Nkandu Phoebe Luo was born on 21 December 1951 and is a Zambian microbiologist and politician who was a vice presidential candidate for the Patriotic Front in the August 2021 election.
16 Facts About Nkandu Luo
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Nkandu Luo's parents were both teachers and Luo was one of the eight surviving children.
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Nkandu Luo attended Roma Girls Secondary School and Dominican Convent.
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Nkandu Luo has a MSc in microbiology from Moscow State University and a MSc and PhD in immunology from the University of Brunei Darussalam.
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Nkandu Luo became a professor in microbiology and immunology at the University of Zambia in 1993 and worked as Head of Pathology and Microbiology at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
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Nkandu Luo was elected to parliament representing the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in the Mandevu constituency in 1996.
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Nkandu Luo served as Deputy Minister of Health from 1997 to 1999 and Health Minister in 1999, however she clashed with both donors and health workers and was moved from the post in November 1999 and replaced by David Mpamba.
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Nkandu Luo was Minister of Transport and Communications from 1999 to 2001 before losing her seat in the 2001 election.
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Nkandu Luo was elected as the Patriotic Front representative for Munali constituency in the September 2011 election.
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Nkandu Luo was appointed as Minister of Local Government and Housing by Michael Sata, serving from October 2011 to July 2012, and then became Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs from July 2012 to February 2015.
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Nkandu Luo was sworn in as Minister of Gender by Edgar Lungu in February 2015.
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In March 2016, Nkandu Luo was adopted as President of the Women Parliamentary caucus at the 134th Inter Parliamentary Union conference in Lusaka.
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Nkandu Luo retained her Munali constituency seat at the August 2016 election and the following month, she became Zambia's Higher Education Minister.
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Nkandu Luo was appointed as the Minister of Fisheries and Livestock in 2019.
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Nkandu Luo was the running mate for President Lungu in the August 2021 election after Vice President Inonge Wina announced her decision to retire.
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Nkandu Luo spends her free time with her close family and delivers lectures to students on various platforms on various subjects.