Africa-Press – Zambia. President Edgar lungu says the late president Kenneth Kaunda was a freedom fighter who, through long held perseverance, tenacity and personal sacrifice, helped liberate Zambia from colonial rule.
And President Lungu says Dr Kaunda believed that Africans deserved to decide their own destiny as a people. President Lungu was speaking at the funeral service for the late former President Dr Kaunda in Lusaka today, adding that he is saddened by his death.
President Lungu remembered Dr. Kaunda as a leader who was committed to educating the African Child and ensured that all citizens, young and old had access to free education, a service he said he benefited from personally.
“Understandably, there were few Zambians with the right qualifications, and this great man embarked on a robust programme to educate Zambians, both young and old” President Lungu recalled.
He said Dr. Kaunda believed in Nationalism and extended help to other nations in the region for their liberation because he knew that Zambia’s liberation alone was not enough to achieve development while other nations in the region remained unstable.
“While KK worked to develop Zambia, which he did, much of Southern Africa was not free. There was civil war in Angola, in Mozambique, apartheid in South Africa, liberation struggles in Namibia and Zimbabwe. KK knew that as long as Southern Africa remained unstable, Zambia’s development would remain a pipedream” he said.
President Lungu said Dr Kaunda always talked about the eradication of poverty and disease among Africans, especially the African child which was evidenced by the many hospitals and health centers which were built across the country under his leadership.
He has paid special tribute to regional and world leaders who have travelled to attend the funeral service of the Dr Kaunda, despite the unfavorable conditions owing to the Covid19 pandemic and nations that are observing days of mourning in honor of Dr. Kaunda
“I wish to pay special tribute to regional and world leaders who are here, and those who have been mourning with us, including those who have observed days of national mourning in honor of Dr Kaunda. The government and the people of Zambia are humbled by your solidarity” he said. Dr Kaunda died on June 17th,2021, at Mina Soko Medical Centre in Lusaka ,he will be buried on July 7,2021. He was 97 years old.
