Critically examine the development of social welfare and social work in Zambia from the colonial period to date.How significant has this growth been and has it been in the greater interest of the zamb?

Answer 1

The local social welfare societies were the embryos of the independence struggle that had enabled Africans to arrive at an alternative formula against colonialism. In mobilising their members for action, the welfare societies inevitably assumed a political persona. With welfare and politics interlinking, serious talks began to emerge in the African sectors for a more co-ordinated approach against colonial rule and the settlers' disregard of the plight of local people. To that end all welfare societies were amalgamated to form the Federation of African Welfare Societies. This formation was then transformed into the first African political party in colonial Zambia known as the Northern Rhodesia Congress (NRC). Arguably, this slant of social welfare had a transformative ethos which should have been re-modified and adapted to post-colonial conditions. At independence, the UNIP government should have used the former as a stepping-stone in order to build a modern welfare system. Unfortunately, this was not the case and post-colonial Zambia failed to bridge past organic efforts with contemporary endeavours. Invariably, some colonial methods have surprisingly survived in four decades. In this regard, social welfare actions in post-colonial Zambia have almost remained apolitical and not like in the beginning, when they were couched in political processes. Apart from a brief period in the 1960s, when there was an attempt to bridge political philosophy (albeit of the ruling party and its president) and social welfare, such overtures have not been attempted since. Probably, a social welfare that is non-political creates passive citizens who do not see that social welfare services are part of citizenry entitlements that any democratic state should guarantee its citizens. A citizenry that is politically conscious and aware of this fact would then place demands on its elected leaders relating to the meeting of their needs. This is what happened in colonial Zambia when enlightened Africans saw themselves as inextricably linked to political issues and the question of African self-determination (Cited from Social Welfare in Zambia: The Search for Transformative Agenda - Forthcoming by Ndangwa Noyoo. London: Adonis & Abbey).