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Dr Kaunda greatest of us all: President |
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Monday, 06 August 2012 21:12 |
 The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President Robert Mugabe has hailed former Zambian president, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, saying it was his inspiration and that of other statesmen like Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, that yielded in the liberation of the African continent.
Speaking while in Zambia where he met the former leader of the Southern African country, Dr Kaunda, President Mugabe said it is disheartening to note that there is a tendency of downplaying the roles played by some African statesmen in the liberation of the continent as the West is trying to create their own African heroes who dance to their tune of neo-colonialism.
“This is our great man, greater than no one else in this region, together with the likes of Julius Nyerere. They are the greatest of us all. We all followed, [Nelson] Mandela followed and [Sam] Nujoma of Namibia followed the footsteps of these men. So it is your duty not to suppress your great men, let us raise them, and not just sing praises to the likes of Napoleon,” Cde Mugabe said.
President Mugabe added that these revolutionaries never betrayed the continent by abandoning their principles in the face of poverty.
These sentiments were also echoed by Dr Kaunda himself, who said they remained steadfast despite a host of hardships facing them.
“We were not rich economically but rich in principles. We followed principles that taught us to love our neighbours than just ourselves,” Dr Kaunda said.
Zambia is one of the first nations to gain independence, and under the leadership of Dr Kaunda, the country helped in accommodating liberation war heroes from neighbouring countries during the war of liberation.
It was the home to Zimbabwe’s ZIPRA forces led by the late Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo.
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