PARTY, POLITY AND BUREAUCRACY: THE ZAMBIAN EDUCATION DEBATE, 1974–77

Abstract

BETWEEN 1974 AND 1977, at the instigation of the single Party the United National Independence Party (UNIP)1 and the Government, the Zambian people debated the future of their education. The debate took place at a crucial period in the political and social development of the country. On the political level, it was designed to allay fears about the recently declared One Party State,2 involve the people actively in the country's second decade of independence and revive the image of UNIP as the country's leader. On the social level, the aim was to use education to redress the imbalances and inequalities becoming manifest in the society. Education had been seen as a major factor in creating and continuing status and income inequalities both between those living in the towns and those living in the countryside and also within those two areas. It was also intended that a new educational plan would assist the economic development of the country by making education more attuned to the needs of the country. After nearly ten years of independence, President Kaunda and UNIP had declared a one party participatory democracy in December 1972. Kaunda had decided to end the multiparty system not because of the strength of UNIP but from an awareness of its potential as a divisive force. Perpetual struggles had gone on within the party between leaders striving for power positions.3 These internal dissensions had led to the formation of breakaway parties such as the United Party and the United Peoples Party. Grass roots organizers lost influence as their power to deliver patronage lessened dramatically with the fall in the price of copper in the early seventies.4 As a mobilizing force the party was weak: less than 40 per cent of the electorate turned out for the first elections of the new One-Party State in early 1973. In its heyday, both before and after independence, UNIP had rightly prided itself on its ability to mobilize people to vote. As Harries-Jones wrote, 'Overall, UNIP was far more effective [in political mobilization] than many West African political parties'.5