Zambia gained its independence on this day in 1964.
However, Zambia’s journey to liberation has set it apart from most African countries because it broke free from a private British firm that had colonised its territories and invited Brits to settle the land.
The British South African Company (BSAC) was headquartered in London and run by imperialist John Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), former prime minister of the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa. In 1899, the British government allowed BSAC to acquire and administer territories in South-Central Africa north of the Limpopo River, allowing Rhodes to control an area covering modern-day Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He ruled it until 1923, when the region became a British protectorate.
With its vast copper and cobalt reserves, Northern Rhodesia—now known as Zambia—grew as a mining economy. By the 1930s, the industry employed thousands of British settlers and Africans, inadvertently catalysing the independence struggle.
In 1935, Zambia’s history sharply pivoted when thousands of African miners initiated a strike over reduced wages and a colonial ‘native tax.’ This protest, though short-lived due to a violent crackdown, marked a pivotal moment in the struggle for independence.
However, it was the first form of organised pressure against the colonial government and gave rise to trade unions, which became resistance movements. The most prominent was the Northern Rhodesia African National Congress (NRANC), the political home of anti-colonial leaders such as Godwin Lewanika (1907-77), Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula (1916-83) and Kenneth Kaunda (1924-2021). However, the United National Independence Party (UNIP), which broke away from NRANC in 1959, would lead Zambia to independence in October 1964. Kaunda was UNIP’s leader, and the teacher-turned-politician became the country’s first president.
Zambia was the first liberated country in Southern Africa, allowing it to be a haven for similar movements in neighbouring Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.
We’ve found some photos of the country’s first decade as an independent nation to mark this special day.
Happy 60th anniversary, Zambia!
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-16039411
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/world/africa/kenneth-kaunda-dead.html
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Cecil-Rhodes
https://www.zambiatourism.com/about-zambia/history/british-empire-in-zambia
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kenneth-Kaunda#ref220196
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/africa1964/1983/23/1983_23_70/_article