Lusaka, June 17 (Xinhua)-According to the Zambian government, Zambia’s first president, Kenneth Kaunda, has died.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Simon Miti said 97-year-old Kaunda died at 2:30 pm local time at the main hospital in the military hospital in Lusaka, the country’s capital, where he had been hospitalized since Monday.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu said he was very sad to know that Kaunda had died this afternoon.

“On behalf of the whole country, and on behalf of myself, I pray that the entire Kaunda family will be comforted as we mourn the first president and the symbol of true Africa,” Lung said on Thursday. I wrote it on the book page.