting their completely uncalled for profits must be removed ruthlessly .
Africa has done absolutely nothing to warrant this type of treatment.
Just as in the days of slave trade and colonisation , Africa is becoming a
victim of selfish men and women whose sense of profit transcends the
importance of MAN—God's man.
We in Zambia certainly wish President Joseph Mobutu, the Government
and the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( Kinshasa) the best
of luck, and we will continue to support them in any way we can from time
to time .
NON-ALIGNMENT
Most African countries have chosen as their foreign affairs guide the
policy of non -alignment. I do not quite honestly think we as African
independent states could have thought of anything better. We in Zambia
have constantly reminded all our fellow men that we were truly non -aligned.
This is an acceptance on our part that we were going to be an active parti
cipant in all human activities.
I have already told you, Comrades, of our membership to many inter
national organisations. We have constantly declared that we would
honestly and sincerely strive to establish good relationships with any
country that wanted to genuinely establish good and sound human relations
with us .
Persistently we refuse to be dragged in the net of east and west conflict.
If we should appear even on the verge of this net , it is only where we and
others think we might be of some use — no matter how minor - in bridging
the gulf.
In the first three years of Independence, I have noted two important
factors that make this non -alignment a very difficult policy to pursue.
First of all, the moment you declare yourself a non -aligned state you are
courting doubts and trouble from the “ big brothers ”" . The West will say
you have set yourself afloat on the ship to Moscow or Peking. The East will
say you have set yourself afloat on the ship to Washington , London, Paris or
Bonn ,

23
 All this is bad enough, but I think what deals a devastating blow to this
policy is my second point, and this is that there are grades in this non
alignment. In other words, some African states are more non -aligned than
others. Some are non -aligned enough insofar as the West is concerned and
others non -aligned enough insofar as the East is concerned.
Comrades, this is a very strange world where we the leaders of the
small countries must explain everything that we do , especially those of us
whose countries in the past have fallen very strongly in the orbit of
Western countries .
Since Independence, I have undertaken two State visits to the
capitals of the West. Apart from this I have gone to London twice - once
to attend a Commonwealth Conference and , secondly, to attend the funeral
of the late Sir Winston Churchill—Britain's Second World War hero .
In June this year I undertook a trip to India, Pakistan and China . You
have all known the speculation in the Western Press. I am being dubbed as
a man moving towards the East, that is towards the communist camp, or
just a fellow traveller, that is a man with sympathies for the communists.
Quite honestly I do not know whether to be angry or to laugh at this !
To begin with , we have declared our policy publicly which is explained
in Humanism in Zambia ” . What there is communistic in that I do not
know. Western capital continues to flow into Zambia . ... With it , per
sonnel from there . There are in all over 70,000 people from the West , or
people of Western origin , here in Zambia .
Four trips to the West after Independence and countless more before
Independence were not sufficient to make me a capitalist ! Only one trip
to Peking lasting three days will make me a communist ! What reasoning
is this ?
Our policy is very clear. We will get aid wherever it is available on the
best terms, but we never allow the political or any other life of those who
give us aid to influence our thinking in doing things. Indeed , if the Chinese
will provide me with a hundred million pounds to build the much needed
ailway to Tanzania I will certainly receive that aid without any apologies
to anyone at all .
Non-alignment, if I may re -emphasise it, means providing for ourselves
such a framework in our dealings with the outside world that we will praise
when this is due and, indeed, criticise, or even condemn when this is called
for. This, of course, is a very difficult policy to understand.
In fact, even where and when conflict has been between sister African
countries, both of which consider Zambia a friendly country, and when time
came for Zambia to make her voice heard , the one that we criticised always
expressed surprise that we did not support them and supported their
enemy. This perhaps is understandable, but we do not appreciate it,
because we expect a friendly or sister country on the continent, or elsewhere,
to tell us where and when we go wrong : and I am sure we do this some times :
but to expect us to take a permanent stand in favour of or against any given
nation is not being realistic.
Every nation , like every individual, makes mistakes from time to time
and by this policy, all we do is to give ourselves room to be able to say-here
you are right, we agree with you — or here we think you are wrong and we do
not agree with you .
24
 Indeed , this very non-alignment policy has helped us to start afresh at
Independence in our relations with those countries that colonised Africa
and this includes Britain, which colonised us, on an equal basis, provided,
of course , those countries were ready to treat us like the adult nation we are .
We have declared wise men do not live in the past, they learn from that
past: they live in the present as they prepare themselves for the future.
This I believe is a mature approach to life, the result of which , as I have
already said, is enabling us tocreate a new civilisation.
Here we see not only black, but also white, brown and yellow very
much able to appreciate each other's problems and, indeed, able to readjust
ourselves to fit in with our new society.
Indeed , Zambia and Britain are able to share life in the same way ; no
longer, of course, as coloniser and colonised but as brothers, both belonging
to the human race and ready to help each other in any possible way.

CHINA'S PLACE IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

For the first time I had an opportunity to visit China to see some of
the people that form a nation 700 million strong. I must admit I found
them a very friendly people, not only in their enthusiastic welcome attended
by hundreds of thousands of people, but also in their understanding of our
problems in Zambia in particular, and Africa as a whole.
I came back, as I pointed out on the day I arrived , with a feeling that
the Chinese leaders and their people felt like an outcast member of the
international community.
Now , first of all, what is China ? It is a very big country physically as
well as in terms of population. What is more, the Chinese are a very hard
working people . This they have proved not only in their own country, but
also wherever they have gone .
I was amazed, and I must say equally impressed, to see that a nation
which only eighteen years ago was stagnating and staggering in poverty ,
hunger, ignorance and disease could in less than twenty years organise its
700 million people to the point of almost succeeding in giving everyone
sufficient food, shelter and clothing to make them fit for hard work.
The rest of humanity can only ignore this energy and ability on the
part of the Chinese nation to organise themselves at its own peril. We, the
rest of mankind, have a lot to learn from the Chinese people. Admittedly,
their ideology is something that belongs to them and I believe suitable for
their own country, but there are other things about which we should not be
ashamed to learn from them .

These things will not make us communists in the same way as the
predominant influence of the West in Zambia has completely failed to make
us capitalists. As the world knows the Chinese have exploded their first
hydrogen bomb in quicker time than any of the big powers who today
hold this weapon , ever did .
Purely from a scientific point of view why should the rest of the world
not allow its scientists to exchange notes with the Chinese scientists. It is

25
only by making them feel that they are participating in joint adventure and ,
indeed, effort with other nations that that human energy they now have
bottled might vent off .
Morality would call for the human race to accept the Chinese in the
community of nations at the United Nations. Indeed , expediency or fear
of such a big nation from a military angle would dictate that we did the same
thing.
To-day, we in Zambia do not recognise East Germany - we recognise
only the West. In China we have a similar problem . We recognise only
Peking China and not Formosa. We are being consistent , for at the United
Nations we do not support the entry of East Germany. Yet, while some big
powers do accept Formosa as a member of the United Nations, they do not
at the same time accept East Germany to the membership of the World
Body.
On the other hand, some other big powers are canvassing very seriously
the entry of East Germany into the United Nations but they reject Formosa.
This is double standards. If the big powers were true to the principles of
democracy which they so much profess, Formosa would be out of the United
Nations and they would not be canvassing for the entry of East Germany.
If the will of the people is to be done there are 700 million people in
China against 12 million in Formosa and other small islands. In the same
way West Germany has 30 -odd million people and East Germany has only
17 million. Both these - Formosa and East Germany - were created through
the influence of outside powers. These are facts which I say without any
sense of self-righteousness at all.
Having wandered all over the world, let us now come back to Zambia.
Need I emphasise any more that the world moves on the shoulders of
individuals and so do the countries that make up this world. Zambia is no
exception. Zambia will rise or fall according to what each one in the country
contributes - citizen or resident alike. Of this responsibility each one of
us here at this conference shares a double portion because we are leaders of
our people.
Comrades , in that cold winter of 1961 we committed ourselves to the
total eradication of imperialism and colonialism from the Motherland .
Because of that committment, the revolution was successful . The call today
is equally loud and clear. We need men and women who will commit
themselves to this second stage of the revolution — the revolution of imple
menting Humanism in Zambia as this is the cause of the common man.
The hour calls for patriots ; discipline; dedication and selflessness.
Before this Conference is over, as Captain of this ship I want to see how
many true soldiers of the revolution I have. This is a serious challenge but
given the right qualities in leaders and followers alike, victory is assured .
May God bless you all.

26
A GUIDE TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
HUMANISM IN ZAMBIA
1

1
 Section One

INTERPRETATION OF “ HUMANISM IN ZAMBIA "

INTO ACTION

The Party has now defined its philosophy as one that is based on a very
important tradition -- that of a man-centred society . This has been done
very briefly. The reason is that voluminous work which ought to have been
done needs a lot of time. One hopes, however, that this will be done as
time goes on.
Nevertheless, the basics are there , and it is now the duty of the Party
to interpret this into action . In this task of interpreting Humanism in
Zambia we will have to be guided by the following :
(a ) All our political, economic, social, scientific and cultural planning
must continue to be based on the creation of a man -centred
society .
(6) Our past is rich with this type of society for that is how the people
of old lived. From this we must get our strength to plan for our
new society , always bearing in mind that there is also a lot that
is good from other people who, for many reasons, good or bad ,
are now able to mix with us in the new international community.
(c ) Our ability to maintain and develop the traditional community
based on mutual aid society principles demand that we recognise
the village or section as the most important political, economic ,
social, scientific and cultural unit for development.
(d) In our new task we will have to be rigid in our determination
to build a man -centred society and flexible in the selection of
methods which we use to achieve our objective.
(e ) We must all understand and accept the fact that, although our
aims and objectives are laudable, we cannot expect miracles
overnight . To reach our cherished goal there will be need for total
dedication and hard work . New sacrifices will have to be made .
Success , of course , will also depend on the contribution which
each one of the four million people in Zambia is prepared to make .
A little more ought to be said on the importance of maintaining our
traditional mutual aid society by basing our approach to “ develop from
below " on the village or section units .
Opening the National Council of UNIP on the 9th April, 1965 , I said ,
among other things:
“ If the Co -operative movement in Zambia is meant to be a way of life
and not just a way of solving our unemployment problems, then it is desirable
that all of us should give it serious thought. In trying to philosophise on
co-operative activities as they affect us , we should recall that from the cradle
to the grave most Zambian people of old lived in the co -operative way.
This had been accepted as a way of life without the philosophising of pundits,
and there is no earthly reason why we should not be proud of it, for it was
enjoyed by our ancestors .
29
 In their researches modern social scientists have established that
politically our people enjoyed what was essentially a democratic way of life
in that either the people themselves were allowed to choose their Chief or
they choose the Elders who , in turn , chose their Chief. In most tribal groups
these Elders controlled the Chief and if he misbehaved then he was displaced .
There were , of course, many qualities which our people looked for in their
rulers — courage, determination, bravery, discipline and self-discipline, to
mention but a few . This is something of which we may well be proud and
indeed is something which we should emulate.
I have referred to our ancestors cradle to the grave conception of co
operation as a way of life, but how did this apply in the economic and social
fields and can it meet the challenge of today ? Let us think about the social
aspect first - let us say a baby is born in a village of Zambia. There will be a
number of carefully selected women to receive the baby and indeed to make
the occasion a very happy one . The mother is looked after by those who in
this way are chosen to perform that very noble function on behalf of the
whole society .
Often, depending whether the family is matrilineal or otherwise, the
baby, as it grows , will be the responsibility not only of the parents , uncles
and aunts , but also society as a whole , for lessons on how to become a good
man or a good woman will be the responsibility of those Elders in society
who are respected for their wisdom . For the spirit of courage and determination
--- necessary qualities to be instilled in the young ones-again, society
as a whole takes care of that by someone who himself or herself possesses
these qualities and is respected for them . Good manners and behaviour is
the responsibility of the parents who will ensure and encourage their children
to emulate the Elders whose strength of character is above reproach.
We can examine many aspects of social life and in it we will see that
much was well provided for on this basis of mutual co -operation . In sickness,
society as a whole took over the care of those afflicted and those who were
doctors in their own right had a heavy responsibility in that they were few.
Although they did not know how to read and write, they preserved the
history of their tribes through many careful devices. We find these devices in
a culture which never fails to impress — wise sayings, drawings, tales , songs,
etc. , and in all these arts they were capable of effectively portraying all the
many and varied aspects of life.
You may well be asking yourselves what all this has to do with the
co-operative movement — well I am showing that this is no new thing to us
in Zambia as our early society was organised on the basis of mutual help
and therefore self-help. Still discussing the social field , no village organisation
was complete without a place where guests or travellers to the village could
rest for the night. Their accommodation and food was provided for them
collectively, and this leads me to my next point which was the organisation
of the economy .
Much research still remains to be done, and this we should leave to those
experts who have studied and know how our forebears organised their social
and economic life, but even so enough is known to enable me to indicate
the social pattern of our immediate past - that is - shortly before the coming
of the European to this part of the world — in other words — an economic
pattern that is not too distant from us.
30
 It is interesting to note that the economic organisation was clearly
defined and had a place of importance not only from the communal approach
but also to the individual. That is, each individual worked hard to look after
his family and himself, but never forgot the importance of the communal
effort. So it was that they very often pooled their resources and efforts and
worked for the good of society generally.
Let us take an example—a move to a new site — the work to be done
was communal , that is, for the good of all and the tasks, depending on tribal
custom , were defined . The men would cut poles and so on at the same time
as the women would bring grass, water and wood for their new homes.
They knew precisely that this house or that house belonged to so and so,
and from this we again identify the importance they placed on the individual.
This by actions which were almost automatic.
At the same time , the co -operative effort was used as a means to achieve
something communally for the individual as well as for society as a whole .
In a number of tribes the same system was used in the making of gardens.
Gardens were clearly identified as belonging to this or that individual but,
here again , they pooled their resources and worked on the gardens together.
This also applied at the time of harvesting. They did this collectively
although the crops were stored by the owners of the garden as individuals.
To take this to its logical conclusion we cannot help but be impressed
by the fact that although the food was stored individually, it was used
collectively , and to go back to the matter of visitors and travellers which
I have already referred to — the food for these visitors and their
accommodation was provided free by the community.
Quite honestly, to me this is very appealing and a way of life I would like
to see developed and adapted to suit the present age, in many ways, a much
more difficult time. The people of old obviously realised that unity is strength
and this we have, of course , enshrined in our National motto - One Zambia ,
One Nation. But more than this, our ancestors realised and appreciated the
importance of the individual .
At this point in time, in the long march of humanity towards the
unknown , we are being called upon to decide for ourselves which road we shall
follow . We , as a Nation, have decided to follow our own way. At the same
>

time, we are very conscious that the way of life I have been describing, while
very suitable for the less robust times of old, and while valued by us, has
grave limitations when it comes to competing with ideologies to which I have
referred - ideologies which are supported by well-organised forces - economic,
military, social , scientific, etc.
All of us are God's creatures and this is a firm enough foundation to see
us through what we are about to do — that is, to lay down a solid foundation
on which to build One Zambia and One Nation .

At this point I must mention that in the same way as wise people do not
attempt to glorify their past as a means of survival, these same wise people
will not fail to see the future in its right perspective and plan accordingly.
We know that nations, in the past, have risen and fallen because of a decision
or decisions made by one individual in those nations.
31
 In other words , we can only survive and surmount the numberless
problems of living together by the actions that each and every individual in
Zambia does today and by what he or she will do tomorrow . The importance
of the individual in our society and throughout the world can , therefore, be
seen from many angles — including, of course, the importance we attach to
one's own survival . We cannot expect a country to be better than its own
individuals for a country is what its individuals make it .
In this very general survey we have seen how our society was organised
on the basis of co -operation. First the individual— then the village - and
finally the whole tribe. In the society each contributed what he had for the
good of the whole — some produced more crops than others , some were
hunters, others were basket or thatch makers, while others engaged in
pursuits which , looked at as a whole , went a long way to meet their basic
requirements and contributed to a social economy at all levels.
We might now ask ourselves a very relevant question and this is : How
do we now organise our society on the basis of the importance of the indi
vidual , and how we can ensure that what the individual does is for the good
of society as a whole ?

Pessimists will cry out that we are trying to establish a Utopian society .
My answer to this is that unless we make efforts — serious efforts to march
towards this goal by the creation of a society in which the simplest of men
will not fear for his life either at the hands of other nations or forces within
the nation , we might as well give up hope for the survival of man . We
cannot organise any section or part of our life — be it on the level of the
individual or on the national level --without taking into consideration the
beginnings of our society which , I repeat again , is man himself as an
>

individual .

Our effectiveness in international affairs will depend on how well we

are organised socially, economically, politically and culturally. In turn ,
this will depend on how individuals in Zambia are organised to serve our new
Nation , and this is the crux of the whole problem , for it is now that we must
consider very seriously how best to re-organise our affairs to meet the
challenge which we , ourselves, have made.
In our considerations one thing stands out above all others, and that is
that the governing Party has a vital role to play, but before our Party can
play this role it must first put its own house in order and the part it is to
play must be crystal clear so that it is understood by all . Up to the time of
Independence our role was plain - it was to organise our forces to secure
that Independence. This we have done, and now we must define our new
role . When this National Council Meeting is concluded I hope that we will
all be clear in our minds exactly where we are going and the means we shall
take to get there.
We have seen how the old Zambia was organised and have realised that
it was the ideal at that time because numerically and geographically the
problems they had to deal with were much smaller, but beginning right here
in this hall we must try to find out how we can apply the precepts of this
way of life to our modern times.

32
 We must start , and I use the word start deliberately because even if we
were able to find all the answers to our economic, political, social and
cultural problems by making a co -operative approach to them it would not
be an " all-time ” solution. As society growsmore and more problems will
be born and therefore we have to gear ourselves to meeting challenges at an
ever -increasing tempo .
What problems do we now face ? Putting it bluntly I would say that
we have four which are immediate and vital — hunger and poverty, ignorance
and disease ; but added to these are those problems which the outside world
imposes on us by our contacts with other people . I have already pointed
out that political independence is here and there is now the question of
moulding it in the manner best suited to our present day wants. Culturally
we are rich and now we must revive what we have inherited from the past
and with our political mould adapt it as part of our general planning .
Economically and socially we have got to begin afresh . In our policy
statement for Independence we declared , publicly, that in Zambia there was
to be a public sector as well as a private sector. We intend to adhere to our
promise, and I would like to take this opportunity to reassure private enter
prise that the UNIP Government is doing, and will continue to do , every
thing in its power to encourage them to stay here and help us to build
Zambia into a country completely free from the four evils I have spoken of
and to help us improve the lot of all our citizens.
At the same time, Government is vitally interested in participating
actively in the economic life of the country. But even this is not sufficient
ALL OUR PEOPLE MUST BE BROUGHT INTO THIS and it is here
where the co -operative movement comes in . I do not want, even in economic
terms, the Government of Zambia to think of our people as if they were
mere pawns in a game. I want them to participate fully in everything that
we are planning and doing. How can it be done ? To be effective we must
think in terms of the smallest unit in our social and political organisation
the village .
This is good as things stand today, but I am not sure in my own mind
that even if we organise this village unit economically and socially that we
will achieve much and I must admit that I hesitate to interfere to any great
extent with village life as it is today for the very reason that culturally we
may be committing suicide - we might — without being aware of it, destroy
some of the best things in our national culture. At the same time , to leave
our villages as they are today means stagnation and the last may well be
worse than the first. We cannot for instance, provide health services, schools,
roads, markets and the many other necessities for each and every village
throughout Zambia.
I cannot see Government effectively combating hunger, poverty ,
ignorance and disease without some sort of regrouping of our villages. I am
not proposing that villages should lose their identities completely. What I do
suggest is that through our Chiefs and our Party we could regroup the
villages in such a way as to bring, say, about a dozen or so villages together
into one fertile area . The villagers and their Headmen would still retain their
identities and yet be regrouped in such a way that it would not only be possible,
but a worthwhile undertaking by Government, to provide them with the amenities
of life in the way of schools , health services, social centres, etc.
33
 In this way the cultural importance we attach to the past will still be
preserved and , at the same time , these units will be sufficiently big to make
modern social services worthwhile.

I see this as the ideal economic solution . Here, for instance , if the plan
ning of each District was done as a single unit, we could provide help in the
form of tractor units and expertise in the field of agriculture, to say nothing
of stock improvement and veterinary services. It would be easier to improve
the system of communication and establish carpenters, builders, black
smiths and many other trades and crafts all operating on the co -operative
basis .

This is a plan , but not something that any of us can guarantee will take
place within a decade. The best we can hope for is to make an effective start
and with the popular support which the Party enjoys, we can be of tre
mendous help to Government by co-operating with our civil servants and
others who will be invited to come and help implement our Five-Year
Development Plan-our blueprint for this massive programme of recon
struction for Zambia .

To sum up, pessimists and our critics will say that what we are planning
is not capable of being realised because the social conditions in questions
belong to the age of kinship society, more suitable in a rural setting, and can
therefore have no place in the larger political units and in an industrial
setting. That I do not accept this is plain from what I have said. We have
not, as yet , lost the human approach to all our problems, political, economic,
social, cultural and scientific. The type of society I am proposing we plan
for our rural population will meet with no difficulty whatsoever apart from
the conservative nature of rural people anywhere in the world.
I am confident our people will respond to our call because already in
some areas like Luapula and Southern Provinces you have people settled
in large numbers on their own . In any case , this unique chance promises
such tremendous opportunities that no effort must be spared in exploring its
possibilities . I am sure you must feel as jubilant as I do at the possibility of
Zambia being re-organised in this way-a way that should retain within
our society what I have already referred to as a unique humaneness plus
methods of industrial development borrowed from both the East and the
West where and when this is necessary .

If there is this additional attraction of people getting better economic and

social services by regrouping themselves, I see no problem arising that we
could not surmount. As for those in towns, we have no fear at all because I
know only too well that we could retain this humaneness in them by organis
ing them into co -operative economic units so that in the main our approach
to the economic development of the country would be three -angled - private
enterprise , co -operative enterprise and the public sector of the economy.
The important question is how can the Party, that I have already de
scribed as being to Government what the blood is to the heart, participate
in the realisation of this policy if this National Council should accept it?
We will need to reorganise the Party completely—give it fresh impetus
and this will be a subject of a separate paper which will be discussed behind
closed doors .
34
 This is what I said to the National Council of UNIP on the 9th April,
1965. It all centres around the importance of man - man in the rural areas
as well as in the urban areas; indeed, man everywhere.
On page 7 of Humanism in Zambia this is further illustrated by the
following quotation :
“ This high valuation of MAN and respect for human dignity which is a
legacy of our tradition should not be lost in the new Africa. However
' modern and advanced in a Western sense this young nation of
Zambia may become, we are fiercely determined that this humanism will
not be obscured. African society has always been man -centred . Indeed,
this is as it should be otherwise why is a house built ? Not to give man
shelter and security ? Why make a chair at all ? Why build a factory ?
Why do you want a State ranch ? For what else would there be need to
grow food ? Why is the fishing industry there ? We can go on asking these
questions. The simple and yet difficult answer is ‘ MAN ’ . Simple in the
sense that it is clear all human activity centres around MAN . Difficult, too,
because man has not yet understood his own importance . And yet we can
say with justification and without any sense of false pride that the African
way of life with its many problems has less set-backs towards the achieve
ment of an ideal society. We in Zambia intend to do everything in our power
to keep our society man -centred . For it is in this that what might be described
as African civilisation is embodied and , indeed, if modern Africa has anything
to contribute to this troubled world , it is in this direction that it should .”

As already pointed out, Humanism has been accepted and our task is to
interpret this in relation to our day -to -day lives all over the Republic .
We will have to be conscious of the fact that we are not only planning for our
society in terms of this generation , but we are laying the foundation of those
who for generations to come will inherit Zambia from us .

In this respect, our responsibilities are heavy. We cannot govery wrong,

however, if we stick to the principles we have enunciated. On a higher plane
of human development the common man philosophy we would say is a
question of doing the right thing to a fellow human being simply because he
was human and one is supposed to serve one's fellow men . On a lower or
more selfish level-better still on a more understandable and appreciable
level , in human terms-the question could simply be IT COULD BE YOU
in that unfortunate position. What are you doing about it ?
In other words, we might say to Kaunda as President of UNIP,
President of the Republic of Zambia, to members of the Central Committee,
to Ministers --indeed , to Members of Parliament, to Civil Servants, Army
and Police Officers and their men - indeed , anybody in positions of authority
in industry, commerce , or elsewhere—Today it is you in the place of com
mand — but just as yesterday it was not you , tomorrow it might not be you .
Today's driver on the road could be tomorrow's pedestrian.
It must be repeated on a higher plane it is service to the common man
that is required. He who is strangely and inexplicably the other man as well
as myself. Once we understand and grasp this very firmly in our own minds
the rest will follow as day follows the night.
35
 In all this that we are discussing now, we are aiming at organising our
selves politically, economically , socially, scientifically and culturally to such
a point that we will make it possible for every person in Zambia to live a
fuller and happier life .
It therefore becomes a question of what we have now : how can we ,
limited as it is , use it to the best of our ability so that it can cover all our
people in Zambia in such a way that it will provoke them or move them into
action , thereby bringing out the best in them? By wealth here we give it a
wider horizon of interpretation. It is wealth not only in terms of money ,
but in terms of knowledge which should eventually help us to wipe out
ignorance and, indeed, lessen disease and, with the help of modern medical
facilities, wipe it out . Obviously this knowledge will be in many directions
scientific, cultural , political and many others. The second question, therefore,
is how can we achieve this ?

The first point that must come to our minds is, to help somebody
effectively , we must be able to reach them somehow . In this regard we must
be able to reach them physically. This challenges our ability to analyse the
situation and, having done so, organise ourselves effectively.
So it is that we think of the VILLAGE in rural areas and the SECTION
in urban areas. With this appreciation it is obvious that the Party (UNIP )
is the only sufficiently widespread instrument we can use to reach the
common man .

It follows that those of us who are human material in this formidable

task must know , or must be helped to know , precisely what each unit would
be required to do . There are now some basic points which every leader must
bear in mind at whatever level . These are :
( 1 ) We all believe in a co-operative way of life, but we misunderstand
the past if we think that a co -operative approach to life is new to
our people . To be blunt, a mutual aid society, that is ,one which
from the cradle to the grave is based not on a profit motive, but
service to each other as human beings , is quite honestly more and
more creative than anything we can think of now. Its survival
is based -- among other things - on how effectively we maintain
and develop the village or section unit in our society. It is
therefore important that we do not destroy the village unit in
our attempts to achieve more and rapid development economi
cally or otherwise.
( 2 ) The question of being flexible means that we have to bear in
mind that we have emerged from a non -money to a money
economy and that the use of money imposes on us specialisation .
Specialisation in its wake challenges very seriously a mutual aid
society because it could introduce selfishness and individualism
of the Western type of capitalism and could be very misleading.
( 3) This means one of the principal tasks of the leaders must be to
encourage “ development from below " . This is to say it is not
wise for us to always have to tell our people what to do . What
is required is to go to them and encourage local initiative at the
village level if it is in the rural areas , and at the section level if
it is in urban areas . One might mention in passing that the

36
 approach made by Community Development Officers in Govern
ment is the correct one in this respect, and, under this pro
gramme, they will become more and more involved . To encour
age local initiative it is important that the first question our
people should ask is “ WHAT IS IT THAT WE CAN DO TO
DEVELOP OURSELVES IN VARIOUS FIELDS AND
WHERE AND WHEN IS GOVERNMENT HELP RE
QUIRED ? ”
(4) What appears in No. 3 above is important because
(a) It encourages the initiative in our people which has been
lying dormant not only because of the colonial past, but
also because after Independence we have tended to plan
too much from Lusaka. The emphasis must be shifted
to the village and section levels. Whatever we plan must
be a people's plan . Our task is to provide the infra
structure and then let people fit in the rest ; needless to
repeat that this will be with help from the centre where
this is necessary .
(6) No country could ever hope to progress if the government
was the only source of initiative for development. In any
case, under SELF-HELP programmes wehave done and
achieved quite a bit. However, much more remains to
be done. It should be stressed here that in a mutual aid
society SELF -HELP was the cement on which everybody
depended.
VILLAGE REGROUPING
(5) In my speech to the National Council which I quoted earlier on,
stress was laid on the importance of maintaining the identity of
villages and their village headmon wherever the regrouping took
place. I would now go further and say that unless it became
absolutely necessary, village regrouping should be done only
when the people themselves ask for it and even then the identity
of these villages must be maintained .
(6) The village unit must be understood by us for what it has been
the solid basis of a mutual aid society. A co -operative approach
to life as it is understood in Western as well as Eastern countries
is only one aspect of organisation of a village society, namely the
economic side. If we are to succeed with our co -operatives this
must be understood thoroughly.
(7) The aim of the Party and Government is to spread what little
wealth it has to every corner of the country in as uniform a way
as is humanly possible so that it can help stir up local initiative.
This calls for a very intimate re- examination of our loan -giving
devices. We have done something in the field of co-operatives
but I believe the time has come for taking a closer look at this. We
must avoid at all costs giving loans to co-operatives which are
just going to turn a few individuals who get these loans into
determined capitalists. The Credit Organisation of Zambia, if
properly reorganised, comes closer to something that might reach
the village unit effectively. This Party and Government must
avoid the creation of artificial top, middle and lower classes in our
society.
37
 In other words, I am saying that the importance of maintaining and
developing the village unit inZambia cannot be over -emphasised. A mutual
aid society such as was lived by our people was all-embracing. Today we
say so much about the co -operative movement, but this in fact — as already
pointed out - is only an economical side of development whereas a mutual aid
society included all other facets of life - political, economical, social, scientific,
as well as cultural . If we allowed the co-operative movement to take
predominance over the village unit we would be making an unpardonable
mistake. There is no reason why we should not look critically at the co
operative approach to life, that is, the type we are making.
Government is busy giving loans to co -operatives. The giving of loans
as a principle is very good, but I think in the process we are committing two
errors. The first is by the time we are through, all we will have succeeded in
creating is a class -minded society. We may be creating rather unconsciously
a capitalist society. Reports have come in which show that some of our people,
on getting loans , become exploiters of their fellow men. They themselves
refuse to work. They watch those that they employ toil and moil for money
that had come as loans from the people's Government. Secondly , we are
destroying initiative in our people because we are creating a spirit in them
of looking to Government before they can start moving.
The challenge of the time is how can we make mass development in
Zambia possible ? Taking China as a lesson for us here - in eighteen years
they have managed to raise the standard of living for all their people.
Although we are a humanist and not a communist society we should
nevertheless ask ourselves this question : Can't we achieve the same, while
retaining our humanism in Zambia ? One cannot think of a better way than
this Party and Government going all out to develop the people of the
Republic of Zambia through the village or section unit .
How can we achieve this ? Obviously we must have some properly
defined approach to this whole problem . To begin with , let us declare that
(a) No person should starve in Zambia because there is no real land
hunger as is the case in many other parts of the world.
(6) No person should really fail to have a decent two or three -roomed
Kimberley brick house.
(C) No person should really ever dress in rags in Zambia nor indeed
go bare -footed .
(d) No person should ever suffer from malnutrition in Zambia .
There is no doubt at all that we could achieve all these within a few
years if the whole country was organised on the basis of a village as the first
unit of contact by both the Party and Government in rural areas and the
section as the first unit of contact by both the Party and Government in
urban areas. If we are going to attach such importance to the village unit
we must ensure that every village is registered.
The second thing must be for all rural councillors to draw up their
local development schemes within a given time. This would mean strengthen
ing very much the Town and Country Planning Department in the Ministry
of Local Government. These district development plans would not necessarily
be opposed to the National Development Plan. They would in many ways
be complimentary. These would deal mainly with providing the local
infrastructure .

38
 While this was happening, the Party as well as councillors and, indeed,
the Central Government, must continually drum into the minds of everyone
in the country that real development for the common man was going to be
on the land, starting from village level in rural areas and at the section level
in urban areas. Of primary importance is the fact that development will
start from below. In other words, the involvement of our people in this
development must be at the village as well as section levels. This means a
lot of work for the Party especially, and it also means a lot of seminars for
Party workers , councillors, village headmen as well as civil servants, in order
to understand this sort of intensive as well as extensive approach to the
masses of our people.
In this, schools from primary to the University of Zambia must play a
very predominant part. Reference will be made to the part that schools
may play in this later. The Party, councillors, civil servants and all those
involved in the development work at the district level must now take note
of what is going to follow .
When we speak of national development it is very easy to get misled
into believing that the development of the nation has little or nothing to do
with the development of the four million -odd Zambians. In fact, national
development is meaningless if it does not develop each one of our four million
people in the country. We are therefore saddled with the problem of finding
effective ways in which we can see the development of the head, the hand and
the heart of all our people in this Republic. To achieve this we must first of all
identify the major areas of concern in human beings when we speak of an
all -round development in each one of our people. There are, of course , many
areas which need looking at quickly but of primary importance we must
single out the four points just referred to above, viz .:

A. No person should starve in Zambia because there is no real land

hunger as is the case in many other parts of the world.
To be able to defeat starvation we must recognise the importance of the
proper use of our land. To achieve the proper use of our land the following
steps should be taken as quickly as possible:
(1) (a) Every village, old or new, shall be encouraged to form a
productivity council.
(6) When there are a number of productivity councils formed
in any given area where we have neighbouring villages,
these productivity councils shall form one co -operative
society.
(c) This co-operative society will be responsible for, among
other things, getting
(i) good seeds from Government;
(ii ) farming equipment;
(iii) insecticides ;
(iv ) technical advice from the Ministry of Agriculture;
(v ) planning for irrigation ; and
(vi ) any other needs for the area .

39
 (2) The following order of what might help us to produce more should
therefore be looked at carefully :
(i) Good preparation of the soil , if necessary by the ordinary
hoe , but emphasis to be laid on the use of oxen and hand
plough where there are no tsetse flies.
( ii) Early planting, proper spacing and use of improved seed.
( iii) Application of compost manure or the right type of
fertiliser in right quantities.
(iv) Weeding at the right time.
(v) The use of water from dams, weirs, etc. (See ( 1 ) above).
It is important to stress that Party leaders , councillors and civil servants
must, as far as possible , leave the initiative to the people themselves . We
have a very good example of what can be done by whatthe Chipapa Village
Productivity Council,just outside Lusaka, has done.
B. No person should really fail to have a decent two- or three
roomed Kimberley brick house.
It is very painful to see bricklayers and carpenters and many other
people who live in urban areas in municipal owned houses get back to our
villages to live in poor huts full of smoke and completely unventilated. We
shall make it the task of the village council to see that our mutual aid
society is not destroyed.
Apart from many other things they can do together, they should be
able to organise the making of Kimberley bricks jointly and build two- or
three -roomed houses where this is not being done today. If they do not have
the know -how locally in the village, the co -operative society should be able
to produce this. If the know -how is still not there at the co -operative level ,
then the co -operative secretary should approach his District Development
Committee for such aid as may be necessary .

C. No person should really ever dress in rags in Zambia nor,

indeed , go barefooted .
In the past, poverty has struck Zambia in the midst of plenty. Since
Independence this is no longer the case. Today all our people can earn a
livelihood from the land if they do what we propose should be done in (A)
above, that is , the proper use of our land. Village productivity councils or
co -operative societies formed by them, or, indeed, district development
committees can plan for the development of their areas in such a way that
some other people may be employed in areas other than just tilling the land.
For example, some rural small scale industries could be started based on
what is produced locally in the field of agriculture.
D. No person should ever suffer from malnutrition in Zambia.
At the moment it is not so much because we cannot grow the right type
of food that we have so much disease andmalnutrition in the country. It is
principally because even where we grow the right type of food we do not use
it properly. The first thing Zambia must do is to think of how to grow the
rig type of food for its nationals and, of course, to show them how and
>

when to use these.

40
 Below is outlined the right type of crops which would be very nourishing
to children as well as adults, and village productivity councils , co -operative
societies, as well as district development committees, must have sub
committees that will see this is done in their respective areas . And all
these sub - committees will be required to work in conjunction with the Food
and Nutrition Commission .
The following are some of the foodstuffs which we can get in Zambia
without much difficulty. If we want to know how to prepare them we
should get in touch with the National Food and Nutrition Commission at the
following address :
P.O. Box 2669, LUSAKA .
Better still, the Commission will distribute all the information we require
to District Secretaries ' offices, Regional offices and other Government and
Party offices in English as well as other local languages.
Foods can be divided into three groups. There are those which are
important in providing the energy needed for work and recreation . They
include :
Maize. Bananas.
Millet . Bread .
Sorghum . Jaggary (brown sugar ).
Rice . White sugar.
Cassava . Honey.
Potatoes. Fats and oils.

There are the building foods, which are required by all, but of greatest
importance during the growth of children — the younger the child , the more
building foods it needs in its diet. These foods include:
Milk , fresh or powdered.
Meat ( beef, mutton , pork and goat) .
Fish , either fresh or dried .
Poultry .
Eggs.
These are all comparatively expensive, but there are also other good
sources of building foods :
Beans and peas of all kinds.
Groundnuts .
Dark green leaves of wild spinach , cassava , pumpkin and sweet potato
are useful supplementary sources.
The third group of foods are the protective foods, which help to guard
against disease and maintain good health.
They include nearly all fruits and vegetables.
The dark green leaves and deep yellow vegetables and fruits are
especially important; the darker green the colour the better, such as :
Spinaches. Pumpkin leaves.
Bean leaves. Tomato leaves.
Cassava leaves. Sweet potato leaves.
Green cabbage is also good.

41
 The deep yellow vegetables and fruits include :
Yellow pumpkin . Mangoes.
Carrots. Tomatoes .
Pawpaw. Red peppers.
One of these leafy greens or deep yellow fruits and vegetables should be
eaten every day.
All other fruits and vegetables add protective value to the diet. These
include :
Oranges. Guava .
Lemons. Wild fruits and berries.
Limes. White cabbage.
Grapefruit. Onions.
Pineapple. Green beans.

In the Eastern Province, the Chief Education Officer and Headmasters

have worked out a diet for the school boarders. This diet consists of maize
meal, rice, bread, meat, beans, groundnuts, dried milk, vegetables, sugar, oil
>

and margarine. Provided the vegetables are dark green or yellow, this will
provide a diet which will ensure growth and a long, healthy and productive
life .

If everyone could be assured of at least two meals a day of maize meal

porridge, one meal with a relish made from animal products and one with a
relish from vegetable products, supplemented by traditional snacks between
meals, there would be little wrong with the diet as far as adults are concerned .
Young children, with their small stomachs, cannot eat enough for their
needs in two meals. After weaning they should have four meals a day, with
the relish made from building foods such as milk, meat, fish , eggs , ground
nuts, peas, beans, or green leaves. The food must be soft, well-pounded,
mashed or crushed, to enable the infant to digest it easily.
From what we have discussed above it is very clear that the development
of our land is the most important thing in Zambia. This means proper use
of it. We must develop our rural areas to the fullest. How do we organise
ourselves to achieve this AGRARIAN REVOLUTION ?
To begin with we must look at regional planning as an important factor
in co -ordinated development. In other words, while we develop region by
region the development of each one of them will be related to the rest.

42
 Section Two

PROGRAMME OF ACTION

PART I : PROVINCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEES

Every province has its own Provincial Development Committee under
the chairmanship of a Minister of State. At the political level all Assistants
to the Minister, Political Assistants, Regional Secretaries as well as Rural
Council Chairmen are members . At the Civil Service level all Provincial and
District heads of Government departments are also members. Their major
function is development.
In the past, they have mainly been recipients of plans from the capital
although they have been consulted before the formulation of the National
Development Plan. In this respect they have participated in bringing about
the plan .
Planning from below, however, demands far more than this. Each
Provincial Development Committee will have to act in future as a two -way
traffic committee. Among other things they should do the following :
(a) Through each District Development Committee they will find
out what infrastructure is required in each district and, after
having worked on this, they will then have to see what funds are
>

available to enable them to effect their plans.

(6) In the same way the District Development Committee will be
required to work in very close co -operation with various Ward
Committees. These Ward Committees should , as far as is
humanly possible, help co - ordinate work of all village productivity
councils and co-operative societies. (See page 23. )
Note must be taken of the fact that if man is the most important single
unit in God's creation it follows that he must be kept alive until natural
death overtakes him . During that time he must be kept healthy. The
purpose of keeping him healthy is to see that he contributes fully to the
growth of his country whether it is political, economic, social , cultural or
scientific.

The first thing, therefore, needs emphasising and this is to keep him
healthy so that he can contribute through hard work and self -reliance.
Man by himself is helpless, but in co -operation with others he is a force to
reckon with. This is why organisation of the masses becomes important and
this is why we have picked on the village unit which is the smallest viable
unit in our society, as the beginning of our organisational machinery. If
we can successfully organise from this level, the achievement of our
AGRARIAN REVOLUTION, we cannot fail in any other field .
At the village level in rural areas and the section in urban areas the
people shall be encouraged, among other things
(a) to see that good and nutritious food is available for everybody ;
(6 ) To find a supply of clean water for every home;

43
 (c) to have clean and well -ventilated home ;
(d) child care shall be an important facet of life in a village and in a
section.

We have already discussed the role of Provincial Development Com

mittees and that of District Development Committees. Let us now look at
other committees.

(a) THE VILLAGE COMMITTEE .

Possible membership :
(i) Chairman of the Productivity Council.
( ii) Party Village Committee Chairman .
(iii) Village Headman .
(iv) Two to four other members.

(6) WARD CO -OPERATIVE CO-ORDINATING COMMITTEE.

Possible membership :
(i) Two to four elected Party leaders (Constituency Chairmen or
Secretaries — Minister of State for the Province will be responsible
for appointing Constituency Chairmen or Secretaries where we
have more than one constituency in an area ).
( ii) Elected Councillor for the area.
(iii) Elected representatives of the village committees in the area .
(iv) Agricultural Department Representative.
(v) Community Development Representative.
( vi) Any other necessary Government officer .
(c) DISTRICT COMMITTEE.
(i) Regional Secretaries.
(ii) Chairman, Rural District Council.
(iii) District Secretary.
(iv) Agricultural Officer.
(v) Co-operative Officer.
(vi) Marketing Officer.
(vii) Credit Officer.
(viii) Community Development Officer.
(ix ) Any other person deemed necessary .
The functions and duties of the Committees should include the follow
ing
(a) VILLAGE COMMITTEE .
Help plan the agricultural development at the village level with
emphasis on productivity. Allocate production targets to producers.
Re ew needs of farmers. Supply of fertilisers, loans and marketing
facilities. (See pages 23, 24 and 31.)
44
 (6 ) WARD CO -OPERATIVE CO - ORDINATING COMMITTEE .
Help plan the agricultural development of their area . Allocate
production targets to areas. Review needs of farmers. Supply of
fertilisers, loans and marketing facilities.
(c) DISTRICT COMMITTEE .
Help plan the agricultural development of the district. Allocate
production targets to district. Review needs of farmers. Supply
of fertilisers, loans and marketing facilities.
>

It would be useful if Committees met at least once a month . In terms

of the policy of self-help Village Committees should, as far as possible ,
>

resolve most of their problems. The same should be said of Ward Co

operative Co -ordinating Committees and District Committees.
Our people in every village, co -operative society and up to the district
level, must know what to grow each year in order to build healthy bodies,
increase their incomes, help feed the workers and also provide the surpluses
which can be processed either in their own areas or anywhere else within the
country , or indeed, which we can export for the benefit of the nation . A
list of suggested crops and areas where animal husbandry might be carried
out and poultry reared is given district-wise for the information and general
guidance of the suggested Committees.
The Government will announce each year—not later than September
a pre- planting price for crops bought by the National Agricultural Marketing
Board . The minimum prices will be given for each district so that every
farmer in each village will know the minimum price to be paid for the crop
the following year. The Board or its agent will not buy produce below the
minimum price.

Every year Government will announce the national production targets

for various crops. Each district will be allocated its share of national produc
tion-the minimum amount which it must produce.

PART II : PARTICIPATION OF OUR YOUTH AND STUDENTS

A. At the October session of the National Council of the Party a directive
was given that every school and every branch of the Party should have a
Young Farmers' Club by December, 1967. The response has been very
good indeed but, of course, much more remains to be done.
>

B. Our thanks go to all the heads of schools, teachers and students who have
responded to this national call.
C. Mention must also be made of the response from our University of Zambia
students to the call that was made to them to do some work in rural
areas with the Community Development Department. We are proud of
this but, of course , here again much more remains to be done.
D. It was very heartening to receive the offer that the students from Chiwala
Secondary School made to go and help with the cotton crops at Chombwa
in 1966. I have no doubt at all that our young people will continue to rise
to our expectations by responding to this national call .
45
E. We can, of course, give a long list of young people's organisations which
are effective, like Luto and Yaps near Kitwe, but this must await a
progress publication which we hope to be producing fairly soon and in
which will appear in pictures the activities related to the development
of the country .
F. The target that students must aim at is to be able to produce their own
vegetables, table birds in the form of chickens and ducks , their own eggs
and, where possible, their own milk and beef. This will mean that each
and every student will participate in the production of the items
mentioned and this will now be part of the BASIC training of every
young man and woman in Zambia.
G. Finally, it will be necessary for the Ministry of Education to formulate
a new curriculum which will include this type of training as basic from
primary to secondary schools and , indeed, for those University students
who would like to specialise in this field .. IN OTHER WORDS , IN
FUTURE NO STUDENT WILL ENTER THE UNIVERSITY
WITHOUT HAVING PARTICIPATED IN PRACTICAL TERMS
IN THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION.
Note that over 50 per cent of our population will have to depend on
developing our land, otherwise this, our beloved country, will go to pieces
economically. The spirit of developing the land must be there in homes, at
schools and at all other places of work or play-land development comes first.
PART III : URBAN AREAS

Special projects have to be carried out to meet national needs. In our

urban areas there is a shortage of beef. We cannot force cattle owners to
sell more cattle and therefore we must organise the people in urban or
peri-urban areas to produce other types of meat so as to meet the needs which
exist and to avoid spending our foreign exchange on importing meat .
A Women's Co -operative in Mazabuka Township is producing eggs and
rabbits in a very small area. Party and Government officials will have to
work out a way of making it possible for every woman in urban areas to do
the same . Because rabbits, ducks and chickens grow faster than cattle,
they should be used to supply the Nation with good cheap meat. If every
section organised a project we could achieve self-sufficiency in our meat
requirements in a very short period of time.
It is therefore important that each section organise or be responsible
for one or more projects. The projects should include the rearing of ducks ,
rabbits and poultry. The Ministry of Agriculture will provide information
on the raising of ducks , rabbits and poultry. We must start on this soon
after this Mulungushi Conference .
RIVER VALLEYS
The river valleys of Zambia have, in spite of their potential, remained
virtually undeveloped mainly because of their inaccessibility and low popula
tion in many of the river valleys.
The Luangwa Valley in the Eastern Province could produce large
quantities of cotton and groundnuts. The Zambezi Valley in the Barotse
46
and North -Western Province could produce large quantities of rice. The
Zambezi Valley could produce large quantities of cotton in the Southern
Province and large quantities of bananas in the Central and North -Western
Provinces. The Luapula Valley could play a greater part than it does today
in the production of bananas and oil from oil palms.
The development of the river valleys is to some extent taking place
within the framework of National Development. It is important, however,
that committees at the district level in conjunction with Co -operative and
Village Committees should pay special attention to the development of
Zambia's river valleys.

IRRIGATION

We are defeating hunger very fast. But we have a problem of not using
the various foodstuffs we have in such a way as to make them nutritious.
I have said we are defeating hunger all right. But we cannot be com
placent over this one until we are able to grow anything we can grow on any
scale at any time of the year. The only way in which we could do this is to
depend — for agricultural production on both the rains and irrigation. This
we must do .

The people at the village level and their District Development Com
mittee can do a lot in this area of development .
Billions and billions of gallons of water are running away from us every
minute to the oceans . This is a waste we can ill afford. Properly organised
village committees can co -ordinate their activities in such a way that they
would tap this priceless gem. This in many ways is the key to a truly
successful agrarian revolution. Let every village take note of the importance
of irrigation.
If village committees find that they require technical advice they should
take this matter up with their Ward Committee and from there this could go
to the District Development Committee for necessary action.
Below is a suggested list of crops that might be grown in various parts
of our country . This list is by no means exhaustive. Indeed , one must point
out that at the initiative of the village productivity councils it can be dis
covered many more other crops can be grown . For example, it has been
shown that in the Lusaka area one can grow grapes successfully. This is
the type of initiative the rest of Zambia needs. The list will show the
suggested crops province by province.

SUGGESTED LIST OF CROPS AND POSSIBLE AREAS FOR ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

AND REARING OF POULTRY
Eastern Province

Groundnuts, maize, cotton, Burley and Virginia tobacco, fruit and

vegetables, cattle, poultry, pigs and sheep. In addition, Turkish tobacco is
suggested for the Lundazi district.

47
Northern Province
The following crops are recommended for all districts :
Maize and Turkish tobacco .
Other districts include the following :
Mbala Coffee, groundnuts, fruit and vegetables, beans , poultry,
>

cattle and pigs.

Luwingu Groundnuts and beans .
Mporokoso Groundnuts, beans and rice .
Mpika Beans , groundnuts and potatoes.
Isoka Coffee, groundnuts, cattle and sheep.
Chinsali Groundnuts and cattle .
Kasama Coffee, groundnuts, fruit and vegetables , cattle , pigs
and poultry
Luapula Province
The crops for the province include maize, oil palms, groundnuts, fruit
and vegetables, Turkish tobacco, potatoes. Suitable for rearing cattle and
sheep. In addition , rice is suggested for Samfya and other parts where
adequate water is available .
Western Province
The following crops are suggested : Fruit and vegetables, potatoes,
groundnuts, maize. The province is suitable for cattle, dairying, sheep and
>

pigs .
Barotse Province
In all districts the following are recommended : Turkish tobacco, maize,
rice, fruit, groundnuts, cattle and poultry.
In addition , the following should be encouraged :
Mankoya Burley tobacco and cotton.
Sesheke Burley tobacco, cotton and dwarf sorghum .
North -Western Province
Mwinilunga Cattle, pineapples, other fruit, maize, rice and Turkish
tobacco .
Kabompo Maize, Turkish tobacco, groundnuts.
Kasempa Groundnuts, maize, Burley and Turkish tobacco .
Balovale Maize, groundnuts, rice, cattle and sheep.
Solwezi Maize, groundnuts, potatoes, Turkish tobacco, fruit
and vegetables, cattle.
Central Province
The following are recommended in all districts : Maize, fruit, poultry,
cattle and pigs.
Kabwe Virginia , Turkish and Burley tobacco, groundnuts,
vegetables, sorghum , dairying and sheep .
Mumbwa Virginia , Burley and Turkish tobacco , groundnuts,
vegetables, sorghum and sheep.
Serenje Turkish tobacco, beans, sheep and local yams (mumbu).
Mkushi Virginia, Burley and Turkish tobacco, groundnuts,
vegetables, sorghum and sheep.
Feira Groundnuts, maize, sorghum and vegetables.
Lusaka Virginia , Burley and Turkish tobacco, groundnuts,
vegetables, sorghum , dairying, sheep.
48
Southern Province
In all districts the following are recommended : Maize, groundnuts,
cattle and poultry. In addition the following are suggested :
Mazabuka Cotton , Virginia, Burley and Turkish tobacco, fruit
and vegetables, sorghum , dairying, pigs and sheep.
Choma Cotton , Virginia, Burley and Turkish tobacco, fruit
and vegetables, sorghum , dairying, pigs and sheep.
Kalomo Virginia, Burley and Turkish tobacco, sorghum , dairy
ing, pigs and sheep.
Gwembe Cotton , sorghum , fruit, vegetables and sheep.
>

Namwala Cotton, Burley tobacco.

Livingstone Vegetables, cotton and dairying.
Goats can be reared anywhere in Zambia . They are specially useful in
areas which may not be suitable for cattle.
PART IV : SMALL -SCALE INDUSTRIES
There are a good number of small -scale industries which could come as a
result of aa successful agrarian revolution and these could be built up in areas
where certain crops or fruits were grown . Let us take a few examples:
1. (a) Mwinilunga could produce thousands and thousands of tons of
pineapples provided every village was activated. If they
produced the necessary tons of pineapples there is nothing to
stop us establishing a canning industry in that area .
(6 ) Any of our valleys can grow good citrus and other fruits.
From these we should be able to produce oranges, tomatoes,
lemons and other juices very easily.
(c ) Guava trees can grow almost anywhere in Zambia. With
proper organisation we can produce sufficient to be able to
can this fruit.
(d) Avocado pears. With our improved air services there is no
reason why we should not concentrate on growing pears
which fetch a very good price overseas.
(e ) Groundnuts. If each one of our districts grew sufficient ground
nuts we could produce oil in each and every district. This
would not onlyprovide us with the nutritious food found in
groundnuts, but would also enable us to establish small-scale
industries -- thereby giving employment to our people.
(f ) Soya bean milk is very nutritious and can go a long way
towards helping defeat malnutrition in the country . They
also have aa world -wide market. We are getting a specialist to
give us various forms of foods that can be prepared from soya
beans .
2. In the second category of small-scale industries, we have the
shining example of Mushingashi where there is a small-scale
revolution taking place through an effective village organisational
committee. For example, the committee organised for the grow
ing of vegetables and other foodstuffs; it has organised a co
operative that is producing a lot of excellent woodwork ; indeed ,
it has organised a village bakery . The committee has also

49
 organised a small open -air school , nursery type.
> Finally, one
man produces cutlery which you would find very difficult to
distinguish from that which is made in Sheffield . The nation
should utilise the services of talented people like this Comrade
Kapolobwe at Mushingashi by giving facilities to enable him to
impart his know -how to many other workers.
3. Bee Industry. Honey is a natural food. It is now well-known
throughout Zambia that through the use of modern scientific
methods we can produce much more honey for our own con
sumption at any time of the year. It is not only a very nutritious
food but also gives us a very important by- product in the form of
wax . Wax, if it is properly treated fetches a very good price on
the international market. Indeed, one might point out here that
wax once treated has many, many uses such as candles and polish
to mention but a few .

4. To encourage small -scale industries in rural areas Government

departments and all those who get Government grants in one
form or another will in future have to look round for local
products rather than get everything from the line of rail . For
example, there is no reason why primary schools, secondary
schools , teacher training colleges , farmers ' institutes , agricultural
colleges, indeed all Government houses and offices, including
dispensaries and clinics, should get all their furniture from the
line of rail . From now on everything must be done to encourage
our people to make woodwork co -operatives in rural areas a
paying proposition. This is one of the surest ways by which we
can succeed in stopping urban areas exploiting rural areas as is
the case today . Ministers of State and other heads of Government
departments must always take this as one of their most important
functions.

5. We are bent on developing our people politically, economically,

socially, culturally and scientifically. When one goes around the
various rural areas one is sometimes painfully reminded of the
colonialists' stilling of the scientific development of our people
of old . There are various remains which show furnace activities
on the part of our people. The presence of these furnaces in any
area is an indication that in that part of the country there was
an iron and steel industry. This must be looked into seriously
with a view to our developing this industry. Again this can only
be done successfully at the village level by those committees which
might still have in their communities the people with this techni
cal know - how .

The second part to this subject is that as soon as our iron

and steel industry is going we will have to depend on rural
district councils to help the nation by working jointly with
various ward committees to site suitable areas at which small
steel industries could be started . These would have to cope with
furnishing the small farmer with his agricultural implements so
that instead of getting hoes, ploughs and other things like that
from outside there would be a small industry in every district
50
 that would have to cope with these needs and requirements.
Needless for me to say all this will mean a revival of the black
smiths activities on a very wide scale .
PART V : DISCIPLINE IN THE NATION
There are other important functions that a village or section committee
can perform . For example, a properly run committee should very easily do
the following, among many others :
(a ) See to it that discipline is maintained in the village or section
as the case may be .
(6 ) See to it that youngsters do not participate in drinking. They
should even help to make beer or liquor something that was
taken with dignity as was the case in the past .
(c ) Organise cultural functions.
(d) Be a very powerful pillar in our national task of combating
malnutrition .
Realising that the future of the nation depends on our youth, a properly
run village or section committee can instil a sense of respect for their elders
and, indeed , a sense of responsibility in general into the minds of the young
people . All these, if done properly, would go a long way towards building
the spirit of patriotism in the minds of our people.
PART VI: TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING
The way a country's cities, towns and villages are planned has a lot to do
with the thinking of its people. In the past we have had apartheid type of
cities , towns and villages. Today, of course this is being put right . Insofar
as old cities, towns and villages are concerned this is an uphill task . How
ever, wherever we are building new cities , towns and villages we must now
start afresh and three points must be cardinal in our thinking here before
we plan :
(a ) That there will be no high- or low -density areas ; there will just
be residential areas for human beings as well as industrial areas .
( 6 ) We are so much wedded to land development that every human
being, as far as possible , should be given an area which he or his
family will be able to cultivate, thereby still maintaining
connections with the land .
(c ) The planning must be such that it will continue to nurse and
develop the mutual aid society approach to life whether this is
in rural or urban areas .

In other words, the way we plan our villages, towns and cities will have
a lot to do with the way our nation is going to develop in the field of classes,
that is, whether we shall have high-, middle- and low - class citizens. Needless
for one to say, such divisions of human beings is ungodly and contrary to the
philosophy of Humanism in Zambia.
PART VII : PROPERTY
This is an important facet of life which each one of us ought to under
stand properly. Right through Humanism in Zambia we pride ourselves
justly with certain aspects of our ancestor's way of life.
51
 Let us now see exactly how they dealt with this subject. Admittedly
they did not have property in the sense that we view it in this day and age.
However, basically the principle is the same.
The accumulated property, whether in the form of houses, foodstuffs,
cattle, goats, pigs, etc. through the framework of a mutual aid organisation
was completely man -centred . Today, however, we need to extend this field
further because of the introduction of a money economy.
Humanism in Zambia welcomes ownership of property. In other words,
there is nothing wrong for a man to own a house, a car oranything else that
will bring security and stability to his mind, home or family. It is the insecure
character that is mostly the source of trouble in any society.
The question is how does one accumulate that property ? Does it come
through exploiting one's fellow man or by being deceitful ? Either way, a
humanitarian approach to life does not condone this. In fact, it condemns
this completely .
The policy of the Party and Government has been to encourage some
Zambians to become entrepreneurs. This is self -evident - it means property
ownership is welcome. Realising, however, that a human society has seeds
of ill intentions in it, it is important to note that as these Zambian entre
preneurs develop they may themselves want to accumulate more and more
property and could very easily become exploiters either of the human minds
or bodies, or, indeed both, of their fellow men .
The surest safeguard against this possible exploitation is to have
effective trade union organisations. Addressing the Zambia Congress of
Trade Unions in 1964 at Mindolo I raised the issue with them that I looked
forward to a time when they would be so united and so well organised that
they would have full -time economists, lawyers and accountants who should be
able to help each union in the country analyse what each industry was
getting in the form of profits. This could enable them to understand — as
Government does - exactly how much of the profits were going out and only
then would they make justified claims from their employers.
They would not be exploited by employers and they themselves could
not make claims that might disrupt the economy of the country.
With a well -organised and responsible trade union movement in the
country, that is a trade union movement that takes into consideration the
interests of the nation as a whole and not just their own interests, we can
avoid exploitation of one man by another. What do I mean by this ?
Because we are developing Zambian entrepreneurs we must find a balancing
force . Both Zambian entrepreneurs and the Zambian trade union leaders
must work within the framework of a mutual aid society. This can only be
done by reaching the right equilibrium . The right equilibrium is in fact
struck by paying attention to the common denominator of both these forces,
that is , the interests of the nation must come first.

In the final analysis, of course, the interests of the nation as they are
propounded by this party and Government are synonomous with the
interests of the common man. This being so, when any industry fails to
meet the legitimate hopes and aspirations of the common man and trade
union leaders also fail him as can be exemplified by what took place in the
52
mining industry, the people's Party and Government must of necessity step
in . The case cited above led to the Party and Government appointing the
Brown Commission which did a splendid job and this has, judging from what
has followed , obviously created a new era in the industry. The only thing
that might disturb the apparent peace in this new era could be if any of those
parties concerned failed to implement the accepted recommendations.
There is yet another form of exploitation which we have not mentioned .
Very often it is not realised that a lazy person is an exploiter and should not
be tolerated anywhere in any decent society . It is this sort of fellow who
tries to find an easy way of life and very often takes to begging and stealing
from some other people. He is exploiting the hard work of adecent fellow
man . He is just as much a pest as a stalk -borer. The only reason why he is
not given the stalk-borer treatment is that he is human.
If we are to succeed in shaping our destinies as we all want them we
must make such people ashamed of themselves. A suggestion has been made
by the Party in Ndola, and the Western Province as a whole, that we might
find service camps for such people. This is being examined and findings will
be discussed publicly some other time.
Finally, Humanism in Zambia requires those of us in responsible
positions to create a situation or an atmosphere in which the comman man
can develop his talents to their limit unimpeded by any artificial barriers
such as relate to colour, tribe, religion, creed or his station in life.
We castigate and mean to eradicate any form of exploitation of one man
by another by creating conditions of life in which any Zambian will
eventually realise his true worth as a human being and will thereby develop
a sense of self -reliance.
We all know that a man who has developed a genuine sense of
self- reliance will not in any way wish to exploit his fellow man. This is how
God wishes it and this is how a humanist responds to this call.

53
1
1

1
DT 963.6 .K3 A5 C.1
Address by His Excellency Dr.
StanfordUniversity Libraries
DT
3 6105 033 872 719 963.6
K3A5

CECIL H. GREEN LIBRARY

STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
STANFORD , CALIFORNIA 94305-6063
( 650 ) 723-1493
[email protected]
All books are subject to recall .
DATE DUE

Jehir ve 2006
20 05

를3
IJUN 200.2009