Frederick Chiluba - Politics

Politics

In 1990 he helped form the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), a party that, with Chiluba as its presidential candidate, went on to successfully challenge Kaunda's rule in the 1991 elections. Chiluba was a powerful speaker with a natural charm and charisma. Chiluba took office on November 2 of that year. He won re-election to a second five-year term in 1996 despite a lawsuit questioning his birthplace and hence his eligibility for the post.

Chiluba attempted to deport Kaunda on the grounds that he was a Malawian. He amended the constitution in order to stop citizens with foreign parentage from standing for the presidency, aimed at disqualifying Kaunda.

Some candidates in the 1996 presidential elections challenged his eligibility on these grounds, claiming that he or his real father was born in Zaire. There is, however, no doubt that he was raised in the Copperbelt of Zambia and this contributed to his taking up of unionism.

In late 2001, Chiluba divorced his second wife, Vera, with whom he had nine children, namely Helen, Miko, Hortensia, Castro, Chongo, Kaindu, Huldah, Frederick Jr and Verocia . With his first wife he had Tito and Nikombe.

He later married the MMD Women's Chairperson, Regina Mwanza a divorcee. Despite his party's overwhelming majority in parliament, he failed to win support in his bid to amend the constitution allowing him to run for a third term. No member of parliament ever moved the motion in the house to amend the national constitution, the government never presented any paper on the matter nor was there any referendum to amend the national constitution. The third term debate was between different groups within and outside the MMD. Chiluba himself was quiet about it. He stepped down at the end of his term on January 2, 2002, and was replaced by Levy Mwanawasa, his one-time vice-president. Chiluba started out as a socialist, but accepted some economic reforms.

Chiluba can be said to have left both an economic and a political legacy. Economically he started the process of ending Zambia's socialist command economy. He presided over various economic reforms. There are mixed feelings in Zambia on the effectiveness of the economic transformation initiated by the Chiluba government.

He helped broker a peace agreement to end the war in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, but failed to stop the escalating crime and poverty in Zambia.

Chiluba opposed international economic institutions. His successor Levy Mwanawasa re-established relations with IMF and World Bank which had been abolished during Chiluba's government.