Banda challenged the public to think harder about the holiday, asking if independence day celebrates the mere passage of time, or the country's achievements since that hot summer night 50 years ago, when Northern Rhodesia transformed itself into the Republic of Zambia.
Banda aliwapa changamoto wananchi kufikiri kwa kina kuhusiana na sherehe hizi, , akihoji kama siku ya uhuru inasherehekewa kwa kupitisha muda tu, aukwa mafanikio ya nchi tangu kupatikana kwa uhuru miaka 50 iliyopita, mwaka ambao Rhodesia Kaskazini ilipojibadilisha kuwa Jamhuri ya Zambia.