Kaunda was liberation giant—Chakwera
President Lazarus Chakwera has described former Zambian president, the late Kenneth Kaunda, as a liberation giant and Pan-Africanist who had vision for African governments to be free of corruption and oppression.
Chakwera said this yesterday at a State memorial service for Kaunda in Lusaka, Zambia.
He praised Kaunda for being a finest African who worked for the good of his nation and built a generation of Pan-Africanists.
The President said the burial of the late Kaunda is the planting of a vibrant seed from which Africa should harvest a new Pan-African generation with the passion for the ideas Kaunda embodied.
He said: “Let us harvest a new Pan-African generation with the vision for African governments to be free of corruption and oppression.”
Chakwera added that Africa should harvest a new Pan-African generation with the vision for borders that feel open, with the energy to trade goods between Africans.
“We must walk together with one heart as he taught us; build one Africa as he showed us; and sing one vision as he did. We must make sure that the initials KK become on our lips, a battle cry that terrifies all enemies of Africa’s prosperity and peace,” he said.
In his eulogy, President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyata, described the late Kaunda as a man who committed his entire life to the service of Zambia and the African continent.
“He was a man who was willing to sacrifice to make sure that justice prevailed and stood for people of Africa. He was not satisfied with independence of Zambia, but committed to make sure that Zambia is free and many African countries are able to get justice and decide their own future,” he said.
Kenyatta said Africa will remember Kaunda as a great friend and partner who fought for the continent.
“Kaunda taught African leaders that there is life after high office as he accepted the will of Zambians when they voted for multiparty democracy, a gesture that African leaders should emulate,” he said.
Other dignitaries who attended the ceremony include former president of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, Botswana’s Mokgwetsi Keabetswe and Namibia’s Hage Geingob.
During the trip to Zambia, President Chakwera also met British Minister for Africa James Duddridge and Zambia President Edgar Lungu for bilateral talks.
Kaunda died on June 17, aged 97, at a military hospital in Lusaka where he had been admitted with pneumonia.
Popularly known by his initials of KK, he was president of Zambia for 27 years, taking the helm after the country gained independence in October 1964.
He will be buried next Wednesday at the country’s presidential burial site situated opposite the Cabinet office in Lusaka.
