KK’s Body Arrives In Choma For Start Of National Tour

The body of the late Founding President Kenneth Kaunda has arrived in Choma, Southern Province, where it will begin its 13 day journey around all ten of Zambia’s provinces, before being laid to rest in Lusaka on Wednesday 7th July. 

Dr Kaunda’s remains were transported to Choma aboard an airforce helicopter, which touched down at St Mawagali Trades Institute at 11 o’clock on Wednesday. From there it was driven through Choma’s central business district, where dozens of residents lined the streets to pay their respects to the late president. 

The casket was accompanied by Deputy Secretary General to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa, while KK’s family were led in their procession by the president’s son, Panji Kaunda. 

KK’s body was then brought to Choma’s Independence Stadium for a service conducted by the United Church of Zambia, of which the first president was a member. Traditional leaders and freedom fighters also came to pay their respects. 

Not everyone is happy about the tour, however, with some members of KK’s family expressing their disgust with the government for parading the late president’s body without consulting them first. They have also signalled their outrage that KK will be buried in the presidential burial site at Embassy Park, rather than at State Lodge, where the president said he wanted to be buried next to his wife, Betty.

Similarly, the former Archbishop of Lusaka Telesphore Mpundu has said it is unethical for the government to drag KK’s body around the country and has accused the Patriotic Front of using the president’s death to gain “cheap political capital”.  

The former prelate said there was little point in touring the president’s body when Covid-19 restrictions meant mourners couldn’t even see inside the coffin. He called on politicians to respect the late president’s dignity and allow him to remain in peace before the burial.

KK’s body will continue on its tour over the next two weeks, stopping at major towns in each province before a state funeral in Lusaka’s Heroes Stadium on Friday 2nd July. Foreign dignitaries and heads of state will be allowed to attend the service but, owing to Covid-19 regulations, numbers will be strictly limited, with each guest only allowed to be accompanied by one designated official.