Friday, March 29, 2024

KK calls for continued peace and unity Zambia

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First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda interacts with school pupils at Mulungushi International Conference Centre
First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda interacts with school
pupils at Mulungushi International Conference Centre

FIRST Republican President Kenneth Kaunda says the 1972 Choma declaration will continue being major foundation for Zambia’s peace and unity.

Dr Kaunda says it is because of this that the Declaration is the genesis of peace and unity the country is currently enjoying.

He said this was all the reason that all Zambians to recognize its significance.

He says through the Declaration, the then opposition political parties namely the Africa Congress Party (ANC) and United Party for National Development (UNIP) in 1972 signed an agreement to work together in unity for the common good.

ZANIS reports that Dr Kaunda said this in a speech read for him by Chiefs and traditional affairs Minister Professor Nkandu Luo during the commemoration of the Choma Declaration in Choma Today.

He said the Choma declaration helped promote peace and unity among political party in Government and the opposition.

“After independence, when there was tension and fighting because people belonged to different political parties, we realised it was important to stop the political violence and division.

“ My colleagues and I approached Harry Mwanga Nkumbula and his team were we reached an agreement to work together as brothers and sisters for harmony, unity, peace, development and stability”, he said.

Dr Kaunda said the signing of the agreement at the Choma declaration helped the two parties to work together in promoting an inclusive one party state participatory democracy.

The First Republican President however called on political players in the country to desist from politics of violence in recognition of the value played by the Choma declaration in Zambia’s political history.

He furthermore urged all political party leaders in the country to unite and they emulate the peace and unity that was formed between UNIP and ANC in 1972 through the Choma declaration.

Meanwhile Southern province Minister Daniel Munkombwe says the ideas of Dr Kaunda and Harry Mwanga Nkumbula should be forged ahead.

Mr Munkombwe, , who witnessed the signing of the Choma declaration in 1972, said this was because it will be very difficult for the country to develop further without peace, unity and stability.
He added that there was the need for all Zambians to remain peaceable and shun all forms of violence in accordance with the Declaration.

Meanwhile chief Macha of the Tonga speaking people in Southern province says peace and unity should begin at household level.

He said peace is not only important in politics but that people must live in harmony with one another at all times.

The Choma Declaration which was signed on June 27, 1972 was commemorated for the first time on Saturday September 27 and was attended by all District Commissioners in the province.

Also present at the event were his royal highnesses chief Mukombela, Chief Singani, Chief Chikanta, and Chieftainess Mweenda.

13 COMMENTS

  1. There is no “peace and unity” if the people of Barotseland are being subjugated by the oppressive “Zambian” regimes.
    KK the people of Barotseland have been tormented by your impunity abrogation of the Barotseland Agreement 1964. Without this international treaty being acknowledged and respected, then the peace and unity are merely words, thus, they have no action.
    Please Kenneth Kaunda, its a high time to reflect on Barotseland, let the people determine their destiny and indeed, its time the Barotse impasse is diplomatically, peacefully and truthfully resolved as Gods time is now.
    Remember the promise to Sir Mwanawina III about Barotseland’s destiny.
    It time.
    Litunga Ni Lyetu.

  2. Hmmm…ba LT you Love UPND .You said opposition Party ANC and United Party for National Development-UNIP.Hahaha…!!coming to the issue:

    KK we thank you for ths Peace we r enjoying. Thanx for Choma declaration THIS TIME WE WOULD ve A BIGGER TRIBAL WAR between TONGAs & BEMBAs.
    Thank You KK. God loves Zambia.
    Ba Luo we thank u too for reading the speech on KK’s behalf.

  3. Reminiscing the introduction of one party participatory “democracy” !! May be that time, it could be justified. No wonder PF has tried hard to use the Public Order Act, albeit wrongly, to create the impression that opposition party activities are illegal and against peace. KK, please do not spoil the respect still remaining. And do not take away the credibility PF has earned since Mr Lungu became SG. Are you disappointed that PF has slowed down on intimidating the opposition since Mr Kabimba departed? Please, let us build our democracy. The times have really changed. You and Munkombwe belong to the politics of the 1960’s. You played your part. Leave our generation alone. You became President at 40 and inexperienced but you did well. Give us a chance to use the free education you gave…

  4. LT, please do something about the illiteracy among your journalists! When not sure, let them Google and they will get the right information.

    ANC led by Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula stands for the African National Congress

    while UNIP initially led by Mainza Chona and later by Kenneth David Kaunda, affectionately known as KK stands for United National Independence Party.

    Guard your pride, LT. Quality control is essential. Or should we take it that the Chief Editor is unqualified??

  5. Dr, Kaunda it is the formula for such “unity” and “peace” as you have been preaching, that eluded you during the long period of 27 years that you ruled the country. You were too drunk with power to see the consequences of your legacy. Today Zambia is bleeding to death. Few countries in Africa are as divided along tribal lines as Zambia is. For such a country as Zambia is, “unity” and “peace” are luxuries!

    • During his long tenure as president of Zambia, Dr. Kaunda marvelously succeeded to keep tribalism in Zambian politics on the leash. But that was no guarantee that it had been tamed. No sooner had Kaunda exited the political scene than tribalism resurfaced under Frederick Chiluba and has only gotten worse and more emboldened since.

      Dr. Kaunda himself was compelled to introduce a single party based democracy out of desperation. Within five years after independence, the country had become so politically polarized along tribal lines, that ingenious KK opted to scrap out all opposition parties, which, at best, were tribally based. A cure for that is yet to be found. Dr. Kaunda’s band aid never came close to solving the problem. A predicament it remains to this day!

    • How does KK answer for what another regime did? ‘Your people’ are not damaged as a result of KK.

      It is not clear what you are trying to get across.

    • @Patriot Abroad: KK laid down the foundation of the nation called Zambia. He had a long time, 27 years, to do it. Unfortunately and not withstanding the rhetorical “one Zambia one Nation” slogan, his structure collapsed soon after he left office.

      Admittedly, creating a nation is never easy. In Africa, few founding fathers are credited with success at it, e.g. in Ghana and Tanzania. Botswana is on the way there. But it was mainly through Quett Masire and not Seretse Khama, who also seemed to have missed the clue.

      Once the foundation is wrong, a nation becomes anything but a nation. Zambia and Kenya are few examples of heavily fragmented nations in Africa. Dr. Kaunda, it should be appreciated, had a difficult situation to deal with. That makes Zambia to be Zambia.

    • @Patriot Abroad: In Africa, worse cases exist. Congo DRC is a case in point. Patrice Lumumba would have done a superbly better job of creating a nation out of that country. An assassin’s gun prevented him from realizing that goal. The man who took over from him, Mobutu, had not the slightest clue what kind of animal a nation is. Today, Congo is still a sorry sight.

    • @Patriot Abroad: What makes nation building such a crucial issue in Africa is that current national borders were artificially created by the white man mainly for the white man’s own accounting purposes. From the outset, we can see that we are not dealing with natural boundaries of natural nations. The boundaries only serve to define the legal settings of a particular state. But a state is not necessarily analogous to a nation. The Kurds, for instance, are a nation within the state of Iraq and so is Scotland within the United Kingdom.

  6. Skeletons in the cupboard there is no baroseland in Zambia. Long live KK. God bless you Mr. President. You are and were Zambia’s gift from God.

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