Kenneth Kaunda


Kenneth David Kaunda (born April 28, 1924) was the president of Zambia from
1964 to 1991.

He was a teacher and Headmaster at Lubwa School from 1943-1947. He became
secretary of the Northern Rhodesia African Congress in 1950 and promoted to
Secretary-General in 1953 when the organization was renamed the African
National Congress (ANC). He broke from the ANC and formed the Zambia African
National Congress (ZANC)in 1958. ZANC was banned in 1959 and Kaunda was
arrested and imprisoned for a few months.

On his release he was made President of the newly formed United National
Independence Party (UNIP). Kaunda ran as a UNIP candidate during the 1962
elections. As Minister of Local Government and Social Welfare, Kaunda
established himself as the most influential African in the government.

The British government, tired of civil disobedience, granted independence in
1963 that was finalized October 24,1964. In the 1964 elections, UNIP had a
sweeping victory and Kaunda was made Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia.

Following violence during the 1968 elections and becoming increasingly
intolerant of opposition, Kaunda banned all political parties but UNIP in
1972 and made Zambia a one-party state.

His policies made Zambia increasingly dependent on revenues from copper
exports. By the mid-1980s corruption and a economic downturn meant that the
Kaunda regime had lost public support. Pressure for a return to multiparty
politics increased and Kaunda yielded and called for multiparty elections in
1991, in which the Movement for Multiparty Democracy(MMD) won and made
Frederick Chiluba president.