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Front: Kenneth David Kaunda (1964-1991), first President of Zambia
Kaunda was a teacher in his earlier years. In 1951 he joined African National
Party (ANC), and in 1953 became its Secretary General. He broke from the ANC
and formed the Zambian African National Congress (ZANC) in 1958. ZANC was
banned in March 1959 and Kaunda was sentenced to nine months in prison.
Upon his release in 1960 he was elected President of the newly formed
United National Independence Party (UNIP), which replaced ZANC. In 1961 he
organized a civil disobedience campaign in Northern Province, burning schools
and blocking roads. Kaunda ran as a UNIP candidate during the 1962 elections.
He was appointed Minister of Local Government and Social Welfare.
In 1964 Kaunda was appointed Prime Minister. Later that year he became
the first President of independent Zambia.
Becoming increasingly intolerant of opposition, Kaunda banned all parties
except the UNIP following violence during the 1968 elections. In 1972, he made
Zambia a one-party state. Kaunda's nationalization of the copper mining
industry in the late 1960's contributed to increased economic problems.
By the mid-1980s, Kaunda's government had lost a great deal of public
support due to wide-spread corruption and an economic downturn. Pressure for a
return to multiparty politics increased and Kaunda volunatrily yielded and
called for multiparty elections in 1991, in which the Movement for Multiparty
Democracy (MMD) won. Kaunda left office with the inauguration of MMD leader
Frederick Chiluba as president on November 2, 1991.
Back: Workers picking cotton
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