The Chona Commission: locating democracy in Zambia’s transition to a single-party state, 1972–1973

Eight years after achieving independence, Zambia struggled with issues of national disunity, partisan tensions, economic decline and existential threats from hostile neighbours. In February 1972, President Kenneth Kaunda announced that Zambia would abrogate its original national constitution in favour of forming a single-party system under a new constitution. Kaunda appointed Vice President Mainza Chona to chair a national commission that would gather evidence from the people and report on how they wanted their new governance system to function. The Chona Commission, as it became known, was precedent-setting in its thoroughness and comprehensiveness. Drawing on primary interviews with the last living commissioners, news media articles and government documents, this study explores the procedures of the Chona Commission and identifies how it reflected democratic practice in the process of installing an undemocratic system.