Kelvin Kachingwe
23 October 2002
opinion
"LIKE all young men of the 1940s and 1950s, I had to get up and fight against the Federation and ultimately attain independence."
This was Sikota Wina's response at his Mimosa house when asked about how he found himself in the struggle.
He says it was while at Munali Secondary school that he got inspired by Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula and company in their fight against the Federation.
"The real crunch, however, came on October 24, 1958 when a group of 'dissidents' broke away from the African National Congress (ANC) to form the Zambia African National Congress (ZANC)," he says.
But before this period, the then young and vibrant Sikota had gone through major transformation.
It was while at Fort Hare University in South Africa that Sikota joined the South African National League and eventually became president of the student's union.
His stay at the prestigious Fort Hare was short-lived -- he was expelled for leading a protest against a Bantu education piece of legislation which was being pushed by the apartheid government.
"The legislation meant that education would be conducted in African languages. I strongly felt that this would kill African education in South Africa," he says.
Mr Wina says he regrets that some of his colleagues from Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) heavily criticised him for having risked his education by leading the protest.
"I don't regret leading the protest though. I have always believed that liberty is indivisible and oppression ought to be fought on all frontiers," he says.
With the expulsion, therefore, Sikota had no option but to return to Northern Rhodesia.
He briefly worked as a journalist for the Information Department before trekking to Chingola to work for Nchanga Drum as editor.
Mr Wina was later awarded a Commonwealth scholarship in 1957 and travelled to the United Kingdom for studies.
On his return, he was to launch the African Life, which was the only independent periodical.
The launch of the African Life coincided with the break-away of ZANC from ANC led by Kenneth Kaunda.
It is, therefore, not wholly false to deduce that Sikota Wina's newspaper gave the freedom struggle extensive coverage.
He says mostly he was the only journalist at ZANC meetings.
In fact, he was present at Broken Hill when ZANC was choosing its leadership.
He remembers that both Kenneth Kaunda and Simon Kapwepwe declined the presidency of the party.
"Kapwepwe wanted to continue as treasurer general as he felt an army marches on its stomach and, therefore, without money, the struggle would have been difficult to manage.
"Kaunda wanted to continue as national secretary in order to effectively organise the new party," Sikota recalls.
Having reached a deadlock, the delegates decided to lock both of them in a room for them to decide who should lead the new militant party.
Kapwepwe proposed his childhood friend Kaunda to lead ZANC.
What followed next were mass demonstrations and huge rallies. ZANC begun to fight for the abolition of the Federation and demanded self-rule.
At every meeting addressed by ZANC leaders, their statements warned that there would be chaos if African demands were not met. Kaunda's public utterances at rallies particularly scared European settlers.
However, in March 1959, the governor broadcast an early morning address announcing the banning of ZANC as well as the arrest or restriction of its leaders.
Sikota Wina was sent to Luwingu in Northern Province.
"The idea was to send us to areas we were not familiar with. If you are Bemba, you were sent to Western Province. I was from Barotse, they sent me to Northern Province.
"But still, this did not prevent us from campaigning among our people. Our popularity in fact grew among our people," Mr Wina recalls.
After their release, the fight for freedom gained momentum.
During their restriction, Mainza Chona who had come from studying law in London had formed the United National Independence Party (UNIP) of which he was president.
Upon their release, Mr Chona gave up the presidency voluntarily to Kaunda and became vice-president instead.
"There was a spirit of self-sacrifice which is lacking now, there was no competition for posts. Each one chose what he thought he could do best and there were no financial rewards.
"Everywhere we went we were received as heroes. We never carried money, people gave us free food," he says.
However, immediately after his release from Luwingu, Mr Wina was received by Professor Robert Hertberg, author of a book on Zambia's independence.
Prof, Hertberg wanted Mr Wina to discontinue the struggle and instead take up a scholarship to Harvard.
Mr Wina, who was appointed director for publicity and international relations in UNIP, however, rejected the scholarship as he wanted to see the struggle to the end.
He says he was fully convinced that the tide of history could not be stopped by a handful of colonialists in Central Africa.
In that regard, he was inspired in 1960, the year he describes as significant, when Congo-Kinshasa attained its independence.
Mr Wina says several people from Northern Rhodesia flocked to Lubumbashi for celebrations. "For Northern Rhodesia, however, it was just a question of time before we got liberated."
However, of major concern to Mr Wina and company was the problem of Barotseland which enjoyed a special status at the time.
He says with the secession of Katanga from Congo-Kinshasa, they were worried about the prospect of facing the same problem with Barotseland.
Mr Wina, whose father was Prime Minister in Barotseland and understood the dangers, especially that the then Litunga Sir Mwanawina III had banned all political activities in the province, advised Dr Kaunda to deal with the issue decisively.
"I advised Kaunda that it was necessary to break through Barotseland and tackle the issue with the Litunga.
"But this could only be done by a respected member of the Royal family who should act as a go-between," he says.
Mr Wina proposed Princess Nganga Nakatindi whom he thought was ideal because she was among the highly-educated women in Northern Rhodesia, having attended Lovedale and Tiger Kroof colleges in South Africa.
"She had a liberated mind and understood African aspirations because of the superior education and also because she was a daughter of Paramount Chief Ilute Yeta III.
"With her help Kaunda, Aaron Milner, Kapwepwe and some members of the central committee visited Limulunga and managed to have an audience with Mwanawina," Mr Wina recalls.
As a result of the meeting with Mwanawina, UNIP was allowed to operate in Barotse Province. Princess Nakatindi later became the first chairperson of the UNIP women's league at the Mulungushi Rock of Authority.
The events that followed later included the 15-15-15 Macleod elections which produced a deadlock, as no single party commanded a workable majority.
Option? Coalition, either between UNIP and ANC or United Federal Party (UFP) and ANC.
Mr Wina recalls that at that time tension was very high in the country.
He says the rank and file of UNIP felt cheated and there was talk of going back to the bush in a Mau Mau-like fashion.
The governor, Sir Evelyn Hone, gave the three parties an ultimatum by which time they should have a coalition or else go for a re-run.
Once again, Dr Kaunda assigned Mr Wina to lobby the "Old Lion" Nkumbula for a coalition.
"On the eve of the deadline, KK sent me to Nkumbula with some forms from Government House. Nkumbula had a particular liking for me. He used to tell me stories about his days at the London School of Economics.
"I persuaded him that we had similar goals and that is to have a black government. During the meeting Kaunda telephoned me and told me to ask about progress and Nkumbula just said, 'Kaunda he should be patient'," Mr Wina says.
After going through the forms, Nkumbula called his daughter Malao and asked for her opinion.
Malao, then a young girl, told her father that he had spent all his life fighting for the black government and this is the opportunity to form one.
"Nkumbula eventually signed and the coalition government was in sight. This was 15 minutes before the deadline. I rushed to take the papers to Kaunda," Mr Wina says.
In the coalition government, Nkumbula became the minister of Education while Dr Kaunda was minister of Local Government.
Zambia was to later become a Republic on October 24, 1964 with Mr Wina as the first minister of Health before moving to Local Government and finally the ministry Information and Broadcasting.
Looking back, Mr Wina feels that the sacrifices that were made were necessary and feels independence should still be celebrated.
He says it was necessary to have Dr Kaunda, the man the Daily Telegraphy of London said has no tribe, as president because he acted as a unifying factor.
"Kaunda attracted the elite and removed the tag of UNIP as a party for stone throwers and loafers to a party for all classes of people.
"Apart from that UNIP had a vision such as the anti-corruption stance and the leadership code," he says.
Mr Wina, who was referred to as the UNIP "Cowboy" describes Dr Kaunda as being firm but fair.
"During his detention with my wife as coup suspects, he always prayed for her in court before the hearing. He would say God help this young girl, she is innocent," Mr Wina says.
He is, however, disappointed with the turn of events in the political arena.
"The current crop of politicians only want to go to Parliament and possibly become ministers. They only remember the electorate during election time and not in-between," Mr Wina says.
He bemoans the trend of forming parties for election purposes after which they defect when they lose.
Mr Wina concludes by saying that there is need to celebrate independence because of the peace the country is enjoying.
"In the midst of conflicts in the region, we stand out as a haven of peace and as such I do ascribe to the notion that independence is meaningless when others are suffering," he says.
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