Zambia: Kaunda’s family sues government over burial plans
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Some relatives of former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda have gone to court to try to stop his burial at the Embassy Park national site in the capital Lusaka.
The country’s first president who was in office from 1964 to 1991 died on June 17 aged 97.
The government later decreed that Kaunda would be buried at the Embassy Park where the other past presidents have been laid to rest.
The burial is due to take place on Wednesday July 6 after a 21 day period of mourning.
But some of Kaunda’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are asking the court to allow the former leader to be laid to rest next to his wife Mama Betty Mutinkhe Kaunda.
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They say this would be in accordance with his last wish.
It is unclear if the burial will now be postponed due to the opposition from some relatives of Kaunda.
The Zambian government said there is no rift between the state and the family, insisting in the absence of a court injunction, the burial of will go ahead as planned.
Kenneth Kaunda ruled for 27 years as president and was nicknamed the “African Gandhi” for his non-violent activism.
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The ex-president led then Northern Rhodesia to bloodless independence in October 1964 from the British.
He stepped down from power after he lost multi-party elections in 1991.
Source: Africafeeds.com
