Zambia celebrates 62 years of independence today, with President Hakainde Hichilema honouring the heroes who won the nation’s freedom and setting out a future built on accelerated growth under the Grow Zambia Agenda.
In his message on the eve of the anniversary, the Head of State paid tribute to the men and women who lifted the national flag on 24 October 1964, when Zambia secured what he called the sovereign right to define its own destiny.
“Tomorrow marks 62 years since our forefathers and mothers lifted our national flag, with pride and determination,” President Hichilema said.
He honoured Kenneth David Kaunda, Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula, Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe, Alexander Grey Zulu, Humphrey Mulemba, Nalumino Mundia, Mama Julia Chikamoneka and Mama Betty Chilombo Chilunga, among others, for their courage and sacrifice.
This year’s celebrations run under the theme “Zambia at 62: Our journey, our growth, our future.” Reflecting on that journey, Mr Hichilema said the nation has walked the path of peace, unity, stability and progress under its motto, One Zambia, One Nation, One People, building schools, hospitals, roads, airports and power stations.
“We have held elections and seen smooth transitions of leadership. Through every challenge, the spirit of One Zambia, One Nation, One People, has kept us united,” he said.
Turning to the nation’s growth, the President celebrated Zambians as a smart, hard-working people. He singled out the resilience of farmers, the hard work of miners, the creativity of youth, the courage of the armed forces, the resourcefulness of women and the tenacity of entrepreneurs.
Young people drew his warmest praise. He recalled that they fought for the nation’s independence and its democracy.
“Today, they are the backbone of our economy, our innovators and our leaders,” President Hichilema said.
His ultimate focus, he said, is the future. The Grow Zambia Agenda is designed to move the economy from stabilisation to accelerated growth.
“We want to produce more maize, more wheat and more copper,” the Head of State said. The country, he added, is generating more electricity, attracting more tourists and facilitating more exports, all while safeguarding the vulnerable and building strong institutions.
He also called on citizens to protect Zambia’s abundant natural resources and use them sustainably for present and future generations.
Unity ran through the entire message. “We are a family made up of unique cultures from all corners of our country, but united as one country. When we face challenges, we do not break. We come together,” Mr Hichilema said.
“We stood tall through every storm,” he added, urging Zambians to look to the future with confidence and to recommit themselves to hard and smart work, discipline, integrity and service.
He closed by calling on the nation to celebrate the 62nd anniversary with joy and unity, in peace and responsibly.
The anniversary also returns attention to a chapter of the national story that reaches well beyond Zambia’s borders, one President Hichilema addressed in separate remarks months ago.
At the time, speaking out against xenophobic attacks in South Africa, Mr Hichilema expressed concern that South Africans would turn against Zambians and others who had stood with them during the liberation struggle.
“We fought with South Africans. We put our lives on the chopping board,” he said then.
“Some of our military people died, civilians died, together with South Africans. Why should we separate ourselves now, now that you have the freedom?”
He described the question as homework that South Africans must mark, and mark properly.
The history behind those words is deep. Zambia is often described as the cradle of Southern African liberation movements, and the record behind that title is one of sanctuary offered, attacks endured and an economy placed under strain for the freedom of others.
When Kaunda became Zambia’s first President in 1964, much of Southern Africa remained under white minority rule. South Africa was under apartheid. Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, was governed by a white minority regime, while Namibia remained under South African control.
Kaunda believed Zambia’s freedom was bound to that of its neighbours. Rather than settle into the comfort of its own independence, the young nation opened its doors to the movements fighting for theirs.
The African National Congress (ANC) established its main headquarters in exile in Lusaka under Oliver Tambo. From the capital, the movement directed its campaign against apartheid for years.
Zimbabwe’s two main liberation movements, ZAPU and ZANU, also operated from Zambian soil, both fighting to end white minority rule in Rhodesia. SWAPO, the movement fighting for Namibia’s independence from South African rule, found a base in the country too.
Zambia gave these movements refuge, political space and support. It paid heavily for that choice.
The governments they were fighting began launching military attacks inside Zambian territory. On 19 October 1978, Rhodesian forces launched Operation Gatling, an offensive aimed at Zimbabwean liberation camps at Chikumbi near Lusaka and at Mkushi.
Hundreds were killed in the raids, among them women and children. The exact death toll remains disputed to this day.
The assaults did not end there. In April 1979, Rhodesian commandos raided the Lusaka residence of Zimbabwean liberation leader Joshua Nkomo, bringing the war to the heart of the capital.
Zambia’s transport infrastructure also came under attack, disrupting trade and placing the economy under pressure. The timing could hardly have been worse for a landlocked state whose copper exports depended heavily on routes running through Rhodesia and South Africa, the very regimes its guests were fighting.
Kaunda held his course. He continued to support the liberation movements while pursuing diplomatic solutions to the conflicts pressing on Zambia’s borders.
Over the decades that followed, the region was transformed. Zimbabwe won its independence in 1980 and Namibia followed in 1990. In 1994, South Africa held its first democratic national elections, closing the chapter of apartheid that the ANC had fought from its Lusaka headquarters.
Zambia was one of several African countries that helped sustain those struggles. Its contribution, however, went well beyond political speeches. It provided sanctuary, resources and support even while absorbing military attacks and economic pressure.
That record gave weight to President Hichilema’s earlier challenge. When he spoke of Zambian lives placed on the chopping board, the history pointed to the camps at Chikumbi and Mkushi, a raided home in Lusaka and trade routes cut by hostile neighbours.
It also carries a warning for the present: to remain alert to people and outside influences seeking to divide Africans. Division was a tool used during colonial rule to weaken African societies, while cooperation across borders became one of the foundations of the struggle that eventually freed Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.
Zambians celebrate Independence Day today with that legacy in full view. The freedom many Southern African nations now enjoy was built in part on the sanctuary Lusaka once gave.
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