Kenneth Kaunda and the Genesis of the Decolonisation Process in Zimbabwe and South Africa
May 16, 2023
By Prince Kurupati
Zambia's founding President Kenneth Kaunda remains an iconic figure in the African independence struggle
On 28 April 2023, Zambians from all walks of life remembered the country's founding father, Dr Kenneth Kaunda. Kaunda was the first president of post-colonial Zambia and also one of the very first presidents to relinquish power peacefully following elections. To celebrate these and many other achievements of Kaunda both in pre and post-colonial Zambia, prominent persons from Zambia, members of the diplomatic corps from all over the world and the general citizens gathered at the University of Zambia to celebrate the 99th birthday of Kenneth Kaunda National Day.
Delegate after delegate, Dr Kenneth Kaunda was showered with praises for the work he did for the country. His contribution during the liberation struggle, as the first president of the country and as a trusted counsel after relinquishing his post as president were all highlighted as huge contributions which have helped shape Zambia into what it is now.
However, a more telling and perhaps different perspective on Dr Kenneth Kaunda was shared by Rt. Revd. Dr. Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba is the President of the United National Independence Party (UNIP). In his address, Dr Mwamba alluded to the fact that the end of white colonial rule in Zimbabwe and South Africa began in earnest at the Zambian State House in 1979.
Recollecting the events of 1979 when he was still a student at the University of Zambia, Dr Mwamba said thats the year Zambia hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In attendance at the meeting were several heads of state including the Queen who attended despite efforts by then British Prime Minister Magaret Thatcher to dissuade her from doing so owing to security threats posed by ongoing liberation struggles in neighbouring Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Also in attendance was the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Sir Shridath Ramphal who in later life according to Dr Mwamba relayed how on Saturday, August 4 1979, Dr Kenneth Kaunda opted not to take a vacation on the weekend break day in the Commonwealth to Victoria Falls as did several other leaders. Rather, he and the President Nyerere of Tanzania and Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, Malcolm Fraser of Australia, and Michael Manley of Jamaica stayed behind at the State House in Lusaka to discuss the liberation struggles in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
To Sir Shridath, “The President’s (Kenneth Kaunda) study ‘retreat’ had been carefully orchestrated. President Kaunda was superb; and so was everyone else.” Dr Kaunda had deliberately decided to find personal time with the British Prime Minister and other like-minded leaders to lobby the British government to end white colonial rule in Zambia's neighbouring countries.
The results of the study 'retreat' as Sir Shridath terms it were immense and positive. Dr Mwamba states that "At the end of the day they had an Accord that led to the Lancaster House Conference and Zimbabwe’s Independence – which in turn led to Mandela’s freedom, the end of apartheid and the Independence of South Africa. It was all conceived on that Saturday in the small study in State House."
Looking at how things unfolded in Zimbabwe and South Africa soon after the 1979 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Dr Mwamba's recollection of the events in 1979 does hold water. In Zimbabwe, the leaders of liberation movements Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Abel Muzorewa and then-leader Ian Smith all agreed to come to the round table with the British government at now what is affectionately dubbed the Lancaster House talks. The Lancaster House talks paved the way for the first elections in Zimbabwe which catapulted Robert Mugabe to the position of Prime Minister (and later President). It is also the Lancaster House talks which necessitated the fall of the Union Jack on 18 April 1980 hence signifying the independence of Zimbabwe.
Bishop Trevor Mwamba believes it is critical for Zambians to emulate the kind of integrity that graced the life of late President Kenneth Kaunda .
Though South Africa did not attain its independence as soon as 1980 like Zimbabwe did following Dr Kenneth Kaunda's 1979 study 'retreat' at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, its path to freedom became much more pronounced. This of course necessitated by the release of Nelson Mandela from prison on 11 February 1990 after 27 years behind bars. Subsequently was the fall of Apartheid and then the country's independence in 1994.
In his concluding remarks, Dr Mwamba aptly described and honoured Dr Kaunda saying "President Kaunda's life was informed by values, the values of love, of justice, of peace; so his legacy is assured because his life embodied the values of the golden rule".
To this day, it's the values first laid out by Dr Kaunda which guide Zambia both in her domestic and foreign policies. The values of peacemaking, love and unity. In his country, Dr Kaunda demonstrated these values. In the Southern African region, Dr Kaunda's role in the decolonisation process demonstrates these values. On the African continent in general, Dr Kaunda's strong pan-Africanism commitments demonstrate these values. In the world at large, Dr Kaunda's role in the Non-Aligned Movement are a testament to these values. It's for this reason that Zambia since independence up to this day maintain one position which is, " Zambia will maintain friendly relations with all countries not hostile to her, irrespective of their political ideologies".
