Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth Kaunda , born on
He is the first President of the Independent Republic of Zambia , from at . He left power following his large defeat in the 1991 presidential election, against trade unionist Frederick Chiluba .
Youth
Kaunda is the youngest of eight children. He was born in Lubwa Mission, Chinsali , Northern Province in Northern Rhodesia , now Zambia . His father was Reverend David Kaunda, a missionary and ordained teacher of the Church of Scotland , who was born in Malawi and moved to Chinsali to work at the Lubwa Mission. Kaunda attended the Munali Training Center in Lusaka (August 1941–1943).
Kaunda was a teacher at Upper Primary School and Boarding Master in Lubwa, then "Headmaster" at Lubwa from 1943 to 1945 . He left Lubwa and moved to Lusaka to become an army instructor but was later dismissed. For a time he worked on the Salisbury and Bindura Mine .
In early 1948, he became a teacher at Mufulira for "United Missions to the Copperbelt" (UMCB). Then he became an assistant at the African Welfare Center and Boarding Master at a Mine School in Mufulira. During this period, he led a Pathfinder Scout Group and was also the Choirmaster of a Church of Central Africa Congregation. At that time he also served as Vice-Secretary of the Nchanga Branch of Congress.
Origins and training
Kaunda is the son of a pastor who emigrated from Malawi . As the son of a pastor, he was also one of the few blacks to benefit from a school education, because at the time all the schools were run by missionaries, the colonial administration not wanting to develop public education. .
In Northern Rhodesia , a British operating colony, Kaunda was quickly confronted with racial segregation by being expelled several times from places reserved for whites, in particular a library.
He became a teacher and exercised this profession until 1947. He then left for the " Copper Belt ", then in Southern Rhodesia , and exercised various trades.
The fight for independence
In April 1949 Kaunda returned to Lubwa to work as a teacher, but resigned in 1951.
In that year he was appointed organizing secretary of the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress (ANC), a political movement that also included in that time the province of Luapula.
On November 11, 1953, he moved to Lusaka to assume the post of Secretary General of the ANC, under the presidency of Harry Nkumbula. The combined efforts of Kaunda and Nkumbula were not enough to mobilize the black African population against the rule of the whites in the Federation of Rhodesia and Niasaland .
In 1955 Kaunda and Nkumbula were imprisoned for two months with forced labor , accused of "distribution of subversive literature". Imprisonment and other forms of punishment were normal "rites of passage" for African nationalist leaders. The incarceration experience had a radical impact on Kaunda. The two leaders would diverge as Nkumbula became increasingly influenced by white liberals, in his plan for the future of Northern Rhodesia, as Nkumbula was willing to postpone the idea of majority African rule, until the population learned the rules. of democracy. Disagreements within the Zambian organization, between those who supported Nkumbula and Kaunda, caused the latter to break with the Zambian ANC.
Kaunda broke with the ANC and formed the Zambian African National Congress (ZANC) in October 1958. The ZANC was deemed illegal in March 1959.
In June Kaunda was sentenced to nine months in prison, which were first in Lusaka and later in Salisbury (the current capital of Zimbabwe, Harare ).
While Kaunda was in prison, Mainza Chona and other nationalists broke with the ANC, and in October 1959, Chona became the first president of the United National Independence Party ( United National Independence Party - UNIP), successor to the ZANC. However, Chona did not see himself as the founding father of the party. When Kaunda was released from prison in January 1960, he was elected president of UNIP.
In July 1961 Kaunda organized a campaign of civil disobedience in the northern provinces, which was known as "the Cha-cha-cha campaign", which consisted of burning schools and blocking trade routes.
Kaunda was a candidate for UNIP during the 1962 elections. As a result, a coalition government had to be agreed between the two enemies, the UNIP-ANC, naming Kaunda as Minister of Government and Social Assistance.
In January 1964 UNIP won the general elections under the new constitution , defeating the Nkumbula ANC. Kaunda was appointed Prime Minister of Zambia .
On October 24, 1964 he was appointed president of independent Zambia, being the first in office. While Simon Kapwepwe was appointed as the first vice president of the new African state.
Political journey
Beginnings
Engaged against racial discrimination, he was imprisoned and required to do forced labor in 1955 for having distributed leaflets deemed subversive by the colonial authorities.
One of the elite in his country, Kaunda formed the United Party for Independence (UNIP) in the early 1960s . He soon gained attention by being the only black politician in Northern Rhodesia who believed in his unity and because he was a disciple of Gandhi , calling for civil disobedience and rejecting armed struggle. Without clan attachment, he manages to bring together the different ethnic groups of Northern Rhodesia in order to fight against racial discrimination and the exploitation of natural resources (copper in particular) by the British. The party was banned the following year and he was imprisoned again.
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland , set up by the United Kingdom , operated from 1953 to 1963 . It brings together the colonies of Nyasaland , Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia . Led by a federal government, it ensures the granting of certain political rights to Africans. These are associated with government decisions to enable them to gain experience in business management and one day the possibility of exercising the reality of power.
The purpose of the federation, however, allows the economic domination of the whites to be maintained. Blacks can vote but the censal conditions to access the right to vote are so drastic that less than a thousand of them have a voter card in the 1950s .
From 1958 , Roy Welensky , head of the federal government and Edgar Whitehead , head of government of Southern Rhodesia , had to face growing political unrest from African nationalists, whom they violently repressed.
In 1960 , a revision of the Provisional Constitution of 1953 was to be negotiated between the British government, the federal government and black African leaders. The latter leave the constitutional conference to protest against the intransigence of the white settlers of Southern Rhodesia , who do not wish to share power and fear being dominated because of their numerical inferiority.
Black nationalists were quick to enter into talks with the British government to withdraw from the revision process, thus leading to the bankruptcy of the federation.
In July 1961 , a new constitution was nonetheless proposed by referendum to the 80,000 South Rhodesian voters. Boycotted by 4,000 African voters, it is approved by white voters, satisfied to see the United Kingdom relinquish its reserved powers which allowed it to intervene to defend African interests.
The Constitution comes into force on , when the first violent disturbances took place in Southern Rhodesia.
In December 1962 , a new party, the Rhodesian Front (Rhodesian Front - RF) won the general elections Southern Rhodesian and forms a new government whose purpose is to ensure the sustainability of white domination.
In the aftermath of these elections, the United Kingdom took note of the political split between the whites of Southern Rhodesia and the black nationalists. He then recognized the right of Nyasaland , populated by 99% of blacks, to leave the federation. The, the same decision is taken for Northern Rhodesia.
In the legislative elections in 1964 , UNIP won 55 seats out of 88; Kaunda becomes Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia.
One of the first emergencies to be managed is the insurrection of a church or Lumpa sect, founded by Alice Lenshina . He repressed this movement, both religious and political, a repression that caused hundreds of deaths.
In the same period, he negotiated the independence which was proclaimed on. Kenneth Kaunda becomes the first President of the Republic of Zambia.
He rejects tribalism and attempts to unify more than 72 tribes under the motto "One Zambia, One Nation". It is seen as a moderate statesman, advocate multi-racialism, and always hoped a peaceful society that would welcome both white Africans that blacks.
Independence and support to other African countries
At the time of its independence, the Zambian state coffers were empty and the education system almost non-existent. The mines and the railroad are nationalized. The nationalization of the copper mines, which accounted for 90% of the country's foreign exchange earnings, coincided with a global energy crisis and a fall in copper prices which caused a spiral of debt from which the country would fail. never to go out. Industrialization projects are being carried out in cooperation with China , including the emblematic " Tanzam ", the railway line connecting the country to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania , and the Kafue Gorge dam to no longer depend on the water supply. Rhodesian coal .Kaunda established a one-party dictatorship in the early years of independence. He made the UNIP the only authorized political party on the grounds of avoiding the break-up of the country, each of the 70 ethnic groups being represented until then by a political party. The one- party system is set up to “integrate all trends” .
Finally, priority is given to education and the enrollment rate is increasing rapidly.
The official ideology of the Kaunda regime belongs to the family of African socialism : a mixture of socialism and nationalism , it is called “Zambian humanism” and is based on the combination of a planned and centralized economy and traditional African values of mutual aid. and loyalty to the community.
It establishes a diplomatic and political axis hard with Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere , which allows many fighters and South African refugees, Mozambique and Rhodesia to have a rear base. Nelson Mandela reserves his first visit abroad after his release.
Departure from power
The one-party system and the nationalization of the mining industry led to enormous corruption in the administration, leading to inflation and several currency devaluations. The state took heavy loans from foreign banks, putting future generations in debt. The purchasing power of Zambians collapsed, leading to strikes and demonstrations across the country.
The deterioration of the economic situation and the international pressure in favor of a democratization of African countries are gradually weakening the power of Kaunda. His friend Julius Nyerere , former president of Tanzania who himself relinquished power in 1985 , encourages him to do the same.
In 1991 , Kaunda accepts the organization of free elections: these are won by the opposition, and Kaunda accepts the result of the ballot, leaving the place to Frederick Chiluba .
Presidency
On October 24, 1964, Kenneth Kaunda became the first president of the newly independent Zambia.
Kaunda developed the education system, striving to modernize the country, at first poor and illiterate; opened the University of Lusaka .
In the economy, he pursued a policy of transferring control over companies to the state and creating national companies, which led to an increase in gross domestic product many times over.
In 1976, with the help of the PRC , the construction of the TANZAM railway (1,860 km) was completed, which connected the Central Province of Zambia with the capital of Tanzania Dar es Salaam ( on July 12, 1970, the PRC announced its decision to provide Zambia and Tanzania with a loan for the construction of TANZAM. )
However, in the mid-1970s, the cost of importing oil increased, the reserves of which the country did not have, and the price of copper on the world market fell, which led to a deterioration in the economic situation. By the end of Kaunda's reign, Zambia was on the list of the poorest countries in the world. The inflation rate exceeded 70%, the state budget deficit reached 7.4% of GDP, the arrears from the debt of $ 7.4 billion amounted to 3.4 billion. More than a million Zambians found themselves unemployed. “I admit that my only mistake was that we subsidized consumption for too long,” said Kaunda. All social achievements have been lost. The authorities froze prices, imposed a fixed exchange rate for the national currency, banned the import of "luxury goods" and lowered prices for essential goods.
When in 1970 the government carried out the partial nationalization of the copper industry, which is key in the country's economy, through the buyout of 51% of the companies' shares, the vice-president of Zambia and deputy chairman of the ruling party Simon Kapwepwe (Kaunda's childhood friend) advocated their complete expropriation. Kaunda and his party proclaimed the policy of “ African socialism ” (like Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah ), but in the form of “Zambian humanism ” declared as the official ideology , the political, philosophical and socio-economic concept of which was set forth in the manifesto “Humanism in Zambia and guidelines for its implementation ”(the first part was published in 1967, the second - in 1974). Kaunda defined his theory as "a combination of 19th century capitalism with communism". Kenneth Kaunda himself said in one of his interviews:
In response, Kaunda dissolved the UNIP Central Committee and held a charter at the 1971 UNIP conference that abolished the party post of his deputy, and Kapwepwe, who left UNIP, created the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), which was banned already in 1972 on charges of tribalism .
By the beginning of 1973, a " system of one-party participatory democracy " had been established in the country . The President concentrated absolute power in his hands, and his personality cult was created . In the presidential elections, a vote was taken for or against the only candidate of Kaunda, who gained 89%, 81% and 95% in the elections of 1973, 1978 and 1983, respectively, although in the 1978 elections, for the first time in the history of independent Zambia, 3 more candidates tried to challenge the presidency of the country. except for Kaunda (2 UNIP members and 1 non-partisan).
In October 1988, there was an attempted military coup in which Lieutenant General Christopher Tembo was accused of organizing. However, the conspirators were not subjected to serious repression, and Tembo himself, having lost his military rank, was released from prison in 1990.
Education policies
When Zambia gained its independence, the development of its educational system was one of the worst of the former colonies of the United Kingdom . As a result, Zambia had to invest considerable resources at all levels of education. Kaunda created a policy whereby all children, regardless of social class, received books and school supplies, such as pencils and pens.
The obligation of the families was only to buy school uniforms, keep their children in school and pay a "school fee" of symbolic value. This policy also meant that the best students were incentivized to achieve the best results, from primary school to university.. Not all students made it to high school, but those who did get a good education.
The University of Lusaka was inaugurated in 1966, after the entire population was encouraged to make donations with amounts within their reach to enable its construction. Kaunda was appointed chancellor of the university and participated in the first graduation ceremony, in 1969.
In 1979 a new campus was established. Currently the courses last 4 years, except engineering (5) and medicine (7).
Economic policy
Kaunda found a country whose economy was under the control of foreign companies. For example, the British South Africa Company - BSAC (created by Cecil Rhodes ) had properties and mining rights established by the Litunga (ruler) of Bulozi in 1890. Kaunda only succeeded in transferring these rights from the company to the government after threaten expropriation shortly before independence.
Zambia implemented a program of national development plans similar to those of the USSR , under the National Commission for Development Plan. The Provisional Plan was followed by the First National Development Plan (1966-1971). These first two were successful in infrastructure development and manufacturing, but the others were not.
An important change in the structure of the economy was the Mulungushi Reforms, implemented in April 1968. The government expressed its intention to control the capital of important companies, which would be controlled by the state corporation INDECO. Two of them were the mining companies Anglo American Corporation and the Rhodesia Selection Trust. Insurance and construction companies also came under state control. However, foreign banks such as Barclays resisted.
Unfortunately for Zambia and Kaunda, these nationalization programs , even those that achieved some success, occurred at a bad time: a few years later, in 1973, the sudden spike in oil prices followed by a drop in copper prices in 1975 led the country to an imbalance in its trade balance and a rapid indebtedness with the International Monetary Fund . The Third Development Plan (1978-1983) had to be abandoned due to the crisis.
Last years and death
In the 2010s , President Michael Sata entrusted him with diplomatic missions.In 1997, Kenneth Kaunda was deprived of his Zambian citizenship following an attempted coup; however, three years later he succeeded in having the judgment overturned.
After his retirement he was involved in various charitable organizations. His most notable contribution has been his zeal in the fight against the spread of HIV / AIDS.
One of Kaunda's children was struck down by the pandemic in the 1980s.
Hospitalized at the Lusaka military hospital, he died on June 17, 2021.
Works
- Dominion status for Central Africa? , 1958
- Zambia shall be free: an autobiography , 1962 (several reissues)
- Zambia, independence and beyond: the speeches of Kenneth Kaunda , 1966
- The Rhodesian crisis , 1967 (in collab.)
- Humanism in Zambia and a guide to its implementation , 1967
- A humanist in Africa: letters to Colin M. Morris from Kenneth D. Kaunda, president of Zambia , 1969 (translated into French under the title Une politique pour homme en Afrique , 1970 )
- The Riddle of violence , 1980
Pronunciations
- "Under the extended family system, no elderly person will be left to the dogs or to institutions like old people's homes."
- "To be a humanist one must be a socialist, but it is possible to be a socialist without being a humanist."
- “Zambian humanism believes in God , the Supreme Being. It believes that to love God with all our soul, with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength, will esteem man created in God's image. If we honor our neighbor love as ourselves, we will not exploit him but work with him for the common good."
Foreign Policy
In foreign policy, Kaunda sought to mediate between the apartheid regime in South Africa and the black rebels, negotiated with the leaders of South Africa , for which he was criticized. He provided refuge to many dissidents from neighboring countries, sharply criticized the white leadership of Southern Rhodesia .
In February 1984, on his initiative, a meeting of representatives of Angola, the USA and South Africa was held in Lusaka. He mediated in many conflicts, including the civil war in Chad. Kaunda led Zambia to the Non-Aligned Movement and was its chairman in 1970 - 1973 years.
In 1970-1971 and 1987-1988 he was also the chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and in September 1985 he was elected chairman of the group of "front-line states" and allowed the headquarters of the ANC South Africa to be located in Lusaka. 26 - 28 November 1987 the year Kaunda last visited the USSR with friendly visit. Kenneth Kaunda has long supported Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.
In February 1991, former Lieutenant General Christopher Tembo, who opposed Kaunda, announced that Saddam Hussein's family had been flown from Baghdad to Zambia and settled in Lusaka. Kaunda personally denied these rumors, saying that he would not make a secret out of it. “No one can tell the president of an independent country what to do,” he said.
