ZAMBIA today puts to rest one of her most illustrious sons, the founding president Dr Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda.
Dr Kaunda, born at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali on April 24, 1924 died on June 17, 2021 at the Maina Soko Medical Centre in Lusaka after an illness.
Government announced a 21-day period of national mourning for the founding father and Zambians have been unanimous in recognising the important role he has played in the country’s history.
He spearheaded the independence struggle that culminated into Zambia attaining independent statehood on October 24, 1964 under the United National Independence Party (UNIP).
Along the way, he turned Zambia into a one-party state but was magnanimous enough to accept change and reverted to multi-party politics in 1990 in response to the democratic wind of change that swept through the nation.
In doing so, he cut short his presidential term and allowed for elections which he lost to the Movement for Multi-party Democracy of Frederick Chiluba, a former trade union leader.
Zambians will forever respect him that he handed over the reins of government to the MMD in a smooth transition of power that was unheard of in most African countries.
He did so because he respected the will of the people, that he had done is part in laying a strong foundation for the country.
Zambians will forever remember him for his humility and his commitment to build a united country, a nation where every Zambian counted regardless of his ethnic background or social standing.
His slogan, “One Zambia, One Nation” was the rallying cry for Zambians to recognise and accept one another that they were one people.
Dr Kaunda and his peers recognised from the start that the colonialists had always used the tribal tag to divide the Africans and he was determined that Zambia did not fall into that abyss.
Thus his strong stand against tribalism and racism. He wanted people to think of themselves as Zambians and not through their tribal origins.
It is this spirit of oneness that Zambians have shown in mourning the founding father of the nation, that they should hold on to.
Last week, the international community bade farewell to Dr Kaunda during the state funeral held at the Lusaka Showgrounds.
Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, nine presidents and dignitaries representing other states. governments and international organisations converged in Lusaka for Dr Kaunda’s official send end off, more especially by Africa for his selfless contribution to the liberation struggle in Southern Africa.
Indeed, for the whole 27 years that he was in power, Dr Kaunda was the man who aptly described the pain and anguish that the downtrodden were going through.
And he ensured that Zambia provided that safe haven from which they could launch their wars of liberation in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, and Mozambique.
This was why it was not surprising that the leaders of the now independent countries came to bid farewell as a sign of respect and express their gratitude.
Every Zambian became a freedom fighter as the nation bore the brunt of retaliatory strikes from the minority regimes. Lives were lost and Zambia lost ground to develop. That was little sacrifice.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, described Dr. Kaunda as the last founding father of the African Union who lived long enough to see his dream of an independent Africa.
“He was the pan-Africanist icon who believed that Zambia was not independent until all countries on the African continent have become free and independent” Mr Mnangagwa wrote in his eulogy.
Yes, as Zambians lay to rest Dr Kaunda, they must always remember that he always preached love and that should be the country’s catchword as they bid farewell to him.
