Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda
Kaunda in 1983
Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia
In office 22 January 1964 – 24 October 1964
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Mainza Chona as Prime Minister of Zambia
1st President of Zambia
In office 24 October 1964 – 2 November 1991
Vice President	Reuben Kamanga Simon Kapwepwe Mainza Chona
Preceded by	Evelyn Hone as Governor of Northern Rhodesia
Succeeded by	Frederick Chiluba
3rd Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement
In office 8 September 1970 – 5 September 1973
Preceded by	Gamal Abdel Nasser
Succeeded by	Houari Boumédiène
Personal details
Born	Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda (1924-04-28)28 April 1924 Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)
Died	17 June 2021(2021-06-17) (aged 97) Lusaka, Zambia
Resting place	Embassy Park, Lusaka
Citizenship	British subject (until 1964) Zambia (1964–1998, 2000‍–‍2021) Stateless (1998–2000)
Political party	UNIP
Spouse	Betty Banda ​ ​ (m. 1946; died 2013)​
Children	8, including Tilyenji
Profession	Teacher

This article is part of a series about Kenneth Kaunda
UNIP 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 President of Zambia 1964-1991 Government founding of university Nationalization(zambia) Lusaka Manifesto Nhari rebellion Operation Gatling Lusaka Declaration Mahedco 1969 constitutional referendum Zambian Humanism anti-apartheid support TAZARA Railway 1990 coup attempt The end of one-party rule Post-presidency Post-presidency Death and state funeral Others kwacha(Obverse)
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Kenneth Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021),^[1] also known as KK,^[2] was a Zambian politician who served as the first president of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Dissatisfied with Harry Nkumbula's leadership of the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress, he broke away and founded the Zambian African National Congress, later becoming the head of the socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP).

Kaunda was the first president of independent Zambia. In 1973, following tribal and inter-party violence, all political parties except UNIP were banned through an amendment of the constitution after the signing of the Choma Declaration. At the same time, Kaunda oversaw the acquisition of majority stakes in key foreign-owned companies. The 1973 oil crisis and a slump in export revenues put Zambia in a state of economic crisis. International pressure forced Kaunda to change the rules that had kept him in power. Multi-party elections took place in 1991, in which Frederick Chiluba, the leader of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy, ousted Kaunda.

He was briefly stripped of Zambian citizenship in 1998, but the decision was overturned two years later in 2000.^[3]