Kenneth Kaunda

In 1946, he married Beatrice Kaweche Banda who bore eight children. They remained married until her death in 2012.

An avid ballroom Dancer, he’s been spotted in the audience of Dancing with the Stars.

Kenneth David Kaunda was born on April 28, 1924 at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He is the youngest of eight children. His father was a teacher and a minister and his mother was the first African woman to teach in colonial Zambia.

He attended the Munali Training Centre from 1941-1943. The training center was located in Lusaka.

After completion of his studies at the Training Centre, he went on to teach at the Upper Primary School in Lubwa in 1943. He was also the headmaster at the school from 1944 to 1947.

After he left the school in Lubwa, he founded the farmers’ cooperative in a copper mining area. He also became a mine welfare officer in 1948.

He couldn’t stay away from teaching though and from 1948-1949 he served as the headmaster at Mufulira Upper School.

Kaunda helped establish the African National Congress (ANC), the first key anti-colonial establishment organization in Northern Rhodesia. He served under ANC president Harry Nkumbula, from 1953-1958 as the group’s secretary general.

In 1958, he became disenchanted with Nkumbula's policies and left the African National Congress to establish the Zambia African National Union. His party was banned in 1959 after upsurge in civil disobedience. This resulted in Kaunda spending nine months in jail.

After he was released in 1960, he became the president of the new United National Independence Party (UNIP). Two years later, he was elected to the Legislative Council.

In 1960, he visited Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia. Inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr., he went on to establish a civil disobedience campaign, known as the Cha-cha-cha campaign. The participants in this campaign engaged in arson and blocking major roadways.

In October 1964, Zambia won its independence and Kaunda became the first president.

To improve the education levels in his country, Kaunda implemented a policy that provided children with free school supplies such as pens, pencils and exercise books. Children were given these supplies regardless of their parents’ financial situation.

In 1966, the University of Zambia was opened and Kaunda appointed its Chancellor. He was also invited (and accepted) to officiate the first graduation ceremony in 1969.

In 1968, he introduced the Mulungushi Reforms, in which he planned to acquire major shares in foreign-owned firms in order to boost the economy. He managed to acquire shares in the Anglo American Corporation and the Rhodesia Selection Trust, consolidated the two companies, and called the new company Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines (NCCM).

In 1983, NCCM and Roan Consolidated Mines merged and became the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd (ZCCM).

In 1964, during the Lumpa Crisis, Kaunda banned the Lumpa Church, creating animosity among the church and the UNIP. Kaunda was never able to fully mitigate the animosity.