Zambia - 34.59
131
Different race, same grift
In 1964, Zambia successfully expelled its colonial overlords. Whether through private ownership by Cecil Rhodes or through the British Commonwealth, for years Zambia’s colonial administration had stripped the country of valuable resources and stolen the profits that belonged to Zambia’s people. After Zambia’s independence, the modern administration of the country has largely continued the corrupt practices of the country’s former colonial overlords. The wealthy class of political elites and business magnates that made colonial Zambia run still largely exist, except instead of White overlords from Britain, they are local Zambians who have filled the power vacuum that the country’s colonial oppressors left behind. On paper, Zambia has one of Africa’s stronger economies, but this metric is not entirely transparent. Zambia has one of the highest economic disparities in the entire world, and the vast majority of Zambia’s citizens live in poverty. The country is racked by corruption and Zambia’s economic system serves largely to protect the interests of Lusaka’s wealthy elites. Despite this, the depravity of Zambia’s faux-nobility does not reach the heights of many other countries on the continent, including some of Zambia’s own neighbors. The country’s democracy remains relatively functional and Zambia’s human rights rap sheet, while leaving much to be desired, could also be significantly worse. Zambia is a country that shows significant promise, a resource-rich and largely functional democracy, but in order for the country to change for the better a number of people who benefit from the current system would need to end it.
Human Rights - 32
Zambia has functionally abolished the death penalty; the last execution was carried out in 1997. Police brutality is rampant in Zambia. The Minister of Public Affairs justified the use of live ammunition to suppress illegal demonstrations for the sake of “restoring public order.” Police often shot fleeing suspects for no reason other than resisting arrest. Investigations into police killings were rarely conducted. Police frequently beat people for violating COVID lockdowns. Police often waited in bars before rounding up and beating the patrons. Prison conditions were abhorrent and the Zambian prison system was at 400% capacity throughout the year. Prisoners regularly lacked adequate access to medical and sanitation facilities as well as food and water. Compounding the problem is that detainees were regularly subject to lengthy pretrial detention times, contributing to overcrowding. Both court and bail systems are completely dysfunctional in Zambia and detainees often wait for years in pretrial detention. Arbitrary arrest was common but was generally the result of incompetence rather than genuine malice as the court system regularly failed to issue arrest warrants when needed, leaving police needing to act without the legal means to do so. As a result, the already dysfunctional court system regularly disregarded reports of arbitrary arrest. Dissenting media outlets and journalists face regular shutdowns and harassment. The government is known to file dozens of lawsuits at once against dissenting media outlets. Dissident journalists often face both legal and physical harassment. While the government is known to monitor social media, arrests based on social media posts are seldom. Peaceful protests in Zambia are sometimes brutally suppressed and the government decides seemingly arbitrarily to shut down peaceful protests. The Public Order Act gives the government broad powers to do so, which it flexes seemingly at random. Homosexuality is illegal. Abortion is legal to preserve the physical, mental, and financial health of the couple as well as in cases of fetal impairment.
Democracy - 62
The president is directly elected. 156 of 167 Assembly seats are directly elected, eight are appointed by the president, and three are reserved for the vice president, speaker, and deputy speaker respectively. Once the speaker and deputy speaker are elected, a runoff election is held to fill their regular, elected seats. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is generally regarded as chronically incompetent. The ECZ failed to adequately investigate allegations of vote rigging and discarded existing voter rolls shortly before the 2020 elections. The 2020 election cycle was marred by violence. Parties registered under the Societies Act generally operated without impediment, yet despite being registered under the Societies Act the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was regularly undermined. The NDC was briefly unregistered under the Societies Act but later reinstated by an appellate court. Chishimba Kambwili, an NDC leader, was sentenced to a year in prison on forgery charges. Zambia has only experienced two peaceful transitions of power between rival factions in the country’s history, and has not experienced such a transition since 2011.
Freedom - 46
Dissident media outlets and journalists regularly face government harassment. The government is known to file dozens of lawsuits at once against dissenting journalists in order to intimidate them into changing their coverage or ceasing an investigation. Additionally, the government frequently shuts down dissident news outlets. The government is known to monitor social media and make arrests based on social media posts, though these arrests are seldom. Peaceful protests are sometimes brutally suppressed and the government sometimes (seemingly arbitrarily) decides to shut down a protest. State-owned media carries a government agenda and regularly slanders the opposition. Possession of over half a gram of any drug is illegal and possession of larger amounts can result in a maximum sentence of 25 years. Gun ownership licenses are issued at the discretion of authorities but are generally easy to obtain through bribery.
Economy - 24
Health - 7
Zambia has a life expectancy of 64 years and an infant mortality rate of 4.24%. 8.1% of Zambians are obese and 9% are malnourished. While nearly all of Zambia’s population has access to healthcare facilities of varying quality, the majority of the population lacks ready access to adequately funded and supplied healthcare facilities. 40.2% of Zambians have access to clean, running water. Zambia struggles with mosquito-borne tropical diseases, HIV/AIDS, and arsenic poisoning. The soil and water in several medium-sized to major cities in Zambia contains dangerous levels of arsenic and exposure to this contaminated soil and water has severely negatively affected the health of the local population.
Corruption - 6
Zambia has a highly incompetent judicial system. Judicial verdicts are bought and sold at nearly all levels of government and the judicial system often must be bribed into action. Police extortion is rampant in the country. Public services often must be bribed into action. Land rights are not adequately protected and tax extortion is rampant. Customs extortion is also rampant. Public services often must be bribed into action.
Competency - 9
The government is failing to provide for the people. Disease and corruption remain rampant in the country. The Zambian government has failed to effectively manage a court system or elections.
Future - 38
Zambia’s future looks uncertain as the PF has consolidated power and eroded Zambia’s democracy. The economy has been growing slowly.
Actions Abroad - 70
Zambia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and but is generally isolationist otherwise and maintains good relations with most nations.
57.5% of Zambians live below the international poverty line and 54.4% live below the national poverty line. 12.17% of Zambians are unemployed. Zambia has one of the largest economic disparities in the world. Zambia has a minimum wage of $43 per month. Nearly all of Zambia’s population has access to a healthcare facility of varying quality, though healthcare is of a notably lower quality outside of major cities. The Zambian economy shrunk 3% in 2020 and grew 1.4% in 2019.