UNIP advocates non-alignment as driver of Zambia’s foreign policy engagements

Zambia should maintain a non-aligned foreign policy in order to enhance bilateral relations with all nations, says the United National Independence Party (UNIP) president, Trevor Mwamba.

Mwamba said that it should be made clear to the world that traditionally Zambia had subscribed to non-alignment in its foreign policy.

He said in an interview on Thursday that Zambia’s foreign policy was premised on a vision of a free and diverse world progressing towards a more flexible world of peaceful coexistence.

“We lost the plot, we lost direction in terms of being influential. We used to be the centre of giving direction to other countries and as I mentioned at the very beginning that President Kenneth Kaunda, our founding President and his team were very focused and the approach was one of integrity, it was one of vision and pan-Africanism.

“So, we had a Zambia that played a major role in bringing about peace in the region and bringing about peace elsewhere in the wider context of world. And so Zambia was looked upon as the centre of giving direction, unfortunately after President Kaunda we kind of lost that,” Mwamba said.

He added that Zambia’s vision was to have a broad foreign policy that was beyond the country’s interests in the spirit of pan-Africanism and pursuit of an equitable and peaceful world.

“It is a very fine line one has to play, firstly you want to attract foreign investors into our country, that is the context but focus and emphasis should be given to Zambians, we should be investing in Zambians in terms of Zambian entrepreneurs,” Mwamba said.

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