Reuben Kamanga
Reuben Kamanga | |
---|---|
Vice President of the Republic of Zambia | |
In office 1964–1967 | |
President | Kenneth Kaunda |
Preceded by | Position created |
Succeeded by | Simon Kapwepwe |
Personal details | |
Born | Reuben Chitandika Kamanga 26 August 1929 Chitandika Village, Chipata district, Northern Rhodesia |
Died | 20 September 1996 Zambia | (aged 67)
Nationality | Zambian |
Spouse | Edna Mwansa Kabungo |
Reuben Chitandika Kamanga (26 August 1929 – 20 September 1996) was a Zambian liberation freedom fighter, politician and statesman. He was educated at Munali Secondary School.
Early and Family Life
Kamanga was born on 2 August in 1929 in Chipata district of the Eastern Zambia at Chitandika village of chief Mnukwa.
Political career
Kamanga was imprisoned several times during the independence struggle especially during the period 1959–60. In 1958 Kamanga along with other senior males from the Eastern Province joined the United National Independence party (UNIP).[1] He later went to live in Cairo from 1960–62. Before Zambia's independence he served as the deputy president of the United National Independence Party and as Minister of Labour and Mines.
Following the attainment of independence on 24th, October 1964, Kamanga was appointed and became Zambia's first Vice-President under President Kenneth Kaunda. As the country's first Vice President, Kamanga served for three years before Kenneth Kaunda changed him to serve in a different cabinet post. Thus, he was demoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1967, and then became Minister of Rural Development in 1969. In 1983 Kamanga was appointed to the Central Committee in charge of Rural Development.
Retirement from politics and death
He retired from politics in 1991 following the political defeat of UNIP by the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). Kamanga later died on 20 September at his home in 1996. In October 2014, the Kamanga family wrote a letter to the Zambia Government asking them to rename the Chipata District hospital after Ruben Kamanga, saying that he deserves to have something in his name for how influential he was during the fight for independence.[2]
References
- ^ Momba, Jotham C. (1985). "Peasant Differentiation and Rural Party Politics in Colonial Zambia". Journal of Southern African Studies. 11 (2): 281–294. doi:10.2307/2636528. JSTOR 2636528.
- ^ "Times of Zambia | Name hospital after Reuben Kamanga, family begs State". www.times.co.zm. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
- 1929 births
- 1996 deaths
- People from Eastern Province, Zambia
- Vice-Presidents of Zambia
- United National Independence Party politicians
- Prisoners and detainees of Rhodesia
- Zambian prisoners and detainees
- Members of the Legislative Council of Northern Rhodesia
- Members of the National Assembly (Zambia)
- Transport ministers of Zambia
- Mines ministers of Zambia
- Alumni of Munali Secondary School
- Zambian people stubs
- Southern African politician stubs