National Democratic Congress (NDC) is a political party in Zambia. It was formed by former Information minister Chishimba Kambwili after he was fired from the ruling Patriotic Front by President Edgar Lungu in 2016. [1] [2] [3]
Kambwili had been a fierce critic of President Lungu since he was relieved off his duties in 2016. In 2018, the NDC was banned from holding public meetings and Kambwili was arrested for inciting public violence. [4]
In April 2021, Kambwili resigned from the NDC following an internal dispute with party Vice President Joseph Akafumba, and Kambwili has since allied himself once again with the Patriotic Front party. [5] [6]
The party’s current leader is Saboi Imboela. [7] In early 2024, the NDC was one of the founding parties of the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA). [8] [9]
The politics of Zambia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Zambia is head of state, head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Formerly Northern Rhodesia, Zambia became a republic immediately upon attaining independence in October 1964.
The United Party for National Development (UPND) is a prominent political party in Zambia, founded in December 1998 by Anderson Mazoka, a former executive of the Anglo American Corporation. The party emerged as a significant opposition force following a split from the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD). The UPND positions itself as a centrist party with strong ideological commitments to social and economic liberalism, advocating for policies that support free-market principles, human rights, and democratic governance.
Hakainde Hichilema 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.
Michael Charles Chilufya Sata 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.
Kabinga Jacus Pande is a Zambian politician. Pande was appointed to the position of foreign minister in August 2007, replacing Mundia Sikatana. Pande had previously been the tourism minister. He held the Foreign Minister portfolio until 2011 when his party the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) was dislodged by the Patriotic Front (PF) and was succeeded by Chishimba Kambwili.
Given Lubinda is a Zambian politician who served in the Cabinet of Zambia as Minister of Justice. He is a former Member of Parliament for the National Assembly of Zambia for Kabwata Constituency in Lusaka. He was first elected as Kabwata MP in 2001 under the UPND ticket and was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2013. Following the retirement of Edgar Lungu from active politics after the 2021 election, Given Lubinda was the acting president of the former ruling party, the Patriotic Front. However, Edgar Lungu returned to active politics in October 2023 and he was handed back the Patriotic Front presidency, with Given Lubinda being appointed as the party's vice-president, a position he held before Lungu's retirement after the 2021 election. Lubinda is of mixed-race parentage. He is known as an outspoken politician.
Guy Lindsay Scott is a Zambian politician, who served as acting President of Zambia from 2014 to 2015, and was the Vice President from 2011 to 2014.
Chishimba Kambwili is a former member of the National Assembly of Zambia for Roan Constituency in Luanshya District. He has also held several posts in the cabinet. He is the former leader of the National Democratic Congress.
Presidential elections were held in Zambia on 20 January 2015 to elect a president to serve the remainder of the term of President Michael Sata, following his death on 28 October 2014.
General elections were held in Zambia on 11 August 2016 to elect the President and National Assembly. A constitutional referendum was held alongside the elections, with proposals to amend the bill of rights and Article 79.
Edgar Chagwa Lungu 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.
Miles Bwalya Sampa is a Zambian politician, currently serving as Member of Parliament for Matero Constituency and president of the Patriotic Front. The veteran politician previously served as Mayor of Lusaka, having been elected in August 2018. His election in 2021 would see him return to Parliament representing Matero Constituency, a position he served from 2011 to 2016.
Esther Nyawa Lungu is a well-known public figure from Zambia, who served as the First Lady of the country from 25 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. She is the wife of the former Zambian president Edgar Lungu, and together they have six children. Born on 2 June 1957, her parents originally hailed from Zambia's Eastern Province.
Joyce Nonde-Simukoko is a Zambian politician. She was appointed the Minister of Labour and Social Security in the Cabinet of Zambia by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu on 15 September 2016.
Felix Chipota Mutati is a Zambian politician and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. Mutati did not run for a Member of Parliament seat in the 2021 Zambian general election and received a nominated seat by the president. As a nominated Member of Parliament, he was appointed Minister of Technology and Science on 17 September 2021 by the ruling Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.
Sylvia Masebo is a Zambian entrepreneur, politician, and National Assembly of Zambia representative for Chongwe constituency with the United Party for National Development (UPND). Sylvia Masebo holds a degree in Banking and Finance. She first stood on the ticket of Zambian Republican Party (ZRP) in 2001, then the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in 2003, then the Patriotic Front (PF) in 2011, and then the UPND in 2021.
Joseph Malanji is a Zambian politician and business executive who previously served as a member of the National Assembly for Kwacha constituency. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2018 and 2021.
Kampamba Mulenga Chilumba is a Zambian politician and a member of the Patriotic Front. In 2016 and 2018, she served as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the minister of Fisheries and Livestock respectively. She is currently the member of parliament for Kalulushi constituency and was the Minister for Community Development and Social Welfare.
Juliet Kaira Chibuta is a Zambian women's right activist. Since 2012 she has been the Executive Director of Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL).
Saboi Imboela is a Zambian politician who leads the National Democratic Congress, a Zambian opposition political party. Previously, she was a singer for the singing group Shatel in the late 90s and early 2000s.