Zambia’s former President Kenneth Kaunda in 2012. PHOTO | AFP
Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s founding President and one of the pioneers of African liberation from colonialism, has died after several days of admission in a Lusaka military hospital.
Simon Miti, Zambia’s Secretary to the Cabinet, confirmed on Thursday that Kaunda died shortly after 2pm local time (12pm GMT).
Flags will fly at half-mast in all public buildings and missions abroad as the country embarks on three weeks of official national mourning.Entertainment places will also be closed at this time.
Kaunda, 97, had been admitted to Maina Soko Military Hospital in Lusaka earlier this week.
An indelible figure at the centre of Zambia’s nation building spanning over five decades, Kaunda lived to his ripe old age, surviving many health scares and admissions in hospitals.
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