The real Kaunda
From Mr Garreth Byrne Sir: I enjoyed Robert Oakeshott's review of a book on the life of Stewart Gore-Browne (Books, 7 August), but feel that his descrip- tion of Zambia's independence struggle as `hectic and sometimes violent' is a bit exag- gerated.
Compared with other parts of Africa, Zambia's path to post-colonial status was a rather tame affair. True, there were some potboiling nationalist speeches by such as the late Simon Kapwepwe. Yet in the last analysis it was the deep personal commit- ment to non-violence of the schoolteacher and evangelist's son Kenneth Kaunda that kept the independence struggle mainly peaceful. There was one tragic incident on a white farm near the Ndola-Bancroft (now Mufulira) road that led to the deaths of half a dozen members of one family. The murders were instantly repudiated by Kaunda at the time. Strikes, demonstra- tions and tree-felling across main roads were among tactics endorsed by the African leadership — but that is hardly violent.
Gore-Browne's sympathetic attitude towards African aspirations and the good relations he had with Kaunda and the Bemba-speaking population were impor- tant during the agitation of the 1950s. How sad for Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbab- we) that similar understandings did not prevail across race lines. About 50,000 lives were lost in Rhodesia's racial war of inde- pendence.
Garreth Byrne
10 Woodlands Avenue, Dromahair, Co. Leitrim, Republic of Ireland
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