Check Out The Late Kenneth Kaunda's House

The late Dr Kenneth Kaunda was the founding father of Zambia who actively fought for the independence of the country and after independence, became the first president.

Although Kaunda mostly lived in Lusaka, Zambia, he had a beautiful giant mansion that was built in the 1970s and although he built it with the hopes of enjoying his retirement there, he never did and the house is quite abandoned. 

Take a look at all the details about Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s house, and a quick look at his political career.

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During his final days, Kenneth Kaunda lived at his state lodge residence in Lusaka Zambia where his wife- Mama Betty Kaunda was buried after she passed on in 2012.

Besides his state lodge residence, Kenneth Kaunda had built another house that was meant to be his retirement home.

Dubbed the Shambalakale farm, Kenneth Kaunda’s forgotten house sits on an estate that stretches for about 12 km and is located in Mafupa village near Chinsali's lush mountainside in the province of Muchinga.

Once you get past the metal barrier and security post guarding the mansion, you get on a long driveway that leads up to the founding father of Zambia’s house. The driveway is lined with beautiful tall trees and manicured flowers.

According to sources, the mansion which is partially hidden by a forest is a fully furnished double-storey mansion with eight self-contained bedrooms.

The house, which is an architectural masterpiece, was reportedly constructed in 1971 by the Zambia Engineering and Construction Company (ZECCO) which also constructed Findeco House and the University Teaching Hospital among other prominent buildings in the country.

Besides Kaunda’s mansion, there are three other smaller houses on the estate. Dr Kaunda constructed the homes for his mother Hellen Kaunda, his older brother Robert and the third home for his nephew Collins. All three of them, unfortunately, passed on.

Although Kaunda built his Shambalakale mansion with the hopes of settling there once he retired, the late former president made very few visits to the home and after retirement, he opted to continue staying in Zambia.

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The late  Kenneth Kaunda launched his political career in 1949 after joining Northern Rhodesian African National Congress which was later renamed to Africa National Congress (ANC). He was the party's Secretary General from 1953 to 1957, while Harry Nkumbula was the party's president. 

In the years that followed, Kaunda and Nkumbula political views diverged, and Kaunda founded the Zambian African National Congress in 1958. However, the party was banned in 1959, and Kaunda was imprisoned for nine months.

Some of Kenneth Kaunda's allies, including Mainza Chona, founded the United National Independence Party (UNIP) in 1959 while he was imprisoned. Chona was chosen as the party's first president, but when Kaunda was released from jail in January 1960, he took over.

Kaunda became Zambia's first prime minister in January 1964 after his UNIP won the general election. He became the first president of Zambia after the nation attained independence on October 24th, 1964.

He was in power until 1991 when he gave in to the pressure of allowing multi-partyism in the country and stepped down from power.

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