Mathias Mainza Chona
Grand Officer of the Eagle of Zambia

Mathias Mainza Chona was born on 21 January 1930 in Nampeyo, a village east of Monze town in the Southern Province of Zambia. His father was Chief Chona Hameja Chilala V of the Tonga people from about 1927 to 1951, and was famously known for having killed seven lions in his lifetime.  Chona’s mother was Theresa Nasikaye Ngandu Chinyama.

Young Mainza grew up at Nampeyo village, also known as Kwa Chona where he participated in herding cattle while at the same time attending school at Chona Primary.  Chief Chona wished for his son to grow up and work at the Boma offices of the District Commissioner in Mazabuka, a town neighbouring Monze.  

Chona’s high performance as a young student awarded him a scholarship to Munali Secondary School in Lusaka after he scored the highest grades in the Southern Province. Munali was the first secondary school for black students in Zambia. After completing secondary education in 1951, he obtained a bursary to Makerere University in Uganda.  However, shortly before his departure, Chief Chona died from a wound after having been mauled by a lion. Chona cancelled his scholarship to take up responsibility as the oldest son, in looking after his widowed mother and siblings.  

Chona married Yolanta Mainza on 24 May 1953.  She was the daughter of village headman Jeke Chinzengwe and Bene Chiile both of Haanamonga village which was part of Nampeyo.  Chona and his wife had five daughters and two sons. 

While keeping a close eye on family at Nampeyo, Chona moved to Livingstone where he found a job at the local high court as an interpreter. He also took night classes to be a typist.  In 1955, Chona was lucky again to get a scholarship from the British colonial government to study law at Gray’s Inn in England. He was called to the bar in 1958 and became the first Zambian lawyer.

Although Chona had a keen interest in politics while studying law in England, he had been advised by Harry Nkumbula to keep away from politics as his scholarship was granted by the colonialists.  Chona heeded that advice but, he did become acquainted with freedom fighters and white sympathisers.  He returned to Northern Rhodesia in the hope of finding a job in one of the law firms but unfortunately, he was turned down because he was black.  With that backlash and hindrance, he felt obliged to actively join the bandwagon of freedom fighters.  From that point in 1958 he played an active role as a freedom fighter and spoke outrightly about the wrongs of colonialism and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. 

In 1959 Kenneth Kaunda had broken away from the African National Congress (ANC) led by Harry Nkumbula to form Zambian African National Congress (ZANC).  Chona was more sympathetic to ZANC.  Not too long after, ZANC was banned and some ZANC members were imprisoned. Chona and others in favour of ZANC formed the United National Independence Party (UNIP), and Chona became its President until the release of Kaunda.  UNIP is the party that paved the way to  Zambia’s independence.

Chona’s contribution to Zambia’s development is seen by the number of government positions he held. No one person has held more government positions than Mainza Chona in the history of Zambia. He served as Zambia’s third Vice President, and later as the first Prime Minister of Zambia under the 2^nd Republic twice and Secretary General of the Party twice.

He also served as Ambassador to the United States of America (1969-1970), the People’s Republic of China, (1984-1989) and France (1989-1992).

Chona was a tough political manager with a charismatic disposition. With his usual beaming smile, he occasionally captured the attention of his audience with his vivacious speeches often seasoned with a lot of humour. When he spoke, people listened, heard, and laughed!

Despite his significant role in Zambia’s politics and his household name, Chona remained simple and always referred to himself as ‘a humble villager.’  His extraordinary love for the ordinary person and the destitute was one of his greatest assets that he used to serve Zambia. He also advocated for continued unity and peace amongst Zambians and to that effect, he was proud.

After UNIP lost the elections to MMD (Movement for Multiparty Democracy) in 1992, Chona after serving as Ambassador to France, returned to Zambia to practice Law.  However, he still had one foot in politics and was committed to UNIP.  Some details of his career as a lawyer can be found on this website including a prominent case that he defended.

December 11, 2001, saw the untimely death of the Veteran politician and lawyer. Throughout his life Chona gave of himself selflessly and worked tirelessly for the people of Zambia. We believe that the life history of heroic personalities should not be put to rest; it should continue to teach, guide and inspire future generations. We hope that as we continue to expand this website, we will be able to bring out his character and share more about Chona’s role in Zambian politics and much more.