POLITICIANS from Zambia

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Zambian Politicians of all time. This list of famous Zambian Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Kenneth Kaunda (1924 - 2021)

With an HPI of 58.85, Kenneth Kaunda is the most famous Zambian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 62 different languages on wikipedia.

Kenneth 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. Dissatisfied with Harry Nkumbula's leadership of the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress, he broke away and founded the Zambian African National Congress, later becoming the head of the socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP). Kaunda was the first president of independent Zambia. In 1973, following tribal and inter-party violence, all political parties except UNIP were banned through an amendment of the constitution after the signing of the Choma Declaration. At the same time, Kaunda oversaw the acquisition of majority stakes in key foreign-owned companies. The 1973 oil crisis and a slump in export revenues put Zambia in a state of economic crisis. International pressure forced Kaunda to change the rules that had kept him in power. Multi-party elections took place in 1991, in which Frederick Chiluba, the leader of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy, ousted Kaunda. He was briefly stripped of Zambian citizenship in 1998, but the decision was overturned two years later in 2000.

2. Frederick Chiluba (1943 - 2011)

With an HPI of 52.53, Frederick Chiluba is the 2nd most famous Zambian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as the candidate of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD), defeating long-time President Kenneth Kaunda. He was re-elected in 1996. As he was unable to run for a third term in 2001, former Vice President Levy Mwanawasa instead ran as the MMD candidate and succeeded him. After leaving office, Chiluba was the subject of a long investigation and trial regarding alleged corruption; he was eventually acquitted in 2009.

3. Michael Sata (1937 - 2014)

With an HPI of 52.24, Michael Sata is the 3rd most famous Zambian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 49 different languages.

Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who served as the fifth president of Zambia from 2011 until his death in 2014. A social democrat, he led the Patriotic Front (PF), a major political party in Zambia. Under President Frederick Chiluba, Sata was a minister during the 1990s as part of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) government. He went into opposition in 2001, forming the PF. As an opposition leader, Sata – popularly known as "The King Cobra", emerged as the leading opposition presidential contender and rival to President Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election, but was defeated. Following Mwanawasa's death, Sata ran again in 2008, losing to Rupiah Banda. After ten years in opposition, Sata defeated Banda, the incumbent, to win the September 2011 presidential election with a plurality of the vote. He died in London on 28 October 2014, leaving Vice President Guy Scott as Acting President until a presidential by-election was held on 20 January 2015.

4. Levy Mwanawasa (1948 - 2008)

With an HPI of 51.30, Levy Mwanawasa is the 4th most famous Zambian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 49 different languages.

Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia. He served as president from January 2002 until his death in August 2008. Mwanawasa is credited with having initiated a campaign to rid the corruption situation in Zambia during his term. Prior to Mwanawasa's election, he served as the fourth vice-president of Zambia from November 1991 to July 1994, whilst an elected Member of Parliament of Chifubu Constituency.

5. Edgar Lungu (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 50.62, Edgar Lungu is the 5th most famous Zambian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 56 different languages.

Edgar Chagwa Lungu (born 11 November 1956) is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 26 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Following Sata's death in October 2014, Lungu was adopted as the candidate of the Patriotic Front in a Convention of the Patriotic Front in Kabwe, for the January 2015 presidential by-election, which was to determine who would serve out the remainder of Sata's term. In the election, he narrowly defeated opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema and took office on 25 January 2015. Lungu was elected to a full presidential term in the August 2016 election, again narrowly defeating Hichilema. Hichilema initially disputed the election result and filed a case at the Constitutional Court to nullify the result. On 5 September, however, the court dismissed the case to Lungu's favour. Lungu was sworn in for his first full term on 13 September 2016. In 2021, Lungu was defeated by long-time opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema (his 2015 and 2016 opponent), after the Electoral Commission of Zambia declared the victory of Hichilema in that year's presidential election.

6. Hakainde Hichilema (b. 1962)

With an HPI of 49.77, Hakainde Hichilema is the 6th most famous Zambian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962) is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016, he won the 2021 presidential election with 59.02% of the vote. He has led the United Party for National Development since 2006 following the death of the party founder Anderson Mazoka. Prior to his election, Hichilema was a major opponent of Edgar Lungu, the president of Zambia from 2015 to 2021. On 11 April 2017, Hichilema was arrested and charged with treason, a move that was seen as an illegitimate act by Lungu to silence a political rival. The arrest and charge were widely condemned, with protests held in Zambia and abroad, demanding Hichilema's release and condemning the increasing authoritarianism of Lungu's regime. Hichilema was released from prison on 16 August 2017, and the charge of treason was dropped.

7. Guy Scott (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 46.55, Guy Scott is the 7th most famous Zambian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Guy Lindsay Scott (born 1 June 1944) is a Zambian politician, who served as acting President of Zambia from 2014 to 2015, and was the Vice President from 2011 to 2014. Scott became acting president upon Michael Sata's death in office on 28 October 2014. This made him the first head of state of European descent in mainland Africa since F. W. de Klerk in 1989.