In 2003, Zambia was a landlocked nation located in southern Africa. It had a population of around 11 million people and its citizens enjoyed a high degree of freedom with many rights such as freedom of speech, expression, movement, assembly and association protected by law. Zambia was a republic with an elected president at its head. Its economy was based on mining and agriculture as well as tourism activities. In terms of culture, Zambians were proud to uphold their traditional values while embracing modernity in many aspects of life. Music festivals featuring both traditional Zambian music styles like Bemba and Tonga as well as contemporary international artists took place throughout the year. Zambian cuisine featured dishes like Nshima and Kapenta that were popular amongst locals and visitors alike. Sports such as basketball and boxing were also popular in 2003 with fans regularly attending matches throughout the year to cheer on their favorite teams.
Yearbook 2003
Zambia. President Levy Mwanawasa pledged in January to step up the fight against corruption and appointed renowned economist Mark Chona as campaign general. One of the victims of the litigation was Defense Minister Michael Mabenga, who was deprived of his seat by the Supreme Court for using state funds in his election campaign. He was thus also forced to leave the government. Mwanawasa himself was also accused of corruption.
Zambia Independence Day is October 24. Parts of the opposition tried to pull the president to court before the government party Movement for Multiparty Democracy would have received money from companies awarded government contracts. However, the trial was voted down. Neither did the opposition succeed in getting Mwanawasa pricked for a criticized election by relatively unknown politician Nevers Mumba as vice president. Mumba was one of the losers in the 2001 presidential election and was best known to the public as a TV evangelist.
Most of the attention in the campaign against corruption was devoted to former President Frederick Chiluba, who was charged with stealing the equivalent of nearly a quarter of a billion SEK. during his tenure as President 1991–2001. He was brought to trial in December after his attempt to invoke judicial immunity as the former head of state had been rejected. Several other former officials and business leaders were involved in this.
In practice, President Mwanawasa abolished the death penalty by refusing to sign death sentences. Referring to his Christian faith, he converted all death sentences to life imprisonment.
ZAMBIA IS THE LAND OF THE SAMBES RIVER AND COPPER
Zambia is named after the Sambesi River, which originates in Zambia, turns to the Angolan side and returns to Zambia, where the river forms the country’s southern border on Zimbabwe. The Sambes has two major tributaries, the Kafue and the Luangwa. Kafue spreads into a lake of the same name below the capital, Lusaka, while Luangwa joins the parent river near the Mozambican border. The land is largely a mile of savannah, but its southwestern part is covered by teak forests. The highlands are relatively temperate, even though they are in the tropics.
Zambia shares Victoria Falls with its border with Zimbabwe, as well as the Kariba Reservoir behind the dam in Sambes. Each state has its own natural park in the waterfall area. The city of Livingstone and its museum are reminiscent of a great explorer who explored waterfalls on both sides of the river in 1855.
Zambia was settled relatively late, only in the 13th century, when the Bantu-speaking tribes came to the country. Seven out of ten of the largest ethnic group in the pembat, lozit and Thong and ngonit. The tribes speak Bantu languages, but English is used as the official language.
Zambia is a region of the ancient kingdoms of Luba and Lunda. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter the country, but it was only in the footsteps of Livingstone that the British, led by Cecil Rhodes, began to make determined use of the area north of Sambes, especially after the discovery of large copper deposits in the early 20th century. The northern side of Sambes began to be called Northern Rhodesia and the southern side, now Zimbabwe, Southern Rhodesia, which attracted large numbers of white people to move to the region. Before independence in 1964, the British still united both Rhodesia and Njassamaa, what is now Malawi for ten years as the Central African Federation. The independence campaign was led by Kenneth Kaunda, Director of the National Front, UNIP, who became president of the country for the next 27 years, and for his first job he nationalized the copper resources of the country. As Zambia has no ports, there have been problems with its freight transport. Initially, transports were handled through Zimbabwe, but a dispute arose between neighbors when Zambia supported Zimbabwe’s white guerrilla forces. Traffic conditions in Zambia only eased when the railway line through Tanzania to the coast was completed in 1975.
More than half of export earnings come from copper, which has been particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in world market prices. Unfortunately, it now appears that Zambia’s abundant copper reserves are slowly running out.
Organic farming has not been able to keep Zambia self-sufficient in food. Few large farms produce sugar cane, cotton and tobacco for export.
Citizens’ dissatisfaction with Kaunda’s authoritarian rule erupted in 1991 into riots that led to a shift in power towards multi-party democracy movements. The country has forgiven much of its external debt. China is a major donor of development aid to Zambia.
Republic of Zambia Brief Guide
Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa. Its neighbors are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Angola to the west, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to the south, and Malawi and Tanzania to the east. The capital of Zambia, Lusaka, is located in the southeastern part of the country. The population is concentrated in the south around the capital and in the northwest in the copper zone.
Zambia has been inhabited for thousands of years by hunter-gatherers and nomadic tribes. After the beginning of occasional visits by European explorers in the late 18th century, Zambia was gradually incorporated into the British Empire. In 1923, the British South Africa Company handed over control of the area known as Northern Rhodesiana to the British Government. The area became independent in 1964 after the Sambesi River flowing through the area, named Zambia. After independence, the country moved to a one-party system led by President Kenneth Kaunda. Kaunda ruled Zambia until 1991, when multi-party elections were held in the country.
Zambia’s economy has traditionally been dominated by the copper mining industry, although in recent years the government has sought to diversify the economy. The country slipped into poverty in the 1970s, from which it has still not recovered, and is, like many African countries, heavily indebted.