President of Zambia
| President of the Republic of Zambia | |
|---|---|
 Presidential Flag | |
| Status | Head of state Head of government |
| Residence | State House |
| Term length | 5 years, renewable once |
| Inaugural holder | Kenneth Kaunda |
| Formation | 24 October 1964 |
| Deputy | Vice-President of Zambia |
| Salary | 1,280,299Zambian kwacha/63,100 USD annually[1] |
| Website | https://www.sh.gov.zm/ |
 |
|---|
 Zambia portal |
Thepresident of Zambiais thehead of stateand thehead of governmentofZambia.The office was first held byKenneth Kaundafollowingindependence in 1964.Since 1991, when Kaunda left the presidency, the office has been held by seven others:Frederick Chiluba,Levy Mwanawasa,Rupiah Banda,Michael Sata,Edgar Lunguand the current presidentHakainde Hichilema,who won the2021 presidential election.In addition, acting presidentGuy Scottserved in an interim capacity after the death of PresidentMichael Sata.
Since 31 August 1991 the president is also the head of government, as the position ofPrime Ministerwas abolished in the last months of Kaunda's presidential term following negotiations with opposition parties.
Presidential term[edit]
The president is elected for a term of five years. Since 1991, There is a two-term limit for the president in theConstitution of Zambia.There was an attempt to modify the term limits in 2001 for Chiluba, but it did not materialize.[2]
History[edit]
Northern Rhodesia[edit]
When the British colony ofNorthern Rhodesiawas separated fromSouthern RhodesiaandBritish South Africa Companyrule, the head of state was theBritish Monarchrepresented in the colony by theGovernor of Northern Rhodesiawho exercised executive power as head of state and government. In the1964 Northern Rhodesian general election,the office ofPrime Minister of Northern Rhodesiawas created to become the head of government ahead of independence. On 19 May 1964, theSecretary of State for Commonwealth RelationsDuncan Sandysannounced that Northern Rhodesia would become independent under a President. The election for the first President would be held by secret ballot amongst the elected members of the Legislative Council.[3]
Zambia[edit]
Upon independence and the renaming of the country as Zambia, Prime MinisterKenneth Kaundawas elected as the first President. The office of Prime Minister was also abolished making the presidency an executive post.[4]Initially, the country would be governed as a multi-party democracy. However, following theAfrican National Congressintegrating withUnited National Independence Party(UNIP), President Kaunda announced that theConstitution of Zambiawould be changed to turn the country into aone-party statein 1973 with UNIP as the only legal party with all others banned.[5]Kaunda claimed this was done to discourage tribalism.[6]However, the constitution also restored the office of Prime Minister as head of government.[7]In the1973 Zambian general election,voters were only able to vote for the UNIP sponsored Kaunda and their only options were to vote if they approved or rejected his candidacy.[8]
Kaunda was re-elected unanimously at each election until 1991. During the 1980s, pressures increased for the multi-party ban to be rescinded. After negotiations with theMovement for Multi-Party Democracy(MMD) in 1990, President Kaunda signed a constitutional amendment legalising political parties other than UNIP. The office of Prime Minister was abolished again and the powers returned to the President.[9]In the1991 Zambian general election,Kaunda was defeated by the MMD'sFrederick Chiluba.[6]Kaunda agreed to hand over the presidency peacefully, becoming the second African leader to do so afterMathieu KérékouofBenin.[10]
In 1996, President Chiluba allegedly discovered a plot by members of UNIP to carry out a coup d'état and declared a state of emergency to arrest UNIP members. However theSupreme Court of Zambiadeclared the emergency declaration was not valid and lifted the state of emergency and released those arrested.[11]Later in the year, Chiluba amended the constitution stating that only people who had one parent born in Zambia or Northern Rhodesia could run for president.[12]This amendment was ostensibly targeted at blocking Kaunda from standing for president again as his parents had been born inNyasaland(modern dayMalawi).[13]
Due to a two-term limit in the constitution,Levy Mwanawasawas selected by Chiluba as the MMD's candidate to succeed him.[14]Mwanawasa won the2001 Zambian general electionbut his victory was marred by accusations of electoral fraud by opposition parties.[15]Following legal disputes, the Supreme Court eventually ruled in 2005 that though the poll was "flawed", there were not enough errors to justify overturning the result.[16]Mwanawasa won re-election in 2006.[17]He died in 2008 and was replaced byRupiah Banda.[18]In the2011 Zambian general electionRupiah was defeated by thePatriotic Front's (PF)Michael Sata.[19]
Sata died in office in 2014. Accordingly, hisVice-PresidentGuy Scottbecame president in an acting capacity. This made Scott the first white head of state of an African country sinceSouth Africa'sF. W. de Klerkwho left office in 1994 following the end ofapartheid.[19][20]However, because his parents were not born in Zambia, due to the constitution he was only able to act as president for 90 days and could not stand for election.[19]At the2015 Zambian presidential election,the PF'sEdgar Lunguwon the presidency and retained it a year later in the 2016 general election under the amended constitution.
There are four most notable changes affecting the presidency in this amendment assented to byEdgar Lunguin January 2016, most of which are found in Part VII(7) of the constitution[1].Firstly, Article 100 Section 1 a) effectively removal the parental clause requiring presidential and vice presidential candidates to have at least one parent born in Zambia and the harmonisation of Presidential and Vice-presidential eligibility in Article 110 Section 2. Secondly, Article 101 Sections 1, 2 3 (a & b) and 8 signalled the shift from aFirst-Past the Postsystem to aTwo-round systemin which over 50% of valid votes cast are required for a president to win. In the event that this does not happen a second round will be held within 37 days between the two leading candidates to which the 50% + 1 rule will determine the winner on that second round. The third notable change is in the introduction of the running mate clause in Article 110 Sections 1, 2 and 3. This saw the President and Vice President directly elected on the same ticket as opposed to before where the President who once elected appoints and dismisses the vice president executively. Lastly, the fourth change was in Article 100 Section 1 j) which requires an aspiring presidential candidates to prove to have at least 100 registered voters in each of theten provincesto successfully file for nominations with the Electoral Commission of Zambia.[21]In 2020, Lungu attempted to change the constitution to allow the President to change electoral laws and take control of Zambia's monetary policy. However the controversial Bill 10 failed after theParliament of Zambiadid not vote in favour with the required 2/3 majority.[22]
List of officeholders[edit]
- Political parties
- Status
Symbols
§Elected unopposed
†Died in office
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Elected | Term of office | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| 1 | 
|
Kenneth Kaunda (1924–2021) |
1968 1973[§] 1978[§] 1983[§] 1988[§] |
24 October 1964 | 2 November 1991 | 27 years, 9 days | UNIP |
| 2 | 
|
Frederick Chiluba (1943–2011) |
1991 1996 |
2 November 1991 | 2 January 2002 | 10 years, 61 days | MMD |
| 3 | 
|
Levy Mwanawasa (1948–2008) |
2001 2006 |
2 January 2002 | 19 August 2008[†] | 6 years, 230 days | MMD |
| 4 | 
|
Rupiah Banda (1937–2022) |
2008 | 19 August 2008 | 23 September 2011 | 3 years, 35 days | MMD |
| 5 | 
|
Michael Sata (1937–2014) |
2011 | 23 September 2011 | 28 October 2014[†] | 3 years, 35 days | PF |
| — | 
|
Guy Scott (born 1944) |
— | 28 October 2014 | 25 January 2015 | 89 days | PF |
| 6 | 
|
Edgar Lungu (born 1956) |
2015 2016 |
25 January 2015 | 24 August 2021 | 6 years, 211 days | PF |
| 7 | 
|
Hakainde Hichilema (born 1962) |
2021 | 24 August 2021 | Incumbent | 2 years, 318 days | UPND |
Timeline[edit]
Rank by time in office[edit]
| Rank | President | Time in office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenneth Kaunda | 27 years, 9 days | ||
| 2 | Frederick Chiluba | 10 years, 61 days | ||
| 3 | Levy Mwanawasa | 6 years, 230 days | ||
| 4 | Edgar Lungu | 6 years, 211 days | ||
| 5 | Rupiah Banda | 2 years, 325 days | 3 years, 86 days | |
| — | Rupiah Banda | 126 days (Acting) | ||
| 6 | Michael Sata | 3 years, 35 days | ||
| 7 | Hakainde Hichilema | 2 years, 318 days | ||
| – | Guy Scott | 89 days (Acting) | ||
See also[edit]
- First Lady of Zambia
- Vice-President of Zambia
- Governor of Northern Rhodesia
- Prime Minister of Zambia
- Lists of office-holders
- List of current heads of state and government
References[edit]
- ^"Presidential Emoluments (Amendment) Regulations, 2012 | Zambia Legal Information Institute".zambialii.org.
- ^Cook, Candace; Siegle, Joseph."Circumvention of Term Limits Weakens Governance in Africa".Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
- ^"Free Rhodesia Set".The Philadelphia Inquirer.20 May 1964.Retrieved27 July2021– via Newspapers.com.
- ^Brown, Spencer (1967).The Journal of Developing Areas.Vol. 2. Western Illinois University. p. 483.ASINB000LL6FJ8.
- ^"The_State_of_Political_Parties_in_Zambia_2003"(PDF).NDI.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^ab"After 27 years, Zambia elects new President".The News Journal.2 November 1991.Retrieved27 July2021– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"10 Ministers join Zambia's" Politburo "".The Guardian.27 August 1973.Retrieved26 July2021– via Newspapers.com.
- ^Nohlen, Dieter (1999).Elections in Africa: A data handbook.p. 953.ISBN0-19-829645-2.
- ^"Zambia Constitution 1991"(PDF).World Bank.Retrieved27 June2021.
- ^Matiashe, Farai Shawn (17 June 2021)."Obituary: Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda helped liberate Southern African countries".The Africa Report.com.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^"ZAMBIA".Human Rights Watch.18 November 1996.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^"Zambia puts troops on alert following opposition's protest plans".The Odessa American.29 November 1996.Retrieved27 July2021– via Newspapers.com.
- ^Chawe, Michael (17 June 2021)."Zambia's former president Kenneth Kaunda dies aged 97".The East African.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^"Zambia vote expected to yield coalition government".The Baltimore Sun.27 December 2001.Retrieved27 July2021– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Focus on pressure on Mwanawasa to resign".The New Humanitarian.5 February 2003.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^Wiafe-Amoako, Francis (2019).Africa 2019-2020.Rowman and Littlefield. p. 338.ISBN9781475852462.
- ^"Poll victory for Zambia president".BBC News. 2 October 2006.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^"Zambia: Luwingu backs Rupiah's candidature in 2011".Lusaka Times.23 November 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 6 December 2010.
- ^abc"Guy Scott's rise to Zambia's presidency".BBC News. 29 October 2014.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^Mfula, Chris (29 October 2014)."Zambia's Scott becomes Africa's first white leader in 20 years".Reuters.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^"Zambia President Re-Elected in Close Vote".Voice of America.15 August 2016.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^Asala, Kizzi (30 October 2020)."Zambian President's Bid to Amend Constitution Fails".Africa News.Retrieved27 July2021.
External links[edit]
| ||
* Acting President | ||
