Kenneth Kaunda

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Simon Kapwepwe was born on 12 April 1922 in the Chinsali district of the Northern Province of Northern Rhodesia. He started his primary education in Chinsali, doing his Standard 3 and 4 at Mwenzo and his Standard 5 and 6 in Lubwa. In 1944 he became a driver at the Public Works Department, and in 1945 a primary school teacher at Lubwa. In September 1947 he went to Tanganyika looking for work together with Kenneth Kaunda and John Malama Sokoni. In June 1948 he became an Assistant Welfare Officer with the Kitwe Municipal Council, then a teacher at Wusakile Primary School in Kitwe. Due to his dissatisfaction with colonial policies, he became a founding member of the Northern Rhodesian African Congress in 1948. Kapwepwe secured an Indian Village Industrial Scholarship in 1950 and stayed in Bombay from 1950 to 1954, studying pottery and journalism. On his return to Northern Rhodesia in January 1955 he found the ANC leaderless, since both Harry Nkumbula and Kenneth Kaunda had been imprisoned. Kapwepwe became Acting President. In October 1958, together with Kaunda, Sikota Wina and others, he broke away from the ANC and formed the Zambia African National Congress (ZANC). ZANC was declared illegal in March 1959, and Kapwepwe was sent to Mongu, in Barotseland.

Reader's Guide

Kapwepwe's political career after independence was marked by both high office and conflict. In January 1964, UNIP won the General Elections with 55 seats, and Kapwepwe was given the post of Minister of Home Affairs. In September 1964, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and held that post for three years, during which he lambasted the British government for failing to intervene after Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Ian Smith in 1965. In 1967 Kapwepwe led a rebellion within UNIP, standing against Reuben Kamanga and winning the position of deputy leader. As a consequence, Kaunda promoted him to the position of Vice President. He used his new position to put forward economic policies that differed from Kaunda's, but his views were sidelined. He was Minister of Finance from 1968 to 1969. In August 1969, he offered to resign from the Vice Presidency due to tribal friction within UNIP, but Kaunda dissuaded him. However, in October 1970 Kaunda replaced Kapwepwe with Mainza Chona for the post of Vice President. In August 1971, Kapwepwe resigned from UNIP and the government and announced he was the leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP). In December 1971 he won a by-election for the Mufulira West constituency. On 4 February 1972, Kaunda banned UPP and imprisoned 122 members, including Kapwepwe, who was kept in prison until 31 December 1972. After his release, Kapwepwe was arrested in February 1973 for illegal possession of two guns and received a two-years suspended sentence. He sued the Zambia Broadcasting Service, the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail for libel and won when he proved they had made false reports. He retired from politics and went to live on his farm in Chinsali. He died on 26 January 1980, after suffering from a stroke two days earlier.

Did You Know?

• Kapwepwe studied Hindi in Nairobi before spending four years in Bombay, India, studying pottery and journalism from 1950 to 1954.
• He was Acting President of the ANC in January 1955 when both Harry Nkumbula and Kenneth Kaunda were imprisoned.
• Kapwepwe authored books mostly in the Bemba language, including 'Africa Twasebana' published by the Kenneth Kaunda Foundation in 1991.
• He won a libel case against the Zambia Broadcasting Service, the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail for false reports that he had sent people for military training outside Zambia.
• Kapwepwe was disqualified from the 1978 UNIP presidential nomination by last-minute changes to UNIP's constitution.