Beyond Political Independence: Zambia's Development Predicament in the 1980s [Reprint 2019 ed.] 3110099519, 9783110099515

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Beyond Political Independence Zambia's Development Predicament in the 1980s

BEYOND POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE Zambia's Development Predicament in the 1980s Edited by

KLAAS WOLDRING with special assistance from CHIBWE CHIBAYE

Mouton Publishers Berlin • New York • Amsterdam

CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme

der Deutschen Bibliothek

Beyond political independence: Zambia's development predicament in the 1980s / ed. by Klaas Woldring with special assistance from Chibwe Chibaye. - Berlin; New York; Amsterdam: Mouton, 1984. ISBN 3 - 1 1 - 0 0 9 9 5 1 - 9 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 1. Zambia-Economic conditions-1964-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Zambia-Social conditions1964-Addresses, essays, lectures. 3. ZambiaPolitics and government-1964-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Woldring, Klaas, 1934• II. Chibaye, Chibwe. HC915.B48 1984 330.96894'04 84-20715 ISBN 3-11-009951-9

©Copyright 1984 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form - by photoprint, microfilm, or any other means - nor transmitted nor translated into a machine language without written permission from the publishers. Typesetting: COPO Typesetting, Bangkok, Thailand. - Printing: Druckerei Hildebrand, Berlin. - Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer Buchgewerbe GmbH, Berlin. Printed in Germany.

To Aafke, whose name means African, a wife with courage, compassion and loyalty.

Contents

INTRODUCTION by Klaas Woldring Acknowledgements 1. THE ECONOMY - A NEO-COLONY? The Political Economy of Zambia. by Peter Meyns 2. THE MINING INDUSTRY - DECLINE! Were the Copper Nationalisations Worth-while? by Marcia Burdette 3. THE RURAL SECTOR - HOPE? A. Participation or Powerlessness: The Place of Peasants in Zambia's Rural Devélopment. by Mulenga Bwalya B. The State and the Peasant Farming Sector: Small Scale Agricultural Production in Economic Development. by David Evans C. The Rural Malaise in Zambia: Reflections on the René Dumont Report and the State Farms Project. by Klaas Woldring 4. THE PARASTATALS AND INDUSTRY - LOSS! Public Enterprise and Industrial Development: The Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia (INDECO). by Roger Tangri 5. CLASS IN ZAMBIA - A MARXIST ANALYSIS The Process of Class Formation in Contemporary Zambia. by Gilbert Mudenda 6. THE URBAN INFORMAL SECTOR - SURVIVAL AT THE FRINGE The Sexual Division of Labour in the Urban Informal Sector: A Case Study of Lusaka. by Raj Bardouille

Vili 7. CORRUPTION AND INEFFICIENCY - PROBLEMS GALORE! Survey of Recent Inquiries and their Results. by Klaas Woldring 8. THE RÔLE OF THE PRESS - CRITICAL AND IMPORTANT! The Rôle of the Press. by Francis Kasoma 9. EXTERNAL RELATIONS AND AID - FRIENDS AND FOES! A. External Aid Agencies. by Fred Roos B. Aspects of Zambia's Foreign Policy in the Context of Southern Africa. by Klaas Woldring CONCLUSION by Klaas Woldring

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209

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251

Notes on the Contributors

Dr. Peter Meyns was Head of the Department of African Development Studies, University of Zambia (UNZA) in the period 1979 to 1982 and now lectures at the Universität-Gesamthochschule, Duisburg, West Germany. He has published previously on development problems in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Dr. Marcia Burdette is a Professor in Political Science at Fordham University, New York. She was a Research Affiliate with the Institute for African Studies (UNZA) in 1981 - her second stint in Zambia - and is now working for CUSO in Lusaka. Dr. Mulenga Bwalya is a Lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at UNZA who has specialised in rural development and politics. Professor David Evans was formerly Director of UNZA's Rural Development Studies Bureau. He retired in 1981. Professor Roger Tangri was Head of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at UNZA until mid-1982. Previously lie worked as an academic in Sierra Leone and Malawi. Gilbert Mudenda, M.Soc.Sc. (The Hague), is a Lecturer in the Department of African Development Studies at UNZA. Dr. Raj Bardouille is Head of the Manpower Research Unit of the Institute for African Studies at UNZA. Francis Kasoma, M.A. is Head of the Department of Mass Communications at UNZA. Fred Roos is a former First Secretary of the Royal Dutch Embassy in Lusaka. He returned to the Dutch Foreign Affairs Department in 1982. Dr. Klaas Woldring was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political and Adminstrative Studies at UNZA from 1979 to 1981 and then returned to the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education, Lismore, NSW, Australia. Dr. Chibwe Chibaye, formerly Head of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies, University of Zambia, now Principal, President's Citizens College, Kabwe.

INTRODUCTION b y Klaas Woldring

Zambia is a vast and in many ways a beautiful country with ample resources for its five million inhabitants. It gained political independence in October 1964 when it ceased to exist as Northern Rhodesia; formerly, it was a component of the colonial Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which was dissolved in 1963 after a precarious ten-year existence. I had the privilege to live and work in Northern Rhodesia from 1962 to 1964 and again, in Zambia, from 1979 to 1981 which enabled me to compare and contrast two quite different political situations. It is my conviction that Zambia has come a long way since Independence Day. With some exceptions the mind of the older generation of Zambians has been well-nigh decolonised and, furthermore, the youthfulness of the Zambian population (46 % under 15 in 1980) suggests that the direct colonial experience, psychologically speaking, is virtually forgotten. Gone is the subservience or apparent subservience to whites in the colonial period that I remembered as the then migrant from Holland. Returning to Zambia in 1979, now as an Australian citizen, I at once noticed an omnipresent sense of racial equality, clearly no longer an issue except perhaps in relation to the activities of white Rhodesian infiltrators during the bush war which was still raging then. In many areas there is evidence of growth and economic progress as compared to 1964. Yet, the realities of neo-colonialism soon revealed themselves to me. It proved to be quite a depressing, though important, learning process to be back in Zambia that can only be explained with great difficulty to citizens of affluent Western nations who have never lived in a Third World country. In 1983 Zambia, viewed from both political and economic perspectives, stands at a crossroads. The first post-independence phase is behind her. The ageing nationalist leadership, heroes of yesteryear, have found the involvement in the liberation wars and the mounting economic problems of the 1970s as much as they could take. President Kaunda and some of his able lieutenants have taken the challenges on the chin and continue to do so, but many other party faithfuls have fallen by the wayside. The younger leadership, spread very thinly, thus far has not lived up to expectations. Austerity measures are the order of the day. Foreign exchange problems on and off

2

Introduction

bedevil development plans at every level. Educational reforms, long contemplated, don't get off the ground. Real wages have fallen steadily, the oil price went up 12fold and unemployment has risen dramatically during the 1970s. Whither Zambia? What happened to the promise of the late sixties? Zambia is not lacking in natural resources but it it clear even to casual visitors that the Government appears to be increasingly unable to tap these resources fully. Zambia is not without friends however. The President and his Cabinet Ministers have knocked on many doors in their search for development aid and assistance to overcome the ravages of the wars of liberation in Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and South Africa. They have usually been given a sympathetic hearing both in Western and Socialist capitals and although the terms may sometimes have been harsh Zambia has been bailed out throughout the postindependence period. There has always been adequate confidence in the recovery of the economy and the stability of the political system and, in the longer term, the solution of the liberation struggles in adjacent lands. This confidence is now at a low ebb. Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund during 1981 and 1982 have been lengthy and tough, resulting in a 20% devaluation of the Kwacha in January 1983 — this in spite of a greater flexibility and sense of North-South realism on the part of the Fund in recent months. The President frequently appeals to the people, urging them to attain self-sufficiency in food production to counter dependence on imported foods which has increased considerably in recent years. It is hopeful that the Government has launched a multimillion dollar wheat production programme in the course of 1982, aimed at making the country self-sufficient in wheat by the end of this decade. Critics of such efforts argue that Zambia should instead concentrate on stimulating the production of indigenous crops because it would be both cheaper and more relevant to the majority of her population. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is convinced however "given better farm management techniques" that Zambia could rapidly increase her wheat-growing capacity by launching new and expanding existing rain-fed programmes with yields well above the world average. If the 1980s were to prove this claim, a change in the Zambian diet may be preferable to malnutrition or, worse, starvation. This text aims to analyse the various aspects of Zambia's political economy as well as her foreign relations. All contributions are original. With the exception of the editor's chapter on foreign policy, part of which was published in the December 1980 issue of Australian Outlook, none has been published before. Nearly all were written specifically for this volume which was planned first in late-1980. Most chapters were completed during 1982, though some date back to late 1981. All authors have an intimate knowledge of Zambian political and economic conditions. All except one have been associated with the University of Zambia for several years.

Introduction

3

Peter Meyns opens the volume with a perceptive overview of Zambia's political economy. This is followed by an in-depth study of the copper mining industry by Marcia Burdette. Mrs Burdette's chapter is a fairly long one but has been included because it must rank as one of the most thorough and helpful analyses of that industry in recent years. The rural sector is covered by three chapters: Mulenga Bwalya highlights the powerlessness of the peasants in that sector which suggests that their values and economic opportunities are likely to remain in limbo for the foreseeable future, however undesirable this may be; Bwalya argues furthermore that the essence of official efforts at "decentralisation" and "participatory democracy" is to achieve more effective control by the national elite over the peasantry rather than their free and independent mobilisation; and David Evans' short chapter reinforces this thesis by emphasising the unfavourable pricing policies for small-scale producers and their transport and marketing problems. Evans makes a plea for much greater encouragement of small-scale producers on economic grounds rather than pushing cooperative ventures or gigantic schemes like the new State Farms Project. I review some of the recommendations by the French agronomist, René Dumont, who visited Zambia for the second time in October 1979 — again invited by President Kaunda. The very limited circulation of Dumont's frank report and his critical remarks outside Zambia after his research visit suggest that the Government didn't like his findings and recommendations this time. Nevertheless, some of his ideas were in fact incorporated subsequently in the multi-strategy Operation Food Production. Roger Tangri presents a case study of the Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia (INDECO), a Holding Parastatal which, since independence, has been the Government's principal instrument for the implementation of its industrial policies. Gilbert Mudenda discusses the process of class formation in contemporary Zambia. His Marxist analysis of social reality is an essential ingredient of this text though it should not be assumed that all other contributions are necessarily based on strictly Marxist interpretations. Raj Bardouille introduces the reader to a study of Lusaka's growing Informal Sector and particularly provides insights into the role of women in that fringe market situation. I undertook the thorny and no doubt controversial task of delving into emerging corruption patterns that have surfaced in Zambia in recent years. In addition, glaring cases of inefficiency, mismanagement, tribalism and nepotism, revealed by several public inquiries but not always acted upon, are discussed. It needs to be stated at the outset that the President has relentlessly urged his senior officials to perform their tasks diligently and honestly and to set the right example. A new Anti-Corruption Act (1980) and an extensive inquiry into the Civil Service in 1981 and 1982 were the result of such official concern. The 1980s should reveal how effective these measures

4

Introduction

may prove to be. By 1982 it was obvious that there was considerable distrust, even contempt, for party officialdom and senior bureaucrats in the cities and, even more so, in rural areas. The misuse of political power for private gain is perhaps still not widespread and therefore containable in Zambia. But swift and quite drastic action is needed if respect for authority is not to be undermined further or, better still, to be restored. Francis Kasoma presents an interesting chapter on the rôle of the press and its nature in Zambia. Emphasising its education function, Kasoma also believes that the Westernorientated news reporting tradition is likely to continue throughout the 1980s. We can only speculate as to the effects of the Press Bill still before Parliament and the proposed takeover from the multi-national Lonrho of the Times of Zambia by the Zambian Government announced recently. The final section comprises two chapters, one by Klaas Woldring on foreign policy, with special reference to the Southern African geopolitical context, and one most innovative chapter by Fred Roos on external aid agencies. Roos' chapter, based on much practical experience, contains several policy recommendations which should be of interest to aid experts working on the ground in developing countries. While it is quite true, as Dr. Leonard Chivuno, Director of Zambia's National Planning and Development Commission has said, that foreign experts are expensive and sometimes quite wasteful to Zambia, Roos tries to show how existing programmes and foreign expertise could be integrated and coordinated much better to achieve greater effectiveness and continuity. This text should appeal to the general reader interested in development problems, students at tertiary institutions in Zambia and elsewhere as well as to specialist officials working in the areas of foreign affairs and development aid.

Acknowledgements

The welcome contribution of the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education, Lismore, N.S.W., Australia, towards the preparation of the manuscript is gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks is extended to Mrs Norma Hawkins for greatly improving the style and grammar of chapters 7 and 9A. The responsibility for those chapters, naturally, remains the editor's in every respect. K.W.

CHAPTER 1 The Political Economy of Zambia by Peter Meyns

This chapter looks at the political economy of Zambia. The analysis will be limited to the main features of Zambia's development since independence, leaving more detailed discussion of specific issues to other contributions in this volume. The material conditions of production and reproduction are fundamental for an understanding of the structure of a given society. In the case of Zambia's political economy this inevitably means focusing on the role of copper as the centrepiece of the analysis. The first section looks at the socioeconomic structure of Zambia's development, drawing lines from colonial to postcolonial features. The second section identifies three phases of development since independence — boom, economic nationalism and crisis — and seeks to characterize each of them. Zambia's predicament is specific with regard to its dependence on copper, but far from unique among Third World countries in many respects. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the situation in Zambia as it is and as it has evolved under the influence of international and national factors, not to discuss possible alternative strategies of development.

1. The Structure of Zambia's Development The main feature of Zambia's political economy is its dependence on copper. In 1891 when Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSAC) secured, by dubious means, a Royal Charter over much of what is today Zambia, its aim was to exploit the territory's mineral riches. It was not until the 1930s, however, that the copper boom in Northern Rhodesia started. By the time Zambia achieved independence the structure of its economy as a copper mono-economy was fully established. Government policy since 1964 has not drawn into question the predominance of copper in the national economy. Rather it has sought to expand the mining industry in order to accumulate surpluses to develop other sectors of the economy. As a result, Zambia's dependence on copper was further

8

The Political Economy

of Zambia

consolidated, as was its integration into the world market with its uncertainties. The critical situation o f its economy as a whole at the beginning o f the 1980s is a reflection o f changes on the world market but also o f government policy; neither of these two factors should be neglected. As Table 1 shows, the contribution of Zambia's copper industry to national development has been a highly unreliable factor. The ups and downs o f export earnings from copper and cobald, small quantities o f which are extracted from the same ore as copper, in the '70s, and the reduction of government revenue from the copper industry to zero after 1976 are the most drastic indicators. The fluctuations in export income are due to the prices paid for copper wire bars on the London Metal Exchange. After increasing steadily from K 3 9 5 per ton in 1964 to K 1,010 in 1970, thereby allowing Zambia to more than double its export earnings, the price stagnated throughout the '70s and slumped to K 765 in 1971/72 and again in 1975, when it dropped from K 1,326 ( 1 9 7 4 ) to K 7 9 4 per ton. In 1979 and 1980, characterised by a new burst o f inflation worldwide, the price did increase to K 1,571 and K 1,718 per ton only to drop again subsequently.

Table 1 Contribution o f Copper to GDP, revenue, exports and employment Contribution to GDP Year

Km.

%

1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980

290 379 379 411 637 457 268 317 506 607 204 330 223 272 470 520

40 44 39 38 48 36 23 23 32 32 13 18 11 12 18 17

Contribution to Govt revenue Km.

%

57 134 163 146 183 237 218 114 56 108 341 59 12 -1

53 71 64 53 60 59 52 36 19 29 53 13 3

-10 41

2 6

Copper + Value of exports

302 347 465 440 520 729 688 454 500 703 846 479 705 661 634 926 960

Source: Zambia Mining Year Book, 1969-1980.

Cobalt Employment Contribution Contribution in employto exports ment '000 % % 92 93 95 94 96 97 97 95 93 95 94 93 94 94 92 86 96

46.7 47.9 48.9 48 48.2 49.7 49.7 50.8 52.8 56.1 57.5 57.1 59.1 56.7 55.5 57.7 •

17.7 15.9 15.7 15.1 14.7 14.1 13.6 13.8 14.1 14.6 14.6 15.5 15.9 15.4 14.9 15

The Political Economy of Zambia

9

Due to the adverse price situation the copper mining companies in Zambia throttled their investments.1 As a result the peak of 805,000 tons of copper exported in 1969 has not been touched again since. The amount exported annually was around 600,000 tons at the beginning of the '80s. For a country which depends on foreign trade and external economic relations as much as Zambia does, the stagnation and fluctuation of world market prices for its major export product were bound to have far reaching effects. The most immediate one relates to the purchasing power of the country's export earnings to pay for its imports, its "terms of trade". While copper prices were stagnating, import prices soared after 1973 in the wake of economic crises in the leading industrial countries and world-wide inflation. This is shown in Figure 1. As a- result Zambia's "terms of trade" went down from 100 in 1970 to 35 in 1978;50in 1979;and31 in 1981 ¡severely limiting its capacity to import goods as the purchasing power of its export earnings was, in 1981, less than a third of what it was in 1970. Inevitably this led to cutbacks of imports needed for industrial production, i.e. machines, spare parts, raw materials, as well as of consumer goods, and to serious shortages which in turn, together with the higher costs of imports anyway, increased inflation within the country. Lack of foreign exchange became the most frequently cited reason for Zambia's economic problems in the 1970s. The overall balance of payments development is summarized in Table 2. It shows that Zambia has generally recorded a surplus on external trade, but that since 1969 the trade balance has experienced extreme oscillations between K 527.3 m. in 1969 and-K91.6 m. in 1975, the year of the greatest slump in world market prices for copper. The service accounts (items 4-6) have always been deficitaiy, reflecting Zambia's external dependence in two respects. Firstly, the main component of nonfactor services are transport and insurance charges. Being a land-locked country and strongly foreign trade-oriented, Zambia has to spend a lot of money to freight its goods to and from the ports in neighbouring countries, in addition to shipment overseas. These costs represent a heavy drain on foreign exchange. Secondly, payments regarding investment income and unrequited transfers reflect Zambia's dependence on foreign capital and expatriate manpower respectively, leading to high remittances of profits and dividends as well as salaries and gratuities. As a result, the current account, combining goods and services, has, since 1971, generally shown a deficit, as has the overall balance. To offset this deficit Zambia has had to draw on its foreign exchange reserves, increase its international borrowing, and introduce strict controls on foreign exchange spending. The annual changes in foreign exchange holdings are given in the bottom row of Table 2, mirroring the respective balance of the current and capital accounts.2 What the Table does not show is the overall level of foreign exchange holdings. These had increased

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