Milenge Remembers KK

By Linda Mupemo

Former Milenge District Commissioner Kunda Chibilo

The late former Republican President Kenneth Kaunda may be gone but his legacy lives on across Zambia and globally. 

 

 

Two years after his demise at 97 years old, residents of Milenge District in Luapula Province still have fond memories of the first president of the nation. 

 

For Chief Sokontwe of the Ushi people in Milenge District, Dr. Kaunda's style of leadership which saw the 72 tribes united is one of the things he remembers him for. 

 

 

Chief Sokontwe recalls that the late Dr. Kaunda ruled the country for 27 years without segregating any citizen on tribal or regional lines. 

 

 

The Traditional Leader says unity is one of the virtues he has adopted in his leadership and accommodates everyone in his chiefdom. 

 

 

"I ascended to the Sokontwe royal throne in 2020 and for the first time in the history of Milenge, I appointed a Tonga last year to head a village in my chiefdom and named the village after him. This is what our founding father taught us, every Zambian should be free to live in any part of the country without anyone raising the tribal card against them," he says. 

 

Chief Sokontwe explained that the said Village Headperson , Reeves Mayambuta, is a retired civil servant who worked in the area in the Ministry of Home Affairs for over 30 years. 

 

Chief Sokontwe states that parts of Milenge District were previously under Samfya and Mansa Districts, a situation which posed a challenge in accessing administrative services owing to the long distances to the centres. 

 

He says Dr. Kaunda gave Milenge a Sub - Administrative Centre status thereby taking some services closer to the people. 

 

"Milenge was eventually declared a district in 1997. It goes without saying former president Dr. Kaunda initiated the process. The development we are seeing in our community would have been impossible if it were not for being given a district status," he says. 

 

The Traditional Leader also cited the flying doctor services which ensured access to health care services as a remarkable programme he remembers the late Dr. Kaunda for. 

 

Chief Sokontwe says there were no medical doctors stationed in Milenge District at the time hence the flying doctor services came in handy. 

 

 If the history of education in Zambia is anything to go by, Dr. Kaunda is undoubtedly the god- father of free education in the nation. 

 

 

Former Milenge District Commissioner Kunda Chibilo is one of the citizens who benefited from the free education policy which Government implemented during Dr. Kaunda's reign. 

 

Mr. Chibilo says he came from a poor family hence his parents could not have met his school needs had education not been free.

 

He delightedly says he was among the first ever Grade Eight pupils in Zambia adding that he went to Nchelenge Secondary School as there were no secondary schools in Milenge back in the day. 

 

"After doing my tertiary education, I worked in the private sector for some years before being appointed as Milenge District Commissioner (DC) in 2017. I would not have achieved my dreams if it were not for the free education I acquired during the late Dr. Kaunda's tenure of office," he says. 

 

 

Mr. Chibilo also remembers the late Dr. Kaunda for enhancing the movement of goods and services in Milenge by having put a pontoon at Kapalala crossing point along Luapula river, an area that linked Milenge to Ndola District.  

 

He says when the Kapalala pontoon was operational, traders and travellers from as far as Lunga District, then under Samfya District, used the convenient Milenge - Sakania road and passed through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) enroute to Ndola. 

 

The distance between Kapalala and Ndola is 120 kilometers hence the Milenge - Sakania route linked the area to the nearest commercial centre on the Copper Belt as opposed to Mansa which is 216 kilometers away. 

 

This meant that the business community in Milenge had easy access to markets for their goods among them fish, groundnuts, sorghum and other farm produce. 

 

 

"When trucks from Milenge arrived in Ndola, buyers flocked to them to buy all sorts of produce. They excitedly said 'Kapalala yaisa!' (the vehicle from Kapalala has come). Today, there is a market in Ndola and another one in Mansa named Kapalala, a moniker the early traders borrowed from the Kapalala crossing point," he says. 

 

 

Mr. Chibilo says he also remembers the late Dr. Kaunda for his passion to promote environmental sustainability in the country. 

 

He says the former head of state championed the conservation of forests and planting of trees. 

 

 

Mr. Chibilo says he took a leaf from Dr. Kaunda's  ' environmental book' and sought to protect the forests in Milenge in the three years he served as DC. 

 

 "We have a number of forests in our district which were started during the Dr. Kaunda era. Our forests currently sit on approximately 96,000 hectares. As we grapple with the effects of climate change, I am appreciating our former president's efforts more," he says. 

 

 

 

For Mary Nyenjele, freeing the country from British colonial masters is the ultimate deed she will always remember Dr. Kaunda for. 

 

Ms. Nyenjele recalls how she and her siblings lived in fear prior to Zambia gaining its independence on 24th October, 1964. 

 

 

"I was a young girl then but I remember my father telling me he bought stuff through windows because blacks were not allowed to walk into stores. I am eternally grateful to the late Dr. Kaunda for liberating our country," she says. 

 

 

Noteworthy is the fact that the post - independence era saw accelerated social economic development in Zambia especially with the increase in the number of industries across the country. 

 

Some of the industries which were dotted across the country included the Mansa Batteries Factory in Luapula Province, the Bicycle Assembly Plant in Eastern Province, Mulungushi Textiles in Central Province and minning industries on the Copper Belt among others. 

 

 

Memories of quite an industrialised Zambia still linger in the mind of Cosmas Nsomaulwa, a Businessman. 

 

 

Mr. Nsomaulwa says the employment rates among job seekers were high owing to the presence of thriving industries. 

 

 

 

 

"Youths were assured of being absorbed in the job market upon completion of studies. Dr. Kaunda was deliberate about job creation, that is something I remember him for," he says. 

 

Zambia's liberation story can never be told fully without the mention of Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, his efforts will forever be appreciated. 

May his brave soul continue to rest in peace.

This article was published in Zambia Daily Mail newspaper on 28^th April, 2023.