By Bennie Mundando
WE believe that under the third-economic-broader facets, Zambia must get her rightful place in the comity of nations and international institutions, 3RDD Liberation Movement (3RRD LM) President Enock Tonga has said.
Speaking to The Scoop yesterday, Mr. Tonga said the vision towards the foreign policy must be to fundamentally build a new foreign policy goal, content, and process, in a manner that will locate Zambia’s global strategic engagement in a new paradigm on a wider canvas.
He said this must not just be limited to political diplomacy, but also includes economic, social, scientific, cultural, political, and security interests – both regional and global; on the principle of fairness in striving to achieve equality and mutuality.
He said this must lead to an economically stronger Zambia whose voice is heard and considered on the international fora.
“We believe that political stability, rule of law and not of men, peace and love for one another and harmony in the region and the world at large are essential elements for economic growth and development. Zambia’s voice is less considered internationally and she is seen to be floundering, whereas she should have been engaging with the international community with confidence.
“This is so because of failure by current and previous crop of greedy politicians to enable Zambia discover her inborn vitality, the sense of time and the political will to act for the benefit of all. The big measure of the sorry state of Zambia’s foreign affairs is mainly due to weak economic status that stretches far beyond high illiteracy and poverty levels being perpetrated by the same greedy and highly-corrupt politicians,” Mr. Tonga said.
He said his party was determined to lay down a new firm-foundation and on it, build a very stable, strong, self-reliant, self-confident, and futuristic Zambia, to taking up its rightful position in the comity of nations.
“In this, we will be firstly guided by our God’s inspiration to serve humanity and our foreign policy will be based on best national interests. We will create a web of allies to mutually further our interests. We will leverage all our resources and people to play a greater role on the international high table.
“Zambia has long failed to duly appreciate and put to good use the full extent and gamut of its Soft Power (SP) potential. We shall integrate our soft power avenues into our external interchange, particularly, harnessing and focusing on the spiritual, cultural, and philosophical dimensions of it,” he said.
He said Zambia had always played a major role in African affairs during and after independence liberation struggles, more also offering a lot to the world and that this had been her tradition and culture since time immemorial but that this must be translated into economic emancipation.
