Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia's founding father and African statesman, dies at 97

Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia's liberation hero and founding president, died on Thursday at a military hospital in the capital Lusaka, according to Kambarage Kaunda, his son. Kaunda, 97, is said to have been undergoing treatment for pneumonia and was admitted to the Maina Soko military hospital earlier this week.

"I'm sad to inform, we have lost 'Mzee'. Let us pray for him," Kambarage said in a short post on Facebook.

Kaunda was at the forefront of the struggle for Zambia's independence from British rule and became the first president of Zambia, serving from 1964 to 1991. He was also one of the pioneer leaders of a new Africa, and a founding father of the Organization of African Unity which later transitioned to the African Union.

"It is with an indescribable sense of loss that I learnt of the passing of H.E. Kenneth Kaunda, first president of the Republic of Zambia and one of the Founding Fathers of the Organization of African Unity. My deepest condolences to his family, the people and government of Zambia," Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, said in his message of condolence.

While declaring 21 days of mourning for the liberation hero, Edgar Lungu, Zambia's president, said he learned of the death with great sadness.

"You have gone at a time we least expected but we are comforted that you are now with our father God almighty in heaven. On behalf of the entire nation and on my own behalf, I pray that the entire Kaunda family is comforted as we mourn our first president and true African icon," Lungu said in a message on his Facebook page.