The Higher Education Authority Mourns the Loss of His Excellency, the 4th President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda
The Management and Staff of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) join a grieving nation in mourning the loss of His Excellency, the 4th President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda, who passed away on 11th March, 2022.
Mr. Banda will be remembered as a champion of the education sector as in 2009, whilst President of Zambia, he saw the necessity of developing a responsive and relevant education system that would produce industrious learners capable of meaningfully contributing to the development needs and aspirations of the country. He actualised this during his term as President of the Nation through a National Curriculum Review Symposium that was held in Lusaka.
In that same year, Mr. Banda called for the enforcement of high standards of education in all institutions offering university level education in order to produce suitably trained personnel that were ready to take on the various challenges to develop the country. He noted that quality education would provide an assurance system which would increase customer confidence and the credibility of the institutions of higher education.
A humble man who knew the value of an earned education, Mr. Banda refused to be called by the title ‘Dr.’ despite being conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Political Science by a registered, private Higher Education Institution, Rusangu University. This was while he was the sitting President of Zambia. Thus, this solidified Mr. Banda as a true champion of education, as his refusal pointed to the necessity to earn a qualification.
Even in his retirement, as an elder statesman of Zambia, Mr. Banda continued to advocate for education. In 2017, at the Round Table of the African Presidential Leadership Meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mr. Banda called on African governments to increase the provision of tertiary education to young people, noting that a well-educated African population would help accelerate Africa’s development agenda as young people would be well equipped to rise to the challenges that the continent was facing.
May the Soul of His Excellency, the 4th President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Band, rest in eternal peace and may the Holy Spirit comfort his grieving family and the nation of Zambia at large.
Mr. Banda will be laid to rest on Friday, 18th March, 2022, during a State Funeral that he has been accorded by the government.
