Impromptu operation catches drunk drivers

THE thing about drinking alcohol is that it can almost be likened to gambling. You can go out on a drinking night out and not know where you will end up the next day.
It could work out good or it could be disastrous, like the throw of a dice.
Lazarous Siantumbo of Livingstone can at least attest to this. He cannot agree more with the statement because he can definitely relate to it.
The bed he woke up from one Saturday morning earlier this year, was not the one he woke up from on Sunday.
In fact, he never returned to his home that particular night because he ended up sleeping behind bars, in a police cell.
Perhaps you could wonder, “what for?”
Well, Lazarous who was driving a Toyota vehicle had his car impounded, driving licence confiscated and himself detained for driving under the influence of alcohol.

ROAD Transport and Safety Agency head of public relations Frederick Mubanga breathalyses Lazarous Siantumbo of Livingstone whose breath alcohol concentration was three times above the permissible limit of 0.38mg. The agency on Saturday night swung into action and conducted random tests on drivers and about 30 drivers were arrested and charged with drink driving. 

He was pulled over by Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) officers who on that fateful day, in a joint operation with the Zambia Police Service traffic officers had mounted a checkpoint to randomly check the adherence and compliance to road traffic rules and regulations.
Among the issues that the officers were checking was driving licences, motor vehicle fitness certificates and also the breath alcohol concentration, an offence that Lazarous and 30 other drivers were arrested and had their vehicles impounded for.
And it having been a Saturday, it was evidently assured that it was going to be a field day for the road traffic inspectors and the traffic officers.
Lazarous’ reading was 0.99mg, almost three times above the permissible limit of 0.38mg.
“Please bwana [officer]; I am begging you to release me. I won’t do it again,” he begged RTSA head of public relations Frederick Mubanga.
But Mr Mubanga and the other officers who included the agency’s deputy director for road safety Gladwell Banda were not in any compromising mood.
“We are not stopping people from drinking. All we want is to have a cadre of responsible drivers on the roads,” he says.
Mr Mubanga further adds: “If you are going to drink, you either drink within the permissible limit or if that’s not the case, drink your brains out and find someone else to take you home.”
He says the agency aims to reduce the number of road accidents by 50 percent by the year 2020.
“That is why we have partnered with Zambian Breweries to see how best we can work together to scale up this exercise so that we have safer roads. Government has invested so much money on these roads and we have felt the need to have safer drivers on them, too,” he says.
Mr Mubanga hopes the partnership between the agency and Zambian Breweries further reduces the number of road accidents.
“Last year, we recorded a reduction and we want to build on it and reduce the numbers even further,” he says.
“We won’t be announcing where next we go. All drivers with a tendency of driving under the influence of alcohol will be in for a surprise,” Mr Mubanga adds.

ROAD Transport and Safety Agency deputy executive director - road safety Gladwell Banda breathalyses a motorist on the Lusaka road in Livingstone.

From Livingstone, their next stop was Ndola.
There, too, similar check points were mounted and this time around, officers from the Zambian Breweries Ndola plant were part of it.
“We have a dream to create a better world and that can only be achieved with a safe and healthy environment and community,” Zambian Breweries’ corporate affairs director Ezekiel Sekele said.
He added, “The enforcement exercises are a way to go as we continue to get the message across on responsible drinking and the dangers of drinking and driving to our consumers and the community. At Zambian Breweries, we think it’s our responsibility not only to share that message with everybody, but also to back the government and institutions such as the RTSA through such initiatives as the road safety campaign.”
Zambian Breweries signed a memorandum of understanding with RTSA in 2016 aimed at curbing drink driving and ensuring safety on the roads with a view to cutting the number of road accidents.
The company, together with the agency, hopes to see a new Zambia, where motorists and other road users begin to accept that alcohol abuse and drink-driving are socially unacceptable.
With its responsible drinking and don’t drink and drive campaigns in force, consumers are encouraged to be accountable and responsible for the way in which they consume alcohol.

Mr Mubanga and Mr Banda during the operation in Livingstone recently.

The path to responsible drinking and to never drink and drive is a key message the brewing company has dedicated to spread in 2018.
Minister of Transport and Communications Brian Mushimba has been advocating the stiffening of penalties meted on motorists found guilty of drink-driving.
Mr Mushimba said the current K2, 500 fine is not working as a deterring factor to would-be offenders.
“The fine that is given to an offender found drink-driving is not helping in terms of deterring people from drinking and driving because it is so lenient,” he said at the 10 Miles checkpoint in Mazabuka recently.
He feels the traffic offence of drink-driving should go with deterrent penalties such as a minimum of six months to one year imprisonment.
Addressing journalists when Zambian Breweries donated six breathalyzers and a K100, 000 cheque to the agency in December last year, RTSA director and chief executive officer Zindaba Soko said drink-driving is one of the risk factors that contribute to road accidents in Zambia.
He said that when one was driving under the influence of alcohol, they were prone to either miscalculate distances when overtaking or doze off.
He stressed that the offence of drinking and driving has far-reaching implications in that the offender risks his own life, lives of passengers and other road users.
“The agency has identified drink driving as one of the risk factors that contribute to road crashes on our roads. We are pleased that Zambian Breweries, our partner, has provided us with breathalysers that will be used in detecting how much alcohol one may have consumed while driving. This will be done in our routine operations,” he noted.

All joy as Nakatindi maternity annex is commissioned

SARA Katombora, seemingly over 50, is a resident of Livingstone’s Nakatindi township. She has lived in the area for many years.
“This is my home and all these people you see are here to witness something that we have for a long time waited and longed for,” she says. 

 Truly, she is among the many people that gathered at the only clinic in the township to witness the official handover of a maternity annex.
“We are very grateful for this gesture because we used to suffer every time it came to giving birth here,” says Mrs Katombora, who is also the Nakatindi health committee chairperson.
“We tried all we could to have this facility here and today, it is gratifying to see it come to fruition,” she adds.
The maternity annex in question was constructed by two destination management companies: Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy and Sussi and Chuma Sanctuary Retreats in Livingstone.
Furnished with modern medical equipment and supplies of over US$400,000, the actual building is valued at well over US$200,000.
“This is but just a fraction of our many community works we have been doing in not only Zambia, but all the places where we have a presence. This is our way of giving back to the community,” says Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy coordinator Camilla Rhodes.
Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy has full-time community development professionals around the world who are responsible for facilitating its commitment to its community partners and introducing guests to its philanthropic investments.
Other than Zambia, the company also has a presence in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Peru, Sri Lanka, India, and south-east Asia.
“We are dedicated to positively impacting lives and livelihoods in the communities where our guests travel. We are equally committed to ensuring guests learn about our philanthropic investments as an integral part of their travel experience.
“From Africa to Asia, Latin America to the Antarctic, we are working with partner communities on education, health care, conservation and enterprise development projects,” says Ms Rhodes.
Ms Rhodes said her organisation has been working with numerous funders from the United States of America to ensure the successful completion of the project.
Sussi and Chuma Sanctuary, on the other hand, is a lodge built on a dramatic bend of the Zambezi River in the Mosi-Oa- Tunya National Park, about 12 kilometres upstream from the Victoria Falls.
It is named after Dr David Livingstone’s faithful friends, Sussi and Chuma.
Its involvement with the Nakatindi community in Livingstone dates as far back as 2010, and, with the help of elders, various projects in education, conservation, and entrepreneurship have been identified and implemented in the community.
And the new 275 square metre maternity annex recently constructed at Nakatindi is the partnerships’ largest investment to date and provides increased capacity for antenatal care.
The facility features a delivery room, sluice, antenatal and postnatal rooms, ultrasound room, duty room for stay-over staff, washrooms and an office.
Facing long distances without access to transportation, the majority of women in Zambia still give birth at home without the assistance of a skilled health worker.
Livingstone mayor Eugene Mapuwo officially commissioned the facility that many hope will be a great milestone in enhancing maternal health care in the district.
Before that, Livingstone only had five clinics offering maternal services. For the Nakatindi community, the nearest health facility is Mahatma Gandhi, which is about 10 kilometres away.
“As you may be aware, Nakatindi clinic was built in 2014 with a catchment area population of about 6,000 and 13,000 as per headcount, according to the Central Statistical Office (CSO),” he says.
He adds: “With this growing population, this facility is very busy and critical in the provision of the primary health care services in Livingstone district.”
He said Government will always value partnerships in the development and provision of health care services.
“This is a clear testimony of our resolution to provide better health services to our people and of course with the commitment of other stakeholders who have gone out of their way to assist Government realise this dream,” he said.
Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy and Sussi and Chuma Sanctuary in 2014 constructed and handed over both the clinic and ablution block fitted with water reticulation.
The Ministry of Health attaches great importance to the provision of health care services to the people of Zambia, anchored by its mission statement: ‘‘To provide equitable access to cost-effective, quality assured health services as close to the family as possible.’’
Acting Livingstone district health director Muchabona Manyaka has assured the community that the newly constructed maternity annex will be fully operational by April.
Dr Manyaka said her office will deploy 15 midwives to the facility.
“This has increased the number of health facilities that offer maternal services in the district,” she says.
Douglas Munkombwe is in charge at the health facility. He too is optimistic about the new facility at the clinic and is looking forward to the day it will be fully operational.
“It is equipped and good to go. It will definitely go a very long way in improving health care services in this community,” he says.

A view like no other: The Victoria Falls in Indian President Kovind's eyes

WHEN Indian President Shri Ram Bath Kovind touched down at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone recently, almost everyone knew what he had come to do in the tourist capital.
The itinerary that was availed to the local media team was clear: he wanted to see with his own eyes the magnificent Victoria Falls – a natural wonder that he only used to read and learn about during his school days.

VISITING Indian president Shri Ram Bath Kovind viewing the Victoria Falls Site Map during his visit to the natural wonder.

“I’ve seen with my own eyes the greatest and mighty Victoria Falls. I used to learn about it and read about it during my student years and through my dedicated theme to see and visit the Victoria Falls, I am very happy,” was all he said after a guided tour of the world heritage site.

President Shri Ram Bath Kovind, his wife Savita and son Prashant Kumar at the Victoria Falls in Livingstone

Well, he might not have been to the best points such as the Knife Edge Bridge, the Boiling Pot or indeed the Devil’s Pool, but he surely came close to one vantage point that gave him an equally exceptional view of the waterfalls.
The timing was perfect, too; it is during this time of the year that the Victoria Falls is gushing out abundant waters fed into the Zambezi River from many tributaries.
It was therefore not surprising for President Kovind, who was accompanied by his wife Savita Kovind and their son Prashant Kumar, to see how ecstatic he was to have visited the site which Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone described in 1855 as “scenes so beautiful, must have been gazed upon by angels in flight”.
According to Southern Province Minister Edify Hamukale, the idea to visit the falls was ‘sold’ to President Kovind by President Edgar Lungu when he was in the country on a State visit.
“We, as a province, we are honoured to receive a dignitary of that status to come and interact with us. That shows that the co-operation between India and Zambia is not something at a lower level but also at the highest level, at the presidency level,” he said.
For Dr Hamukale, the visit was timely because it was an opportunity for him to ‘sell’ the province to the visiting President and the world.
“We’ve actually submitted a written document on development opportunities and investment opportunities in Southern Province and also the guidelines as outlined in the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Act,” he said.
“We feel there is a lot of room to co-operate with the government of India in the area of culture, processing of timber into timber products and also agricultural products processing such as livestock products and also crop products into semi-finished and finished goods.”
In short, Dr Hamukale wants the co-operation between the two countries to spill over into the manufacturing industry.
“Construction of factories and plants here in Zambia to exploit our raw materials and turn them into finished products. We have indicated to President Kovind that we would be very happy to have a plant that can produce generic medicines in Zambia,” he said.
“Otherwise, it was a very exciting experience and on behalf of government, we feel really honoured that President Lungu has chosen Southern Province as the destination for his Indian counterpart, President Kovind.”
President Kovind flew into the tourist capital around 11:45 hours aboard the Presidential Challenger jet and flew back to Lusaka the same day around 16:47 hours.
He was received at the airport by Dr Hamukale, Minister of Arts and Tourism Charles Banda and Minister of Community Development Emerine Kabanshi.
Others were Zambia’s High Commissioner to India Judith Kapijimpanga, Southern Province permanent secretary Mwangala Liomba, Livingstone Mayor Eugene Mapuwo and acting district commissioner Harriet Kawina.
Instead of taking a souvenir, President Kovind, his wife Savita and son Prashant left one — they planted a Tamarind tree near the waterfalls.

President Shri Ram Bath Kovind and his wife Savita plants a tamarind tree.

“We hope you will come back and check on it one day,” Richard Mbewe, the senior archaeologist at the National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC), told President Kovind as he smiled as if to give an assurance that he would be no stranger to the site.
In his address to the Indian community here, President Kovind urged them to help strengthen the bilateral ties between the two countries, which date as far back as 1964.
He said India, which is ranked as the fifth fastest growing economy, enjoys warm relations with Zambia.
“I have been welcomed warmly by President Edgar Lungu and I also had the opportunity to meet Kenneth Kaunda, who was very close to Mahatma Gandhi. Help make this partnership between the two countries a success and also remember your country India’s development agenda,” he said.
Indeed the trip to the tourist capital, even though it was just for less than five hours, raised the country’s profile and more so that of the Victoria Falls.
President Kovind is the first sitting President to come and view the Victoria Falls with his wife and son.
United Kingdom’s Prince Harry, his fiance Meghan Markle, Princess Charlene of Monaco, Ghanaian First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Hollywood actor Will Smith and also British football icon David Beckham are among the 149, 630 visitors recorded at the site in 2017.
Stretching back in time, the first European to visit the falls was Dr Livingstone precisely on November 16, 1855.
He remarked: “The most wonderful sight I had witnessed in Africa. No-one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes…”

Sikwela’s fact-finding mission

WHEN Tourism and Arts permanent secretary Howard Sikwela who was recently transferred from the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare arrived in Livingstone, from onset, his intentions were clear.
“I am not here for luxury or sightseeing,” he declared. “I am here to hear the views from my officers and departments to not only acquaint myself with the ministry, but to also see and hear firsthand information on the challenges and see how best we can promote the sector,” Reverend Sikwela said.

Viewing White Rhinos in the Mosi-oa-tunya national park.

With a game ranger

Simply put, he was here on not only a fact -finding visit, but also to familiarise himself with the operations.
His two-day tour and stay in the tourist capital saw him visit among other places, the Livingstone Museum, the Railway and Jewish Museum, the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, the National Art Gallery and also the Maramba Cultural Village that was gutted in August 2016.
While there, Rev Sikwela said a budget had been set aside for the rebuilding of the cultural village that he said was quite important for the preservation of culture and tourism development.
“A sum of close to K2 million has been set aside in this year’s budget for the rebuilding of this facility. As soon as the funds are released, we shall move in and rebuild it,” he said.
Nevertheless, Vincent Kamwanya, the coordinator at the Maramba Cultural Village, said the gutted village earned K107, 000 revenue in 2017.
“Forty percent of which was deposited into government’s Control 99 Account and before that, the village collected K150, 000 in 2015,” he said.
Patronage to the place has dropped because of lack of supporting structures. The auditorium is, however, fully functional but it too needs to be refurbished as its walls have started to develop cracks.
“We need to diversify the economy from mining. Tourism is different from these other sectors. Let’s be creative enough and see how we can create revenue and stop depending on handouts from Government all the time,” Rev Sikwela said. “See what kind of marketing you can do to promote these structures.”
He also toured the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And there, his concern was on the ticketing office.
Many feel it lacks the cultural aspect of what it tries to sell.
John Zulu, the site manager at the Victoria Falls said the point raked in K3.8 million revenue in 2017.
About 149, 630 people visited the site in 2017, a slight drop compared to 154,755 recorded in 2016.

At the Victoria Falls with Zulu and Jocelyn Mutinta

Rev Sikwela also met with tour operators in Livingstone who raised a number of concerns.
Among the issues raised was high taxes which the operators feel disadvantaged Zambia over its neighbours Zimbabwe, Bostwana and Namibia.
Livingstone mayor Eugene Mapuwo told Rev Sikwela that his office has received numerous queries from the tour operators regarding the newly introduced taxes.
“I don’t even know what to tell them anymore,” he said.
Mr Mapuwo said in order for tourism to thrive and the country to beat the competition from neighbours, the tourist capital should be made a tax-free zone.
“We have people that are favouring Zimbabwe over us because of our taxes which in most cases fall back on the clients,” he said. “We have tourists who are just using Zambia and Livingstone as a transit point to go to Zimbabwe because the activities there are cheaper than here.”
On his entourage, Rev. Sikwela had heads of departments from his ministry.
The other place he touched was the Department of National Parks and Wildlife where he held talks with management before taking time to visit the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park to check on the white rhinos the park boasts of.

At the Railway Jewish Museum

In 2016, the park recorded 20, 278 visitors of which 7, 728 where international and 12, 550 were local tourists. In terms of revenue, the visits translated into K3.6 million for that year whereas the amount almost doubled to K6.5 million in 2017.
“In 2017, we had 10, 334 international visitors and 11, 615 local tourists,” said the area warden.
The Mosi-oa-Tunya Park is unique because of its 12 white rhinos, one of the world’s most endangered species and on the brink of extinction. The park also has other animals, except those in the cat family.
In terms of the human-animal conflict, the park area recorded four deaths by an elephant and of course crocodile attacks.

At the Livingstone Museum.

“We are always trying to sensitise the people on how to interact with the animals but you know sir, some of our tourists want to get as close enough to the animals as those in the zoo,” said Mr Daka.
His thoughts after the tour?
Key among them was the issue of collaboration between departments under the ministry. He wondered why for instance, the Maramba Cultural Village could always be a target for elephants when it is close to the DNPW gate.
He also wondered why there was little or in some instances no vigorous marketing of some tourist sites such as the National Art Gallery.
He challenged all the workers to ‘die a little’ and go out of their way and market some sites, especially to the locals so that they can in turn do so to potential foreign tourists.
“Let us create the hype ourselves. Let us talk about these things. Let’s go into schools and tell the people that these things exist and are there for them. This is our baby,” he said.

Irrigation to end Lusitu’s barrenness

THERE is a common Tonga saying: “Atika meenda aatakwe buyoleke,” (Once water spills you cannot gather it again).
This saying is loosely translated as: “When something bad happens, it is not reversible.”
For centuries, the Tonga speaking people have occupied both banks of the Zambezi River, from Kariba Gorge to Devil’s Gorge upstream, in what was known as the Gwembe Valley; calling themselves ‘Basilwizi’ ( people of the river).

LUSITU Irrigation Development Project chief engineer Abedinego Chalikosa standing across the reservoir under construction in Chief Chipepo’s area of Lusitu.

They are said to have lived in relative peace, sharing cultures and languages, with very little outside influence.
Their only contact with humankind is believed to have been limited to prospectors, hunters, surveyors and the settlers’ district commissioners.
The escarpments, at over 60 metres high, created effective barriers from outside intrusions.
Little did they actually know that soon, their lives were going to change, forever.
This time came in the mid- 1950’s, when the decision to construct the Kariba Dam wall was made by the then Rhodesian governments.
Although not very populous, nonetheless, it is estimated that about 150, 000 people lived in the area.
Among those that were displaced were Lenard Kandela’s parents.
At that time, Lenard, now 61, married to two wives and blessed with 15 children, was only two years old.
But he remembers.
“We have been here since 1957 from the dam area where we were displaced from to pave way for the construction of the Kariba dam,” he says.

Lenard Kandela

From the stories he was told by his late parents, life in the valley, before being relocated to where they are now, in Siavonga’s Lusitu area was very good.
“We had a lot of water there and we could grow literally anything all year round,” he says.
That is what many people miss about the Kariba dam area.
It had abundant water to accommodate all their farming needs.
Not Lusitu, their new home.
“This is a drought-prone area. All of us here rely on farming for our livelihoods,” he says.
He adds that farming in the area is always hard because of the bad weather conditions and also the terrain.
“When it comes to soil fertility, the soils are perfect and conducive to grow a wide range of crops,” he says.
It is for this reason that Government, with support from the World Bank, is implementing a US$4.5 million irrigation development project that is expected to change the scenario.
“Poverty is not good. This irrigation scheme will benefit a lot of us here because we put in so much to farm around this area,” he says.
Mr Kandela has a generator and an engine that he uses to pump water to irrigate his farm.
“Some people don’t have these things and it is very costly because it is not all the time that you can have these things,” he says.
He says at one point, he had over 40 cattle, but none is left now.
“The only things I have at the moment are goats and chickens,” he says. Some of his cattle either died from cattle disease or were sold to finance other projects.
However, he stands to benefit from the irrigation scheme that is under construction.
According to chief engineer on site, Abedinego Chalikosa, the US$4.5 million investment project will be in use by November this year.
The project is being constructed by Savenda Management Services, which is working hard to complete the job on schedule.
“Initially, we were supposed to be done by January this year, but [there are] challenges such as weather and also the construction of the 114 houses for those that were moved from the site where we are setting up,” says Mr Chalikosa.
The project is an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Irrigation Development and Support Programme (IDSP) and is located on the left bank of the Zambezi River, downstream of the Kariba dam, about 15 kilometres south of Chirundu.
Close to 4,000 people in the drought-prone area stand to benefit from it.
“What we are basically trying to do is give an opportunity to people to have access to water throughout the year. We are going to pump water from the Zambezi River, that doesn’t run dry,” he says.
According to research findings by the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), for the past decade, over 50 percent of the agricultural budget has been spent on maize input and output subsidies, benefiting only a minority group of farmers.
The findings further revealed that 70 percent of the smallholder farmers cultivate less than two hectares and account for only 31 percent of the value agricultural production. Maize, being a low value commodity, cannot be a way out of poverty for this category of farmers.
“There has been limited willingness to change the status quo by the policy makers to shift resources from maize. Areas that have higher pay-offs than maize as far as smallholder income growth and rural poverty reduction have received little attention,” says IAPRI executive director Chance Kabaghe.
That is what the irrigation scheme tries to address.
The size of the existing gross area is approximately 5,000 hectares while the proposed size of the command area is 278 hectares out of which 254 hectares will be arable under irrigation.
Savenda Management Services is almost done with the clearing of the land where the irrigation plots will be situated while access and feeder roads had already been created as other works progress in earnest. A visit to the site of the irrigation scheme found Mr Chalikosa and project general manager Iain Macra supervising the dredging works at the site where the central pumping station will be located.
This is where the water tapped from the Zambezi River, about 200 metres away, will then be supplied to the irrigation areas through a system of pumping stations, reservoirs and pipes.
The works being carried out by Savenda include construction of the civil and electromechanical works of the pumping station located on the left bank of the Zambezi River and installation of the main conveyance pipes network of 6.5 kilometres in total, supplying water to the storage reservoirs and irrigation networks.
Results from a soil analysis by the Ministry of Agriculture in Lusitu shows that the land is fertile for the growing of various crops.
“So far from the houses that have been built for us, it is evident that this project is serious and we are looking forward to seeing it kicking off. I already know what I want to be growing,” said Monday Sai, 34.
Mary Simalambo, 44, a mother of eight children says once completed, the irrigation scheme will help her grow enough crops and to send her children to school.
“Farming here is hard and we are just grateful that this project is underway. It is going to transform our lives a great deal. We already know what we shall be growing, from vegetables, bananas and even tomatoes, those crops with ready market,” she says.
And Siavonga District Commissioner Lovemore Kanyama is optimistic that the project will enable locals in the area to conduct farming throughout the year.
“We are impressed with the quality of works being implemented by Savenda and every one of us is looking forward to having it operational as soon as possible,” he says.
In order to mitigate the impact of resettlement, Government has sought help from a number of organisations to finance irrigation projects – including the African Development Bank (AfDB) which will finance the six-year small-scale irrigation project in Chongwe, Mazabuka and Sinazongwe districts at US$10.77 million.

Being a newspaper vendor earned me college education

AUSTIN Liwakala, 25, is a final-year student at David Livingstone College of Education (DALICE).
He is a former street vendor and today he is at the training institution in the tourist capital, pursuing a course in teaching.
We caught up with the enterprising Austin and he shared his somewhat unique story with us.
Born in 1992 to Liwakala Mungabwa and Nanzila Magumwi in Magumwi village, somewhere in Mwandi district in the Western Province, Austin’s childhood was not the easiest, especially after the death of his parents.

Austin in the library.

“I lost my parents at a very tender age when I was still in primary school at Magumwi Primary School,” he says.
“My father was first to die in 2003 and my mother followed two years later. I am the only one remaining, my young sister died in her infancy, too.”
“I moved here [Livingstone] just after writing my Grade seven exams, in 2005 with my father’s younger brother [Balumbi Mangabwa]. He was a businessman who used to travel a lot,” he says.
When the results came out, Austin was one of the best pupils at his school and was selected to go to Sichili Secondary School.
And his uncle promised to see him through, but that was only a promise.
“My uncle used to travel to and from the village dealing in cattle business. One time, when his marriage was degenerating, he went to the village and never returned,” he says.
That’s how Austin was left in the care of his aunt, with whom he had a somewhat sour relationship.
“I stayed at home for almost two years, somewhere between 2006 and 2007 before I moved in with my cousin and with time I started selling in a neighbour’s shop,” he says.
In 2008, luck struck.
His other cousin, only identified as Lubinda, decided to take him back to school.
Lubinda managed to apply and secure Austin a full government sponsorship through the Department of Social Welfare.
“I was too old for Grade Eight and that was how my cousin suggested that I skip Grade Eight and just go straight into grade nine”, he said.
With his good Grade seven results, he fitted in well in Grade Nine. He did well in his final examinations.
From there, he was selected to go to Linda Secondary School, where he went on to complete his secondary school education in 2011.
He says his time in secondary school was not the easiest either.
Austin narrates that he was at one point hit by a mysterious mental illness which he suspects was caused by a witchcraft spell cast on him.

Austin Liwakala.

“I don’t know whether it was out of witchcraft or what, but after I was selected to go to Linda Secondary school, I developed a mental illness which I feel contributed to my poor performance in the final exams,” he says.
“But after a series of prayer sessions with Pastor Emmanuel Sitondo, I became better and managed to have a full certificate. It did me really bad because I became slow at grasping things at school.”
He adds: “After the results came out, I only performed well in about three subjects. The rest were satisfactory, so I had to re-sit.”
But in order to re-sit the subjects, he had to raise money.
What better way to raise money than to become a newspaper vendor for the Zambia Daily Mail.
“I owe where I am today to the opportunity I got from the Zambia Daily Mail. Just by me being a vendor of the newspaper opened up a lot of opportunities and it is from that I managed to raise money to re-sit my Grade 12 examinations and save some to get me to college,” he says.
Nyambe Lungowe, a senior sales executive at the newspaper, describes Austin as “one of the most vibrant vendors the newspaper has had”.
Asked about life as a newspaper vendor is, Austin says it was always not rosy.
“It was not easy because at times you would have a lot of returns. But with time and on special occasions, you would find that you sell all the papers,” he says.
He also used to sell airtime.
His favourite ‘hunting grounds’ were the hotels, especially when there were conferences and meetings.
“Many times, we would go there and sell many copies,” he says. “Otherwise, I can’t say it was easy.”
Nonetheless, it would be a field day whenever there were government advertisements in the newspaper.
Advertisements such as military, public service commission or teacher recruitment exercises made the newspaper sell like hot cake.
“Those days I would sell a lot of copies,” he says. “The commissions were little but I still managed to raise money to re-sit and I even opened an account with Airtel Mobile Money where I used to bank my little profits.”
In no time, he managed to become a vendor for three other newspapers and he lived like that from December 2011 to 2015 when he was accepted to pursue a teaching diploma at DALICE.
“I am in my final year. I have done my first school teaching practice at Mwandi Secondary and I will be doing my final teaching practice at Simoonga Combined Secondary School.”
He is advising all those that could be going through hardships to remain steadfast and persevere.
“I think the greatest power one can ever possess is that fighting spirit and determination within themselves,” he says. He also says being humble and grateful to those that help you in life is equally important.
“I never forget people that were kind to me. That is why I always endeavour to show the same kindness in my own small way."