Kenneth Kaunda: Zambia’s first president dies aged 97

Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s first president and a key figure in its independence struggle, has died at the age of 97, his family has confirmed.

Kaunda was admitted to a hospital in the capital Lusaka on Monday suffering from pneumonia.

His aides said he did not have Covid-19.

In the 1950s, Kaunda was a key figure in what was then Northern Rhodesia’s independence movement from Britain.

He became president following independence in 1964.

As head of the left-leaning United National Independence Party (UNIP), Kaunda then led the country through decades of one-party rule.

He stepped down after losing multi-party elections in 1991.

Kaunda was a strong supporter of efforts to end apartheid in South Africa.

He was also a leading supporter of liberation movements in Mozambique and what is now Zimbabwe-BBC

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