By the Rt. Rev’d. Dr. Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba*
As Zambia celebrates its sixty-one years of independence, there is much to be thankful for. In a world of chaos, we are grateful for the peace that our country has been able to sustain through decades of change and for Zambians whose faith, hard work, and moral strength continues to define our nationhood.
But the candid truth is, we should be celebrating so much more.
You can see it in the eyes of families struggling to afford mealie meal with the rising cost of living. From Lusaka to Chipata to Kasama, small businesses have closed and their dreams dimmed because of load shedding. Droughts and ecological catastrophes are wreaking havoc on communities, threatening not just livelihoods but culling the potential for our nation to compete on a global scale.
This can’t be our new normal. Zambians are resilient people, but our resilience and strength should not be an excuse for those in power to neglect their duty to improve people’s lives. Freedom and independence for our country is always worth celebrating, and with freedom comes responsibility. Today is the right time to turn inward and ask ourselves as Zambians, with humility and honesty: is the leadership in this country living up to its sacred responsibility of serving the people?
Zambia is a country rich with resources and talent, but as Proverbs 29:18 professes, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” In times of such uncertainty and widespread hardship, Zambian people deserve leadership that delivers for them, day in and day out, opportunities that lead to a better life. It is clear we do not suffer from a lack of resources or creativity, but from a lack of vision-based governance.
At the heart of leadership in vision-based governance is fair stewardship of our resources rooted in service, not self-interest. Freedom and independence is a thing to celebrate, and with freedom is also a responsibility to serve the people. Our Father of the Nation, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda once said that “the greatest strength of any nation lies not in its wealth, but in the character of its people.”
Our character is being tested right now. Whether we pass that test will determine what kind of country we build and become.
We need a moral renaissance.
People need governance they can feel, see, and trust with working policies that create real, measurable change in their daily lives. A moral renaissance doesn’t mean our leadership has to be perfect, but Zambians deserve leadership that places humility and passion to serve people before personal gains or trivial matters.
This leadership will hold the best interest of Zambians in their hearts, in their laws, and in the public service they do for the nation. For this to happen, political leaders need a change of heart and a revival in moral character. This means dropping petty politics to prioritize working together to build independent institutions strong enough to uplift the living standards of our people and protect the poor and vulnerable in our society.
Accordingly, a moral renaissance in leadership would mean leaders take actions that benefit the interest of the nation before personal ambitions. This is the foundation the next chapter of Zambia has to be built on.
So as we celebrate our Independence Day, we couple our celebration of what we have achieved in the past with honest reflections on where Zambia is in the present and what it will take to get us on the right path.
We have serious challenges in this country that require creative and collaborative solutions, and a crucial way we can honor our past achievements is to design our future with intention. Strengthening our foundation to be one built on moral leadership that is reflective, inclusive, and genuinely accountable to the people it’s supposed to serve is a strong step forward.
The relentless strength and moral spirit of the Zambian people is what helped secure our independence. Leadership that is reflective and inclusive of the people it aims to serve could help give us the moral and economic renaissance we need to thrive moving forward as a country.
Zambia’s can move forward to a future brighter than ever. On our 61st Independence Celebration let us see it as more than a mere celebration, but a recommitment to reviving morality and integrity in our nation’s leadership.
A recommitment to political leadership that listens, to politics that serves, and to unity that builds progress could heal our nation’s collective wounds. If we can apply the same courage and conviction that fueled our liberation to our present moment, the moral leadership we choose to cultivate now can build a more just and prosperous Zambia for our country now and for generations to come.
God bless Zambia.
*The Rt. Rev’d. Dr. Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba is President of the United National Independence Party (UNIP), Zambia.
