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LUSAKA. — Zambia’s founding father President Kenneth Kaunda has been hospitalised, his office said in a statement released to the media yesterday.

The former president was hospitalised at a local hospital on Tuesday for a routine medical check-up, according to his special assistant Sunday Musonda.

He however, expressed optimism that the 90-year-old former leader would be discharged from the hospital soon after the routine medical check-up.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu visited the former leader in hospital on Tuesday, according to a statement and picture posted on the State House Facebook page.

Kaunda, fondly called KK, fought for Zambia’s independence until the country was liberated in 1964. He later on became the country’s first president after independence in 1964 and ruled the southern African nation for 27 years until 1991.

He is also known for fighting for the liberation of countries in the southern African nation.

Since his retirement from politics, he has devoted his time to fighting the HIV and Aids pandemic through his Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation. — Xinhua/HR.