Malimba Masheke (born 17 June 1941 in

Senanga District Senanga District is a district of Zambia, located in Western Province. The capital lies at Senanga Senanga is the capital of the Senanga District, which is located in the Western Province of Zambia. The town is situated on the eastern bank of the ...

, Zambia) 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. He served as the 6th and last

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of the country from 15 March 1989 to 31 August 1991. Masheke became Prime Minister when the previous Prime Minister

Kebby Musokotwane Kebby Sililo Kambu Musokotwane (5 May 1946 – 11 February 1996) was a politician from Zambia. He was a member of the United National Independence Party and one of the closest allies of former President Kenneth Kaunda. He was Minister of Fina ...

was removed and given an overseas diplomatic post as then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

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 ...

believed that Musokotwane was aiming to replace him and take over Zambia as the next President. The role was abolished in 1991 when Zambia adopted a new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

owing to discussions between

United National Independence Party The United National Independence Party (UNIP) is a political party in Zambia. It governed the country from 1964 to 1991 under the socialist presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, and was the sole legal party in the country between 1973 and 1990. On 4 A ...

(the only legal polictial party in Zambia at the time) and

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 ...

(an opposition party) to allow for multi-party elections to be held later the same year. The powers that Prime Minister Masheke had were subsumed back into the office of President starting from after the new President was elected in the

1991 Zambian general election General elections were held in Zambia on 31 October 1991 to elect a President and National Assembly. They were the first multi-party elections since 1968, and only the second multi-party elections since independence in 1964. The United National ...

. The Constitution also allowed Masheke remain Prime Minister for the period in-between the adoption of the Constitution and the general election. According to Masheke in an interview with Zambian media in 2018, at the time the title was abolished, he was paid less as Prime Minister than he paid his private secretary. He had previously been

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), 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 coun ...

from 1985 to 1988 and Minister of Home Affairs from 1988 to 1989.

References

1941 births Living people Prime Ministers of Zambia Defence Ministers of Zambia Home Affairs ministers of Zambia People from Senanga District {{Zambia-politician-stub