Zambia

Popular Health Mobile Clinic Brings Health To Communities In Zambia

July 1, 2024 Peoples Health Dispatch, People's Dispatch. Create! Cholera, Health Care, Mobile Health Clinic, Zambia

The World Health Organization defines cholera as a “disease of poverty”. It thrives in conditions of poor hygiene and sanitation services, overcrowding, malnourishment, and weak public health services. A third of the Zambian population has access to basic sanitation services, while a quarter have access to basic hygiene services. With at least 60% of the Zambian population living in poverty in 2022 (up 5.6% since 2015), cholera is endemic, and from October 2023 to March this year, it killed over 700 people. Cholera, more accurately, is therefore a disease of inequality. Born from this deadly cholera crisis and its roots in social inequality, the Popular Health Mobile Clinic has assisted more than 3,000 patients since its inception in January this year.

Blackrock Is A ‘Modern Day Dutch East India Company’

August 16, 2023 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. Resist! BlackRock, Debt, Neocolonialism, New York City (NYC), Zambia

On August 14, US-based organizations rallied in front of the BlackRock world headquarters in New York City to demand that the massive investment company cancel the USD 220 million it holds in Zambia’s external debt. Organizations that participated in the action include the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, the Peoples Forum, the Debt Collective, Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, Friends of the Congo, and Friends of Swazi Freedom. For years, Zambia has been stuck diverting public funds to service its foreign debts.

US-Based Organizations Demand Blackrock Cancel Zambia’s Debt

August 13, 2023 People's Dispatch. Resist! BlackRock, Debt, Debt Jubilee, Zambia

On August 14, progressive organizations, led by the ANSWER Coalition and the Peoples Forum, will rally outside of the BlackRock global headquarters in New York City to demand that the multinational investment company cancel Zambia’s debt. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, holds the largest privately-owned share of Zambia’s debt at a staggering USD 220 million. BlackRock is not starved for funds, owning USD 10 trillion in assets and dividends and investing in industries such as private prisons, fossil fuels, and pharmaceutical giants. “[BlackRock’s] refusal to cancel or negotiate a restructuring of their share of the debt amounts to holding their foot on the neck of 20 million Zambians,” writes the ANSWER Coalition in a statement.

The System Is Causing Food Crisis, Not The War

August 19, 2022 Adele, Consortium News. Educate! Farming, Food and Agriculture, Structural Violence, Zambia

Worsening harvests, infertile soil and increasing food poverty are affecting the majority of small farmers across the globe, especially in the Global South. But the climate and food crises are not isolated phenomena. They are the result of a global capitalist system – and a neoliberal agenda – that has prioritised big corporate agricultural profits over people and the planet. “Most farmers can no longer produce adequate food for their families,” says Vladimir Chilinya. “Profit-making entities control our food systems… including the production and distribution of seed.” Chilinya is a Zambian coordinator for FIAN International, an organisation that campaigns for the democratisation of food and nutrition.

The United States Extends Its Military Reach Into Zambia

July 5, 2022 Vijay Prashad, People's Dispatch. Educate! AFRICOM, US Foreign Bases, US Imperialism, Zambia

On April 26, 2022, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced that they had set up an office in the US Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia. According to AFRICOM Brigadier General Peter Bailey, Deputy Director for Strategy, Engagement and Programs, the Office of Security Cooperation would be based in the US Embassy building. Social media in Zambia buzzed with rumors about the creation of a US military base in the country. Defense Minister Ambrose Lufuma released a statement to say that “Zambia has no intention whatsoever of establishing or hosting any military bases on Zambian soil.”

Zambia Is The Tip Of The Tail Of The Global Dog

April 10, 2021 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Elections, International Monetary Fund, Socialism, Zambia

On 12 August 2021, the people of Zambia will vote to elect a new president, who will be the seventh person elected to the office since Zambia won its independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 if the incumbent loses. The incumbent, President Edgar Lungu, is facing a strong challenge from Fred M’membe, the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party Zambia. M’membe knows the importance of a challenge. As the editor of The Post since its creation in 1991, M’membe has long faced malicious harassment and political persecution. The voice of M’membe’s The Post sizzled with truth-telling; silenced in 2016, it was reborn as The Mast. In 2009, an editorial in The Post described how, despite decades of independence, Zambia remained in the claws of an unjust world system.

Paradise For Human Victims Of Corporate Persons

October 27, 2020 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Debt, International Monetary Fund, Poverty, Zambia

Any day now, Zambia will be the first African country to slip into a private debt default. It can only pay interest on the $3 billion in dollar-denominated bonds if it totally ignores the needs of the Zambian people. The country has suffered from the slowdown of the world economy, which impacted the sale of its copper for a part of this year (although copper prices and future prices have now begun to rise). Cosmas Musumali, the general secretary of the Socialist Party of Zambia, says that the convulsions of indebtedness are not only due to the coronavirus recession but also to the wealthy bondholders and to the ‘cluelessness’ of the government of President Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front.

What Recent Struggles In Gambia And Zambia Teach Us About Neo-Colonialism Today

August 16, 2018 Mohammed Elnaiem, Towardfreedom.org Educate! Africa, Capitalism, Gambia, Neocolonialism, Zambia

On June 20th, a fatal mining accident in Black mountain, an infamous mining zone in Zambia, killed 10 miners, and injured 7 others. Mining is the lifeblood of the country’s economy, and accidents happen far too often. Mining accounts for eighty percent of Zambia’s export earnings and about 12% of its GDP. It is also the source for the largest number of industrial accidents since Zambia won its independence in 1964. The recent mining tragedy and a longer history of exploitation raises the question: Did colonialism ever end in Zambia? Shortly after independence, Zambia’s first President, Kenneth Kaunda spoke of an African path towards socialism. The West Indian intellectual C.L.R. James said that Kuanda realized African development would not come through “the attempt merely to ape European ways.”

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