By Staff Reporter
ZAMBIA’s first and founding President, Kenneth David Kaunda known as KK, has died on Thursday June 17, 2021 at the age of 97 from an undisclosed short illness at Zambia’s military hospital.
He served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991.He liberated the former British colony, Northern Rhodesia from the British Rule.
He was a Pan-Africanist leader at the forefront “frontline states” of Southern Africa in the politics of independent black Africa from the minority white colonial rule, which languished in 1994 by the first elected democratic South African president Nelson Mandela who died in 2013.
In early sixties (60s) after his jail term 9 months imprisonment, He formed his new political party called United National Independence Party (UNIP) which gave him power to rule Zambia for a long-time, as a one-party state up-to 1991 when he was defeated on polls by Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) who was the second President of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba was born on April 30, 1943 and died on June 18, 2011.
The African Union (AU) has honoured the former Zambian president Dr. Kaunda with a special award on this year’s Africa Day, 25 May 2021 and recognised him for his role he played and immense contributions he made to the liberation of Africa and its people.
The Times of Zambia Newspaper has reported that the current President of Zambia Edgar Lungu, has declared 21 days of national mourning in honour of the first republican president.
Botswana and Malawi have also jointly declared seven days of national mourning.
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