Frederick Chiluba

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**Frederick Chiluba**
2nd President of Zambia

In office November 2, 1991 – January 2, 2002
Deputy	Levy Mwanawasa
Preceded by	Kenneth Kaunda
Succeeded by	Levy Mwanawasa

Born	April 30, 1943
Political party	Movement for Multiparty Democracy
Profession	Trade Union official

Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (born April 30, 1943) was the second President of Zambia (1991 - 2002).

1 Early life
2 Unions
3 Politics
4 Legacy
5 Corruption
6 References

[edit] Early life

He was born to Jacob Titus Chiluba Nkonde and Diana Kaimba and grew up in Ndola. Frederick Chiluba did his secondary school of education at Kawambwa Secondary School, in Kawambwa, though he later completed his General Education Certificate via correspondence and studied economics in both the United States and former Communist countries. He worked as personnel clerk before becoming an accounts assistant at Atlas Copco,and rose to the position of credit manager, in Ndola where he joined the National Union of Building, Engineering and General Workers (NUBEGW) rising through the ranks to the post of chairman of the union.

[edit] Unions

He went on to win the chairmanship of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Chiluba and several leaders in ZCTU were detained in 1981 by then President Kenneth Kaunda for calling a wildcat strike that paralyzed most of the Zambian economy. The union leaders were released after judge ruled their detention as unconstitutional. In 1987, he successfully withstood challenge to his chairmanship of NUBEGW that would have put his ZCTU position in jeopardy.

[edit] Politics

In 1990, he helped form the Movement for Multiparty Democracy, a party that, with Chiluba as its presidential candidate, went on to successfully challenge Kaunda's rule in the 1991 elections. Chiluba took office on November 2 of that year. He won re-election to a second five-year term in 1996 despite a lawsuit questioning his birthplace and hence his eligibility for the post.

Chiluba attempted to deport Kaunda on the grounds that he was a Malawian. He amended the constitution in order to stop citizens with foreign parentage from standing for the presidency, aimed at disqualifying Kaunda.

Some candidates in the 1996 presidential elections challenged his eligibility on these grounds, claiming that he or his real father was born in Zaire. There is, however, no doubt that he was raised in the Copperbelt of Zambia and this contributed to his taking up of unionism.

In late 2001, Chiluba divorced his second wife, Vera, with whom he has four children, namely Chongo, Nikombe, a daughter and Frederick. With his first wife he had Tito, Hellen, Miko and Castro.

He later married the MMD Women's Chairperson, Regina Mwanza, who had been married to an engineer.

Despite his party's overwhelming majority in parliament, he failed to win support in his bid to amend the constitution allowing him to run for a third term. He stepped down at the end of his term on January 2, 2002, and was replaced by Levy Mwanawasa, his once time vice-president. Although Chiluba started out as a socialist, his policies later turned capitalist, stressing free enterprise with reduced government interference.

[edit] Legacy

Politically, Chiluba left a mixed legacy. Chiluba's letdowns are mainly to do with his quest to stay in power. In 1996, he managed to block Kenneth Kaunda from standing against him in the Presidential Elections by introducing a clause in the constitution that stated that presidential candidates needed to have been born of Zambian parents. It is also alleged that he spent a lot of state money on bribing supporters to allow him seek a third term. He also expelled most senior members who opposed his third term. Most of them went on to form the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), led by former vice-president, Christon Tembo.

He helped broker a peace agreement to end the war in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, but failed to stop the escalating crime and poverty in Zambia. He was elected chairman of the Organization of African Unity after he left the presidency.

[edit] Corruption

He has recently been a target of Mwanawasa's campaign against corruption: in February 2003, he was charged with stealing $40 million from public funds during his time in office. Most of the charges that where made against him have been dropped, while others remain. In addition, his wife Regina was arrested for receiving stolen goods. ^[1] ^[2]

In early 2006, Chiluba was flown to South Africa to receive medical attention for a heart condition. After resisting the government's call for him to return to Zambia for what they termed as long-term treatment, he returned on July 15.