 .
Kebby Musokotwane
Profile by Eric Gondwe Mr Kebby Musokotwane was born on May 5, 1946 as Kebby Sililo Kambulu Musokotwane, in Musokotwane village. Zambia was then called Northern Rhodesia. He was married to Muzya Regina Bulowa in 1967. They have four sons and two daughters. He was educated at Monze Secondary School, Livingstone Teachers College, and the University of Zambia. Mr Kebby Musokotwane became a politician in Zambia at a young age, compared to the veterans he was part of. He served as a school teacher and college lecturer before entering politics. Musokotwane was a member of the United National Independence Party (UNIP) and one of the closest allies of former President Kenneth Kaunda. He entered politics in 1973 when he became member of parliament for Katombora constituency in the first one-party elections of December 1973. In 1977, Musokotwane was appointed minister of water and natural resources. In 1979, he was moved to the sports ministry in the same capacity. That same year he was transferred to the education ministry where he stayed for two years before becoming finance minister. At 38, Musokotwane made history as Zambia's youngest prime minister in 1985. In 1987 he combined the post with that of finance minister. He was relieved of the prime minister's portfolio in 1989 and initially sent back to education but after protest was sent to Canada as Zambia's high commissioner. It is said that he was relieved of the prime minister position because he continued to become a popular figure, which began to be seen as threat by President Kenneth Kaunda. General Malimba Masheke, a career soldier and Kaunda loyalist, was moved from the home affairs ministry to the prime ministership When the multiparty movement gained momentum in 1990, speculation was high that he would join the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). But he stuck to the United National Independence Party (UNIP) and later became the party's secretary-general after its disastrous performance in the October 1991 election. When Kaunda stepped down as President of the party in 1992, following the party's election defeat in 1991, Musokotwane was elected President of the party, with Kaunda's support. But to some he seemed not to fit in former president Kenneth Kaunda's oversized shoes. Dr Kaunda then decided to return to politics, hoping to reveive the party that was soundly defeated in the 1991 elections. At the June 1995 UNIP congress electiosn where Musokotwane lost to Kaunda who polled 1,916 to Musokotwane's 400 votes, for the party president position. In 1993 he was embroiled in scandal when he admitted that a radical faction of the party was conspiring to topple the new government of Frederick Chiluba. He died on 11 February 1996. Main References Maidstone Mulenga, Famous Zambians, www.geocities.com/maiddie/zprez.html Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation www.Rulers.org - Index Mp-Mz Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Wikipedia
| 
