Dipak Patel (politician)

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Dipak Kumar A. Patel (born 12 July 1953 in Lusaka) is a Zambian politician of Hindu Indian origin. His ancestral roots traces back to Gujarat, India. He served long tenures both as a legislator and as the Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Industry. [1]

Lusaka City in Lusaka Province, Zambian Kwacha

Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. One of the fastest developing cities in southern Africa, Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about 1,279 metres (4,196 ft). As of 2010, the city's population was about 1.7 million, while the urban population is 2.4 million. Lusaka is the centre of both commerce and government in Zambia and connects to the country's four main highways heading north, south, east and west. English is the official language of the city administration, while Chewa and Bemba are the commonly spoken street languages.

Zambia republic in southern Africa

Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in south-central Africa. It neighbours the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest, the core economic hubs of the country.

India Country in South Asia

India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Career

Patel was elected in 1991 to the National Assembly of Zambia under the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in the Lusaka Central constituency. During this time he was also a member of the MMD's national executive committee. He was appointed Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Industry from 1991 to 1992, then held a succession of Cabinet Minister positions in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (1992), the Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Child Development (1992–1993), and the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Industry (1993–1996). [1] He was one of two cabinet-level members of Indian origin in President Frederick Chiluba's government, the other being Minister of Agriculture Suresh Desai. [2] However, he resigned from that last position in February 1996 due to disagreements with Chiluba; specifically, he objected to a proposed constitutional amendment which would bar individuals of "foreign parentage" from contesting the presidency. [3] In the 1996 elections, he ran without any party affiliation and was returned to his seat representing Lusaka Central; in the 2001 elections he ran on the Forum for Democracy and Development ticket and was again elected. [1]

National Assembly of Zambia legislative body of Zambia

The National Assembly is Zambia's unicameral legislative body. Between 1972 and 1990, Zambia was a one-party state with the United National Independence Party (UNIP) as the sole legal party.

The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) is a political party in Zambia. Originally formed to oust the previous government, MMD controlled an absolute majority in parliament between 1991 and 2001, when its past leader, Frederick Chiluba was President of Zambia. Its election into power in 1991 ended the 27-year rule of President Kenneth Kaunda and his United National Independence Party (UNIP). It remained the dominant party within Zambian politics until the general elections of September 2011. It is a centre-left political party.

There is a small but recognisable community of Indians in Zambia. Unlike the better-known Indian communities of South East Africa, they were little-studied by historians until the 2000s.

Relations with Mwanawasa

In 2002, while a lawmaker, Patel received a police summons for having allegedly insulted Levy Mwanawasa, who was elected president in the 2001 election; defaming the head of state is a criminal offence under Zambian law and may incur a jail sentence of up to three years. The Zambia Post had published a quotation by Patel in which he called Mwanawasa a "cabbage", a reference to Mwanawasa's alleged rigging of the presidential election. [4] Police also arrested the Post editor Fred M'membe, but M'membe himself believed Patel was the police's real target. [5] However, Mwanawasa appointed Patel to the position of Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Industry in February 2003, in a surprise move which also saw a number of other opposition lawmakers named to his cabinet. [6] During his tenure under Mwanawasa, Patel served as Chair-Co-ordinator for the Least Developed Countries World Trade Organization negotiations in 2005. [1] Patel later changed his opinion of Mwanawasa, and after the latter's death praised him for his independence, stating that "Everyone thought he was going to be Chiluba’s puppet, but he showed very quickly that he took orders from no one". [7]

Levy Mwanawasa President of Zambia

Levy Patrick Mwanawasa was the third Republican President of Zambia. He ruled the country from January 2002 until his death in August 2008.

Fred M'membe is a Zambian journalist known for his editorship of the Zambia Post. He has received numerous international awards for his reporting. In 2000, the International Press Institute named him one of its World Press Freedom Heroes.

World Trade Organization Intergovernmental trade organization

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations. The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948. It is the largest international economic organization in the world.

Awards and honours

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, democracy, human security, non-discrimination, and gender equality. PGA Membership is open to individual legislators from elected parliaments. Currently it consists of approximately 1,300 members in 140+ parliaments. It was established circa 1978 as Parliamentarians for World Order engaged in a range of action-oriented initiatives that promote democracy, peace, justice and development throughout the world. The vision of PGA is "to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe and democratic world".

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 OECD Forum 2005: Dipak Patel, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2005, retrieved 2009-08-20[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ Zambia (PDF), Foreign Relations Briefs, India: Ministry of External Affairs, 2008, retrieved 2009-08-21
  3. ↑ "Zambia", Africa South of the Sahara, Routledge, 2003, p. 1145, ISBN   978-1-85743-131-5
  4. ↑ "Zambia newspaper editor arrested", BBC News, 2002-02-12, retrieved 2009-08-20
  5. ↑ "Zambia's cabbage case could backfire", BBC News, 2002-02-14, retrieved 2009-08-20
  6. ↑ "Zambian president appoints opposition members into cabinet", Xinhua News, 2003-02-08, retrieved 2009-08-20[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ Bearak, Barry (2008-08-20), "Levy Mwanawasa, Zambia President, Dies at 59", The New York Times, retrieved 2009-08-20
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