Former Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya has eulogized the late Professor Lupando Munkonge for his huge contributions to the promotion of health care services in the country.
Dr. Chilufya, who was mentored by the late Professor Lupando Munkonge, described him as a teacher and pioneer of medical services in the country and managed to put Zambia on the World map.
He said Professor Munkonge was an architect of human development as he started so many programmes from undergraduates to post graduates, and has left the medical profession on the path that is irreversible.
ZANIS reports that the former Minister of health said this during the burial of Late Professor Munkonge at Leopards Memorial Park in Lusaka.
He said Munkonge was a man that served others and cared for the profession of young people in order to promote the health sector.
Dr. Chilufya further explained that Zambia has and will continue to have many professional health officers due to Professor Munkonge’s contributions in the health sector.
“The late Professor Munkonge was a mentor, a teacher and a pioneer who served the nation above self. Indeed we shall remember the son of the soil for his good works,” he said
And President Hakainde Hichilema has eulogised the late Lupando Munkonge for his immense contribution to the promotion of health care service delivery in the country.
President Hichilema said the late Professor Munkonge’s promotion of health care services has helped the country to be on the world map in the health sector.
Mr. Hichilema said the death of Prof. Munkonge has robbed the nation of an accomplished and distinguished medical doctor who believed in serving the nation above self.
President Hichilema said this in a speech read for him by Minister of Tourism, Rodney Sikumba, during the burial of late Prof. Munkonge, 85, who died on March 26, 2022 in Lusaka after an illness.
“Indeed, Professor Munkonge has left an indelible mark in the health sector due to his numerous achievements he initiated. This is why he was accorded an official funeral and a day of national mourning today,” he said.
The President noted that the late Prof. Munkonge, was a committed public servant whose illustrious journey started in 1979 as a Lecturer at the University of Zambia and later rose through the ranks in the medical sector.
He said Prof. Munkonge was a brain child of pharmacy, physiotherapy and biomedical services in the country.
And in his homily during requiem mass at the Cathedral of the Child Jesus, Catholic Bishop Alick Banda, urged mourners to live for others and not for themselves, saying that was the motto and principle of late Prof. Munkonge.
Quoting from Exodus 32:7-14 and Mathew 28:30, Bishop Banda reminded mourners that everyone will go through death, but that it is not the end of life for children of God.
He said the late Prof. Munkonge will be remembered as a distinguished and accomplished medical doctor who promoted health care delivery services in the country.
Bishop Banda asked mourners to carry on with Prof. Munkonge’s legacy by being at the service of others as opposed to serving personal interest.
Meanwhile, the late Professor Munkonge’s brother Scrivener Mwaba said his late brother was a pillar and unifier of the family because he preached peace and love.
He said the children and the entire family members will miss the love and hard work of the late Prof. Munkonge.
Mr. Mwaba explained that the late Prof. Munkonge was a distinguished and dedicated health practitioner who served in many positions and was a co-founder of Hilltop hospital in Lusaka, Ndola, Solwezi and Kasama.
He paid glowing tribute to government for according late Prof. Munkonge an official funeral and for everything too numerous to itemise.
Until his demise on March 26, 2022, Prof. Munkonge was a Vice Chancellor of Apex University in Lusaka.
The funeral was attended by Cabinet Ministers, government officials, health professional bodies and members of opposition political parties among others.
The late Prof. Munkonge has since been buried at Lusaka’s Leopards Hill Memorial Park.
They should have put him to rest at Embassy Park; the man has done a lot for Zambia. This Government????
An illustrious career indeed. I don’t know what we’ll say when the person behind Honeybee dies, obviously not what has been said about Professor Munkonge. To the young generation, what makes you great isn’t the wealth that you illegally acquire but your honesty service to others. Big buyer ends at the club