Washington: US Vice President Kamala Harris remembered her maternal grandfather P V Gopalan and visited his family house in Zambia’s capital Lusaka where he lived as an Indian Foreign Service official in the 1960s during her trip to the African country.
Born in Chennai in 1911, Gopalan was an advisor to first President of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda and served as Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the 1960s.
“My visit to Zambia has a special significance for me, as many of you know, and for my family. As you know, I visited Zambia, Mr President, as a young girl when my grandfather worked here,” Harris told reporters in Lusaka at a joint news conference with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.
“In 1966, shortly after Zambia’s independence, he came to Lusaka to serve as a director of relief measures and refugees. That was his title. He served as an advisor to Zambia’s first president, Kenneth Kaunda. And he was an expert on refugee resettlement,” she said.
While in Lusaka in the 1960s, Gopalan lived at 16 Independence Avenue, where 58-year-old Harris visited as a little girl.
Though the numbering of addresses has since changed and the location was ultimately identified using plot numbers in public records and land surveys, according to a White House official.
“I remember my time here fondly. I was a child, so it is the memory of a child. But I remember being here and just how it felt, the warmth and the excitement that was present,” Harris said.
She said she spoke to her aunt recently who reminded her of the relationships she made while working at a hospital in Lusaka.
“So, from my family and from all of us, we extend our greetings and hello to everyone here,” Harris added.
Gopalan was deputed to the government of Zambia as the Director of Relief Measures and Refugees in January 1966 by the Indian government.
To perform these duties, he relinquished his role as the head of the office of the joint secretary in the Ministry of Rehabilitation.
He resumed charge of the Office of the Joint Secretary to the government of India in the Ministry of Rehabilitation in July 1969, on reversion from the government of Zambia.
He helped Zambia manage an influx of refugees from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
After much effort, the US embassy in Lusaka, while working with the Vice President’s office, located the spot they believe Gopalan lived. It was the land where his house was, not the structure which is no longer there, the White House official said.
The US Embassy in Lusaka pursued research to identify the location of this home, including going through public records, engaging with Zambian and Indian authorities, and speaking with those who worked in the Zambian government at the time, said the official on condition of anonymity.
“In addition, members of the Vice President’s family provided recollections about the home, which aided the search. After much work by the Embassy and dead-ends in the search, the Embassy identified this location only a few days ago while the Vice President was in Accra, Ghana,” the official said.
Ultimately, the Zambian Ministry of Lands, with assistance from others, identified 16 Independence Ave as the Gopalan family home, as recorded in a public lands document dated March 9, 1967.
The property now belongs to Madison Group, a Zambian group of companies that include Madison General Insurance and Madison Financial.
Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, is the first Black and the first Asian-American woman vice president of the US. She made history when she was sworn in as the 49th US vice president on January 20, 2021.
Her mother Shyamala Gopalan came to the US from Chennai to study science, specifically endocrinology and complex mechanisms of cancer.
Her father Donald grew up in Jamaica, where he became a national scholar and studied economics. Harris was born in Oakland, California.
