Kaunda’s stay honored

Boston University students and professors, local residents and foreign dignitaries honored former Zambian President and first-ever Balfour President-in-Residence Kenneth Kaunda at a farewell reception in the School of Management Wednesday night.

The ceremony marked the end of Kaunda’s stay at BU, which was made possible through the African Presidential Archives and Research Center.

Kaunda has taken many trips to the United States throughout his political career mostly to meet with the president but he said his stay at BU has been more meaningful than those visits.

‘I regard you all as my friends,’ he said. ‘I have seen colleges, professors, students and churches. I know Americans a little more than I did [before].’

When he made his closing remarks, Kaunda, who is Christian, urged the audience of about 250 to widen their perceptions of the term ‘neighbor’ to an international and inter-religious level. This has enabled the end of the slave trade, colonization and apartheid rule, he said.

‘[God] teaches us through his own people, whether they be Muslims, Hindus, Jews or Christians,’ Kaunda said. ‘He says ‘They’re your neighbors.”

Although Africa and the rest of the world have not been able to leap the hurdle of the AIDS epidemic, Kaunda spoke optimistically of the situation.

‘We’re leading ourselves to something better,’ he said. ‘I am confident that soon HIV and AIDS will be behind us.’

However, Kaunda warned that cleansing the world of the disease would involve a fight.

‘I am asking all of you, fellow human beings, to remember that that Africa is a part of you,’ he said. ‘Get up and fight for us.’

College of Arts and Sciences freshman Brooke Coleman said she hopes to someday take a similar role in the fight against AIDS.

‘He’s heralded for his work in the HIV/AIDS arena,’ Coleman said. ‘Public policy gets governments to pay attention, helps to get the money to provide treatment and alleviates AIDS.’

During his term as president-in-residence, Kaunda preached at churches in the Boston area, including a February talk about AIDS at the Western Avenue Baptist Church in Cambridge.

‘Everybody was happy to see him, knowing the work that he has done,’ said Alberta King, a member of the congregation who came to Kaunda’s farewell. ‘We came to wish him well.

‘We know he will continue to fight for AIDS [in Zambia], and we’ll continue that over here,’ she said.

James Pritchett, an assistant professor at the African Studies Center, commended Kaunda for his continued support of humanitarian interests.

‘He grapples with the issues, when he could be on the golf course,’ Pritchett said. ‘That is the measure of a man. He leaves big shoes on this campus to fill.’

APARC Director Charles Stith said the center has not yet named its second president-in-residence.

‘The residency is up to two years,’ Stith said. ‘Fortunately, we were lucky to have [Kaunda] stay with us into this semester.’

Kaunda has spent three out of a possible four semesters as president-in-residence and attended conferences in Nashville and Boston. Stith said the two men would attend another conference at Morehouse College in Georgia before Kaunda returns to Zambia in mid-December.

‘He has blessed us beyond our deserves,’ Stith said. ‘This is just a transition point,’ he added, indicating that Kaunda will continue to play a role both in APARC and at BU.

‘We wish you well on your journey,’ said Mwaka Tagirayesu, chairwoman of the Zambia Association of Massachusetts, which donated $400 to Kaunda’s AIDS charity. ‘And welcome you back when you come back.’

Before he became president of Zambia, Kaunda clashed with the British-run Federation of Rhodesia (now Zambia). He was jailed twice for his nationalist activism. In 1964, the British government officially granted Zambia’s independence, and Kaunda’s United National Independence Party swept the nation’s first free election.

During Kaunda’s 27-year reign as president, some observers accused him of suppressing opposition. He founded and served as chairman of the Frontline States, an organization designed to spearhead liberations movements throughout Africa. The organization worked to free imprisoned revolutionaries like Nelson Mandela, who later became president of South Africa. Frontline States sponsored similar movements in Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Kaunda lost his claim to the presidency to Frederick Chiluba in 1991 when Zambia had fallen on hard times.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Zambia suffered from the worst recorded drought in central African history, a rise in hunger levels, the falling value of copper one of the country’s chief exports and the outbreak and spread of the AIDS epidemic, to which Kaunda lost his own son.

The ending of the Cold War also damaged Kaunda’s political grasp because major foreign powers, including the United States, reduced their funding.

Kaunda spoke about international recessions in aid on the eve of the 46th annual African Studies Association meetings earlier this month.

‘The internet is growing faster than AIDS in Africa,’ he said, adding that support from foreign governments is crucial for continued political and socio-economic advancement.