KENNETH KAUNDA
PRESIDENT:
1964 - 1991
Kenneth Kaunda, the first president of Zambia, was born on April 28, 1924 at Lubwa Mission. He married Betty Banda in 1946 and the two have seven sons (one adopted) and two daughters.
Kaunda was educated at Lubwa Mission School and Munali Secondary School. He became a schoolteacher at Lubwa in 1943, rising to the post of headmaster from 1944-47. He was voted secretary of the Chinsali Young Men's Farming Association in 1947. In 1948, he became welfare officer for Chingola Copper Mine but returned to teaching later that year. He helped found the Lubwa branch of the African National Congress in 1950. He rose through the ranks to become secretary general of the party three years later.
In January 1954, he was arrested and imprisoned for two months for possessing prohibited material. In 1958, he broke away from ANC with Simon Kapwepwe and others to form Zambia African National Congress. He was imprisoned again from May 1959 to January 1960 for political reasons.
When ZANC changed to United National Independence Party, he was elected president of the party. In 1962 when UNIP won 14 seats in the Legislative Assembly, Kaunda was named minister of Local Government and Social Welfare.
And when UNIP swept elections in 1964, Kaunda was given the task of forming the new government and he became prime minister of Northern Rhodesia from January to October 1964.
On October 24, 1964, Kaunda became the first president of the newly independent Zambia, the position he held until October 31, 1991. During his reign, Kaunda also held several other government positions.
Although he won re-election several times, he did not face any opposition until 1991 when he lost the presidential seat to Frederick Chiluba. He retired from politics but later attempted to win back his seat in 1996 only to be barred on constitutional grounds.
Today, Kaunda devotes of this time doing charity work for the anti-HIV/AIDS campaign
