Zam-Zim Relations In an Era of Turmoil

I have received some questions about the mood in Zambia regarding its beligerent neighbour to the south, Zimbabwe, so I thought I would share a little bit about the general sentiments on this side of the Zambezi. Generally, the people that I talk to are strongly anti-Mugabe and argue that he has gone too far and it is time for him to go. There is very little talk of the West being a major contributor to Zimbabwe's problems, although the issue of land reform occasionally does come up.

Politicians of all sorts have also waded in on the controversy. Kenneth Kaunda, the first president of Zambia (who some would say was dictatorial himself during some of his reign), has taken what could be called a centrist position. He has called for conciliatory efforts to be taken to bridge the gap between ZANU-PF and the MDC. In his recent statement on the issue he also criticized the British for failing in its Lancaster House constitution promises regarding land reform, but didn't seem to cast the entire blame of Zimbabwe's problems at the feet of the British.

The second president, Frederick Chiluba (who has the distinction of being the only president that my host father can't seem to say anything nice about), has come out in support of Mugabe. He blamed the west and its media for sensationalizing the issue and even "cursed the day that Tsvangerai was born."

The current president, Levy Mwanawasa, and his administration have been cautiously critical of their southern neighbour. They did criticize human rights abuses publicly, which is a laudatory step. There was a rumour that a recent visit by a Zimbabwean Minister of State was to complain officially about these comments but it is unclear whether this was the case or not.

Zambia is used to facing tumultous neighbours. Being situated in between such beacons of peace as DR Congo, Mozambique, Angola, and Zimbabwe is what has made Zambia's identity as a peaceful nation (see a previous post) central to its identity. It will be interesting to see how Zambia's political leadership, and its regular people, deal with the challenge of relating to a close ally that seems to have lost all sense of proper governance.