Unity Stories — One Zambia, One Nation

Featured Heritage

The Story Behind “One Zambia, One Nation”

At midnight on 24 October 1964, Kenneth Kaunda proclaimed “One Zambia, One Nation” as Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia. The motto was a deliberate response to the reality of a new country comprising over 73 ethnic groups and 72 languages — a direct counter to the ethnic nationalism that had fractured other post-colonial African states. Kaunda, himself of Malawian-born Tumbuka heritage, embodied the principle that national identity must transcend tribal origin. More than six decades later, the motto remains inscribed on government buildings, sung in schools, and invoked at moments of national crisis as both a promise and a call to responsibility.

Read the full history →

Culture

72 Languages, One Conversation

Zambia is home to over 72 distinct Bantu languages. Seven — Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Kaonde, Luvale, and Lunda — hold regional official status alongside English for education and administration. Nyanja functions as the dominant urban lingua franca in Lusaka, while Bemba performs the same role across the Copperbelt and Northern Province. Rather than dividing the country, this multilingualism is a lived norm: most Zambians grow up speaking their home language, a regional language, and English, making Zambia one of the most fluently multilingual societies in Africa.

Explore languages by province →

History

Independence Day: 24 October 1964

At the stroke of midnight on 24 October 1964, the Union Jack was lowered at Lusaka’s Independence Stadium and the new Zambian flag — green with red, black, and orange stripes and an eagle — rose in its place. Prince Charles, then 16 years old, attended on behalf of the British Crown as Kenneth Kaunda was sworn in as the Republic’s first president. The independence ceremony followed years of organised resistance: UNIP’s “Cha Cha Cha” civil disobedience campaign of 1961, sustained international pressure, and the dissolution of the Central African Federation on 31 December 1963 had all paved the way.

Read the independence story →

Provinces

The Smoke That Thunders: Victoria Falls

The Tonga people have lived alongside Mosi-oa-Tunya — “the smoke that thunders” — for centuries before David Livingstone arrived in November 1855 and renamed the falls after Queen Victoria. At 1,708 metres wide and 108 metres tall, Victoria Falls is the largest curtain of falling water on earth and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 1989). The 1958 construction of the Kariba Dam displaced approximately 57,000 Tonga people from the Gwembe Valley; their resettlement remains one of the largest forced displacements in African colonial history.

Read about Southern Province →

People

Women Who Shaped Zambia

Julia Chikamoneka (1918–1986) was among the most prominent women in the independence movement, organising protests against pass laws and colonial restrictions. Inonge Wina became Zambia’s first female Vice President when she was appointed by President Lungu in January 2015, serving until 2021. Mutale Nalumango succeeded her as Vice President in August 2021 following President Hichilema’s election. Women have also led Zambia’s judiciary: the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court have had female justices since the 1990s.

Copper and Identity: The Copperbelt Story

Large-scale copper mining began on the Copperbelt in the late 1920s following the discovery of major deposits at Nchanga (Chingola), Mufulira, and Roan Antelope (Luanshya). By 1969 Zambia was one of the world’s largest copper producers, and the metal accounted for over 90% of export earnings. President Kaunda nationalised the mines in 1969–1970, forming Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) in 1982. The Copperbelt also produced the independence movement’s organised backbone: mine workers’ strikes in 1935 and 1940 were among the earliest collective acts of resistance against colonial rule.

Explore the Copperbelt’s history →

Culture

The Kuomboka Ceremony

Kuomboka means “to get out of the water” in Silozi. Held each year at the end of the rainy season — usually March or April — the ceremony marks the Litunga’s journey by royal barge (Nalikwanda) from the flooded Lealui palace on the Barotse floodplain to the higher ground at Limulunga. The Nalikwanda is a large black-and-white striped barge topped by an elephant figure. Hundreds of paddlers in traditional dress propel the barge as royal drums (maoma) beat and thousands line the banks. The ceremony dates back several centuries and is one of the oldest and most elaborate royal traditions in southern Africa.

Read about Western Province →

History

The Road to Independence: UNIP and the Cha Cha Cha

The United National Independence Party (UNIP) was formed in 1959 when Kenneth Kaunda and others broke away from Harry Nkumbula’s African National Congress of Northern Rhodesia. In 1961 UNIP launched “Cha Cha Cha,” a campaign of civil disobedience — road blockades, arson of government buildings, and mass non-cooperation — that paralysed administration across the Northern Province. Kaunda himself had been imprisoned in 1959. Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe, UNIP’s vice president, was equally central to the mobilisation. The sustained pressure of the independence movement, combined with international opinion, forced Britain to agree to a new constitution and elections in January 1964.

Full independence history →

Provinces

Luapula: Wetlands, Kingdoms, and Livingstone’s End

The Bangweulu Wetlands — partly in Luapula, partly in Northern Province — form one of Africa’s most significant freshwater ecosystems and the only habitat of the Black Lechwe antelope, endemic to Zambia. The historic Kazembe Kingdom, once a major power in the ivory and copper trade between East Africa and the Atlantic, was centred near the Luapula River. David Livingstone died at Chief Chitambo’s village (present-day Chitambo, Luapula) on 1 May 1873; his heart was buried there by his companions before his body was carried to the coast. A memorial marks the site today.

Read about Luapula Province →