Zambia, 1969

29. Madam President, once

again the General Assembly is graced by the election of a

woman as President. It is symbolic that this mother of

assemblies should be guided by a woman, especially one of

such outstanding accomplishments and qualities. On behalf

of my delegation I wish to congratulate you most sincerely

on your election to the very high office of President of the

United Nations General Assembly at its twenty-fourth

session. Your credentials, Madam President, show clearly

that you are eminently qualified to conduct, to the

satisfaction of all, the business of the current session of the

General Assembly. You will be able to count on the

co-operation of my delegation in making your tenure of

office as successful as, I am sure, it will be enjoyable.

I should also like, Madam President, to pay particular

tribute to your predecessor, the late Dr. Emilio Arenales of

Guatemala for his unforgettable devotion to duty during his

short but eventful tenure of office. It is only after he has

gone that the endurance of the man in his very last year of

life can be appraised. All of us who remember the way he

steered the meetings over a very eventful period still cherish

a warm and respectful admiration for him. We are indebted

to him for his tireless efforts in the cause of peace and

justice. May his services to mankind never be forgotten.

31. On a personal note, Madam President, allow me to

recall a friend, Tom Mboya, Kenya’s late Minister for

Economic Development and Planning, who for the greater

part of his life devoted himself to the noble causes of

freedom; the right to self-determination and development

of the nations and the peoples of Africa. The Zambian

delegation deeply mourns his death. His efforts and

contribution cannot be erased from the minds of those who

knew him.

32. The Secretary-General, as always, deserves our gratitude

and encouragement. Ever since he came to office in

the shadow of that tragic event the loss of his predecessor,

Dag Hammarskjöld, he has grappled with the ceaseless spate

of international crises, and it is to his credit that we are still

sitting together to nurse the wounds of the past years and

to review progress towards a better world in which nations

can, hopefully, put an end to intolerance of race and

internecine wars. We are all aware that our world is prone

to disintegration.

33. The United Nations is charged with the grave responsibility

of maintaining international peace and security. The

Organization is expected to take effective measures to

prevent and remove threats to peace, to suppress acts of

aggression and other breaches of the peace and by peaceful

means in conformity with the principles of justice and

international law, to bring about adjustments in or a

settlement of international disputes. It.is also expected to

prevent situations likely to lead to a breach of the peace. It

cannot hope to succeed by taking negative measures only of

a curative nature. A more important task is for the

Organization to foster the development among nations of

friendly relations based on respect for the principles of

equal rights and self-determination of all peoples. Another

important function of the Organization is to promote

international trade on a world-wide basis and to encourage

co-operative and complementary development in the economic,

scientific, social and cultural fields.

34. If, therefore, Madam President, the Zambian: delegation

has sought your permission to speak at this stage, it is

to remind ourselves of these lofty aims and objectives of

the international Organization. All of us representing our

countries here today have resolved to honour these invaluable

objectives and to turn them into reality.

35. But, alas, it is also fact that many of us have

expediently chosen to make a mockery of our obligations

under the Charter. The Charter’s most cherished, fundamental

clauses have been honoured by so many of us more

in the breach than in the observance; injustice, exploitation

of man by man and of State by State have become the

order of the day, breeding tension bound to lead to

international strife and the rupture of peace, security and

stability. Certain Members of this Organization have repeatedly

committed acts contrary to the spirit of the

Charter and have defied all appeals to accept their

obligations under the Charter. As long as this defiant

attitude prevails and people continue to sit in this Assembly

year in and year out, speaking of peace and justice and of

equal rights for all men without meaning what they say,

these monstrous crimes against humanity will continue. The

principle of self-determination of countries and peoples-a

principle, time and again reaffirmed by this international

body—will continue to be flouted with impunity. This

spectre of decadence appears in varying shapes and degrees

all over the world and in its most objectionable form

Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and the territories

controlled by colonialist Portugal.

36. Coming from a country sharing common borders with

minority régimes, I would be failing in my duty if in

discussing international peace and security I did not draw

the attention of the world to ‘the miserable plight of

millions of Africans who continue to be denied the human

rights enshrined in the Charter and so cherished by the

United Nations.

37. For nearly four years now, a clique of white settlers in

Rhodesia have been living in a state of continuous rebellion

refusing to surrender the political power wrested from the

metropolitan Power unwilling to topple the rebel régime.

38. My Government believes that, so far, the half-hearted

measures lied by the United Kingdom Government in

trying to normalize the situation in Rhodesia, have been

deplorably ineffective. We in Zambia believe that this is a

result of deliberate indifference on the part of Britain.

Bilateral talks between the United Kingdom Prime Minister

and the chief representative of the rebels, Ian Smith, the

self-styled Prime Minister of Rhodesia, have failed; and they

were meant to fail. We submit that the policy of economic

sanctions adopted by the Security Council has also failed

dismally. We submit further that, unless backed by effective

means of enforcement, the policy of sanctions cannot bring

about the required change. Although the United Kingdom

has broken off diplomatic relations with Rhodesia, there

are still British financial corporations conducting open

trade and investing heavily in Rhodesia through their agents

and subsidiaries based in South Africa, thereby giving aid

and comfort to the rebels. Besides stating that it cannot

apply force in Rhodesia, the United Kingdom Government

has also stated that because of its vital economic interests in

South Africa it cannot lay on an embargo against South

Africa and Portugal which are aiding the rebel colony.

39. It is necessary for me at this stage to reiterate briefly

the kind of steps we in Zambia believe are necessary to

bring about the desired results in Rhodesia. And in this

connexion I can do no better than restate what I said to the

Security Council on 13 June 1969 [1475th meeting] when

I last addressed it on the question of Rhodesia. I said then:

“If the Security Council wishes to succeed in Rhodesia,

then it must be prepared to apply the provisions of

Articles 41 and 42 of Chapter VII of the United Nations

Charter. South Africa and Portugal will have to decide

whether to co-operate with the noble efforts of the

Council or to obstruct this Council’s decisions for the

sake of merely supporting an illegal racist minority régime

in Rhodesia and, therefore, be prepared for the consequences.

“If, however, for reasons of trade and colour, or

racialism, as well as global military strategy, certain

members of the Council are not prepared for a confrontation

with South Africa, the alternative is the use of force

in Rhodesia itself. We have been realistic enough to know

that the loss of life would have been, and would still be,

minimized if the administering Power had used that force,

rather than the Security Council-or any other organ of

the United Nations. Unfortunately, however, hitherto the

United Kingdom—and we must stress that Rhodesia is its

responsibility-while at first talking about its intention to

quell the rebellion, to restore constitutionality and

ultimately prepare the people for majority rule in

Zimbabwe, has ruled out the only weapon it could have

used to achieve those objectives. Instead, the United

Kingdom resorted to manoeuvres which ultimately aimed

not at quelling the rebellion any longer, but rather at

ending illegality.”

40. The appeal we made to the Security Council on 13

June 1969 is valid even today. It is the view of my

delegation that, with only a little goodwill and despite the

oppressive developments that have taken place in Rhodesia

since then, the Government of the United Kingdom could

alter the course of events in that country. Rhodesia, we

repeat, is Britain’s responsibility and we cannot acquit it of

this responsibility until the people of Zimbabwe attain

majority rule.

41. Let me now turn briefly to the situation in Namibia

with which this Organization is so familiar. My delegation

deeply regrets the fact that in spite of General Assembly

resolution 2145 (XXI) terminating the authority of the

Government of South Africa over Namibia no effective

steps have yet been taken by the United Nations to

establish the Organization’s authority in the Territory. This

body must bring more pressure to bear on the Pretoria

Government. The oppressed people of the world who look

upon the United Nations as the only hope for the future

have begun to ask questions regarding the effectiveness of

this body. Self-respecting nations feel disillusioned now

that Namibia is being segmented into the meaningless

political units called bantustans, and is the immediate target

of the policy of apartheid.

42. If the United Nations must rid the world of oppression,

racial discrimination and intolerance, it is vitally

urgent that effective measures be adopted to terminate any

pretended claims which the South African Government

may have over any part of Namibia. The United Nations

Council for Namibia, created by the General Assembly,

must be given full support and assistance by all Member

States of the United Nations so that it can assume the

responsibility entrusted to it to prepare the indigenous

people for self-determination and independence. The latest

Security Council resolution [269 (1969)], adopted on 12

August 1969, prescribed 4 October 1969 as the definite

date of withdrawal by the Government of South Africa

from the Territory of Namibia, and my delegation would

like to see effect given to-this resolution.

43, The position in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea

(Bissau) remains, of course, unchanged. Portugal now

maintains about 150,000 troops to support its colonial war

effort in Africa: This is possible because of the active

support that Portugal enjoys from its allies in NATO. On

the other hand, as. expected, the freedom movement in

these territories is gaining strength. South Africa is also

intervening as much in Angola and Mozambique as it has

done in Zimbabwe. Regarding the Portuguese colonies in

Africa, the new Caetano administration has so far shown no

sign of modifying the hard-line oppressive administration of

Salazar.

44. My delegation must warn Portugal and its supporters

that the oppressed people of Mozambique, Angola and

Guinea (Bissau) will not give up the struggle until they

actually govern and shape the destinies of their own

countries. It is an irony of modern imperialism that a

country as poor, as illiterate and as comparatively backward

as Portugal should allot the greater percentage of its budget

to arms and weapons in order to suppress a people so far

away from the Iberian Peninsula. Allies of Portugal,

particularly members of NATO, must urge it to refrain

from pursuing such a disastrous policy.

45. We learn with satisfaction that the African freedom-fighters

in Guinea (Bissau) have already, through their own

determined efforts, seized a substantial part of their own

territory from the Portuguese colonial grip. We also know

that in Mozambique military activity has spread to the

north and north-western parts of Tete District. These clashes

have reached such proportions that the Tete Regional

Hospital has been turned into a military hospital. Because

of these clashes, villages close to the Zambian border have

been regrouped into special villages.

46. The liberation and nationalist movements now control

at least one fifth of Mozambique and have at their disposal

thousands of patriots prepared to make even greater

sacrifices to ensure the total liberation of their motherland.

In 1968 not only did activity in the Tete District break out

into the open, but liberation movement meetings were held

for the first time in Mozambique itself. In Angola, the same

pattern is manifest, Military activity has spread from

northern and eastern Angola as far as the Caprivi Strip. The

annual loss of life for Portugal in Angola alone has

increased by some 30 per cent, and, while Portugal’s total

armed forces now stand at 180,000, a majority of these are

in colonies distributed roughly as follows: 55,000 in

Angola, 30,000 in Guinea (Bissau) and 65,000 in Mozambique.

The cost of maintaining these troops for the period

1965 to 1967 constituted some 44 per cent of the total

public expenditure and covered some 50 per cent of the

annual income. The figures for 1969 show that, out of a

budget of about 25 billion escudos, about 11 billion are

earmarked for defence and security.

47. We live very close to the scene of racial strife in

southern Africa. We understand both the absurdities and

the tragedies of individual losses of life, the stagnation of

the economy and the general impoverishment of the

indigenous peoples of southern Africa resulting from the

oppressive activities of a decaying Portuguese empire and

the implacable domineering element made up of its racist.

minorities in Rhodesia and South Africa. With the best will

in the world, the free and independent African countries

bordering on southern Africa cannot escape a bloody

involvement unless the world body takes positive preemptive

measures for its prevention.

48. Permit me to say that if I have dwelt at length on

exposing the fierce threat of a racial war in the southern

part of Africa it is to inform this body that Africa is still a

victim of colonialism and imperialism. As long as these

vicious forces exist, the peace and security of the world in

general, and that of Africa in particular, will continue to be

threatened, In its pursuit of colonial wars in Africa,

Portugal has already violated the territorial integrity of the

sovereign States of Senegal, Guinea, the Democratic Republic

of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. We condemn these

violations most strongly and we urge Portugal to reappraise

its policies immediately. By doing so it ‘will lessen the

number of areas of conflict, and tension in the world,

clearly amplified in the Lusaka Manifesto on Southern

Africa which was endorsed by the Assembly of African

Heads of State and Government recently held in Addis

Ababa.

49. Let me touch briefly on another subject which my

delegation views with considerable sorrow and grief: the

Biafra-Nigeria conflict. Over the last two years and a

quarter the war between Biafra and Nigeria has been

brought to a complete stalemate. The victims of this war

are the innocent children and the helpless women. The

conflict is still far from being solved. We believe that, in the

effort to bring about a settlement, the means tried so far

have failed. Apparently, the Governments of the United

Kingdom and the USSR believe that the solution lies in

increasing the supply of weapons of mass destruction. We

submit that the greatest contribution the United Kingdom

and the Soviet Union can make is to use their high

diplomatic offices to impress upon the parties to the

conflict the need and urgency for a negotiated and peaceful

settlement. Any such attempt, however, must recognize the

fact that there are two sides involved in the conflict, and

these must be invited together to a round-table conference.

The problem is one of determining the future juridical and

political structure of Nigeria and Biafra. This must be

decided upon by the people of that part of Africa, for it is

they who know what is best for them. My Government and

people will do their utmost to see to it that under the right

conditions—and one of them is an immediate cease-fire—peace

and stability are restored to that region of

Africa so badly torn by fratricide.

50. It now remains for me to refer again briefly to yet

another conflict continuing in the Middle East. We stand

solidly behind the 22 November 1967 resolution of the

Security Council and we call upon both parties to create an

atmosphere in which an honourable settlement can be

reached. We do not believe that these conditions of

peaceful negotiation are possible outside the terms of this

resolution. The world has witnessed continuous violations

of cease-fire pledges and other forms of violent actions

culminating in wanton destruction of sacred edifices. Surely

it is time that parties to the Middle East conflict modified

their attitudes in order to bring peace to that disturbed

area.

51. In his address to this Assembly on 18 September

1969, President Nixon referred to the “self-imposed isolation”

[1755th meeting, para. 70] of the People’s Republic

of China. My delegation understood that statement to mean

that, during the course of this General Assembly session,

the delegation of the United States would accept the

proposal to welcome the People’s Republic of China to the

fold of the international community and to the resumption

of its permanent seat in the Security Council and its role in

this Organization. Indeed we make a mockery of peace and

nuclear disarmament if we do not. include so powerful a

nation as China and invite it to take part in the orderly

conduct of international affairs according to the Charter of

the United Nations.

52. No argument can be taken seriously that ignores the

realities of twentieth-century Asian politics and the preeminence

in Asia, and for that matter the rest of the world,

of China as a great and powerful nation. The small nations

of the world can do nothing but appeal to the consciences

of the big Powers to limit the production of nuclear

armament and equipment that might lead to the eventual

destruction of humanity. In the words of our illustrious

Secretary-General, the inclusion of the People’s Republic of

China in disarmament talks would at last break the “mad

momentum of the arms race” and point out the road to a

world free from fear. We believe that those who seek to

exclude the People’s Republic of China from the important

deliberations of the world community by imposing prohibitive

conditions are indeed unaware of the hard fact that

international peace and security will be determined by the

type of relationship that exists between Peking on the one

hand and Washington and Moscow on the other.

53. We meet today in the sad memory of the death of one

of the great revolutionary leaders of all time, Ho Chi Minh.

He was a man of great courage and determination. Through

self-sacrifice and personal defiance of the forces of oppression,

he rose to be one of the world’s greatest leaders. We

would have peace in Viet-Nam if it were not for so much

external interference. It stands to reason that until Viet-Nam

is ruled and controlled by the indigenous people of

that country we cannot honestly hope for any peace. My

delegation takes note of President Nixon’s token withdrawal

of United States troops from Viet-Nam and hopes

that all foreign troops will be withdrawn as quickly as

possible to enable the people of Viet-Nam to decide their

own destiny without outside influence.

54. My delegation holds a similar view regarding the

situation in Korea. The presence of foreign troops in South

Korea militates against a dialogue between the North and

the South. Those troops must be withdrawn at once, for if

there is to be any peace in Korea, it will be a peace worked

out by the peoples of that country alone, The United

Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation

of Korea has obviously outlived its usefulness and shall

therefore be dissolved.

55. I have given an incomplete balance sheet of the

international conflicts and tensions that have existed for

some time now. Grave and intolerable as they are, they still

do not shake our confidence and the trust we place in the

United Nations. We, in Zambia, have always attached great

importance to the role of the United Nations, not only in

the political but also in the economic, cultural and social

fields, and we express our whole-hearted appreciation of

the endeavours of the United Nations and ifs agencies in

seeking to improve the lot of man. As we enter the Second

Development Decade, it is the hope of my delegation that

precise attention will be paid to reducing the economic gaps

that exist between the rich and the poor. nations and,

between the developed and developing States of the world.

The small and economically weaker:nations cannot for ever

depend on aid from developed nations, but must be assisted

in the development and exploitation of their own resources.

We also hope that as we enter the 1970s priority will be

given to the improvement of the quality of life, the

elimination of exploitation of man by man, and the

increased educational programmes to prepare our youth for

work in national reconstruction and in helping to make this

world a happy place to live in.

56. In conclusion, I should like to re-emphasize our firm

conviction in the principles of the Charter of the United

Nations, and to reiterate our belief in the equality and

sovereignty of all States, as well as in the right of

self-determination. We believe that unless all nations of the

world begin to proceed from and to be guided by the

tenets, the peace of the world cannot be assured. We, for

our part, pledge our fullest co-operation in pursuit of these

noble objectives.