In a significant turn of events, Zambia has emerged as the third most democratic country among nine nations grappling with the threat of autocratic rule, according to the 2024 Democracy Report released by the Varieties Democracy Institute (V-Dem).
The report highlights Zambia’s remarkable journey towards restoring levels of democracy, reaching a pivotal milestone by 2023. Alongside Lesotho and the Maldives, Zambia has shown substantial progress in halting the encroachment of autocratic governance. Meanwhile, countries such as Brazil, Benin, Bolivia, North Macedonia, Thailand, and Tunisia continue to grapple with lower levels of democratic governance.
Zambia’s struggle against autocratic tendencies traces back to 2009, a period marked by the onset of authoritarian rule, which exacerbated with the election of President Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front in 2014. The 2024 Democracy Report underscores Lungu’s tenure as marred by severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, including expression, media, and assembly.
According to the findings obtained by ZNBC News, civil society groups and opposition leaders rallied against Lungu’s attempts to institute constitutional amendments, marking a critical juncture in Zambia’s democratic journey. This collective resistance culminated in the 2021 electoral victory of opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, heralding a new era for Zambia.
The report elaborates on Hichilema’s ascension to power as instrumental in restoring Zambia to the Liberal Democracy Index levels observed prior to Lungu’s tenure. Moreover, Zambia has successfully reinstated electoral democracy, with repression significantly diminished under Hichilema’s leadership.
The resurgence of democracy in Zambia serves as a beacon of hope for nations grappling with autocratic inclinations, underscoring the power of civil society mobilization and democratic processes in safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms. As Zambia continues its journey towards consolidating democratic principles, the world watches closely, hopeful for a future defined by liberty, accountability, and inclusivity.
Yes its true under MCS and Lungu Zambia was turning into an autocratic hell hole.
What is liberal democracy?
Am not into Politics…am a business man and all i want is to do business in a peaceful country…i want my business to be safe and free from cadres and Bandit hooligans….with zero political interference
It all depends who is doing the reporting… HH is an uncle Tom and a Muzungu wanga so don’t expect bazungu to condemn him after all they want him to continue ruling so that they can continue stealing our minerals and other natural resources…if you say No to bazungu then they will never say anything positive about you….they thought Munangangwa was going to be their chola boy but he surprised them with the anti colonial masters stance
my point exactly. what else can they say when the are getting free copper. They going to attack Zimbabwe because they are not getting any freebies in Zim.
This is ZNBC Propagandism – using the same old template. Anytime MMD, PF and now UPND found themselves against the wall of their own making, they went around looking for some “global-praise-reports.” How can you say there is democracy in Zambia when PF member of parliament Joseph Malanji & Kabushi counterpart Bowman Lusambo had their seats taken illegally by a compromised Constitutional Court? UPND is grappling with serious mistakes regarding Food & Electricity cock-ups and now trying everything to make itself useful. Sometimes, it’s best to say – “WE GOT IT WRONG & LESSONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN.”
What did you expect when Robert Gabriel Mugabe was your mentor.
Watch “LEAKED AUDIO: TOP ZIMBABWE MUSOJA AFUMURA MUNANGAGWA..INZWAI ZVAATAURA” on YouTube
Even Egypt is democratic…. forget about the incarceration without trial of several journalists. Actually a democratic country does not:
Allow opposition to hold public rallies
Allow to criticize government
Allow registration of political parties
That way there will be no interference with whatever government wishes to do.
Zambians should not be distracted by such reports which are designed to make us loose focus on what’s going on with our government. These people will write nice things about a government which is in support of their interests. In other words, they treat our leaders like children for complying with their masters wishes. We can fight these forces by removing their puppets from the instruments of power. Opposition leaders should also be bold by going after diplomats and organisations which are busy interfering with our internal affairs.
Well done President HH.
But off course, the usual crap comment writers are at again.
And what is your post. Of course when your uncle is president you only see the good things. The bad things you ignore.
A young man is in police cells somewhere on the copperbelt simply for shouting ALEBWELELAPO! Democracy seems to be an abstract.
Zambia will be so called democratic when we make our own decisions to serve our local people and not to please the imperialist. As things stand they modify our thinking and praise us for things that do not serve our people. Africa will forever remain at the bottom unless we change our mindset. Hakainde in my view is the worst Zambian leader according to the local aspirations and best according to the imperialist because they have tax incentives to feed their nations. And the normal thing is to praise the the giver.
It is not TOO Late to have your head CHECKED
@kanjimaano…when you point at others, three fingers are pointing back at you.
I think only people in zambia experiencing democracy can have a say not outside propaganda.
………..
Just go out there and work hard to make money….
Foreigners are comming to zambia and getting rich because of hard work…..
Some of you are too lazy and just want to complain 24/7…….
Fowardee 2031………
Is this space a PF and Lungu’s campaign tool or what? What the report is comparing is where we have come from. Under Lungu we saw curtailment of press freedom culminating into the closure of Post newspaper; harassment of citizens everywhere through militia cadres with military fatigue marching on our streets to intimidate us; PF cadres harassing, beating up people in markets, bus stations; rampant corruption with cash being thrown like confetti by people whose business could not be determined; dubious Chinese business activities (e.g timber smuggling) citing senior govt officers and PF as partners; opposition arrests, teargassed, shot; the list is endless… If Zambians consider that as the standard of democracy, then we deserve everything we suffer as a result.
Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, South Africa and Namibia rank amongst the top stable democracies in Africa. Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Cameroon, DRC and Angola are the new puppet countries. If you watch what’s happening in Parliament you’d conclude that whoever wrote this article is out of his mind
I keep saying, every 3rd World country is a puppet to someone. PF was a super puppet to China for personal greed. We have new allies so what? You people who sing China and Russia songs don’t queue up at these embassies to get visas to visit because deep down you know you’ll gain nothing. Chinese will openly call you dogs while you shop in their businesses but will never share their technology with you. Own up. You are just envious fools who are probably bitter because the countries you hate denied you visas. Get a life.
This news is bad news for Deja Vu, Ayatollah, FutureZed, kci, kaChilufya, et al. To them, political space is shrinking in Zambia and so let sleeping dogs lie while the world is moving on.
Those are the ones who expect slush funds and brown envelopes………..
Together with dubious contracts awarded to be sold on………..
Now every Zambian has a chance if they work hard………bad news for them
MunaDekhane.The chaps you have mentioned above are old people who got stuck at the advent of liberalization.They seem to have no other ways of looking at the changes around them .They are rigid and like they say….. “You cant teach an old dog new tricks”They are comfortable blaming imperialists,colonialists,capitalists,tribalists,conquerers,racists,slave drivers, ,all of whom they cannot clearly define
Ha….Ha….ati, shrinking democracy, uko !
But still, these deplorable PF mouthpiece will always find reasons NOT to accept the facts. Hopeless to debate these people.
For ONCE just be objective, mwebantu sure !!!
I believe since democracy is an ambiguous entity of leadership any indicators used can score Zambia at 3rd place.
It’s objectivity is plausible and cunningly palpable
Zambia ranks third in what???
What is the story that LT is calling “a significant turn of events”? Very funny If arbitrarily I take Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia North Korea and China then rank one of them as third in democracy aint I just creating news where there’s no news? How was it determined that there were “nine nations grappling with the threat of autocratic rule”