Chiluba, Frederick T.

Chiluba, Frederick T. (b. 30 Apr. 1943). President of Zambia 1991–2002 Born at Kitwe, he worked on a sisal plantation and rose to become a financial manager. As a convinced socialist he was educated in Moscow and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) before returning to become active for the trade union ZCTU (Zambia Copper Trade Union), whose president he became in 1974. In 1981 he refused Kaunda's offer to join his Cabinet as Minister of Labour, and was subsequently imprisoned for a short period. He resigned from his post in the ZCTU in 1990 in order to lead the newly founded Movement for a Multi-party Democracy (MMD). In the elections of 31 October 1991 he was elected President with 64.4 per cent of the popular vote. Having gradually abandoned his Communist views, he rejected Kaunda's socialist policies and liberalized the economy. His privatization programme, which involved the sale of 251 state-owned companies, exposed him to allegations of corruption. He was unable to generate enough support for a constitutional change that would allow him a third term in office. In the end, he stepped down after ensuring that he was succeeded by Levy Mwanawasa.