President Hakainde Hichilema led hundreds of mourners at the funeral of the late Pastor, Dr. Sylvester Leeds Chilimba Hamavwa in Kazungula Village near Hamapande Rural Health Centre in Monze. Among those in attendance was Emmanuel Mwamba, who shared his bereavement with his colleagues before embarking on a journey to attend the funeral.
Despite the advice of his colleagues, who suggested that he either send his family or go with heavy security to Monze, Mwamba chose to go with his wife and son, without any security detail. This decision led to unexpected misadventures as they lost over three hours meandering through forests, villages, and plains before finally finding their way to the village.
Upon their arrival, they were met with a lot of people, cars, and heavy security detail. The Presidential Helicopter was already parked in the open field, and President Hichilema had just arrived, leading hundreds of mourners that had gathered for the funeral.
Despite the unexpected events, Mwamba was graciously welcomed by a lot of UPND party leaders and was even ushered in to see his brother, host, and Provincial Minister Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa, who allowed him to greet the Head of State.
During the procession, Hon. Mweetwa recognized Mwamba in the salutation and called him to greet and speak to the people. Mwamba took the opportunity to thank President Hichilema and the UPND for receiving him and giving him assurance of his safety and security.
Mwamba also talked about the importance of loving one another in unity despite political diversity and called for the conduct of decent politics. He stated that there was no space for tribalism in Zambian politics, especially because of inter-marriages that have occurred since 1964.
President Hichilema took time in his speech to give Mwamba special recognition, speaking about the importance of the family unit and the Zambian family in general. He called for peace and unity in the nation and condemned political violence, especially as occurred under the former ruling party, the Patriotic Front Government.
President Hichilema used Mwamba’s presence at the funeral as testimony of the environment he is promoting to foster peace and unity in the nation. He said peace and unity were fundamental prerequisites to push for national development. He also informed the mourners that Dr. Hamavwa and Headman Hamavwa were his uncles.
Mwamba expressed his gratitude to President Hichilema for his kind words and gesture and for his speech aimed at promoting national unity, especially as demonstrated at this funeral. He also commended Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa for showing leadership, tolerance, and for taking it upon himself to recognize him and grant him a protocol officer.
In his entourage, President Hichilema was accompanied by the First Lady, Mama Muyinta Hichilema, Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Jack Mwiimbu, Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, Hon. Paul Kabuswe, and Patriotic Front Mafinga MP, Hon. Robert Chawinga. There were also numerous officials, including MPs, senior government officials, council chairpersons, and councillors.
The funeral was a fitting send-off for Dr. Hamavwa, with occasional warrior dances and songs adding to the colorful event. The message was clear: Zambia is One Zambia, One Nation, and diverse views can coexist in a democratic environment where peace and unity are fundamental prerequisites for national development.
Mwamba iwe………just join with this great man , our president, to develop this great nation…………
The clique and their units if empty tins in PF are going nowhere……….
I am impressed to learn that Hon. Emmanuel Mwamba has realised and recognised the importance of Unity of Zambian people for the sake of our country – Zambia. Of most importance, is that HH and UPND mean well for Zambia. They ought to be given support as they are there to fix the country.
Paul Simbeye
This story was earlier reported by LT without the Emmanuel Mwamba details. What happened? Someone ordered LT to rewrite and include Mwamba’s attendance
You don’t respect your fellow citizens and promote unity just because of intermarriage. You respect them even if there’s no intermarriage. But that is what you can expect from Emmanuel Mwamba because the only qualification he brings to discuss this topic is common sense which unfortunately is not enough. You need to access literature on post-colonial nation-building and nation-building in general in older democracies such as Germany, Spain, France.
So now you want him to join your party? Just because someone is sat with you..absolute swallow thinking!!
During PF criminals it was going to be wafwa napanga to attend such ceremony.
Spaka forget it’s a non starter ..your government is fake lying is the order of the day, sugilite,gold scandal. Chipantechipante economics, Imagine the PS for ministry of Agriculture has refused to submit documents for audit query to parliament, by the way great men are truthful not lying no no no. Busy recommissioning projects that were commissioned by Edgar Lungu and you call such non sense great! Already mealie meal shortage have hit some parts of the nation. No food security last year your useless government was busy exporting maize gain they did not grow. Rubbish
THATS GOOD. GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE
This is why it’s important for you politicians to moderate your language. Despite different political views, there’ll always be something will bring you and others together. People that listen to you or your followers don’t see that in your messages. Our politics are like an eye for an eye. Please stop it! We always treat one another decently. Let’s reduce political tension in the country and always remember that we all need each other
Maturity from mwamba unlike hh who calls a former president ati kutumpa uko
During PF reign Mwamba would have gone straight to ICU. This is the change we wanted and longed for. People were mimed even at cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka. This must be commended by all well meaning Zambians. Actually this should have not been a topic of discussion for us Zambians. Lets move on a build a beautiful country. Cadres, refuse to be used as tools for violence. You have your own family to take care of
The UPND are only peaceful because they’re in power. In opposition the UPND are as guilty as the PF. Many died at the hands of the UPND. If the UPND were still in opposition Mwamba could’ve been lynched. They beat Alderman VJ at Andy’s funeral. They’re the only Party that killed and burnt houses of those that didn’t hail from their strongholds when their candidate lost in 2015 & 16. Those of us that lost relatives know who they are. You can’t cheat us
At least some of humanity being shown by politicians.
I watched the funeral gathering and procession on ZNBC news. From the speeches, it looked more a political gathering than a funeral. We must be selective in what speeches we make at events. Speeches must be relevant to the event.
What could be the current expectations of the people?
This should become normal life and congratulations to both our great leader President HH and my brother and friend Ambassador Mwamba that i am still encouraging to work with the new dawn government by fasttracking the 24/7 business model for Zambia. Thanks Southern p
province Minister for the leadership
Nothing about who the deceased was—disappointing article.