WHAT A DARK-BLACK SEASON FOR LUNGA!

WHAT A DARK-BLACK SEASON FOR LUNGA!

 Tuesday October 1, 2019. I woke up to a myriad of missed calls.

One by one, I called back. All of them tried to deliver a single solemn message:

“Uncle Chisala is no more!”

A single, sixty-something old, handsome and controversial man who had been sick for a while had died. I last visited him several months earlier. I was filled with shame and that disturbing sense of guilt. Maybe, I should have done more for him. But my hands were already full with other pressing responsibilities.

Many issues needed my urgent attention. I had just returned home from nursing an equally very sick sister.  I had to camp in Mansa to keep checking on her in Samfya while trying to keep my small business afloat. Sustaining my boys’ stay in boarding, rent and other bills were all calling. That was the start of one disastrous rainy season of 2019/2020.

 Just as I arrived in Kitwe to mourn uncle, another persistent phone call from the village kept my tatty Samsung handset’s screen active. A familiar number it was! A friend was calling to inform me of the demise of an upcoming youthful politician, young Chafye Ward Councilor, Mufuta. A wise, humble and promising leader who joined politics out of necessity. Just a few weeks before, I talked to him in the home of my nephew; and he helped persuade my terminally ill sister to come to Chingola with me for treatment. He encouraged my family as he narrated how he was sacrificing all that he earned from the lowest political office in the country to sponsor among others, members of his extended family. That was the last time I was to talk to him.

While we were covering uncle’s coffin with murky, red stony soil at Chingola Road Cemetery, my tribesmen’s paddles whirled in unison, punting boats towards NJELELE, where they interred that vibrant youthful local leader, Councilor Mwansa Mufuta; who also served as the Deputy Council Chairperson for Lunga District Council. It was a dark day for the Unga people, and those in Chafye Ward in particular.

My elder brother was next to pass away on Independence Day in Chinsanka. He had been moving up and down from his temporary base in Ndola after an enduring distressful episode inflicted by articulate con-artists which led to his subsequent instability. I saw, through him, the folly of superficial affluence catalyzed by greedy acquaintances.

Mid- season, a prominent, very promising young businessman from Chafye based in Chililabombwe, Steve Mwila, passed on too.

A few weeks later, reports of flash floods filtered through from various parts of Lunga as anxious families pondered their next move. Before long, the flood situation worsened with many families getting displaced, seeking refuge in churches, markets and classrooms; barely surviving. They could be seen from amateur phone videos and photos peering from flooded places, hopelessly watching currents wash away their livelihood, new year dreams and happiness. Their cassava fields had turned into nothing less than under-water debris.

 SOS calls loudly overwhelmed government offices, especially the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit which had to inevitably send a team of officials, including area Member of Parliament Hon. Emerine Kabanshi, to assess the kind of help needed.

Those from the ‘terraces’ hurled all sorts of negative comments on the people of Lunga for not succumbing to calls for them to abandon their ancestors’ islands and relocate to other suitable lands. Many, exhibiting profound lack of understanding of the bond between the Unga and their swamps, felt the people were either simply stubborn or primitive. Bamunshebwa nangu abatutu!

Not long thereafter, Bangweulu could not hold the influx mass of water from flooded swamps and had its banks go burst, causing serious flooding in Samfya ‘town.’ A key bridge was washed away disconnecting Samfya from other towns. Victims were seen wading in milky water with Katundu on their heads. Other areas in Luapula, Northern and several other provinces fell victim to persistent floods…Interestingly, no calls to relocate were heard from the ‘civilized.’ Menso yeka!

 As if that was not enough, enter Covid-19. While people of Lunga were digesting reports of the breakout of the global pandemic, five  members of one family drowned in Chikonde village in a devastating canoe accident. The swollen swampy rivers had claimed five lives of that unfortunate family.

Lunga was still trying to understand what had befallen her when news of the death of one of its four chiefs, later recognized as the longest serving chief in Zambia so far, Chief Kasoma Lunga, took rounds in hushed voices. Many could not believe the news, thinking initial reports were mere speculations. It wasn’t to be. Indeed, as the Unga adage goes, “Uukwebele mfwa ya kwa noko, mutanshi,” our dear chief’s demise was confirmed by the Provincial Minister Hon. Nickson Chilangwa on 20^th April, 2020; as if to seal the fate of the Unga fraternity in that fateful season.

Through clear lenses of hindsight, my mind is peeling through layers of the chronology of these sad events of the last black rainy season with sadness. There could be many unreported incidents around the swamps. What can one say other than just sending his heartfelt condolences to the close relatives of the deceased while wishing them God’s strength? My heart goes to all flood victims who will have to endure yet another life-threatening disaster, the looming starvation.

We all know the immediate challenges in the aftermath of flood disasters, famine and lack of shelter. I can only hope that those in positions of influence will lobby ba Minister of Fisheries and Livestock who intends to increase the fish ban this year to consider not to impose any fish ban in Lunga. That, may enable people get back to some ‘new normal’ as well. DMMU will not manage to feed these victims as disaster struck every part of Zambia. Let the fisherman fish and feed his family on his own without hindrance, at least this once! I plead this in the sense that in the face of Covid-19 disaster, businessmen and wealthy corporations such as mines are given tax relief and loans to mitigate the situation. why can’t a poor fisherman be considered for some relief too?

Late uncle Eddie

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