Northern Rhodesian general election, 1962

General elections were held in Northern Rhodesia on 30 October 1962, with by-elections for several seats held on 10 December. Although the United Federal Party won the most seats and Northern Rhodesian African National Congress leader Harry Nkumbula had made a secret electoral pact with the UFP, he decided to form a government with the United National Independence Party.

Electoral system

The elections were carried out under the "15-15-15" system, with 15 seats elected by an upper roll, 15 seats by a lower roll and 15 seats by the national roll. The initial plan for the national roll seats was that candidates would have to receive at least 15% of the vote from both the upper and lower rolls to be elected.^[1] However, this was fiercely opposed by Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Roy Welensky, as the lower roll was likely to be entirely black, giving his UFP little chance of winning seats.^[2] The system was later changed to require candidates to receive at least 10% of the vote from each race,^[3] and at least 20% of the vote from either the upper or lower roll.^[4]

To qualify for the upper roll, voters had to have an income of at least £720 or own at least £1,500 of immovable property. This was reduced to £480/£1,000 for those with a full primary education and £300/£1,000 for those with at least four years of secondary education. Several people were automatically allowed to register as upper roll voters, including chiefs, hereditary councillors, members of native authorities and courts, municipal councils, township housing boards and area housing boards, ministers of religion, members of certain religions with at least two years of secondary education, pensioners, university graduates, holders of an award from the Queen, those with a letter of exemption under the African Exemption Ordinance dated prior to 1 July 1961, or be the wife of a qualified upper roll voter (in polygamous marriages, only the senior wife qualified).^[5] Lower roll voters had to have an income of at least £120 or own immovable property worth at least £250. Certain other people were automatically entitled to be a lower roll voter, including tribal councillors, members of native authorities and courts, municipal councils, township housing boards and area housing boards, headmen, pensioners, members of certain religious bodies, holders of an award from the Queen, or people registered as Individual, Peasant or Improved Farmers for two years prior to their application. The wife (or senior wife) of anyone qualifying to be a lower roll voter also qualified.^[5]

The upper roll had a total of 37,142 voters, of which 27,893 were European, 7,321 were African and 1,928 were Asian. The lower roll had 91,941 voters, of which 91,913 were African and 28 Asian.^[6]

In order to vote, voters had to dip their thumbs in red ink, which would remain for two days. In Lusaka two European voters refused to dip their thumbs, and were barred from voting. One, Colin Cunningham, a former leader of the Rhodesian Republican Party, claimed it would be "trespass against his person."^[7]

Campaign

UNIP leader Kenneth Kaunda spoke at over a hundred meetings during the campaign.^[8] In Sweden the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party started an appeal for £20,000 to contribute to UNIP's election campaign, calling federal UFP leader Roy Welensky "sabre-rattling" and a "leader of the white Fascists."^[8] The campaign raised only £3,700.^[8]

Conduct

On 26 October NRANC official Danwell Kuseka was killed when he was ambushed after an election meeting near Kitwe; three others were injured, one with a broken back. Kaunda called for UNIP members to co-operate with the police in finding the attackers.^[8] African candidates for the UFP were reported to have experienced a "living hell of intimidation."^[8] Polling day took place largely without incident and saw a high turnout.^[7] In the Congolese city of Elisabethville a group of 100 Northern Rhodesians attended the British Consul to vote. However, after they discovered that only 17 of them had registered, they stormed the building and stoned the consul, resulting in him being hospitalised. Congolese police arrested 15 of the group.^[7]

Results

On election day, 14 of the upper roll seats and all 15 lower roll seats were decided, but only five of the 15 national seats; the UFP won 15 seats, UNIP 14 and the NRANC five. By-elections were subsequently held on 10 December for the Livingstone upper roll seats, and for the ten remaining national seats, with the UFP winning in Livingstone, and the NRANC winning the only two national roll seats to have a winner, leaving the UFP with a final total of 16 seats and the NRANC with seven.

Party	Upper roll			Lower roll			National roll	Total seats	+/−
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
United National Independence Party	4,519	14.79	1	59,648	78.16	12	1	14	New
United Federal Party	21,558	70.54	13	180	0.24	0	2	15	+2
Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	1,025	3.35	0	16,268	21.32	3	4	7	+6
Liberal Party	1,401	4.58	0	83	0.11	0	0	0	–3
Rhodesia Republican Party	65	0.21	0	−	−	−	0	0	New
Barotseland National Party	−	−	−	134	0.18	0	0	0	New
Independents	1,992	6.52	0	−	−	−	0	0	−2
Vacant	–	–	1	–	–	–	8	9	–
Invalid/blank votes	598	−	−	3,488	−	−	−	−	−
Total	31,158	100	15	79,801	100	15	15	45	+25
Registered voters/turnout	34,527	90.24	−	92,255	86.50	−	−	−	−
Source: Mulford, pp189–190

By constituency

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Invalid/ blank	Total	Registered	Turnout
Upper roll
Broken Hill	John Roberts	United Federal Party	1,801		67	2,193	2,634	83.3
	I B Nkonde	United National Independence Party	290
	A Price	Liberal Party	35
Chingola	Samuel Magnus	United Federal Party	1,668		16	2,330	2,492	93.5
	C M Morris	Independent	646
Eastern Rural	Alfred Carlisle	United Federal Party	1,243		50	2,244	2,520	89.0
	H W Gardner	United National Independence Party	555
	E Randloph	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	201
	O C Carruthers	Liberal Party	195
Kitwe East	Jerry Steyn	United Federal Party	2,328		43	2,610	2,794	93.4
	G E Mushikwa	United National Independence Party	179
	J Percy	Liberal Party	60
Kitwe West	Hugh Stanley	United Federal Party	1,936		50	2,400	2,624	91.5
	U G Mwila	United National Independence Party	311
	K A Mills	Liberal Party	103
Livingstone	Election postponed due to death of candidate
Luanshya-Kansenji	Cecil Dennistoun Burney	United Federal Party	1,638		43	2,262	2,458	92.0
	T L Desai	United National Independence Party	390
	M W Wijnberg	Liberal Party	191
Lusaka East	Gabriel Musumbulwa	United Federal Party	1,806		15	2,460	2,713	90.7
	R Allard	Liberal Party	297
	S A Wateridge	Independent	236
	L Terry	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	79
	F J G Triegaardt	Rhodesia Republican Party	27
Lusaka West	Hugh Mitchley	United Federal Party	1,607		78	2,592	2,863	90.5
	E Kreft	Independent	633
	G S Mwanza	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	152
	S Hutt	Liberal Party	122
Mufulira	Pieter Wulff	United Federal Party	2,224		14	2,575	2,752	93.6
	A C Stevens	Independent	337
Ndola East	Thomas Lawler	United Federal Party	1,728		38	2,198	2,401	91.5
	T M D Ntine	United National Independence Party	221
	C D Smith	Liberal Party	211
Northern Rural	John Mwanakatwe	United National Independence Party	1,172		37	1,646	1,900	86.6
	V A Shona	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	297
	U J Moffat	Independent	140
Roan	Hendrick Liebenberg	United Federal Party	1,564		46	1,986	2,302	86.3
	M K Nayooto	United National Independence Party	309
	W Kirby	Liberal Party	67
Southern Rural	John Burnside	United Federal Party	588		61	1,516	1,726	87.8
	M M Nalumango	United National Independence Party	491
	G A Patel	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	296
	R Harvey	Liberal Party	42
	C F Kirstein	Rhodesia Republican Party	38
Western Rural	Norman Coates	United Federal Party	1,427		40	2,146	2,348	91.4
	J W Shaw	United National Independence Party	601
	R E Farmer	Liberal Party	78
Lower roll
Bangweulu	Kenneth Kaunda	United National Independence Party	4,347		126	4,702	5,134	91.6
	H Kasokola	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	229
Barotseland East	Arthur Wina	United National Independence Party	1,057		66	1,188	1,460	81.4
	F L Suu	Barotseland National Party	65
Barotseland West	Mubiana Nalilungwe	United National Independence Party	688		151	985	1,271	77.5
	G M Mukande	Barotseland National Party	69
	I M Singulwani	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	42
	B M Akombelwa	Liberal Party	35
Copperbelt Central	Alexander Zulu	United National Independence Party	14,371		56	16,474	19,460	84.7
	L B Lombe	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	1,947
	E M Daimon	United Federal Party	100
Copperbelt East	John Chisata	United National Independence Party	11,896		447	13,172	14,933	88.2
	S P Chanda	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	829
Copperbelt West	Sikota Wina	United National Independence Party	5,217		298	5,740	6,683	85.9
	N J Chindefu	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	225
Eastern	Wesley Nyirenda	United National Independence Party	1,655		305	2,783	3,120	89.2
	J S Soko	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	792
	N D Chabinga	Liberal Party	31
Lusaka Rural	Edward Liso	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	1,606		199	2,894	3,399	85.1
	S Kalulu	United National Independence Party	1,061
	M J Nkabika	United Federal Party	28
Midlands	Elijah Mudenda	United National Independence Party	7,819		827	11,926	14,569	81.9
	J E M Michello	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	3,280
Muchinga	Aaron Milner	United National Independence Party	2,742		109	2,934	3,211	91.4
	C Sinyangwe	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	55
	G M Kabichi	United Federal Party	28
Northern	Simon Kapwepwe	United National Independence Party	3,840		124	4,075	4,534	89.9
	Dauti Yamba	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	87
	D B Lisubu	United Federal Party	24
North-Western	Samuel Mblishi	United National Independence Party	1,419		83	1,783	1,953	91.3
	C S Chizawu	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	264
	Y Chikombe	Liberal Party	17
South-Eastern	Reuben Kamanga	United National Independence Party	1,468		320	2,476	2,872	86.2
	H A Thornicroft	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	688
Southern	Chiwala Banda	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	2,300		184	3,936	4,444	88.6
	H G Habanyama	United National Independence Party	1,452
South-Western	Harry Nkumbula	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	3,924		193	4,733	5,212	90.8
	C S Mukando	United National Independence Party	616
Source: Mulford, pp189–190

National seats
Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes								Notes
			European		African		Upper roll		Lower roll
			Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Chambeshi (African)	Mwendapole	United National Independence Party	69	1.6	11,286	93.6	774	15.0	10,581	93.8
	Chubuye	United Federal Party	4,082	93.3	69	0.6	4,094	79.6	57	0.5
	Ndilila	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	49	1.1	645	5.3	97	1.9	597	5.3
	Chitimukulu	Liberal Party	173	4.0	58	0.5	180	3.5	51	0.5
Chambeshi (European)	Stewart Gore-Browne	United National Independence Party	55	1.3	11,264	93.4	756	14.7	10,563	93.6
	Mitchell	United Federal Party	4,152	94.9	669	5.5	4,207	81.8	614	5.4
	Moffat	Liberal Party	166	3.8	125	1.0	182	3.5	109	1.0
Kabompo (2 seats)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Kafubu (African)	Mwiinga	United National Independence Party	65	1.2	12,081	92.9	767	12.7	11,379	93.1
	Kapota	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	4,762	90.7	808	6.2	4,828	80.0	742	6.1
	Kafubuliti	Liberal Party	422	8.0	111	0.9	438	7.3	95	0.8
Kafubu (European)	Temple	United National Independence Party	65	1.2	12,030	93.2	688	11.6	11,407	93.4
	Malcolmson	United Federal Party	4,853	92.5	769	6.0	4,910	82.6	712	5.8
	Escourt	Liberal Party	329	6.3	111	0.9	343	5.8	97	0.8
Lower Kafue (African)	Puta	United National Independence Party	93	2.7	6,769	71.8	683	16.0	6,179	71.4
	Francis Chembe	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	3,252	93.3	2,570	27.2	3,442	80.6	2,380	27.5	Elected
	Kalima	Liberal Party	142	4.1	94	1.0	146	3.4	90	1.0
Lower Kafue (European)	Tidder	United National Independence Party	75	2.2	6,699	71.0	667	15.6	6,107	70.6
	Duff	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	19	0.5	213	2.3	40	0.9	192	2.2
	Jack Eaton	United Federal Party	3,166	90.8	2,304	24.4	3,314	77.6	2,156	24.9	Elected
	Percy	Liberal Party	159	4.6	108	1.1	172	4.0	95	1.1
	Butler	Rhodesia Republican Party	68	2.0	109	1.2	78	1.8	99	1.1
Luangwa (African)	Mumpanshya	United National Independence Party	148	4.2	5,418	63.8	767	17.6	4,799	62.5
	Philemon Zindana	United Federal Party	2,769	78.2	1,645	19.4	2,860	65.6	1,554	20.3	Elected
	Alfred Gondwe	Liberal Party	624	17.6	1,429	16.8	732	16.8	1,321	17.2
Luangwa (European)	Skinner	United National Independence Party	126	3.6	5,285	62.2	717	16.4	4,694	61.2
	Charles Cousins	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	2,711	76.6	2,929	34.5	2,903	66.6	2,737	35.7	Elected
	John Moffat	Liberal Party	525	14.8	209	2.5	553	12.7	181	2.4
	Dahl	Rhodesia Republican Party	179	5.1	69	0.8	186	4.3	62	0.8
Luapula (2 seats)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Zambezi (2 seats)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Special National Constituency	Kashibhai Patel	Independent (UNIP)	1,071	62.3							Elected
	J D Naik	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	519	30.2
	I M Bagas	Independent	129	7.5
Source: Mulford

By-elections

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Notes
Upper roll
Livingstone	James MacMillan	United Federal Party	1,584		Elected
		United National Independence Party	417
		Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	176
National seats
Chambeshi (African)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Chambeshi (European)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Kabompo (2 seats)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Kafubu (African)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Kafubu (European)	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Luapula	Francis Stubbs	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress			Elected
	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Zambezi	Job Mayanda	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress			Elected
	No candidate achieved the vote share required
Source: East Africa and Rhodesia[9]

Aftermath

With almost all candidates losing their deposits, the three Liberal Party ministers (John Moffat, Harry Franklin and Alfred Gondwe) resigned immediately after the elections.^[7] In mid-November the party announced that it was disbanding, with members advised to join or support UNIP instead.^[10]

Nkumbula held talks with both Kaunda and Roberts about the formation of a coalition government, saying he would consider a coalition with UNIP "if Kaunda and his henchmen made a statement unreservedly condemning Communism and the use of violence and intimidation.", and a coalition with the UFP if "thy stated that they wanted to see the end of political federation and its replacement with only an economic association".^[7] Kaunda subseuqently released a statement stating "I believe that both Mr. Nkumbula and myself should forget the bitterness of the past and do what we can to establish majority rule in this country.^[7] On 14 December Governor Evelyn Hone announced the formation of a coalition government by UNIP and the NRARNC.

Minister	Party	Position
Kenneth Kaunda	United National Independence Party	Minister of Local Government and Social Welfare
Simon Kapwepwe	United National Independence Party	Minister of African Agriculture
Harry Nkumbula	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	Minister of African Education
Trevor Gardner	Ex officio	Minister of Finance
Reuben Kamanga	United National Independence Party	Minister of Labour and Mines
Charles Cousins	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	Minister of Land and Natural Resources
Brian Andre Doyle	Ex officio	Minister for Legal Affairs and Attorney General
F M Thomas	Ex officio	Minister of Native Affairs
Francis Stubbs	Northern Rhodesian African National Congress	Minister of Transport and Works
Richard Luyt	Ex officio	Chief Secretary
Source: East Africa and Rhodesia[9]

References

1. David C. Mulford (1964) The Northern Rhodesian General Election 1962, Oxford University Press, p22−23
2. Andrew Sardanis (2011) Africa: Another Side of the Coin: Northern Rhodesia's Final Years and Zambia's Nationhood, I.B.Tauris, pp89−91
3. Mulford, p29
4. Mulford, p28
5. Mulford pp50−51
6. Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1790
7. "Northern Rhodesia's First Slide-Rule General Election", East Africa and Rhodesia, 8 November 1962, pp217–218
8. "High Poll, No Violence", East Africa and Rhodesia, 1 November 1962, p202
9. "U.N.I.P.–A.N.C. Coalition Government for Northern Rhodesia", East Africa and Rhodesia, 20 December 1962, p345
10. "Legislative Council Boycott Threat", East Africa and Rhodesia, 15 November 1962, p243