The first President of the Republic of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, father of the independence of the former British protectorate he ruled for 27 years, died Thursday June 17, 2021 at the age of 97, the government announced, picked up by international media.

He “died peacefully” at 2:30 pm (12:30 pm GMT) in hospital, government secretary Simon Miti said on national television. National mourning for 21 days has been decreed.

The former head of state was hospitalized on Monday June 14 in a military hospital in the capital Lusaka for pneumonia.

The current president, Edgar Lungu, expressed his “great sadness” in a message posted on Facebook. “You left when we least expected it”, he posted, regretting the disappearance of a “true African icon”.

Also known as “the African Gandhi” for his nonviolent activism, Kenneth Kaunda led the former Northern Rhodesia to bloodless independence in October 1964.

Claiming to be socialist and close to Moscow, he ruled the country for 27 years, largely under one-party rule, the mismanagement of which caused a serious economic and social crisis. After violent riots, he accepted free elections in 1991 and was defeated.

Since his retirement in 2000, he has placed his authority at the service of crisis resolution on the African continent, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Togo and Burundi. He was also involved in the fight against AIDS, after having publicly announced that one of his sons had died of the disease.

His health had been weakened by the death of his wife Betty in September 2012. They had had nine children.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne de Presse