By MUTALE KANI-
The late former President Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba undoubtedly left an indelible mark in the hearts of many Zambians.
Remembered for an array of milestones, one that arguably stands out is his administration’s move to liberalize the Zambian economy.
Others heap him with praises for declaring Zambia a Christian nation, while many applaud the late former head of State as the father of democracy.
Regardless of the perspective one may look at it from, Dr Chiluba’s life as Zambia’s second President was filled with numerous success stories that have made him an irreplaceable part of Zambia’s history.
However, prior to assuming office as President of Zambia, Dr Chiluba was respected for his role as leader of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
FTJ, as he was fondly referred to, rose to the helm of the labour movement in the early 1970s.
Dr Chiluba’s journey in the labour movement started when he joined the National Union of Building, a step that he took preceding his stint as
an accounts assistant at Atlas Copco, a Ndola based engineering firm at the time.
Fittingly so, the ZCTU has hailed Dr Chiluba as a courageous trade unionist.
In a an interview in Lusaka recently, ZCTU General Secretary Cosmas Mukuka recalled moments when Dr Kaunda and Dr Chiluba, when the second President was at the helm of the labour movement, shared a platform during Labour Day commemorations.
Mr Mukuka said the two would co-exist at national events, despite having divergent views.
“You could see at times during commemoration of Labour Day, he would give a speech, then Kaunda would give another speech. There would be
retaliations and cautions back and forth. It was quite a dramatic state of affairs, but again, you would also thank President Kaunda because he was also tolerant to divergent views where he could tolerate the president of ZCTU to speak out and then he would in turn answer,” Mr Mukuka said.
He said Dr Chiluba was the voice of reason in the labour movement despite operating under an intimidating one-party State environment.
“That type of trade unionism worked at a time when Zambia was a one-party participatory State. Institutions in government, places of work had mandatory youth committees for UNIP so even when you are managing and controlling labour as a trade unionist in such a company, you had the presence of the party in government. That made it so difficult for people to voice out. You had to tune or align yourself to the system for you to survive. And that’s the time you saw this gallant leader penetrating such hot waters to be heard,” Mr Mukuka said.
The ZCTU general secretary applauded Dr Chiluba for allowing multiplicity of unions when he became of head of State.
“The multiplicity and freedom of association was made very easy by the same President, when he became President, he opened up for that.
International Labour Organisation demands for freedom of association where you have to deal with most representative institutions even when you are doing collective bargaining processes.  When you compare the man who worked under one party state but the voice was heard, it was something unique and admirable, you would say he walked the talk,” Mr Mukuka said.
Despite the modern labour movement commending FTJ for allowing a multiplicity of unions when he became head of State, Dr Chiluba ‘s former press aide Emmanuel Mwamba believes the labour movement under the care of second President as trade unionist was stronger because of having one powerful voice.
Mr Mwamba, who is former ambassador to Ethiopia, said the current labour movement can learn a lot from Dr Chiluba’s time as a trade unionist.
He is of the view that the current scenario has weakened the labour movement.
Mr Mwamba suggested that things revert to the way the labour movement operated during Dr Chiluba’s time when he was at the helm of the ZCTU.
Mr Mwamba hailed Dr Chiluba as a champion of trade unionism.
“The labour movement of the time was united. It was driven by an industry with one union. Now you have fragmented labour unions. Each sector, each sub sector has its own union and I think this has provided weakness,” he said.
The former ambassador said there is an opportunity for the labour movement to reconsider uniting.
He said a united labour movement would give trade unions a stronger voice.
Dr Chiluba Memorial Committee Chairperson Chapa Chikamba said the trade unionist-turned President had the best interests of the workers at heart.
Mr Chikamba said Dr Chiluba’s leadership style was similar to the aggression of an opposition leader when he was a trade unionist at a time when Zambia was a one-party State.
He said Dr Chiluba’s voice was a lone alternative voice for the workers at a time when only one political party was allowed to exist.
“UNIP wanted to do so many things which were not working, Dr Chiluba in representing workers, in opposing what was going on, became like the leader of opposition. When there were food and commodity shortages and whatever happened at that time, the only voice of reason we had in Zambia was that of Dr Chiluba,” Mr Chikamba said.
Mr Chikamba said the charisma Dr Chiluba showed when he was a trade unionist would eventually take him to State House.
“So it was not surprising that when the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) was formed, the population of Zambia, participants in the congress and the convention elected him as president and when one party democracy was abolished and we had a general election, President Chiluba was elected by 80 per cent of the population to be President of the Republic of Zambia,” he said.
It is clear that the late former president was destined for the presidency of the republic of Zambia even in his time as leader of ZCTU.
His trade unionism laid solid ground for him to ascend to the political arena and eventually reach the apex of the career by becoming head of State.
It has all the writings of a fairy tale story that a man who spoke on behalf of workers in the country would someday become the voice of an
entire Zambian populace, in a resounding fashion by winning the 1991 general elections and forming government.
As the 11th year memorial of Dr Chiluba was observed on June 18, his life in the labour movement would forever be remembered as the springboard to his ascendency to power.-ZANIS.