20 Jun 2021

A 24-year-old photojournalist watched in awe as a sizeable crowd cheered and clapped as soon as the Zambian official aircraft touched down at the then Gaberones Airfield on May 21, 1968.

Today the 77-year-old retired lensman Phagane Tladi remembers the late Zambian President Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s first official visit to Botswana as if it happened yesterday.  

Despite his advanced age, Tladi recalls that the historic visit was a milestone in diplomatic ties between Botswana and Zambia. 

Indeed the visit laid a foundation for the mutual friendship and cooperation which exist up to this day.  

In an interview, University of Botswana’s senior lecturer in politics Dr Kebapetse Lotshwao explained Dr Kaunda’s role in Botswana’s geopolitical scheme of things. 

Dr Lotshwao pointed out that except Zambia, Botswana’s neighbours were under white minority rule.  

“As a new republic, Botswana looked up to Zambia to open diplomatic ties and hence Kaunda became instantaneously important to Botswana,” he added. 

Zambia was particularly important to Botswana as the only independent country with which it had an open border, though a tenuous one, through the freedom ferry that traversed the Zambezi River from Botswana’s most northerly point, Kazungula. 

Zambia reciprocated by establishing a diplomatic mission in Gaborone, its first in Africa south of the Zambezi.  

Further close relations were made at the seventh Botswana Democratic Party annual conference held on May 23, 1968, two days after Dr Kaunda’s arrival. 

Perhaps the cardinal feature of Dr Kaunda’s visit was the expression of goodwill which had strengthened and solidified relations between the two countries. 

President Sir Seretse Khama had delivered a welcome address at the airfield before hosting Dr Kaunda to a state banquet later that evening.  

As the crowd cheered and ululated, a troupe of Batlokwa tribesmen played their fine-tuned ‘ditlhaka’ as a welcome gesture.

Dr Kaunda was treated to a colourful reception graced by dignitaries among them Roman Catholic bishop of Gaborone Diocese Right Reverend Urban Murphy. 

In his packed itinerary, Dr Kaunda visited the National Assembly and was hosted by  then speaker Reverend Albert Lock.  

He also visited St Joseph’s College where he was welcomed by then Assistant Minister of Education, Health and Labour Mr Setlhomo Masisi accompanied by education director Dr Gaositwe Chiepe.  

The son of a church minister and missionary and a member of the United Church of Zambia, a sister church to the UCCSA, he attended a special service of the church in Gaborone and later held talks with the church’s founding minister Reverend Derek Jones.  

As per tradition, he greeted clergy at the Trinity Church door as at the end of service. 

His visit to the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoir in Lobatse was seen as a great stride in early efforts of establishing economic links through the beef industry. 

Dr Kaunda officially opened the Gaborone trade fair and visited Mochudi where he addressed tribesmen. 

The state visit, the first ever by a foreign leader to post-independence Botswana, had fulfilled Botswana founding president’s goal of forging ties with the world’s nations and securing respect of the international community particularly other African states. 

With President Khama and First Lady Ruth Khama having visited Zambia,  the exchange of presidential visits was seen as an expression of Botswana’s diplomatic ambitions. 

Perhaps President Khama’s announcement at the 1968 BDP conference was a launching pad for construction of the recently-opened Kazungula Bridge. 

“Consideration is being given to the construction of an all-weather road between Botswana and Zambia stretching for 190 miles between Nata and Kazungula. The road should serve to promote a direct link between Botswana and Zambia and facilitate trade between the countries as well as lessen the number of passport check points for travelers between the two countries,” he said.

The 923-meter bridge, a joint Botswana-Zambia project,  comprises a roadway, rail track over the Zambezi River as well as one-stop border facilities. 

Despite its own needs and challenges, Zambia availed educational and training spaces for Batswana to help prepare them for future participation in the affairs of their country. 

Before his departure, President Kaunda was handed a photo album of the visit by the then cabinet minister Mr Amos Dambe.  

The souvenir remained a treasured item for Dr  Kaunda which he undoubtedly kept for his memoirs.

Zambia has declared 21 days of mourning for the statesman and Botswana seven. Ends