Kenneth Kaunda: The anti-colonial legacy of Zambian leader who became Africa’s elder statesman

The former Zambian president’s passing marks the end of an era in African politics, reports Simon Speakman Cordall

Former Zambia president Kenneth Kaunda in 2015 (AP)

The passing of Zambia’s founding father, Kenneth Kaunda, at age 97 marks not just the end of an era in Zambian politics but a loss that will be mourned across much of southern Africa.

A man defined as much by his profound Christian faith as he was for his vision for an Africa free from European control, Dr Kaunda’s legacy is a profound one. Zambia, the country he helped free from British rule in 1964, has declared 21 days of mourning to mark his passing. Other countries within the region have declared periods of official mourning.

Dr Kaunda led Zambia for 27 years, from its foundation to his eventual electoral defeat in 1991 in which his idealised vision for a free Zambia collided with the unforgiving realities of economics – both domestic and international. Nevertheless, he remained a pivotal figure in African politics, leading the fights against Aids and, in later life, regaining much of the prestige he had enjoyed during the early independence years.