HARRY MWANGA NKUMBULA

FATHER OF ZAMBIAN POLITICS

Harry Mwanga Nkumbula never served as president, vice president or prime minister but his name is synonymous to the Zambian leadership as any _ if not better than _ of those who served in the positions. To many Zambians, he is the father of Zambian politics.

Born in January 1916 to an Ila chief in Namwala District, Nkumbula was educated at Methodist church schools and went for teacher training at Kafue Training College. After his graduation, Nkumbula taught in Namwala area before moving to Mufulira in 1942 where his political activities became more intensified. Nkumbula later moved to Kitwe when he, Godwin Mbikusita, and Dauti Yamba formed the Kitwe African Society.

In a bid to neutralize his political activities, the British colonial rulers gave Nkumbula a scholarship to Makerere University in Uganda. He was later sent to England in 1946 for education and economic studies. It was while he was in England that he met with future African leaders such as Malawi’s Kamuzu Banda, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, and Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta.

Nkumbula returned home to then Northern Rhodesia in 1951 after spending some time in East Africa. He revamped the Northern Rhodesia African Congress and formed the new African National Congress, with a sole purpose of opposing the British rule. ANC soon became popular encompassing most of the country. He organized numerous boycotts to oppose the colonizers, including public burning of government white paper.

Those activities did not augur well with the government. Nkumbula and Kenneth Kaunda were thrown in jail in 1955 for two months for allegedly distributing prohibited literature, the ANC newspaper. In 1958, the two called for voting rights for every adult.

However, the unity between Nkumbula and Kaunda did not last long and in October 1958, Kaunda broke away from ANC to form Zambia African Congress, which was later renamed to the United National Independence Party.

During the 1959 elections, Nkumbula was elected to the Legislative Council but faced a trying time the next year when he was charged with dangerous driving and sentenced to a year in prison. Although he appealed the sentence and was able to attend the 1961 London conferences that paved way for the future of Zambia, he lost the appeal and was in jail until 1962. Meanwhile, he lost his seat on the Legislative Council.

After coming out of prison, Nkumbula led the ANC to winning several parliamentary seats, making him a powerful power broker in the new assembly. Nkumbula joined up with Kaunda’s UNIP to form the government and was given the African Education portfolio in the Cabinet.

In the 1964 elections, Nkumbula’s party could only manage 10 seats to Kaunda’s 55 seats with UNIP. Hence, when independence dawned, Nkumbula, the man who started Zambian politics, was left holding the opposition party chair in Parliament.

After a brief resurgence in 1968 and boosted by the members of the Simon Kapwepwe’s banned UPP in 1971, Nkumbula’s ANC had a good showing at the polls. Still, he was unable to stop Kaunda and UNIP from abolishing the multiparty system in 1972. Since UNIP was now the only legal political party in Zambia, Nkumbula was forced to join in 1973.

In 1978, Nkumbula and Kapwepwe challenged Kaunda for the presidency of UNIP and for a chance to run for the presidency of the country. However, the UNIP rewrote the rules at the last minute, barring both Nkumbula and Kapwepwe from challenging Kaunda.

Disgusted with politics and after facing persecution from UNIP members, Nkumbula quit politics.

Harry Mwanga Nkumbula, the father of Zambian politics, died in 1983.

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