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| Late Betty Kaunda.Courtesy Picture |
Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The wife to Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda has died while visiting her daughter in neighboring Zimbabwe, sources told Xinhua on Wednesday.
The sources said Betty Kaunda died on Monday evening in Harare while visiting her daughter, Musata, who is counselor at the Zambian High Commission in that country.Her
son, Panji Kaunda, who is also deputy minister of works and supply, also confirmed the news of her death to state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation
(ZNBC). Details of her death were expected to be announced later.
Beatrice Kayuni, the national secretary for women affairs in Zambia's oldest political party, Unip, which was headed by Kaunda for many years, described her death as a blow
not only to the party but to the country as a whole. "Not only was she the first lady in Zambia but she was also a role model. Her death will be a blow to the old man (Kaunda).
She supported him during the struggle for independence and she contributed greatly to what has become of him," she said. Mama Betty, as she is fondly called, was born in
1928 and trained as a teacher. She got married to Kaunda in 1946 and the two had 10 children. She was Zambia's first lady from 1964 to 1991. She has also left behind 30
grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. The Kaundas recently celebrated their 66th marriage anniversary. She spent most of her time after 1991 on a wheelchair after
suffering a stroke. (Xinhua
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