By Dumisani Sigogo – Zambia’s former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, has died.
Earlier today the government had announced the Kaunda had tested negative for the deadly COVID-19 virus.
However, news broke late afternoon Wednesday that Kaunda had died. Kaunda ruled Zambia from 1964, when the southern African nation won its independence from Britain, until 1991.
The revered African giant was ousted in 1991 after his United National Independent Party (UNIP) lost the country’s first democratic elections to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) led by Frederick Chiluba.
After losing the 1991 polls, Dr. Kaunda experienced a troubled exit and was banned from contesting the 1996 elections after Chiluba amended the constitution which banned offsprings of parents who were not born in Zambia to contest the Presidential elections.
He was arrested and detained after being connected to the 1997 unsuccessful military coup staged by junior military officers, but was later released unconditionally.
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