their friendship from childhood, Kapwepwe and Kaunda drifted apart after leading Zambia to independence. In 1967 Kapwepwe led a rebellion within UNIP. He stood against Reuben Kamanga and won the position of deputy leader of UNIP. As a consequence, Kaunda promoted him to the position of Vice President. He used his new position to put forward economic policies that differed from Kaunda's, but his views were sidelined. He also campaigned for the preservation of Zambian culture through the teaching of indigenous languages in schools. He was Minister of Finance from 1968 to 1969. In August 1969, he offered to resign from the Vice Presidency as well as the deputy leadership of UNIP. This move was precipitated by tribal friction within UNIP. Kaunda did not want to lose him and managed to dissuade him from taking that move. However, in October 1970 Kaunda replaced Kapwepwe with Mainza Chona for the post of Vice President. Kapwepwe was allowed to keep the posts of Minister of Culture and Minister of Local Government. "The Evolution of One-Party Rule" Kapwepwe's life in UNIP began drawing to an end when he was linked with rumours of a new party called the United Progressive Party (UPP) that had been formed on the Copperbelt. He did not own up until Kaunda dismissed four cabinet ministers on suspicion of being clandestine members of the new party. In August 1971, Kapwepwe resigned from UNIP and the government and announced that he was, indeed, the leader of UPP. In December 1971 he won a by-election for the Mufulira West constituency, and became his party's sole representative in parliament. Kaunda was not pleased with this development. So, on 4 February 1972, he banned UPP and imprisoned 122 members of the party, including Kapwepwe. Kaunda's excuse was that UPP was an instrument of the Rhodesian, South African and Portuguese governments, which favoured White minority rule. Kapwepwe was kept in prison until 31 December 1972. By then, Kaunda backed by strong political ties with China (The Chinese were critical of European colonial rule of African territories, therefore, sided with a number of African freedom fighters like Kaunda during the liberation struggles for independence. see Taylor, 2006 for an analysis of Sino-African relationship) had neutralized any threat that Kapwepwe could pose: the Chona Commission, under the chairmanship of Mainza Chona, was appointed in February 1972 to make recommendations for the constitution of a ‘one-party participatory