SWAMPY TALES

Life is all about basics. I listened to one supposedly learned person in an intense argument in one of the many minibus-political debates I have heard. The educated fiercely attacked the governance of the FTJ Chiluba government. He stated that the many challenges Zambia was going through at the time were because of the president’s primary education. He further condemned the establishment of Basic schools, which, according to him, did not add any meaningful value to the country. Finally, he encouraged people to vote for university graduates in future elections. In response, the opponents gave an example of the early Kaunda days. They stated that Dr. Kaunda did very well in his first ten years of rule despite having just attained a ‘basic’ education. They indicated that Dr Chiluba had, in fact, numerous cabinet ministers who were highly educated. This debate got more intense as those supporting graduates and non-graduates joined. Each contributor had their reasons for keeping their...

How should I summarize 2022 in a single word? Challenging. I silently had to cope with failures and console myself with some successes while I received some undeserved blessings. Among my significant failures was the inactivity in the association I hold dearly, The Lunga Development Association. Just imagine you are the chief executive officer of a supposedly community-led developmental organization that turns into a political battlefield by members who call themselves brothers. You question your leadership skills to hold the team together. Members poke every developmental proposal with criticisms of all hues as they pull in different directions. We had to put up with those within us who, naturally, viewed us with suspicion and whose goal was to see us get nowhere in our plans. We had many who pretended to support the dream while they believed not in our aspirations. This resulted in the group remaining but a chat platform where we posted motivational and religious quotes that me...

My great-grandchild will probably wonder who a mail runner was. Unless we excavate and thoughtfully unearth hidden layers of civilization to see where this indispensable service provider then belonged. While mail runners in other parts of the world were in the ancient or mediaeval times, we had ours in colonial and modern times. Yes, as late as the fifties. For us born frees, we are accustomed to current courier services, including today’s bus driver/conductor arrangement. Everything looks so simple and automatic. You can send your parcel or documents from the Mwami border to Kasumbalesa within a day and almost effortlessly track its movement. It was not that easy a few decades back. In Ng’ungwa lived a speed walker nicknamed Nkana.  Why Nkana? “Nkana is a section of the city of Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia which started in the early part of the 20th century as a railway station to support the growing complexity of copper mining operations. It was named after Chief Nkan...

  MAANE MEKA It happened one evening. I was returning from school, bypassing an old man's hut in the village. My path passed near his hut, overshadowed by long, tall grass. I heard a faint, hoarse voice following me through the grass. I stopped and stooped to see where the voice was coming from. I realised there lived a very old but cunning man who was not well looked after by his relatives. Reason? He is the number one suspected witch in the community. Sweet honey I fought and defied my fear of meeting him. I had heard terrifying stories about him bewitching people and conning unsuspecting adults and children. People believed he gave people charms for ailments and funny problems, such as failure to hook up with the desired girl. He was also known to have been a hilarious storyteller. I approached him, his walking stick in one hand and an empty hard-rind gourd in the other, by the tattered mat on which he sat helplessly in the remnants of his veranda. He asked who I was, and I ...

  Happy and privileged to celebrate  World Fish Migration Day with the children of Mambilima this year. Be part of the fun by joining us via radio on various radio stations in Luapula. The event will be broadcast live on Luapula, Bangwela, Yangeni, K-FM and Lukwanga radio stations. Check out the details  HERE Meanwhile sing along, watch and dance with us as we Connect Fish, Rivers, and People  in the song  BWENKA UBUNE

In the wee hours of a Thursday morning,  Kabwibwi  (no real name) and a group of anxious women wait for the helpless  Sensele  (no real name), a blameless boy who has been sick for months. Sensele’s condition has worsened after they inflict his skinny body with a round of tattoos with which a concoction of tree roots’ and leaves’ powder was administered to cure the ‘thing that crisscrossed his abdomen.’ A reasonable quantity of his remaining little blood from his anemic malady oozed out during the curing process making him weaker, earlier in the day. Shore in Bwalya Mponda- Lunga The entire village is on its tentacles waiting to hear the bad news about Sensele. He has been in this critical condition for days. Today, everyone who is adult enough to know the difference between life and death knows that Sensele’s days on earth are over. His uncle’s hut is burned accidentally at a fishing camp, a sure signal for a pending misfortune.   They are now waiting for...

Sometime in October 2021, we woke up to the news that a combined team of village scouts and Zambia Wildlife Authority officers got into bitter combat with the villagers of Muwele, in which about 24 people got injured. The informer said ZAWA officers used live ammunition in the nasty exchange that erupted over the villagers’ protest against officers’ arresting one of them, who they allegedly found with game meat. Mpika Radio and other media later confirmed the sad news. Bangweulu Black Lechwe- Source of conflicts Such conflicts are common in Muwele, Lavushi Manda, part of the Bangweulu Swamps Game Management area. Lavushi Manda GMA is home to large herds of black Lechwe and other species. From time immemorial, people here have lived with and hunted animals for food. Since the introduction of Protected Area status, sporadic conflicts between the indigenous people and conservationists have become familiar occurrences in this highly volatile community.  This incident reminded me ...