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THE FOUNDER: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

My name is Henry Kyamba­lesa. I am a hus­band, a father, a teacher-turned-politician­, and a truly pat­riotic Zambian. I am a conser­vative with res­pect to cultural and tra­ditional values, and a liberal with respect to political and eco­nomic affairs. And I am the Founder and current President of the Agenda for Change (AfC) party.

I was born on 24th June, 1954 at Kalepa’s Village in Chief Kapi­jim­pan­ga’s area in Solwezi district and assumed the spiritual name “Muyange” at birth. I am a Kaonde by tribe, and am the third born in a family of four male children, the other children being Robson (who is retired from the mines in Mufulira and now lives in Mumbwa), Thomp­son (a former mines employee in Luanshya who is now deceased), and the fourth born, Noah (who is also de­ceased).

Henry Kyambalesa

In April 1988, I married former Ms. Namo­onga Shapwa­ya, a Tonga from Shapwaya Village in Chief Nalu­wa­ma’s area in Maza­buka district in Sou­thern Province, with whom I have four charming moppets—that is, Sellah, Faith, Kimba, and Payila.

My father, the late Mr. Lazarus Kitungu Kyamba­lesa, was born at Subakanya Village in Chief Mumena’s area in Solwezi dist­rict. Mr. Kyambalesa, Sr. worked as a head district messen­ger in Solwezi during the 1950s, and later as an underground mines employee in Chingola town. He untimely passed away in 1965 while visiting relatives in Kalulushi town.

My mother, the late Ma’am Mindose Ilunga Kyamba­lesa of Kalepa’s Village in Chief Kapijimpanga’s area, whose maiden name was Ms. Mindose Ilunga Yangelwa, was born in 1929 in Solwezi district. She was a home­maker throughout her adult life. She passed away on May 13, 2000. However, the virtues which she inculcated in me and my brothers have sustained her pres­ence, and have increas­ingly be­come indispens­able guide­posts in my search for meaning and direction in life.

Henry Kyambalesa and Family—from left to right: Kimba, Payila, Henry, Namoonga, Sellah, and Faith. (July 2007 while in Denver, Colorado State, United States of America.)

I attended Solwezi Primary School from 1965 to 1971, Solwezi Second­ary School from 1972 to 1976 and the compulsory Zambia National Service in Ndola between December 1976 and June 1977. In October 1977, I enrolled at the University of Zambia (UNZA) in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). The following year, I transferred to the School of Business and Industrial Studies at the University of Zambia Ndola Campus (UNZANDO) based in Kitwe at the former Zambia Institute of Technology (ZIT), and which is now referred to as the Copperbelt University (CBU)—where I later earned the Bachelor of Business Adminis­tration (B.B.A.) deg­ree in 1981.

While studying at Solwezi Primary School, Solwezi Secondary School and the University of Zambia, I actively participated in soccer and track and field. At Solwezi Secondary School, where I was popularly known as Bismarck (a nickname), I served as Vice School Captain in 1975 and 1976, and was also an ardent member and Secretary of the Zambia Red Cross Society and the School Production Unit.

Between 1981 and 1983, I worked as a Salaries Accountant at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Lusaka, and later transferred to the Ministry’s Kitwe Customs Office as an Examining Officer due to lack of housing in Lusaka. Later in 1983, I joined CBU as a Staff Development Fellow (SDF) in Quantitative Methods in Business. The following year, I secured a scholarship to pursue studies at Oklahoma City University in the USA, where I earned the Master of Business Admin­istration (M.B­.A.) degree in 1985.

I returned to CBU in August 1985, where I lectured in the School of Business and concurrently undertook research projects and participated in numerous seminars and conferences involving a diversity of business-related and development-related themes until 1990. During this period, I also served as an elected member of the CBU Senate and held adjunct positions as Assistant Dean in the School of Business, and as Careers Counselor and Placement Officer. Besides, I worked as a Part-Time Lecturer in Economics, Marketing and Sta­tistics at the former Zam­bia Institute of Technol­ogy, and as a Guest Lecturer in Supervi­sion, Produc­tion Manage­ment and Manage­ment Devel­op­ment at Mindolo Ecumeni­cal Founda­tion in Kitwe.

Between 1986 and 1987, I had the rare opportunity of working with Dr. Edwin C. Bbenkele and Dr. Malapalale Libanda as a co-consultant for Mufulira Municipal Council on a research project designed to formulate a man­agement and market­ing strategy for enhancing the long-term viabi­lity of the Council’s commercial undertak­ings.

In 1988, I worked with Professor Andrew Kamya as a co-consultant for Boart International in Ndola on a research project designed to discern the feasibility of acquiring Ka­leya Engineer­ing Company in Mazabuka town, and as an in-house trainer on productivi­ty improve­ment for Mwashi Enterprises in Ndola. The following year, I worked with Dr. Juvenalis M. Tembo as a co-consultant for Foam Plastics in Kitwe on a re­search project designed to study the characteris­tics of the company’s existing and potential markets for foam mattre­ss­es.

In July 1990, I left Zambia on a Fulbright Scholarship under the aegis of the United States Information Agency (USIA) to pursue further studies in the American State of Colorado, where I briefly studied at Colorado School of Mines in Golden city for one academic year on a Ph.D. program in Mineral Economics and then transferred to the University of Denver, where I successfully completed the course work for a Ph.D. degree in Interna­tional Rela­tions—includ­ing the fields of Interna­tional Business, Internation­al Eco­nomics, and Inter­nation­al Technol­o­gy Analysis and Manage­ment—and comprehensive examinations in International Business and International Technology Analysis and Management. I, however, dropped out of the race to the dissertation phase of the program and conveniently opted for the Mas­ter of Arts (M.A.) degree in Interna­tional Rela­tions in 1998.

While residing temporarily in the USA, I have had the opportunity to lecture in the School for Professional Studies at Regis University in Denver as an Affiliate member of the MBA faculty, as well as write several books on such themes as small business management and entrepreneurship, general management, marketing management, business innovation and competitiveness, international business, economic development, and technological development.

Besides, I have had the opportunity to present papers on: “Environ­mental Impacts of Mining Operations in Zam­bia” at Colorado School of Mines in October 1990 as a contribu­tion to the Mineral Economics Graduate Seminar series; “Environ­mental Issues and Problems: The Zam­bian Con­text” at the Environmental Protection Age­ncy’s Rocky Moun­tain Region Conference Centre in Denver, in No­vember 1990; “Tech­nologi­cal Advance­ment in Deve­lop­ing Coun­tries: Con­straints and Possi­bili­ties” at the 15th Third World Studies Confer­ence held between 8th and 10th Octo­ber, 1992 at the University of Nebraska’s Peter Kie­wit Con­ference Centre, Univer­sity of Neb­raska at Omaha; and “Government Size and Functions: The Political Economy of Small and Popular Governments in Africa” at the 27th Global Strategic Studies Conference held in Omaha, Nebraska, October 14-16, 2004 at the W. H. Thompson Alumni Centre at the University of Nebraska.

Meanwhile, I have decided to intermit the pursuit of a higher academic degree so that I can devote myself to the search for viable ways and means of improving the socio-economic well-being of my fellow citizens. Specifically, I have found it necessary to join other Zambians who are serious about addressing the people’s demands and expectations for a smaller and more efficient government, free formal education without Grades 7 and 9 elimination examinations, no examination fees, merit-based scholarships for vocational training and university education, low-interest educational loans, free life-saving health care for all, greater and sustained food security, greater employment opportunities, lower Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and value-added tax, lower interest rates and corporate taxes, safer local communities, improved socio-economic conditions in rural areas, abolition of TV licensing and levies, lower water charges and electricity tariffs, speedy and nationwide rural electrification, greater participation by womenfolk in national affairs, greater care for children and the handicapped, sustained protection of the fragile natural environment, preservation of our time-honored cultural values and traditions, a genuine effort to address the scourge of corruption, and consolidation of our oneness and common future as members of the Zambian family.