SWAMPY TALES

Each day is someone’s birthday. And this day is celebrated by many for the phenomenal event to either give thanks to parents, God or just to acknowledge the fact that they were born. Some of these birthdays coincide not only with good luck but with terrible happenings. My birthday is such a one! Don’t judge me wrongly, Pal, unforeseen circumstances do happen to everyone. That day I opened my small eyes to a dazzle of light on the earth, to feel the temperature outside another human being, to gulp some oxygen through my own narrow nostrils, smell natural and artificial fragrances for the first time, and of course, announce my triumphant arrival by way of an askari loud cry; I never even knew that on that same day, six decades ago, somewhere within the boundaries of a British Protectorate called Northern Rhodesia, where I was being dandled by an excited group of women, a white settler had died of lion wounds. Picture Credit:  Elie Khoury To tell you the truth, I’ve never seen a lio...

    If you can answer this question honestly, then you will not be afraid to answer others who may want to know more about you by posing the question, “Who are you?” Everyone has a story. In truthfully telling that story is embedded the exact characteristics that define them. If you do not tell your story, others will; and usually, you will not completely be happy with stories told about you by strangers.   This is true about an individual, family, race, or tribe.  For a long time, many people have told stories of the Unga people of Bangweulu swamps. Some of them it is because they have stayed with us for some time, some have visited for a short time, some have inquired, or formally, did some research about the tribe. Others have been in the area because duty called and wrote what they heard and saw. The fact that they are not Baunga, some of their stories are biased, based on opinion, events of the moment, and skewed judgment. Of course, some agree that little...

Some people shouldn’t have to die. How are we expected to cope with the death of those who were regarded in different ways by different people? How do we draft their obituary?   I regarded Tresphore Kunda Pintu as my Shepherd, Father, Teacher, Counselor, and Son. Late Tresphore Pintu with son Fr. T. Pintu Yes, someone I had wanted to take my cue from. But now, death has concealed him under its bottomless pit with no regard to the emotions of surviving loved ones.   While the Catholic fraternity was just coming to terms with the loss of its Bishop in Monze and two well-known Fathers, Charles Chilinda and Muyenga from St. Ignatius Parish in Lusaka, Lunga was trying to absorb the shock of losing its longest-serving Catechist, Tresphore Kunda Pintu, aka TKP who was pronounced dead at Samfya District Hospital on the evening of Saturday 23rd January 2021 at 20:35 hours.    Thirteen years after he drew the curtain on his long and eminent career in 2000, h...

Ministry of Education-Curriculum Development Center (CDC) Approved.  

Chinsanka Kalela group that spiced the launch of WFD Many in business circles are taking leave during this period. Some to go merry while others will go to reflect on what did or did not happen. They will dissect the year into days, hours, minutes, and seconds; and find strategies and tactics for the next year.   For many of us, 2020 was a challenging year due to an unfamiliar, deadly, and surprising pandemic called COVID-19. This disease attacked every nation of the world. Its impact was felt even by those who did not physically experience its venom.   To my family in the village, they wished the year had not even come. Climate change had subjected them to miseries as they had to cope with floods, starvation, and all that comes with floods. It was sad to see many of the families’ meager belongings underwater; while they slept in open markets, church buildings, and classrooms. Thankfully, Government, through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, with lobbyin...

  Ministry of Education-Curriculum Development Center (CDC) Approved.

"Ubufumu buucindika abeene," literally meaning, customary commoners, must honour their traditional leaders. So said our wise forefathers. Why is it important to do this? Because the traditional leaders are custodians of all that we are. They symbolize our culture; they mirror our tradition and are an insignia of what we call TRIBE (which means a group of persons having a common character, or interest.) They represent not only our history but are the emblem of our struggles, our triumphs, our evolution, our beliefs! And, most important, they hold in trust what belongs to us, our heritage, OUR LAND, AND ALL THAT IT HOLDS. As such, every tribesman must honour what we have.    Yes, we honour and respect our chiefs, headmen, and Guardians' of Nature. Therefore we should not allow anyone or anything to erode this esteem? Is it possible for the state and privatizers to undermine their authority while we look helplessly on? Can we do something? Why should we bother to do so? What...