Kenneth Kaunda to campaign for peace

Ulhas Joglekar ulhasj at bom4.vsnl.net.in
Thu Mar 30 17:09:29 PST 2000


Wednesday 29 March 2000

Kenneth Kaunda to campaign for peace By Manoah Esipisu LUSAKA: Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, who resigned as leader of his United National Independence Party, said on Tuesday he would devote his life to resolving African conflicts and fighting the AIDS pandemic. The 75-year-old ex-president said he would join Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's club of African elder statesmen whose goal is to campaign for peace from Angola to Sudan and from Sierra Leone to Somalia. "I carefully considered the invitation extended to several former heads of state, including my fallen friend Dr Julius Nyerere (former Tanzanian president), to join President Gaddafi's club of statesmen and I accepted," Kaunda said in an interview. "Time has come for me to concentrate on conflict resolution and promotion of detente," he added, saying his main peace vehicle would be his Kenneth Kaunda Peace Foundation. Kaunda stepped down from the UNIP leadership on Monday. As he spoke at his home in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, women wailed outside imploring him to remain active in politics and delegations from opposition parties and church groups arrived to confirm that he had turned his back on local politics. Kaunda, who led Zambia to independence from Britain in 1964 and ruled for 27 years before losing power in 1991 elections, will move to the forefront of the battle against AIDS, which has decimated Zambian professionals in the last decade. RAISED ORPHANS OF SON WHO DIED OF AIDS He acknowledged for the first time that his son Masuzgo died of AIDS in 1986. "I will champion the fight against AIDS. My son died of AIDS and I had to bring up his five children. I know what is involved in bringing up children left behind by an AIDS victim," he said. Between 25 and 30 percent of Zambia's adult urban population is infected with HIV or has full-blown AIDS. The prevalence in rural areas is 10 to 15 percent in a country of 10 million. Kaunda's decision to resign has thrown the party into disarray. UNIP members were shocked by the announcement and one said he would sue Kaunda for not consulting party members. Kaunda initially retired after his election defeat to trade union leader Frederick Chiluba in 1991, but changed his mind in time for 1996 national elections. Chiluba responded with constitutional amendments that barred Kaunda from standing for president on the grounds that his parents were born in Malawi, not Zambia. Kaunda boycotted the poll and his relations with Chiluba reached a low point when the government arrested Kaunda for his alleged role in a botched 1997 coup. Treason charges were dropped after then South African president Nelson Mandela intervened. "My decision has nothing to do with the current government and President Chiluba. It's my own," he said. UNIP will fill Kaunda's post at party elections next month. Kaunda's second son, businessman Tilyenji, is expected to return from Zimbabwe to contest the post of secretary-general. Wezi Kaunda, the most politically active of the Kaunda offspring, was poised to succeed his father as president of UNIP before he was murdered last November. Zambia's next presidential poll is in 2001 and with Kaunda gone, analysts say wealthy businessman Anderson Mazoka is likely to assume the mantle of chief opposition leader. Mazoka, a former executive with South African mining giant Anglo American Plc, leads the opposition United Party for National Development. (Reuters) For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
|Disclaimer|
For comments and feedback send Email © Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2000.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list