Chronicle EditorMubanga Lumpa
FORMER President Kenneth Kaunda, affectionately known as “KK” among many people in Zambia, died on Thursday, June 17 2021 at Maina Soko Military Hospital in Lusaka. He was 97.
Dr Kaunda was born in 1924 at Lubwa, a Christian mission station in Chinsali District in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). His parents were both Christian missionary teachers. His upbringing by his parents would undoubtedly give the young Kenneth Kaunda a characteristic leadership influence and role in Zambia’s future political trajectory.
During the struggle for Zambia’s independence, Dr Kaunda did not only play a leading role in establishing the United National Independence Party (UNIP), a nationalist party which campaigned against British colonial rule, but also epitomised the liberation struggle in Southern Africa and the continent at large. As a leader of a newly independent nation, Kaunda was inspired by the philosophy of Humanism, his strongly held conviction that humankind needed to be at the centre of all progress. He viewed colonialism as exploitation of his own people and spoke against it.
Dr Kaunda ruled Zambia as its founding President from October 1964, after the country won independence from Britain, until 1991 when he lost power in an election. As a leader, he detested tribalism in his country and contributed tirelessly to uniting a young nation endowed with over 70 different ethnic groups. His cherished slogan of “One Zambia One Nation” exemplified his values for unity and peace for his country. The motto of “One Zambia One Nation” also exerted a strong influence over many Zambian hearts and minds, and remains one of his enduring legacies.
Dr Kaunda was also widely respected as an international statesman and democrat who peacefully handed over power after having lost the 1991 general elections in Zambia and gracefully congratulated his successor.
Dr Kaunda believed that one could not live in peace in his house, while your friend’s house was burning in flames. As President of Zambia and one of the leaders of the Frontline States, Kaunda supported the cause for the liberation struggle of other countries in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Kaunda had offered his unwavering support and solidarity for the brothers and sisters in the region who were fighting against repressive and racist regimes.
Dr Kaunda believed in the spirit of Ubuntu, a deep recognition that we are all bound in the oneness of the human spirit. As such, President Kaunda welcomed many comrades in his country who fled their homes to take up arms to fight injustice in their own countries. His leadership established the Liberation Centre in Zambia’s Capital Lusaka with the full support of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Liberation Committee to coordinate the activities of the liberation movements which were hosted in Zambia.
These liberation movements included the African National Congress (ANC), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and the Unity Movement (UM) of South Africa, Movement for the Popular Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Mozambique Liberation Front (MLF), South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) of Namibia, the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu).
Dr Kaunda’s resolve and commitment towards the liberation struggle in the region placed his country and the people at a huge security risk and economic cost. However, Dr Kaunda’s leadership took such bold decisions while understanding the consequences of their actions and knowing that standing up to powerful international interests and injustice carried a heavy price. Zambia eventually paid a huge price when sanctions were placed on Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, leading to the disruption of important and strategic southern trade routes for a landlocked country in the region. This resulted in a dire economic situation for Zambia.
But that did not stop him from standing firm against injustice and oppression. During the long and difficult years of the liberation struggle, Kaunda had continued to offer fierce and fearless criticism to foreign leaders who supported white minority rule and racial oppression in apartheid South Africa and Zimbabwe. His efforts won the respect among his fellow Africans as a leader and liberator who fought to free his country and the region from colonial oppressors and white minority rule.
As Zambians and the African continent mourn Dr Kaunda, he will be remembered as a giant of history and a freedom fighter who wholeheartedly supported the liberation struggles in Africa.
In the end, after this great liberator is laid to rest, and when history is written about his life, his legacy will be that of a leader who put the interests of others and his country first, before his own. Like many other African icons of the liberation struggle that have gone ahead of him, Dr Kaunda’s legacy has left deep footprints in the sand of time which will endure beyond his life.
The author is a Zambian-based political analyst
Online Reporter