Kenneth Kaunda

First president of Zambia, independence leader, and later dictator who oversaw economic collapse.

Zambia's inaugural president, Kenneth Kaunda, held office from 1964 until 1991, with his lifespan being 28 April 1924 to 17 June 2021.^[1] A 1998 decision to revoke Kaunda's Zambian citizenship was reversed by a court in 2000.^[2] Kaunda credited his long life to a strict lacto-vegetarian diet and said he did not consume alcohol.^[3]

Quick Facts

Office: Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia
Took office: 22 January 1964
Left office: 24 October 1964
Successor: Mainza Chona; as Prime Minister of Zambia
Monarch: Elizabeth II
Governor-general: Sir Evelyn Hone

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He followed his parents into teaching, working in Northern Rhodesia, Tanganyika Territory, and Southern Rhodesia.^[4][5] In 1949 he entered politics as a founding member of the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress.^[6] He led a breakaway party, the Zambian African National Congress, in October 1958.^[6] He became Zambia's first president on 24 October 1964.^[7]

He was the only candidate for president in the 1978, 1983, and 1988 elections.^[8] Under Kaunda's policy, every child received free exercise books, pens, and pencils, regardless of their parents' financial situation.^[9] The University of Zambia, which opened in Lusaka in 1966, had Kaunda as its Chancellor, and he presided over its first graduation in 1969.^[10] After violent incidents connected to the 1968 elections, Kaunda outlawed all political parties except for UNIP.^[11]

Kaunda advanced a left-leaning nationalist-socialist ideology that he termed Zambian Humanism.^[12]

What the cited sources add

A Philadelphia Inquirer article from 1991 reported that Kaunda had pursued a scheme with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to turn over one-quarter of Zambia's land for utopian agricultural enclaves.^[13] The same source noted that Kaunda's political philosophy, called "humanism," had been the Zambian state cult for two decades.^[13] A research repository appraisal of Kaunda's thought states that he introduced humanism as the basis of nationalist activities against colonialism.^[14] That appraisal also explains that Kaunda understood state powers as strong collectivist rulership to unite tribal groups.^[14]

The source "10 Things You Didn't Know About Reuben Chitandika Kamanga Youth Village Zambia" confirms that Kamanga served as Zambia's first Vice-President under Kaunda.^[15]

References

Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arnold, "Kenneth Kaunda obituary", The Guardian, 17 June 2021; "Listener and BBC Television Review", British Broadcasting Corporation, 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "How Zambia's first president had to go to court in 1999 to prove he was not a Malawian", Face2Face Africa, 24 October 2018 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kaunda attributed his long life to being a vegetarian", Kulinji, 18 June 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; Kasuka, "Prominent African Leaders Since Independence", Bankole Kamara Taylor, 8 February 2012; "Kenneth Kaunda and the vision of a united Africa", The Citizen, 9 January 2019; "A Disciple of Gandhi; Kenneth Kaunda Son of a Missionary", The New York Times, 18 April 1962 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mfula, "Zambia's founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, dies aged 97", Swissinfo, 17 June 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; Tischler, "Light and Power for a Multiracial Nation: The Kariba Dam Scheme in the Central African Federation", Palgrave Macmillan, 8 February 2012; "Harry Nkumbula Dies; Led African Congress", The New York Times, 10 October 1983; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "10 Things You Didn't Know About Reuben Chitandika Kamanga Youth Village Zambia" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Human Rights Watch", Human Rights Watch; "Elections in Zambia", africanelections.tripod.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Achola, "Implementing Educational Policies in Zambia", World Bank Discussion: Papers Africa Technical Department Series, p. 2; "Zambia – Education", Encyclopædia Britannica; An Introduction to African Politics by Alex Thomson. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "About", School of the Built Environment (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mushingeh, "The Evolution of One-Party Rule in Zambia, 1964–1972", Transafrican Journal of History, 1993, p. 101 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Research Repository | IN SEARCH OF STATEHOOD: AN APPRAISAL OF HUMANISM IN KENNETH KAUNda's THOUGHT" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Meditation guru and Zambian strongman Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 October 24 October 1991.. facts only, no text reused. minet.org
"Research Repository | IN SEARCH OF STATEHOOD: AN APPRAISAL OF HUMANISM IN KENNETH KAUNda's THOUGHT". facts only, no text reused. phd-dissertations.unizik.edu.ng
"10 Things You Didn't Know About Reuben Chitandika Kamanga Youth Village Zambia". facts only, no text reused. youthvillagezm.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kenneth Kaunda (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.