Countrywide Tour, Private Burial for Former President Kenneth Kaunda

22 JUN, 2021 - 00:06  

Zambian President Edgar Lungu (right) consoles Kenneth Kaunda’s son, Panji, at the family’s home in Lusaka’s State Lodge area on Friday

LUSAKA. –  Zambia’s founding president Kenneth Kaunda will be buried on July 7, three weeks after he died aged 97, the presidency announced yesterday

The hero of the struggle against white rule in southern Africa “shall be put to rest… at a very private ceremony for family and selected invited mourners,” Vice President Inonge Wina said on state television.

He will be buried at the country’s presidential burial site situated opposite the cabinet office in Lusaka, following a state memorial to be held at the city’s 60,000-seat National Heroes Stadium on July 2. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign leaders may be accompanied by just one official, she said.

Ahead of the funeral, Kaunda’s remains will be transported to the country’s 10 provinces starting Wednesday for people to pay their last respects to Zambia’s founding president, who ruled from 1964 until 1991 when he lost power to labour leader Fredrick Chiluba.

Wina said Kaunda’s body will be in a closed casket. Kaunda died Thursday at a military hospital where he had been admitted days earlier with pneumonia.

Photos and famous quotes of Kaunda were on the front pages of all major newspapers in the country yesterday.

The papers also carried glowing tributes in memory of Kaunda. He was hailed as a hero, statesman and independence icon.

“We have lost a man that brought a lot of unity, he brought a lot of love and harmony amongst us Zambians when he brought the motto of ‘One Zambia one nation’ and he also saw to it that even our neighbouring nations that had problems had their countries liberated from colonial rule as well as apartheid-like South Africa,” said Friday Mwakatobe, a resident of Lusaka.

Kaunda was being treated for pneumonia at a military hospital in Lusaka when he passed away on Thursday afternoon aged 97. He ruled for 27 years after Zambia country gained independence from Britain in 1964.

While in power, Kaunda hosted many movements fighting for independence or black equality in other countries in the region.

He was also instrumental in assisting other Southern African countries gain independence from minority rule.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has described Kaunda as one of the architects of the country’s democracy. When the African National Congress was banned by the apartheid government, Kaunda allowed the party to have its headquarters in the Zambian capital Lusaka.

Mbeki says ‘KK’, as he was affectionately known, was dedicated to the country’s liberation that he would even engage the apartheid leaders in hopes of reaching an amicable solution. 

– Agencies