The prime minister of Zambia was the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

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 ...

. From 1973 to 1975,

Mainza Chona Mainza Mathias Chona (21 January 1930 – 11 December 2001) was a Zambian politician and founder of UNIP who served as the third vice-president of Zambia from 1970 to 1973 and Prime Minister on two occasions: from 25 August 1973 to 27 May 1 ...

was the first person to hold the position following

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

from 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 ...

(

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 ...

was the only prime minister of

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 ...

in 1964, before it became independent as Zambia). The position of the prime minister of Zambia was abolished in 1991, in the last months of Kaunda's presidential term. Since then, the

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 ...

serves as both the

head 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 l ...

and the

History

Northern Rhodesia

When the country was founded as the British colony of

separate from

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

rule in the Rhodesias, the elected Legislative Council was created. At the time, the office of prime minister did not exist, with all executive power being vested in the

governor of Northern Rhodesia The Governor of Northern Rhodesia was the representative of the British Monarch in the self-governing colony of Northern Rhodesia from 1924 to 1964. The Governor was appointed by The Crown and acted as the local head of state, receiving instruct ...

. However, the leader of the largest elected party on the council was considered as the "unofficial" prime minister. When Northern Rhodesia united with

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

and

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

to form the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

, the office of

prime minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (also known as the Central African Federation) served as the country's head of government. The federation was formed on 1 August 1953 from the former colonies of Southern Rhodesia, ...

was created, with Northern Rhodesia's

Roy Welensky Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky, (''né'' Raphael Welensky; 20 January 1907 – 5 December 1991) was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Born in Salisbury, Southern Rh ...

becoming the second and final holder of the office. Following the breakup of the federation due to the withdrawal of Northern Rhodesia, the office of prime minister was created for the colony. The first and only prime minister of Northern Rhodesia was the

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 ...

's (UNIP)

after winning the 1964 general election ahead of independence.

Zambia

Upon independence and the renaming of the country as Zambia, Kaunda became the new

after being elected unopposed. The office of prime minister was abolished accordingly. In 1973, following an amendment to the

Constitution of Zambia The Constitution of Zambia was formally adopted in 1991 and amended in 2009 and last amended in 2016. The Zambian constitution has 20 parts, ranging from the SUPREMACY OF CONSTITUTION to GENERAL PROVISIONS. It begins with a PREAMBLE. The Zambia ...

, the office of prime minister was re-established as the titular head of the government but the holder would be subordinate to the Secretary-General of UNIP in governing Zambia. This was because the Central Committee of UNIP had precedence over the

Parliament 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 ...

under the Constitution. President Kaunda appointed his former

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

, as prime minister. In 1975, Chona resigned and was replaced by

Elijah Mudenda Elijah Haatuakali Kaiba Mudenda (6 June 1927
''The Times of Zambia'' (

. In 1977, Chona became prime minister again for a year before the role was taken over by

Daniel Lisulo Daniel Muchiwa Lisulo (6 December 1930 – 21 August 2000) was the 3rd Prime Minister of Zambia from June 1978 until February 1981. Biography Born in Mongu, Zambia. He graduated from Loyola College, Chennai (then Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Lisul ...

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 ...

took the role over from

Nalumino Mundia Nalumino Mundia (27 November 1927 – 9 November 1988) was a Zambian politician. He served as the 4th Prime Minister of the country from 18 February 1981 to 24 April 1985. He went on to serve as Zambia's ambassador to the United States, Brazi ...

in 1985, becoming the youngest prime minister and also the first that was not a member of UNIP's Central Committee. He was removed in 1989 and given an overseas diplomatic post due to President Kaunda believing he was aiming to become the next president. In 1991, the office was abolished again following a new constitution being created to allow for multi-party democratic elections following UNIP negotiations with 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). The powers the prime minister had were subsumed back into the office of president. The constitution allowed for the final prime minister,

Malimba Masheke Malimba Masheke (born 17 June 1941 in Senanga District, Zambia) is a Zambian politician. He served as the 6th and last Prime Minister of the country from 15 March 1989 to 31 August 1991. Masheke became Prime Minister when the previous Prime Ministe ...

, to remain in office until 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 ...

. According to Masheke, at the time of abolition the prime minister was being paid less than his private secretary.

List

Key

;Political parties *

Officeholders

Timeline

References

External links

World Statesmen – Zambia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister Of Zambia Zambia, Prime Minister of *

Prime Ministers 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 ...

1964 establishments in Northern Rhodesia 1964 disestablishments in Zambia 1973 establishments in Zambia 1991 disestablishments in Africa