Zambian police forces patrol the street after riots in Kanyama township of Lusaka, Zambia, on Jan. 12, 2018. Chanda Mwenya/Press Association. All rights reserved.Since gaining its independence from Britain on October 24, 1964 and the reintroduction of the multiparty system in 1991, following an authoritarian one-party state between 1973 and 1991, Zambia is regarded as a fairly consolidated democracy in the southern region of Africa; a region that has historically seen its fair share of conflict. Two key comparatives are Zimbabwe during Mugabe’s 37 year rule and Kabila’s Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kabila is refusing to hold an election and cede power and attacking anyone who calls for him to stand down.
However, a persistent failure by the current and previous governments to observe key human rights such as the freedom of speech and assembly threaten to undermine Zambia’s democratic reputation. In addition, a failure to reform and implement much needed change to a largely defective Constitution and electoral rules means that Zambia is having a tough time adapting to the changing democratic realities in the region and indeed, across the continent and the world.
Since 2011, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organisation has released two reports detailing human rights abuses in Zambia. Firstly, human rights abuses in the mining sector and secondly, the failure to protect the rights of those living in poverty against all forms of exploitation such as land displacement and police brutality.
