‘KENNETH KAUNDA WAS CRUCIAL IN RESHAPING THE COMMONWEALTH’

Tributes were paid to the late Zambian president at his funeral service on Friday.

In this file photo taken on August 17, 2010 Former and first Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda delivers a speech during the closing ceremony of the 30th Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Windhoek, Namibia. Picture: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

Nthakoana Ngatane 

JOHANNESBURG - Commonwealth secretary general Patricia Scotland said the late former Zambia President Kenneth Kaunda left her in awe when he didn’t sever ties with people he disagreed with bitterly.

Scotland was speaking at the funeral of the last remaining founder of African liberation who passed away in June.

It is being attended by heads of state, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Namibia President Hage Geingob.

Scotland said KK, as the late statesman was commonly known, was a humanist who was outspoken against all minority governments on the continent and made Zambia a home to leaders of liberation struggles

She said KK was crucial in reshaping the Commonwealth.

“We are in awe of his magnanimity, that quality that made him ever so ready to commune, especially with those with whom he disagreed, and at times bitterly, for the sake of the greater good. We are now reminded of his patience.