UPND Not Invited To KK’s State Funeral

Members of the United Party for National Development have not been invited to the state funeral of Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda, which is operating at a reduced capacity due to a rise in Covid-19 cases. 

According to the UPND’s presidential spokesperson Anthony Bwalya, the opposition party has not received any formal invitation to the ceremony, due to be held today at the Heroes’ Stadium in Lusaka. Attendance is strictly by invitation only, with only a few foreign dignitaries and their aides getting the call-up from the government. 

In his statement, Mr Bwalya said it was the UPND’s understanding that “Zambians from all walks of life and from across the whole of the political divide” were going to be invited to pay their respects. 

Nevertheless he said the party would continue to mourn with the rest of the Zambian people and would “always remember and treasure the sacrifice and dutifulness with which Dr. Kaunda served our country and her peoples”.

The decision to not invite opposition members to the state funeral seems an odd one, given KK’s oft-cited legacy of ‘One Zambia, One Nation’. It is also strange considering that the late president was close with UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema, having endorsed HH in his first presidential election in 2006. 

Today’s funeral marks the culmination of a two-week tour of KK’s body around all ten of Zambia’s provinces. The procession has attracted serious controversy, with members of the late president’s family saying they were not consulted by the government before the start of the tour. 

KK’s family have also alleged that the government is disregarding the first president’s wishes in burying him at Embassy Park, as opposed to his request to be buried in a plot next to his wife Betty at State House.