Austin Chisangu Liato (born 23 August 1965)Austin Liato
National Assembly of Zambia is a

Zambian Demographic features of the population of Zambia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others aspects of the population. Zambia's youthful population cons ...

politician. He served as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

for Kaoma Central between 2002 and 2011 and as Minister of Labour and Social Security from 2008 until 2011.

Biography

Prior to entering politics, Liato was an accountant. He was also involved in trade unions and served as president of the Zambia Electricity and Allied Workers Union and Vice-President of the

Zambia Congress of Trade Unions Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) is the dominant central trade union federation in Zambia. ZCTU was founded in 1964. The ZCTU was created by the government to replace the former United Trade Union Congress. It has 33 affiliated unions. Its ...

. He was the

United Party for National Development The United Party for National Development (UPND) is a 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 ...

(UPND) candidate in Kaoma Central in the 2001 general elections and was elected to the National Assembly with a 1,169-vote majority. During his first term in parliament he was a member of the

Pan-African Parliament The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...

. In 2003 he defected to the

Movement for Multi-Party Democracy The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) also known as New Hope MMD is a political party in Zambia. Originally formed to oust the previous government, MMD controlled an absolute majority in parliament between 1991 and 2001, when its past lead ...

(MMD) and was re-elected in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. In January 2005 he was appointed Minister for Copperbelt Province, but the appointment was cancelled by President

Levy Mwanawasa Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia. He served as president from January 2002 until his death in August 2008. Mwanawasa is credited with having initiated a campaign to rid the corrupti ...

after it became known that Liato had a court matter ongoing. He was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister of Energy in May 2005, before being appointed Minister for Lusaka Province later in the year. Prior to the 2006 general elections Liato defected to the

. He was re-elected with an increased majority of 1,700. Following the elections, Liato was appointed Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security. He was promoted to become Minister of Labour and Social Security in 2008. Liato was defeated by UPND candidate Carlos Antonio in the 2011 general elections. He left the MMD in 2012 and returned to the UPND.UPND Welcomes Liato after Resignation from MMD
Zambia Reports, 22 August 2012 In 2011 Liato was convicted of possession of money reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of crime. Although the ruling was initially overturned by Lusaka High Court, the State took the case to the Supreme Court, and in 2015 he was jailed with hard labour for 24 months and was also ordered to forfeit his farm and K2.1m that had been found buried on his land. However, he was released from prison in August on compassionate grounds after spending a month in hospital. Liato contested Kaoma Central in the 2016 general elections as the Patriotic Front candidate, but was defeated by Morgan Sitwala of the UPND.Candidate results for Kaoma Central
Electoral Commission of Zambia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liato, Austin 1965 births Living people Zambian accountants Zambian trade unionists Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Zambia Members of the National Assembly of Zambia United Party for National Development politicians Movement for Multi-Party Democracy politicians Patriotic Front (Zambia) politicians Provincial ministers of Zambia Labour and social security ministers of Zambia Zambian politicians convicted of crimes