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Mr Elijah Mudenda, the Scientist, Freedom Fighter and Politician Who Helped Steer Zambia Towards Independence Walima T. Kalusa T

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Mr Elijah Mudenda, the Scientist, Freedom Fighter and Politician Who Helped Steer Zambia Towards Independence Walima T. Kalusa T Mr Elijah Mudenda, the scientist, freedom fighter and politician who helped steer Zambia towards independence Walima T. Kalusa The bulletin & record, Volume III, Issue 07, August 2013 To most Zambians, the late Elijah Kaiba Mudenda was a devoted nationalist who, in spite of his impressive education and the high offices he held, enlisted in the liberation movement out of which Zambia was born in 1964. But Mt Mudenda was more than a freedom fighter. He was also a highly qualified scientist who dedicated his early life to carrying out research on maize to make the country's staple crop more resistant to diseases and thus increase its yield. And after Zambia's independence in 1964, he as a minister of several ministries, further played a leading role in crafting policies that profoundly shaped the Zambian economic and political landscape. Mr Mutenda was born on June 6, 1927 to Chief Macha in the Choma district of then Northern Rhodesia. Like most boys in the district, he attended Macha Mission School before moving on to Sikalonga Mission, where he completed his primary education. He afterwards studied at Munali Training Centre, from which he obtained his Cambridge school certificate in 1948. By all accounts, it was while at Munali that the young student developed an interest in science. A diligent young man, our protagonist won a government bursary in 1950 to pursue further studies at Makerere, Mr Mudenda moved to Fort Hare College in South Africa. There, he obtained a diploma in agriculture and a BSc degree, passing with distinction in both botany and chemistry. On his return, he took up employment as a research assistant at Mount Makulu College, where he participated in research designed to increase yields of locally-grown crops, notably maize. In 1952, his quest for education undiminished, he secured another government sponsorship to undertake studies at Peterhouse College at Cambridge University. Mr Mudenda graduated with an outstanding honours degree. He then spent an extra year at Cambridge to specialise in plant breeding. Back home, the scientist rose to the rank of assistant professional officer, the first black African to attain that position in the colony's civil service, which was still dominated by Europeans. Mr Mudenda's rise to this position at Mount Makulu reflected his dedication to scientific research. This won him the admiration of his workmates, both black and white. He also became known for his sophisticated tastes. Always smartly dressed and groomed, he lived in an impressive flat with a library stocked with books on subjects ranging from literature to history, agriculture, politics and philosophy. He read widely. His dream, however, was to become a farmer and thus contribute no less to feeding the country's expanding population than to upholding his family tradition of farming. But his dream to be a farmer never came to fruition. For, at the height of the nationalist struggle in the early 1960s, he joined the United National Independence Party (UNIP), a freedom movement then spearheading the contest for political freedom from British rule and white settler political supremacy. In enlisting in UNIP, Mr Mudenda not only sacrificed his bright career in the colonial public service, but he also broke the myth that the nationalist movement was the domain of old , poorly educated men and women, not professionals. Well-educated and broad-minded, he evidently brought to the nationalist struggle a scientific approach to resolving problems, a trait that served him well as a political actor during the liberation struggle and after independence. At Zambia's independence in 1964, President Kenneth Kaunda appointed Mr Mudenda as the first black African minister of agriculture. His main goal in the job was to devise policies that would make the newly-independent country food-secure. But barely, two years after his appointment, President Kaunda transferred him to Minister of Finance. Three years later, in 1969, the president again moved him, this time to become Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 1975-1977, Mr Mudenda served as prime minister, and in that capacity he oversaw all ministries responsible for diversification of the economy to try and reduce Zambia's dependence on copper..
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