thumb|Demonstrations by the United National Independence Party (UNIP) during the visit of [[Iain Macleod (1960)]]
The United National Independence Party (UNIP) is a political party in Zambia. It governed the country from 1964 to 1991 under the socialist presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, and was the sole legal party in the country between 1973 and 1990. On 4 April 2021, Bishop Trevor Mwamba was elected President of UNIP.
History
UNIP was founded in October 1959 by Mainza Chona as a successor of the Zambian African National Congress (ZANC), banned earlier that year. UNIP was initially led Chona as the ZANC leader, Kaunda, had been imprisoned. Kaunda later assumed power as leader of UNIP after he was released from prison in 1960.
In the general elections, UNIP won 14 seats, in second position, the first being taken by United Federal Party (UFP). Although Northern Rhodesian African National Congress leader Harry Nkumbula had made a secret electoral pact with the UFP, he later opted to form a government with UNIP. After a convincing victory in the Northern Rhodesian general elections in 1964, when UNIP won 55 of the 75 seats, Kaunda became Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia, leading the country to independence on 24 October 1964, when he became president.
In the 1968 general elections, Kaunda was re-elected president with 82% of the vote, and UNIP won 81 of the 105 elected seats in the National Assembly.
In 1973, the country became a one-party state with UNIP as the sole legal party, with an amended constitution being promulgated on 25 August 1973. The general election that year described as the final steps in achieving what was called a "one-party participatory democracy". National policy was formulated by the Central Committee of UNIP. According to the constitution, UNIP's president was selected at the party's general conference, and the second-ranking person in the Zambian hierarchy was UNIP's secretary general. The constitution also stipulated that UNIP's president was the sole candidate for president of the republic; he was confirmed in office every five years via a yes/no referendum. Voters chose between multiple UNIP candidates for the 125 parliamentary seats, with three candidates running in each constituency. Kaunda was confirmed as president with 89% of the vote.