Zambia’s first president and champion of African independence, Kenneth Kaunda, dies at age of 97, says country’s leader

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) – Zambia’s first president Kenneth Kaunda has died at the age of 97, the country’s president Edgar Lungu announced Thursday evening. Lungu said Zambia will have 21 days of mourning. Kaunda had been admitted to hospital on Monday and officials later said he was being treated for pneumonia. Kaunda was a leader of the campaign that ended British colonial rule and he became Zambia’s first democratically elected president in 1964. He led the country until 1991 when he was defeated in an election following the introduction of multiparty politics. During his rule, Kaunda made Zambia a center for anti-colonial groups fighting to end white minority rule in southern African countries including Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.