Kenneth Kaunda summary

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Kenneth Kaunda, (born April 28, 1924, Lubwa, near Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia), Political leader and first president (1961–91) of Zambia. Kaunda came to prominence in 1959–60 in the movement to stop Britain from establishing a federation of North and South Rhodesia and Nyasaland. As the first president of independent Zambia, he helped avert a civil war in the late 1960s but ended up imposing single-party rule. From the 1970s he led other southern African nations in confronting the white-minority governments of Rhodesia and South Africa. He increased Zambia’s dependence on copper exports and on foreign aid, allowing agriculture, education, and social services to languish and poverty and unemployment to increase. Several attempted coups in the early 1980s were crushed; in 1990 he was forced to legalize opposition parties, and in 1991 he was voted out of office.

African National Congress: At a Glance Summary

The African National Congress (ANC) is a South African political party and Black nationalist organization. Since 1994, it has been the ruling party of South Africa. It was founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress; its main goal was maintaining voting rights for Black people and

African National Congress Summary

African National Congress (ANC), South African political party and Black nationalist organization. Founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, it had as its main goal the maintenance of voting rights for Coloureds (persons of mixed race) and Black Africans in Cape Province. It

president Summary

President, in government, the officer in whom the chief executive power of a nation is vested. The president of a republic is the head of state, but the actual power of the president varies from country to country; in the United States, Africa, and Latin America the presidential office is charged

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not