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It was an enormous pleasure for us to go back after an absence of nearly 11 years to what had been our favourite diplomatic service posting. For my wife Archie it was a joy to see flourishing and expanding the projects that she had helped to establish in support of disabled people. For me it was fascinating to pick up the threads of how the ‘New Zambia’ (post KK) had progressed since August 1993. I vividly recall the triumphal arrival of multi-party politics, the election of the MMD in 1991 and the appointment of the most talented and committed cabinet (and other public servants) to have served the Zambian people since Independence in 1964. So many of them - Guy Scott, Emanuel Kasonde, Roger Chongwe, Boniface Kawimbe, Godfrey Miyanda, Elias Chipimo, Dipak Patel, Andrew Kashita, Simon Zukas - I counted as friends. And those I met this time had changed very little in appearance or manner. Sadly despite this galaxy of talent, all did not go well under President Chiluba and President Mwanawasa now has a mountain to climb. But with annual economic growth at over four per cent, an upsurge in world commodity prices, especially copper and cobalt, a magnificent recent harvest and a government which seems to mean business, there are grounds for optimism about Zambia in 2004. Zimbabwe was the envy of Zambians when I was there in the 1990s. No longer. And though Zambians are dismayed about the goings on next door, Zambia is benefiting. Many Zimbabwe tobacco farmers whose farms were confiscated or compulsorily purchased in Zimbabwe dollars are now working in Choma, Southern Province. They arrived with virtually nothing and are on contract to a tobacco co-operative, but will have earned the right to own their farms after several years. Meanwhile their expertise has ensured a record tobacco harvest, with many more acres coming under production and Zambia’s foreign exchange earnings significantly increased. An eye-opener for me was the visible prosperity of the capital. Two or three large shopping centres on the South African model are wonders to behold, to someone who remembers returning to Britain in 1991 to find more goods in our local corner shop than in Lusaka’s supermarkets of the time. The new shopping centres are crowded and a welcome testament to considerable foreign (mostly South African) investment. And there are many more cars on the road than 10 years ago, with traffic jams at rush hour now the norm. All told, there is a burgeoning spirit of optimism in the cities, but it is hard to know how far down the new prosperity percolates and I suspect that away from the main urban centres not too much has changed. We ended our visit with four days at Chiawa Camp on the Lower
Zambezi. We were amongst the first visitors in 1991 when it was
a very basic bush camp. Now it appears in House and Garden’s
Best Ten Safari camps in Africa and I am not surprised. The setting
is staggering, the accommodation luxurious, the food delicious and
the professionalism of the guides outstanding. We saw over 100 elephant,
a pride of lion, countless hippos and crocodiles and over 70 species
of bird. We will return to Zambia. And we will certainly not wait
another 11 years. |
