By Annisa Essop
17:06:2021

Kenneth Kaunda, the founding President of Zambia, has died at the age of 97, just days after he was admitted to Maina Soko Military hospital in the capital, Lusaka. The liberation hero, fondly called KK, was being treated for pneumonia.

His eldest son announced on the late President’s Facebook page today.
“I am sad to inform (members) we have lost Mzee [the old man]. Let’s pray for him.”

As the first country leader in the region to gain independence from its European colonisers, Kaunda worked tirelessly in pushing other former colonies towards majority rule, including South Africa.

Kaunda also allowed the African National Congress, outlawed in South Africa, to base its headquarters in Lusaka while the organization waged an often violent struggle within South Africa against apartheid.

He began his political career with the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress (NRANC) in the Northern Province of Zambia as the organising secretary.

In 1958, he left the NRANC and formed the Zambian African National Congress (ZANC), which the colonial authorities banned a year later. Kaunda was imprisoned in Lusaka for nine months.

ZANC became the United Party for National Development (UNIP) in 1959.

The liberation hero ruled from 1964, after the southern African nation won its independence from Britain, until 1991.

In 1991, he was forced to hold the first multiparty elections for 23 years, which he lost to long-time foe, trade unionist Frederick Chiluba.
President Edgar Lungu said in a message on his Facebook page said, “On behalf of the entire nation and my behalf, I pray that the entire Kaunda family is comforted as we mourn our first president and true African icon.”

Authorities declared 21 days of mourning for the liberation hero.