Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda hospitalised

Zambia's former President Kenneth David Kaunda speaks at a past event on December 15, 2013.

What you need to know:

  • Doctors at the University Teaching Hospital said Mr Kaunda underwent "physio" and was helped to sleep.
  • Zambia’s Health Minister Chilufya Chitalu said the medical personnel were also "conducting general medical checkups on Kaunda".

Zambia's first President Kenneth Kaunda has spent his second day in the country's largest hospital following "minor complaints".

A visit by Zambia President Edgar Lungu to the hospital was cancelled Thursday afternoon as the nonagenarian was put on bed rest.

Doctors at the University Teaching Hospital said Mr Kaunda underwent "physio" and was helped to sleep.

The country's Vice President Inonge Wina already visited the statesman who was shown in TV pictures sitting in a chair and chatting with the visitors.

Zambia’s Health Minister Chilufya Chitalu said the medical personnel were also "conducting general medical checkups on Kaunda".

“Mr Kaunda's condition is stable,” he told state radio late Wednesday.

Mr Kaunda was last admitted to hospital in April in 2015.

He veered off politics after boycotting elections in 1996 which barred candidates with foreign descent.

Kaunda was born of missionary parents from Nyasaland who settled in Zambia, then Northern Rhodesia before he was even born.