AFRICA SUFFERED DEGRADING PRACTICES - KK

Dr. Kenneth Kaunda

By Globe reporter
ZAMBIA’s first republican president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda has said the continent of Africa suffered some of the most degrading practices in human history.
Addressing delegates at the just ended international conference to commemorate one of the most important declarations adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Algiers, Dr. Kaunda recollected that Africans as a people experienced and endured slavery.
The General Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, which was adopted on 14th December 1960, was a culmination of intense negotiations as a result of the realisation by the international community that colonialism was a stain on the conscience of humanity.
“During the slave trade, the continent lost millions of its sons and daughters.  We then endured colonialism and apartheid in South Africa.  During this era, which once again marked a sad chapter in our history, we suffered indescribable indignities at the hands of the colonial masters,” he said.
He commended Algeria for hosting the international conference to enable Africans reflect on the struggle they waged as a people in order to break the shackles of colonialism and foreign domination.
Dr. Kaunda said the Algerian war for independence which begun in 1954 served as an inspiration to all Africans in other colonial territories to intensify their resistance against colonialism and the abominable system of Apartheid in South Africa. ” I have just referred to the Algerian war of independence which was waged in order to bring about a fair and just system in this country and far beyond.  During that war, many of the Algerian patriots paid the supreme sacrifice in the interest of the succeeding generations.  They were led by visionary and gallant leaders one of whom is alive today my dear brother and colleague His Excellency Ahmed Ben Bella whose contribution to our struggle in Africa as a whole will always be remembered,” he said. “ He is a revered African leader and world statesman who served our beloved continent with a deep sense of commitment, honour and dignity.  He is a patriotic son of Africa whose service to our beloved continent
 continues to this day, as evidenced by his appointment by the African Union as the Chairman for the AU Panel of the Wise whose mandate includes an advisory role on issues of peace, security and stability for the continent of Africa.  I wish to congratulate him most sincerely for that worthy appointment.”  He said it required courage and resolve to bring about change on the continent.
“ I was there with many of my compatriots and some of whom are no more today.  My reflections over that era do indeed evoke strong emotions.  I can tell you stories of their courage.  I can tell you stories of their sacrifice.  Yes, I can tell you stories of their determination to overcome daunting challenges for the benefit of succeeding generations.  I can tell you stories of their readiness to die for a just cause,” he said. “I have just mentioned that some of our independence heroes are no more but I know that their legacy lives on.  In their honour we are commemorating the 50th Anniversary of that important Declaration.  Let me take a little moment to talk about them.  To the colonial masters, they were terrorists and troublemakers.  But to the colonised majority, they were heroes, liberators and leaders.  Their names are gloriously chronicled in our scrapbooks of history.  And some of these are:  Patrice Lumumba, Julius Nyerere, Kwame
 Nkrumah, Seko Ture, Augustino Neto, Eduardo Mondlane, Jomo Kenyatta, Ben Bella, Amicar Calbral, Samora Machel, Abdul Nasser, Houphouët-Boigny, Nnandi Azikiwe and Oliver Tambo, to mention but a few.”     Dr. Kaunda said the independence heroes he referred to were true pan Africanists with unmatched sense of patriotism to Africa.
“I sincerely believe that we owe them a great debt of gratitude.  I salute them for their selflessness and commitment to the African cause.  We should continue to honour them by carrying on with their vision to free Africa of poverty and under development, bearing in mind that Africa will not be developed by people from outside but by Africans themselves.  Bearing in mind also that Africans must take the lead to liberate themselves from poverty, under-development, illiteracy and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis,” he said. “Mr. Chairman, distinguished Ladies and gentlemen, ours was along journey to freedom but suffice it to say that to day, we can look back with pride yet in humility that the journey we traversed as a people led us to triumphant end.  Indeed, today we can celebrate that at long last, we are free men and women who are responsible for our own destiny.”