We are first Pan Africanists then Social Democrats!

The SDC is a centre-left party which is guided by the twin ideologies of Pan-Africanism and Social Democracy. Our first premise is that the SDC is a Zambian party which is also located in Africa. As a people, Africans have endured all forms of oppression and humiliation for centuries. We were sold into slavery, brutally suppressed during colonial rule and have had to endure neo-colonial bondage even after attaining our independence. Our forerunners liberated our country from colonial subjugation, with an understanding that African people have a right to determine their destinies and have a right to a better life under God’s given sun. They made attempts to inject a sense of pride into our people and built schools and hospitals in order to make the nation literate and healthy.

Some successes were scored in the decade of independence. However, all these endeavours stagnated and then fizzled out. For almost thirty years our people wallowed in poverty and squalor. In the last decade, there has been some improvement in the lives of certain sections of the Zambian society and the economy has produced some positive signals. Notwithstanding, these benefits have not spread to the mass of our people and they have not reduced poverty in the country - which has endured for decades and continues to cripple Zambians in fundamental ways. Zambians, as Africans, still fit the same profile that was created by the colonialists, that says that we are a people to be pitied, who have no self-worth, are poverty stricken, hungry and are a burden to the world.

As Pan-Africanists, this is the image we want to erase once we are in power through a great leap forward into the modern age. Sound policies and institutions, good governance and a well thought out industrialisation programme will make this great leap possible. We envisage a new Zambia where functioning institutions, democratic politics and fair play will flourish. We will work tirelessly to liberate our people from penury and hopelessness. We will not base our governance on begging from donors, but roll up our sleeves and get stuck into the task of liberating the country from poverty. We will engage external partners only in unique circumstances. We want to make Zambia a working society and not one that is defined by begging and handouts. We strongly believe that no nation in the world has developed sorely on the goodwill of other nations or peoples. Therefore, Zambians must also be willing to work hard if they expect the country to prosper. This should begin with the leaders who should lead by example.