By Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.
Johannesburg – It is with deep sorrow that I have learnt of the passing of Dr Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda, the former president of Zambia from her independence in 1964 to 1991.
A Pan-Africanist at heart, Kaunda was the last-surviving founding father of South African Development Community (SADC) and the Organisation of African Unity, the forerunner of the African Union.
We remember him as the father of the liberation struggle, a visionary who embodied the true values of Pan-Africanism, freedom, non-racialism, democracy and the regional integration of southern Africa.
Through his philosophy of humanism, which espoused man-centredness in all spheres of human endeavour, Kaunda symbolised a selfless life of freeing the people of the continent from the yokes of colonialism, neo-colonialism and apartheid – and uplifting their livelihoods, dignity and self-worth.
At tremendous cost to the Zambian economy and the security of the country’s people, Kaunda braved the predations of white-minority Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa regimes to host liberation movements, including the ANC, Liberation Front of Mozambique, People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, South West African People’s Organisation, Zimbabwe National Union and Zimbabwe African People’s Union.
The liberation movements would eventually bring independence to Mozambique in 1975, Zimbabwe in 1980, Namibia in 1990 and majority rule in South Africa in 1994.
Kaunda’s vision also greatly contributed to the founding of the Frontline States, the forerunner of SADC, which was conceived along and established with the late Sir Seretse Khama of Botswana and Julius Kambarage Nyerere of Tanzania, Samora Moises Machel of Mozambique and Dr Agostinho Neto of Angola in the early 1970s to lead the liberation struggle for southern Africa. With the wider involvement of other leaders in southern Africa, the Frontline States would later transform into the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference and eventually into what we today know as SADC, tasked with promoting the human development of the people of the region through a shared political and economic vision.
In ushering multi-party democracy in Zambia in 1991, and in humbly and peacefully handing over power following the electoral defeat of his United National Independence Party, Kaunda provided an important example to future leaders in his country and on the continent on the need to respect the principles of democracy in victory or defeat.
This, no doubt, laid a firm foundation for the vibrant democracy that Zambians enjoy today, and for the consolidation of multi-party democracy on the African continent.
It is, therefore, befitting as Zambians hold their general elections on August 12, to not only remember Kaunda’s indelible legacy, but to celebrate it by observing peace and calm in the context of democratic elections, and thus foster the fundamental premise of his philosophy of humanism.
SADC wishes to take this opportunity to inform the people of the region that – in recognition of the sacrifices and their commitment to African political freedom, regional integration and regional economic development – a mechanism in honour of the founders of SADC, which will include a museum, has been established.
In this respect, Kaunda’s legacy and that of his peers, is being curated in the context of this mechanism to inspire and model our youth who represent the core and the future of the more than 250 million citizens of the SADC region.
SADC joins the rest of the continent in celebrating the life and achievements of this great African luminary, and in his honour, the flags at the SADC headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana, shall be flown at halfmast for seven days as a mark of respect to the memory of the former president.
By Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.
• Nyusi is president of Mozambique and chairperson of SADC
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