A book of condolences has been opened in Windhoek for the late Catherine Kaunda, the eldest daughter of Zambia's founding President, Kenneth Kaunda, who passed away on Saturday.

Zambia's High Commissioner to Namibia, Stephen Katuka, who confirmed Catherine Kaunda's death, has encouraged her associates and well-wishers to visit the family home to pay their respects.

Late Catherine Kaunda has lived in Windhoek since the mid-90s.

Her son, Mwenya Mwanza made the announcement.

“It's with a heavy heart that I announce the death of my mother, who died on Saturday in Lusaka.”

Following political turmoil in Zambia during the late 1990s, she relocated to Namibia, where she eventually became a citizen and still resided until her demise while on a visit to Lusaka today.

In 1999, a controversial High Court ruling by the administration of Frederick Chiluba declared her father stateless, striping the family of their legal status.

After her brother Wezi Kaunda was assassinated in Lusaka that same year, she briefly sought political asylum in South Africa.

However, due to complex diplomatic and documentation challenges, she faced deportation and was given a seven-day ultimatum to leave South Africa.

She had been living in Namibia since.

She worked as a secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister to support her family, and she later advanced to the position of training officer.

In 2013, the Namibian government also gifted her father, Kenneth, a house as a gesture of support.

The house, situated behind St. George's Diocesan School in central Windhoek, was eventually given to Catherine by her father, where she stayed with her youngest son and grandson.