Given Lubinda is a Zambian

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 in the Cabinet of Zambia as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

. He is a former Member of Parliament for the

National Assembly of Zambia The National Assembly is Zambia's unicameral legislative body. Between 1972 and 1990, Zambia was a one-party state with the United National Independence Party (UNIP) as the sole legal party. The current National Assembly, formed following elect ...

for Kabwata Constituency 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 ...

. He was first elected as Kabwata MP in 2001 under the UPND ticket and was

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 2012 to 2013. Following the retirement of Edgar Lungu from active politics, Given Lubinda is the current acting president of the former ruling party, the Patriotic Front as of 2021. Lubinda is of

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

parentage. He is known as an outspoken politician. Following the death of President

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 ...

, he came under criticism from both members of the ruling

Movement for Multiparty Democracy The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) also known as New Hope MMD is a political party in Zambia. Originally formed to oust the previous government, MMD controlled an absolute majority in parliament between 1991 and 2001, when its past lead ...

and the opposition for voicing concerns on issues such as expenditure after the government planned and eventually increased salaries and allowances for both ministers and members of Parliament. In January 2012 he bungee-jumped from the

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and animal ...

bridge to restore confidence in the jump arrangements after

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n Erin Langworthy's rope broke during her jump. He has offered to jump again with Langworthy.

Removal from government

In February 2013, Lubinda was removed from his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs after being accused of leaking information to the opposition

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 ...

, a party he previously belonged to. This was viewed as a result of pressure on the president to remove a potential successor by other ministers who were vying for the presidency. After Sata's death in 2014, Lubinda was appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Livestock by President

Edgar Lungu Edgar Chagwa Lungu (born 11 November 1956) is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 25 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Fo ...

on 12 February 2015.

References

Members of the National Assembly of Zambia Living people Patriotic Front (Zambia) politicians 1963 births Justice Ministers of Zambia {{Zambia-politician-stub