(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 17 - Kenneth Kaunda, the first president and 'father of the homeland' of Zambia, died at the age of 97. His family confirmed this, quoted by the BBC.
Kaunda had been hospitalized in a hospital in the capital Lusaka since Monday with pneumonia, but his collaborators specified that he had not contracted the coronavirus. In the 1950s, Kaunda - popularly known by his initials KK - was a key figure in what was then the movement for the independence of Northern Rhodesia from Britain, becoming its president after its emancipation from British rule in 1964.
As the head of the United National Independence Party (Unip), Kaunda then led the country for 27 years and resigned after losing the elections in 1991. KK supported attempts to end apartheid in South Africa and was a major supporter. of the liberation movements in Mozambique and present-day Zimbabwe. (HANDLE).
