When KK Was Stateless.
In March 1999, Zambia’s founding President, Dr Kenneth Kaunda (KK) was declared stateless after a court questioned his Zambian citizenship because his parents were of Malawian origin.
According to published accounts by his daughter, Catherine Kaunda, the Zambian Embassy in Berlin, Germany, which covered Austria where KK was stranded, denied him assistance on the grounds that he was not Zambian.
Namibia’s late President, Dr Sam Nujoma, heard about Kaunda’s predicament and instructed Namibian diplomat Elia Kaiyamo to find and assist him while in Europe.
This was a powerful gesture of friendship. Years earlier, Dr. Kaunda had welcomed Nujoma and other Namibian freedom fighters into Zambia, giving them a safe base from which to fight for Namibia’s independence from apartheid South Africa
Back door shuttle diplomacy between Southern Africa governments and then president Frederick Chiluba paved way for Dr. Kaunda’s return to Zambia the same year, where he lived until he passed away in June 2021
By Maureen Nkandu