Godfrey Miyanda (born 1944) is 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 ...

n politician and former military figure. In 1993, he served as the fifth

vice-president of Zambia The vice-president of Zambia is the second highest position in the executive branch of the Republic of Zambia. The vice-president was previously appointed by the president before the amendment of the Constitution in 2016. Under the amended Cons ...

under

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 t ...

's administration. Miyanda professes to be a born-again

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. He is married to Angela Miyanda. They have four children.

Early life

Miyanda begun his early schooling in Kitwe at Kitwe Main School. He later attended Buseko and Kawama Primary schools in Kitwe. He later attended Katete and Munali secondary schools up to form five. He also attended a one year part-time course in

Business Management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of managemen ...

at Evelyn Hone College of Higher Education.

Career

Miyanda was a career soldier. He attended an officers course at

Mons Officer Cadet School Mons Officer Cadet School was a British military training establishment for officer cadets in Aldershot from 1942 to 1972, when it was closed and all officer training concentrated at Sandhurst. Until 1960, it was known as the Mons Officer Cade ...

in Aldershot, England. He did further training at

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

in Kent and another course at

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-c ...

in England. He attended a Staff Officers course in Canada in 1968. Miyanda has attended several leadership courses and programmes. He has held several positions in the Army, including

Platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

Commander, Emplaning, Intelligence Officer, Adjutant,

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

Second-In-Command, Battalion Commander,

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

Grade One, and Colonel General Staff at Army Headquarters. His last position in the Army was Chief of Logistics. Miyanda established the Zambia Military Academy, being its first head at Kohima Barracks based in Kabwe, central province of Zambia. His contemporaries in military training include General Kingsley Chinkuli, Zambia's first black army chief, General Benjamin Mibenge, late Colonel Patrick Kafumukache, late General Christon Tembo, former Zambian vice president. He is a trained

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

salesman, having attended intensive earth-moving science and sales courses in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and Malaga, Spain. He learnt to operate most Caterpillar earth moving equipment. He is also a qualified

Public Service Vehicle A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for ...

Driver. In 1980, Miyanda was dismissed from the army by Kenneth Kaunda for involvement an alleged coup plot. He was blacklisted for many years and drove a taxi cab. He was subsequently cleared of all the charges.

Political career

He joined the growing opposition to

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. Diss ...

and was later one of the senior members of the

Movement for Multi-Party 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 ...

(MMD). He subsequently served under President

as Minister without Portfolio and National Secretary of the MMD until 1995. In 1993, after the resignation of

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 ...

, Miyanda was appointed as Vice President. At the 1995 MMD party convention he was elected the party's vice president. In 1997, he was demoted to the post of Minister of Education, although he remained the vice president of the MMD. Miyanda was expelled from the MMD, together with the famous 22 senior party officials, in 2001 for opposing President Chiluba's third presidential term bid. The third term bid was actively supported and led by

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 National Secretary of the MMD.

Heritage Party

Since 2001 Miyanda is serving as president of the Heritage Party in Zambia. It was formed after his expulsion from the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in May 2001 for opposing the third term bid for president. In 2001

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

s, the party won four parliamentary seats in a unicameral Zambian parliament. The party also won a few local councilors positions across the country. However, the four members of parliament were poached by the then late Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa by including them in government ministerial positions to strengthen parliament numbers. In subsequent elections in 2006, the four members joined then ruling MMD party and heritage party lost all seats in parliament. Miyanda can be described as a

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

. He has unsuccessfully run for president four times (2001, 2006, 2008 and 2011).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miyanda, Godfrey 1944 births Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School Living people People from Copperbelt Province Vice-presidents of Zambia Zambian military personnel Movement for Multi-Party Democracy politicians Heritage Party (Zambia) politicians Zambian Protestants Members of the National Assembly of Zambia Alumni of Munali Secondary School