Benjamin Yoram Mwila (September 17, 1943 – August 17, 2013), often known as BY, was a

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

n politician and businessman. Mwila was a prominent leader and co-founder of the Zambia Republican Party. He served as an MP for

Luanshya Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579 (2008 census). The town is situated in an area which was under Chief Mushili of the Lamba people. Luanshya was founded in the early part of the 20 ...

in 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 ...

. Mwila held several cabinet portfolios within the cabinet of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Frederick Chiluba Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as th ...

during the 1990s, including

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 1991 to 1997.

Life and career

Mwila was born in

Kawambwa Kawambwa is a town in the Zambian province of Luapula located on the edge of the northern Zambian plateau above the Luapula valley at an altitude of 1300 m. It was chosen as an administrative district of the same name by the British colonial au ...

, Zambia, on September 17, 1943. He attended

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

in Kawambwa and Chiwala Secondary School in

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia in terms of size and population, with a population of 627,503 (''2022 census''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development after Lusaka. It is the I ...

. He then transferred to

Munali Secondary School Munali Secondary School is a state-funded secondary school located on the Great East Road in Lusaka, Zambia. Munali was the first secondary school for black students in Zambia's history. Some of its alumni are notable Zambian politicians and publi ...

. Mwila was originally a member of the Movement for

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), whose other members included Frederick Chiluba. Chiluba was elected President of Zambia in 1991. Mwila was also elected to the

as an MP from the

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in the 1991 general election. President Chiluba appointed Benjamin Mwila as a member of his cabinet. He served as Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1997, and he also served for a time as Minister of Energy and Water Development. Mwila left the MMD in 2000 after being criticized by fellow party members for considering a presidential candidacy. He founded the Zambia Republican Party. Mwila ran for President of Zambia in the 2001 presidential election as leader of the Zambia Republican Party.

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 ...

of the MMD won the 2001 election, while Mwila garnered approximately 4.84% of the vote. In 2006, Mwila's Zambia Republican Party merged with several other political parties to form the

National Democratic Focus The National Democratic Focus (NDF) was a political alliance in Zambia. History The alliance was formed in 2006 as the National Democratic Front, and was initially planned to consist of the Party for Unity, Democracy and Development (PUDD), the ...

(NDF). That same year, Mwila was elected to the National Assembly from the

Nchelenge Nchelenge is a town in the Luapula Province of northern Zambia, lying on the south eastern shore of Lake Mweru. It is contiguous with Kashikishi, and they are sometimes referred to as Nchelenge-Kashikishi. Nchelenge is the administrative centre f ...

constituency under the NDF ticket. In 2011, Mwila left the NDF and rejoined the MMD. He ran for his re-election to his parliamentary seat from Nchelenge, but was defeated in the 2011 general election. Mwila died at a hospital in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on August 17, 2013, at the age of 70. He had been hospitalized for treatment of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

for two weeks. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka with the burial at the city's Memorial Park Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwila, Benjamin 1943 births 2013 deaths Defence ministers of Zambia Energy ministers of Zambia Members of the National Assembly of Zambia Movement for Multi-Party Democracy politicians National Democratic Focus politicians Alumni of Munali Secondary School People from Kawambwa District