Is Zambian a Peaceful Nation free essay sample

This paper will first define the key terminologies like, peace as defined by different scholars, explain what it means by state of law or civil government, a state of justice or goodness and a balance of power coupled with discussion weather Zambia is a peaceful nation or not in line with the given definition. Zambia is a tropical country landlocked between Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country, formerly Northern Rhodesia, gained independence from Britain in 1964. Since independence Zambia has not experienced any military war but has experienced violence mainly political and more than half of the population lives in poverty, no access to proper health care, employment, education and a lot of inequalities between the rich and the poor. To this day Zambian’s clam to be at peace, mainly because of lack of war, the peaceful transition of political powers from Kenneth Kaunda to late president Chiluba to late president Mwanawasa then Rupiah Banda and now president Michael Sata. Peace is something which is vastly misinterpreted and misrepresented in today’s world. Everyone has their own perceptions about it. Peace isn’t just a cleaver way of showcasing your imposed superficial friendliness while brewing up violent tendencies from within. Peace is not just lack of wars, it’s about the victory of reality over virtual superiority, the realization that everyone in the world is nothing but equal. It means to give the due share of respect to everyones opinion and thinking before putting your ideas into action (Galtung, J. 1996). Trostle’ (1992) comprehensively defines peace as, a state of well-being that is characterized by trust, compassion, and justice. In this state, we can be encouraged to explore as well as celebrate our diversity, and search for the good in each other without the concern for personal pain and sacrifice; it provides us a chance to look at ourselves and others as part of the human family, part of one world. Baechler (2002) defines peace as a political condition that ensures justice and social stability through formal and informal institutions, practices and norms. He further adds that, several conditions must be met for peace to be reached and maintained: balance of political power among the various groups within a society, region or most ambitiously, the world; legitimacy for decision makers and implementers of decisions in the eyes of their respective groups, as well as those of external parties, dully supported through transparency and accountability. There must be reliable and trusted institutions for resolving conflicts and mutual understanding of rights, interests, intents and flexibility despite incompatibilities. For many, Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violence, conflict behaviors and the freedom from fear of violence. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the establishment of equality, and a working political order that serves the true interests of all (Galtung, J. 1996). Peace is also defined as a state of law or civil government, a state of justice or goodness, a balance or equilibrium of power. State of Law† implies that the use of public power is predictable on the basis of legal rules. Once this term is uttered, one associates it also with a series of platitudes such as â€Å"the rule of law, â€Å"legitimate government†, â€Å"impartial courts†, â€Å"fair trial†, â€Å"protection of citizens against the power-holders† and so on. The State of Law thus requires formal legal certainty, which means that the exercise of public power is predictable on the basis of legal rules. But predictability is not enough. It is a constitutional state in which the exercise of governmental power is constrained by the law citizens share legally based civil liberties and they can use the courts. A country cannot be a liberal democracy without first being a state of law. The state based on the supremacy of national constitution and exercises coercion and guarantees the safety and constitutional rights of its citizens (Neate F. and Nielsen H. 2007). Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, equity or fairness, as well as the administration of he law, taking into account the inalienable and inborn rights of all human beings and citizens, the right of all people and individuals to equal protection before the law of their civil rights, without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, or other characteristics, and is further regarded as being inclusive of social justice (James, K. 2003). Justice is the quality of being just; the quality of being correct or right; righteous, equitableness, or moral rightness, to uphold the justice of a cause, the moral principle determining just conduct, fair representation of facts, vindictive retribution, conformity to right relationships, making things right, honesty, impartiality, rectifying the wrong, restitution, and fairness (Lederach, 1997: 28). Justice requires the recognition of certain basic needs. The notion of needs tends to be controversial when it is culturally defined and when needs are converted into rights, which make demands on other people. Therefore, the sense of absolute needs or rights ignores the differences in needs and rights between different people and different cultures (Solomon, 1995: 187-193). Rawls (1999b: 31999b: 3) applies the idea of justice mainly to individuals in the society, in his book, The Laws of Peoples he extends the political conception of right and justice to constitutional liberal democracies. There is a true peace when all societies are satisfied with status quo for the right reasons. According to Mulunga (2013), the theory of separation of power signifies that government should have three organs that is legislature, judiciary and the executive whose functions must be separated from each other in the interest of individual liberty. The executive which is headed by the president who is the chief executive (provided by article 33) is the largest organ whose main role of running the government, formulation and implementation of national policies. The executive also executes laws, orders, rules, regulations and others for maintaining peace and good government. The executive is very important in the process of governance as it is through this institution that the administration of all affairs of the state is carried out. It includes the police, prisons services and the Defense forces. Separation of powers, with the executive, legislative and judicative branches of government are there to limit each others power and providing for checks and balances or Division of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government among separate and independent bodies. Such a separation limits the possibility of arbitrary excesses by government, since the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of laws. Philosophers such Aristotle, Bolingbroke and Montesquieu have pointed out the importance of governing the country under the three institutions provided they operate within the perimeters to ensure the smooth running of a country (Besa, 2011). Following the definition that, peace is a state of Law or civil government, a state of justice or goodness, a balance or equilibrium of powers then a nation can be said to be peaceful. Using this definition to discuss Zambia ,as highlighted above a state of law is a constitutional state in which the exercise of governmental power is constrained by the law, citizens share legally based civil liberties and they can use the courts. A country cannot be a liberal democracy without first being a state of law (Neate, F. and Nielsen H. 2007). In the case of Zambia, the Rule of Law has failed in many cases. There have been times when political leaders changed the constitution to suit their needs and to oppress their political opponents in the past and present governments. This was the case from the first constitutional amendment to the current one. An example is when president Rupiah’s government removed the abuse of office clause from the constitution. This is why Zambia to date has been struggling to put up a good constitution because every time political parties in power want to put clauses that protect them and not the Zambians. In further justifying why Zambian cannot be considered to be peaceful nation, it’s important to look at the governance system; Zambia is said to be democratic nation meaning it has to be ruled under democratic principles. Good governance is a set of ideas about the legitimacy, competence and accountability of the government about respect for human rights and the rule of law (Besa, M. 2011). Good governance is an essential framework within which business can flourish and provide economic prosperity and ordinary citizens can seek to have their health, education and welfare needs met. Good governance is vital in any country or organization because it enables citizens to enjoy full human rights and freedom; it also makes the government accountable to the people and makes government operation transparently. With the understanding of good governance it can be said that Zambia does not fully qualify to be exercising good governance. Politicians in Zambia take advantage their political power and high levels of illiteracy among citizens and forget accountability issues. Zambia as a country has few and weak characteristic of good governance such as; citizens participation, citizens, s right to participate in the affairs of the community and the county at large that affect them, in Zambia some people who speak against government or a particular party, risk being harassed by that party’ loyalists or arrested by state agents such as the police. According to the 2009 Affirmation of Commonwealth Values and Principles (Appendix I), member states (Zambia inclusive) are obliged to uphold â€Å"equality and respect for protection and promotion of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for all without discrimination on any grounds. †Ã‚   The Affirmation further requires that member states recognize that tolerance, respect, and understanding, strengthen democracy and development; recognizing also that respect for the dignity of all human beings is critical to promoting peace and prosperity†. Zambia is a state in which justice is only for the rich and politicians. There is no distributive justice for the majority poor Zambians, Although Citizens have the right to elect their leaders, the right to stand for public office and make leaders accountable for their actions the don’t really experience justice. In Zambia Leaders from the parties that have been and are in power feel they are above the law and get barking from the ruling president of their time , a good example of this are the two recent cases of the current PF government were two cabinet ministers ( Minister of justice and minister of defence) were associated with corruption, the citizens were able to speak out and the two ministers were called for interrogation by the law enforcement agencies but did not corporate because they viewed themselves as superiors over the law enforcement agencies. Further to that note, the president who is a member of the executive issued a statement saying the law enforcement agencies should consult him before interrogating any of his ministers. This action is an indication of bad governance and abuse of power; it shows that some citizens are more equal than others. If it were members of the opposition and former government officials an arrest would have been issued. A good example of such is the resolution to remove Mr. Banda’s immunity which was based on a umber of allegations among which were the procurement of campaign materials such as branded bulbs, chitenge materials, bicycles and the personal property, Mpundu Trust where the former First Lady Tandiwe Banda is the director. Because Mr. Banda is not in the ruling party his cases are given special attention with directive from the executive (Zambia Daily Mail, March, 15, 2013). The justice system in Zambia is a failure because it is mostly selective and does not work according to democratic principles. The law enforcement agencies and the police in all the past governments work under influence of the leaders in power. The police however carry a special mandate to enforce law and order where our society fails to voluntarily observe it. In Zambia the Police Service is always impartial, there has been many accusations with evidence against the police service pointing to the fact that it is partial when executing political activities , the police service has tended to favor the ruling parties members and their carders over citizens and other opposition political parties. Police have also prevented or Delay justice in many instances. The security wings in the Zambian government have also failed to protect citizens, they act fast when the people involved are politicians or rich unlike the poor. The Police instead of protecting citizens, they have contributed to killing them. For instance in the Mongu riot many people were killed for protesting, the UPND youth were also badly beaten by the police for holding peaceful demonstrations over the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) unpaid debt of K 14 billion by JNC holdings which is run by Mtembo Nchito and Fred M’membe (The Post, May 17, 2013). Additionally even if Citizens are all free to vote, to be voted into power, right to security, freedom of association , freedom of expression and conscience as well as expression are partially tolerated in Zambia. Citizens for some time now in 3 different governments have been faced with threats of lack of development in their areas if the vote for the opposition. People with different political opinion are not free to express themselves and their opinions as they fear arrests, this happened to Fr Frank Bwalya during the last term of the MMD, he was arrested for speaking up for Zambians in his red card campaign strategy. Apart from different political opinions, Zambia also has a number of political parties who are there to provide checks and balance. There are also there to facilitate peaceful transfer of power from one party to another but are threatened and prosecuted by the ruling party and even arrested. With such acts democracy suffer greatly as the opposition is weakened. This benefits neither government nor the citizens. We have been through a one party system of governance before and risks going back because The Zambian people are not at peace but leave in uncertainty. In a true democracy, people do not get injured or stoned for exercising their right to assemble or their right to freedom of speech; people are not subjected to constant threats and insults from the president, politicians, party cadres for demanding good governance and accountability from those in power; court orders are not ignored with impunity and the police are professional. In the case of Zambia it citizens are injured or killed by police or party carders for standing up for their rights and even demanding for accountability (Ndulo, M. 013). For instance, the current removal of the fuel and maize, has affected common Zambians who are the majority. The citizens are not given a platform to speak out or protest over the government’s policy decisions instead they are either arrested or intimidated for expulsion. The past four and the current Zambian governments have not used the instruments of power to serve and protect its citizens, promote peace and meaningful dialogue to b enefit the common Zambians. In Zambia the separation of powers is more a name than a description. None of the three branches (legislative, executive, or judicial) of the national government are clearly separate from one another. The several departments of power are not separated but blended. Zambia being a democratic government, the exercise of political power must respect the law, the constitution and the will of the people, through the decision of their legislative representatives. This requires that power be separated so that the head of government and his ministers do not have the power to make the law or to interfere in court cases. In a democracy, the executive branch implements policies and programs, administers the national budget, and conducts national affairs. It may also propose laws, but only the parliament may enact legislation, including the budget. Only the courts can decide the guilt or innocence of individuals charged with crime, and only the higher courts can determine whether a law or a government action or policy is constitutional. The separation of powers has not been implemented according o democratic principles, especially when it comes to the executive interfering in the judicial process as well as legislature. The executive in Zambia has been vested with a lot of power. They can influence the judiciary and legislature in making decisions that suits them. For example on the case of former second republican president Dr Fredrick Chiluba, the executive directed the judiciary to acquit Chiluba of all cases against him even after he was found guilty by the London courts. In Zambia those in control of government have abused and interfered in the prosecutions process by harassing facilitating missing court files causing unjustified prosecutions and by exempting their own supporters, friends, allies or ministers from facing the law because of their illegal acts. Because of the powers the president has, he appoints the Director of Public Prosecution, minister of justice and also has the powers to elect members of the legislature. With this power it is also easy for the president to control all the three arms of government. This is seen in the recent defection of members of the legislature to join the ruling party because they have been promised jobs as deputy ministers. This act compromise democracy and peace in a nation (Ibid). The constant attack on the independence of the judiciary is a clear violation of the principle of separation of power. The funding of the judiciary and subsequent appointments of the judges by the executive compromises the efficient delivery of services. The country has seen the judiciary being funded and appointments of political commission of inquiries, persecutions of opponents with force cases and calling for the removal of independent judges. The judiciary may not act according to the laid down procedures or criticize the actions of the executive just to safe guard their jobs. In conclusion, Zambians are now concerned with the current situation in the country, this is why Recently the three Christian Church Mother Bodies namely: the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) expressed their displeasure. They also have seen that nation today, stands at the crossroads and at a crisis. They said â€Å" the country face many challenges related with governance and survival, among which, are increasing levels of poverty among the majority of people, a pervading cancer of rampant corruption, escalating youth unemployment, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, an education system that is falling apart, a poor health service delivery coupled with the unclear constitution making process, the gagging or muzzling of people’s freedoms, the arrests of the opposition party leaders and human rights violations (http://www. ambianwatchdog. com). A number of factors that may show that there is no peace in Zambia include; the welfare of its citizens, many Zambians especially those living in peri-urban and rural areas are unable to meet their daily need that is; shelter, clothing and food. Jobs are scares, public facilities like hospitals, schools and universities are underfunded with m inimal infrastructure to cater for the souls that remain hopeful for a break through. There is not justice because only a few rich people and those in political offices are enjoying the country’s resources. The other major concerns are that billions or thousands of kwacha’s are being spent on the by- election unlike spent for national development or improvement of social sectors as well as industry so as to improve employment levels in the country. Zambia’s leaders are so ready to waste colossal sums of money in the campaigns whilst hospitals still face a critical shortage of medical staff, equipment and essential drugs. How can one be at peace when they are stressed, thinking of where they will find food for their children, money for education , drugs and when they are using the road infrastructure which is not good , all they think of is whether they will reach their destination or not. Peace is not just the absence of war but about having a Law or civil government, a state of justice or goodness, a balance or equilibrium of powers. REFERENCE Besa,M. (2011). 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Cleopas Lungu (15th March, 2013) Council of Churches in Zambia Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia and Zambia Episcopal Conference (CCZ) (EFZ) (ZEC). http://www. zambianwatchdog. com/church-mother-bodies-worried-by-worsening-political-situation-in-zambia/comment-page-1/ Retrieved on 27th April 2013. Trostle, T. (1992). Personal correspondence The Post Newspaper (May 17, 2012). M’membe and his Friends steal 14billion Kwacha Zambia Daily Mail (March 15, 2013). Former President Rupiah Banda immunity Stripped www. postzambia. com/zm/archieve/wednesday9/2009. Retrieved on 26 April 2013.