•CHIPIMO Snr

By AUSTIN KALUBA –

IF there is one thing Elias Chipimo senior would be remembered for, it is his unwavering principles that governed his life like a lighthhouse guides ships to the mainland.
It did not matter whether the political system was a one-party or multi-party democracy, the man spoke his mind, a characteristic that saw him incarcerated, misunderstood or even ostracised by the so-called conventional thinkers.
The veteran politician, who was also a writer, banker, traditionalist and educationist, paid a heavy price when the UNIP Government incarcerated him on trumped up charges.
However, he did not despair despite being frustrated and not allowed to thrive in the nation he had done so much to create.
Few Zambian nationalists were as independent, or as outspoken as Elias Chipimo snr who, shortly after independence, the other UNIP nationalists quickly labelled as ‘dissident’ and ‘rebel’.
He was aflame, incandescent, and one of the free thinkers in the class of the late Valentine Musakanya, Andrew Kashita, William Chipango and the late Francis Nkhoma, who were unconventional, progressive and incorruptible.
As a young writer writing for the National Mirror, I fleetingly interacted with the late and remember his command of the English language and wit. It was thrilling to be in his company because of his independent thinking.
After falling out with UNIP, the late politician, while addressing the Ndola branch of the Law Society of Zambia, when he was chairperson of Standard Bank Zambia Limited, urged leaders in Third World countries, especially those in Africa, to review their policies towards a single-party constitution and introduce flexible mechanisms to allow for change of leadership.
Mr Chipimo added that multi-partyism was the surest way of avoiding coups and eliminating the disgraceful tendency of presidents ending up with bullets in their heads.
The party and its government, which thought it had successfully muffled all diverse views by banning opposition through the infamous Choma Declaration, did not take Mr Chipimo’s ‘outbursts’ kindly.
Overzealous UNIP members protested against ‘dissidents’ who included Mr Chipimo himself, former Finance minister John Mwanakatwe, Barclays Bank manager Francis Nkhoma, former Bank of Zambia governor Valentine Musakanya and former Mines minister Andrew Kashita.
They went to their offices to drag them to Freedom House. Fortunately, most of the ‘rebels’ were out of their offices apart from Mr Nkhoma, who was harassed by the irate cadres.
The incensed cadres called on the Government to try the ‘dissidents’ without trial or to confiscate their passports. Some infuriated cadres even suggested that the ‘rebels’ be hanged.
Mr Chipimo resigned his position long before former President Kenneth Kaunda held a Press conference accusing the four of being behind a plot to incite the army to overthrow his administration.
The late Emmanuel Kasonde issued a statement that there was nothing wrong in debating why Zambia had a single candidate for presidency.
In a screaming media headline ‘Shup Up Chipimo-Kaunda’, the former head of State charged that Mr Chipimo had been an informer during the colonial period and had reported the UNIP nationalist leader to colonial authorities.
An angry Dr Kaunda reacted that he would not take kindly to the pronouncements of the ‘dissidents’. He quoted a ci-Bemba proverb ‘imputi iisula taileka-meaning an erring person was bound to make the same mistake several times.
After trumped up charges of trying to overthrow the Government, Mr Chipimo served his term in prison and came out from the gaol as radical as he was before incarceration.
That is how the once bosom friends Dr Kaunda and Mr Chipimo fell out. Mr Chipimo had held several positions under the UNIP Government.
After going into oblivion, his name made more headlines when he joined the Movement for Multiparty Democracy in 1991 and served in different diplomatic and party positions when the MMD replaced UNIP. He served as the first national chairperson in the MMD regime, and ambassador to Japan, United Kingdom and Germany.
Tragedy befell the beleagured politician when his wife Anne died in 2008 in a car accident when the couple was travelling to Mporokoso to cast their votes in the presidential election.
She died on the spot while her husband was evacuated to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) with fractured ribs, forearm and a sore head. However, Mr Chipimo recovered from his injuries.
The deplorable conditions at the hospital became a turning point for his son Elias Chipimo jnr to join politics and make a contribution to the running of the country.
Recently, long after he had left politics and retired to his village, the former freedom fighter warned that growing levels of discontent among citizens might spark a revolution in Zambia soon.
The veteran politician, who was speaking during a live special interview on Hot FM’s Red Hot Breakfast show in Lusaka, said there was a lot of tension in the country due to discontent among citizens and warned that the Patriotic Front Government should start listening to its citizens.
“A revolution is coming soon in this country because people are totally upset and the Government is not listening.
“People are being intimidated everywhere and are not free to express themselves,” Mr Chipimo Snr said.
He added: “Wherever people get upset and that anger is allowed to be bottled up, that always sparks a revolution and I can see that happening here if the Government does not start listening to its people.”
He further charged that Zambia lacked the inspiration with which it was founded upon in 1964.
“It’s like people are no longer free. When we fought the white minority rule, we fought so that we could be free to speak, but today if one says something that the Government is not happy about, they are arrested. This is not the freedom we fought for,” he said.
Born at a time when the lives of natives (as Africans were called) was beset with terrible poverty and encroached on by foreign powers, he lived to fulfill his boyhood dream of attaining education up to university level.
With incredible perseverance and consummately conceived strategy, he harnessed the forces of African discontent and nationalism to join a lean choir of nationalists which he led to victory of Zambia in 1964.
However, it was his independent thinking that distanced him from other nationalists who accepted Uhuru unquestioningly.
He continued making his views known even in old age when some of his conterparts accepted the status quo.