18/09/2026
On this day (18 September) in 1961, the United Nations lost a General Secretary by the name of Dag Hammarskjöld. The plane he was in crashed approximately 10 kilometres west of the city centre of Ndola in what is currently the Copperbelt Province of Zambia.
At the time, he came to Central Africa to try and sort out the "Congo Crisis". The place where he passed away is now known as the "Dag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial", a national monument in Zambia.
"In 1964 (the year Northern Rhodesia became Zambia), the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation Committee was formed to ensure that the memory of this world statesman lives forever in the country where he met his tragedy. At the Crash site a memorial garden was established with a cairn at the centre and a lawn around it with a belt of shrubs and trees on the outer circle. A museum was constructed and official opened at the site in 1981. The museum exhibits some remains of the tragic accident. The museum is also used for collecting materials and books on the life of Dag Hammarskjöld and the role of the United Nations." - the memorial's Wikipedia page
The area surrounding the memorial has since become a neighbourhood of Ndola District named "Dag Hammarskjöld", where residents who want to be distant from the Ndola City Centre live. As of 2026, we now have a constituency named "Dag Hammarskjöld Constituency", which is named after this area and which encompasses the north-western section of Ndola District (including the Sakania border with DR Congo and the area of Twapia).
In the local government, Dag Hammarskjöld Constituency has got 3 wards and one of them is named "Dag Hammarskjöld Ward". It includes this neighbourhood together with George Compound, the ZaFFICO part of Dola Hill, part of Baluba and the part of Ndola District that is bordering Kitwe District.
This neighbourhood has developed significantly over the years. the neighbourhood currently contains the Ndola Girls Technical High School. Also, Zambia decided that it needed to relocate the Ndola Airport (Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International) from Itawa to a different location in the late 2010s and this site next to the memorial was picked. The Airport was built by AVIC INTL, commissioned by Edgar Chagwa Lungu on 5 August 2021 and officially started operating on 7 October 2021. So, this airport joins the memorial as a "tourist attraction" for this part of Ndola District.
Let's not forget that here in Ndola, Dag Hammarskjöld once had a stadium named after him but it was demolished for some reason. Also, one of the main roads connecting the Ndola city centre with the southern neighbourhoods (bypassing the old airport) is named "Dag Hammarskjöld Drive", after this man.
65 years after his passing, we take a moment to remember this General Secretary. There are many places with buildings and streets named in memory of him and here, I have listed the ones in Ndola District of Copperbelt Province, Zambia, together with highlighting a few of the developments in the neighbourhood, ward and constituency that are named after him.
Cheers. ❤
Chils Kemptonian - The Geographic Accountant
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