African Independence Leaders & Post-Colonial Figures Codexery

Kenneth Kaunda

First president of Zambia, independence leader, and later dictator.

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Kenneth Kaunda

Unknown photographer · via Wikipedia: Kenneth Kaunda · Public domain

He died on 17 June 2021 at the age of 97.[1] From 1964 until 1991, Kenneth Kaunda held the office of Zambia's first president.[2]

Life and work

Kaunda was the youngest of eight children born to a Church of Scotland missionary father and a teacher mother.[3] He became a teacher himself, working at Lubwa and later in Mufulira.[4] In 1949 he entered politics as a founding member of the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress.[5] After breaking with the ANC, he founded the Zambian African National Congress in October 1958.[5]

Zambia became an independent nation on 24 October 1964, with Kaunda as its inaugural president.[6] After the 1968 elections were marred by violence, Kaunda outlawed all political parties except for UNIP.[7]

What the cited sources add

The BBC account notes that Kaunda was a keen ballroom dancer and was spotted as an enthusiastic audience member at a performance of Dancing with the Stars in 2011.[8] A Philadelphia Inquirer article from 1991 reported that Kaunda had a private Indian faith healer with whom he worshipped daily.[9] The Xinhua account also stated that Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi lamented Kaunda's death, saying he would be remembered for his crucial role in Zambia's independence movement.[10] Xinhua reported that Hage Geingob, the president of Namibia, proclaimed a seven-day period of national mourning for Kaunda.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, 97, taken to hospital", Reuters, 14 June 2021; "Zambia's founding president Kaunda, 97, treated for pneumonia", Reuters, 15 June 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arnold, "Kenneth Kaunda obituary", The Guardian, 17 June 2021; "Listener and BBC Television Review", British Broadcasting Corporation, 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kasuka, "Independence Leaders of Africa", Bankole Kamara Taylor, 7 February 2012; "Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda dies eNCA", enca.com; McGroarty, "Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Last Leader of Africa's Liberation Era, Dies at 97", The Wall Street Journal, December 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; Kasuka, "Prominent African Leaders Since Independence", Bankole Kamara Taylor, 8 February 2012; "Kenneth Kaunda", Encyclopædia Britannica; "Kenneth Kaunda", Encyclopædia Britannica; "Kenneth Kaunda", En en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kasuka, "Prominent African Leaders Since Independence", Bankole Kamara Taylor, 8 February 2012; Kasuka, "Prominent African Leaders Since Independence", Bankole Kamara Taylor, 8 February 2012; Kasuka, "Prominent African Leaders Since Independence", Bankole Kamara Taylor, 8 February 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mfula, "Zambia's founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, dies aged 97", Swissinfo, 17 June 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021; Tischler, "Light and Power for a Multiracial Nation: The Kariba Dam Scheme in the Central African Federation", Palgrave Macmillan, 8 February 2012; "Harry Nkumbula Dies; Led African Congress", The New York Times, 10 October 1983; "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "10 Things You Didn't Know About Reuben Chitandika Kamanga Youth Village Zambia" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Kenneth Kaunda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mushingeh, "The Evolution of One-Party Rule in Zambia, 1964–1972", Transafrican Journal of History, 1993, p. 101 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia's independence hero", BBC, 17 June 2021. facts only, no text reused. bbc.com
  9. Meditation guru and Zambian strongman Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 October 24 October 1991.. facts only, no text reused. minet.org
  10. "Roundup: African countries mourn passing of Zambia's founding president Kaunda - Xinhua | English.news.cn". facts only, no text reused. web.archive.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kenneth Kaunda (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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