Emmanuel Kasonde (December 23, 1935 – December 12, 2008) was a

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

permanent secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

under three successive Zambian presidential administrations, including

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, 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. Dissat ...

Frederick Chiluba Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as th ...

and

Levy Mwanawasa Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia. He served as president from January 2002 until his death in August 2008. Mwanawasa is credited with having initiated a campaign to rid the corrupti ...

Early life

Emmanuel Kasonde was born in Malole Mission particularly in the village called Bwebe and later the family moved and settled Mukosa village in Malole,

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

. He completed his primary school education at Malole Primary School from 1943 to 1950. He next enrolled at St Francis Secondary School. Kasonde continued his education, attending Munali, located in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

, from 1953 to 1956. It is at Mukosa village where he later established one of the biggest farm companies, called Trent farms. This household farm name came to be the biggest name in the product of maize meal and soya beans. The farm is still there under a different management with less activities. He moved from Northern Rhodesia to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1958 to study

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

Career

Kasonde was appointed assistant labour commissioner of Northern Rhodesia upon his return from the United Kingdom.

, the first

president of Zambia The president of Zambia is the head of state and the head of government of Zambia. The office was first held by Kenneth Kaunda following independence in 1964. Since 1991, when Kaunda left the presidency, the office has been held by seven othe ...

, appointed Kasonde as the finance permanent secretary (

) in 1967. He remained at the government post until 1971, when he left to rejoin

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

. He returned to the United Kingdom in 1987 to continue his advanced educational studies. Kasonde formally entered politics in 1990, when he became Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) provincial

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

for Northern Province. He was appointed

finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

by President Frederick Chiluba following the victory of Chiluba and the MMD in 1991. President

also appointed Kasonde as Zambia's

in 2002. Kasonde retired from active politics in 2003. He continued to work in various positions within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Zambia following his retirement.

Death

Emmanuel Kasonde died on Friday, December 12, 2008, at Lusaka Trust Hospital in

at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife, Rose Kasonde, four children and eight grandchildren. Kasonde's funeral was held at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Child Jesus in Lusaka. His funeral mass was presided over by Lusaka Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu, former Lusaka Archbishop Medardo Mazombwe and nine other

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

s. the late former Finance Minister Emmanuel Kasonde was to rest at his Trent Farm at Malole (mukosa village) in Mungwi district. In his will, Kasonde said that he did not want anyone to speak about him at his funeral. However, Archbishop Mazombwe, who was a close friend and adviser to Kasonde for thirty years, still spoke of him in his

homily A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...

. Mazombwe said of Kasonde that, "He was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

inside out. He was dedicated to church affairs, despite the position he held in

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

, he remained simple and approachable.." He went on to call Kasonde "...a great source of

inspiration Inspiration, inspire, or inspired often refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, the doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible * Creative inspirat ...

for us. His

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

is a soul of an upright man." High-profile Zambian

heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...

at the funeral mass included former president

and the then

defence minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

George Mpombo, who represented President

Rupiah Banda Rupiah Bwezani Banda (19 February 1937 – 11 March 2022) was a Zambian politician who served as the fourth president of Zambia from 2008 to 2011, taking over from Levy Mwanawasa, who died as the sitting president. Banda was an active participant ...

. Other attendees included former vice president

Enoch Kavindele Enoch P. Kavindele (born 7 July 1950) is a Zambian Businessperson, businessman and politician who served as the seventh vice-president of Zambia from 2001 until 2003. Biography Kavindele began his business career in the 1970s when he established ...

, Home Affairs Minister

Kalombo Mwansa Kalombo Mwansa (1955 – March 15, 2020) was a Zambian politician who served as Ministry of Defence (Zambia), Defence Minister. Political career Kalombo Mwansa became Zambia's Defense Minister on July 9, 2009. He was previously the foreign minis ...

and the Speaker of the National Assembly

Mutale Nalumango W.K. Mutale Nalumango (born 1 January 1955) is an educator and politician who is the 14th and current vice president of Zambia, the second woman to hold the position. She previously served as vice-president of the Secondary Schools’ Teachers U ...

. The heads of all of Zambia's majority political parties were also in attendance. They included

United Party for National Development The United Party for National Development (UPND) is a social liberal political party in Zambia, led by Hakainde Hichilema, the current president of the country. The party is an observer member of the Africa Liberal Network. History The UPND was ...

(UPND) president

Hakainde Hichilema Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962) is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016 ...

, Patriotic Front (PF) president

Michael Sata Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who was the fifth president of Zambia, from 23 September 2011 until his death on 28 October 2014. A social democrat, he led the Patriotic Front (PF), a maj ...

, the then All Peoples Congress Party (APC) president Ken Ngondo. The

National Democratic Focus The National Democratic Focus (NDF) was a political alliance in Zambia. History The alliance was formed in 2006 as the National Democratic Front, and was initially planned to consist of the Party for Unity, Democracy and Development (PUDD), the ...

(NDF) was represented by both president Ben Mwila, as well as the NDF former vice president, Nevers Mumba. Members of the Zambian government, deputy ministers, members of the diplomatic corp, and the

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

community were also present at Kasonde's funeral. The Government of Zambia declared the day of Emmanuel Kasonde funeral - December 16, 2008 - as a national

day of mourning A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...

References

External links

The Zambian Chronicle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasonde, Emmanuel 1935 births 2008 deaths Zambian economists Finance Ministers of Zambia Zambian Roman Catholics Movement for Multi-Party Democracy politicians Members of the National Assembly of Zambia Alumni of Munali Secondary School People from Mungwi District