Kamala Harris grew up in Kamwala Town, Lusaka in Zambia

July 17, 2023 /Politics/ — Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, and Hakainde Hichilema was born in Monze, Zambia. However, they have both visited Zambia and have expressed an interest in the country. In March 2023, Kamala Harris visited Zambia as part of a tour of Africa. She met with President Hichilema and other officials to discuss issues of democracy, governance, and economic development. Hakainde Hichilema has also visited the United States on several occasions. In 2019, he met with then-Vice President Mike Pence to discuss trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.

Kamala Harris did spend some time in Zambia as a child, but she did not grow up there. She was born in Oakland, California, and lived there until she was about 12 years old. In 1972, her parents divorced, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, took Kamala and her sister Maya to live in Montreal, Canada. They later moved to Berkeley, California, where Harris attended high school and college.

Harris’s grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, was a senior diplomat in the Indian government who was posted to Zambia in the late 1960s. Kamala and her sister visited their grandfather in Zambia for several months in 1968. They lived in a house in Kamwala, a suburb of Lusaka, the capital city. Harris has said that her time in Zambia was a formative experience, and that she learned a lot about her Indian heritage from her grandfather.

So, while it is true that Kamala Harris lived in Zambia for a time, it is not accurate to say that she grew up there. She spent most of her childhood in the United States, and her time in Zambia was a brief but important part of her upbringing.

No, Kamwala town in Lusaka was not named after Kamala Harris. The town was founded in the early 1950s, long before Harris was born. The name “Kamwala” is derived from the Bemba word “ikambula”, which means “to be scattered”. This is because the town was originally a collection of scattered villages that were later consolidated into a single town.

There is a popular misconception that Kamwala was named after Kamala Harris because her name is also pronounced “Kamala”. However, this is simply a coincidence. The name “Kamala” is a common name in India, and it is also used in some other parts of the world.

It is possible that Kamala Harris’s name was inspired by the town of Kamwala. After all, her grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, was posted to Zambia in the late 1960s, when Kamala was a child. It is possible that he saw the town of Kamwala and liked the name. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.

So, to answer your question, no, Kamwala town in Lusaka was not named after Kamala Harris. The name is derived from the Bemba word “ikambula”, and it has been used for centuries.
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Is Kamwala town in Lusaka named after Kamala Harris?
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