“Capitalism in Africa has failed”: Meet the Socialist Running for President of Zambia

Fred M’membe, leader of the Socialist Party of Zambia, is running for president in the upcoming August election. Can he win? He joins Rania Khalek Dispatches to discuss the failure of capitalist policies on the African continent and how his party’s platform can fix it.

TIME CODES:

1:35 Zambia Socialist Party platform
3:44 How Zambia’s privatized healthcare system failed against Covid
5:51 History of leftism in Zambia and legacy of anti-imperialist revolutionary Kenneth Kaunda
8:40 Fred M’membe’s background in journalism and in the South African Communist Party
10:15 Devastating impact of 30 years of neoliberal reforms imposed on Zambia
14:37 How to restructure Zambia’s mining economy to serve the people
18:55 State repression against the Socialist Party of Zambia
22:37 How Zambia’s struggles fit into broader struggles and resistance on the African continent
25:24 The role of China in Zambia
30:58 Is socialism on the rise in Africa?
36:51 Can a socialist win in Zambia?