A FORTNIGHT ago, first President Kenneth Kaunda celebrated his 89th birthday amid lots of goodwill messages. I consequently wrote about him, likening him to other great statesmen such as Indira Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah. In the same piece, I also recognised his rigorous fight against HIV/AIDS and ended by suggesting that a statue be erected in his honour. I received reactions from readers, which I thought I should share with you. Freda Kaela wrote: “Thank you very much on behalf of the Zambian people, for thinking so highly of our former president Dr Kenneth Kaunda, who ruled us for 27 years. I pray to our heavenly Father to grant him more years for being loyal to his country. He did so many things for this country. I remember that the University of Zambia was his brain-child. Kaunda never discriminated against anybody. During the time of poor economic performance, he engaged business consultants to coach small entrepreneurs. We learnt to be self-reliant without depending on aid from the outside world. I know it was not easy to implement those economic policies, which made some of the people become innovative and engage in business activities within the country. I say long live our first president. Some of us would like to honour you. I will be praying for you to enjoy good health.” Another e-mail entitled You Don’t Know Your History, but didn’t indicate the sender’s name, states: “My friend, in column writing, the golden rule is write what you know and not hearsay. Are you kidding to suggest a statue for KK? Maybe you were too young to recount the hardships Zambians faced under the UNIP regime. You will do well to write on things that you know and not on what you are not privy to. You need to ask yourself why the world at large has not honoured KK as they ought to have, ordinarily! Please, there is a reason why MMD did not regard his rule as complimentary, no matter how hard you are trying to resurrect his profile. Your zeal for KK’s statue or idolatry in a Christian nation is not worth the newsprint you are writing on. Don’t open the wounds of 27 years.” For comments, write to artyak@rocketmail.com.
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