ALICE MULENGA LENSHINA AND THE LUMPA CHURCH (cult)

THE LUMPA CHURCH OF ALICE LENSHINA
(supplied by Owen Sichone)




1 The Enigma of Lenshina

At this time I was a teacher in the district of Chinsali. I knew Lenshina before she formed this movement as an ordinary woman. She belongs to the Lubusha's family of Chinsali and was a Christian member of the Lubwa s Church of Scotland Mission....Although the Lumpa church seemingly gave United Federal Party initial support, I was led to suspect that this organisation was masterminded and directed from outside ‑ by foreigners. Colonialists, realising that UNIP would be impossible to contain through the normal democratic processes, must have conspired and nurtured this sect. (Makasa 1985:154‑9)

Speaking as a former youth chairman for Mtelwe Branch in Chief Mwase s area, Mr Chirwa says he and his colleagues were very surprised that a woman (Lenshina) who had been reported to be a traditional healer who could raise people from the dead had set up a church which was now engaging in political clashes with UNIP. ( Lumpa uprising: UNIP to blame? Zambia Daily Mail (ZDM), Monday May 31, 1993)


In 1953 a Bemba woman called Alice Mulenga Lenshina had a religious experience that altered her life and that of thousands of other Zambians who were to follow her. Hundreds of them were killed in what has become known as the
Lumpa Uprising of 1964. This paper is a review of the hostile attitudes of both Zambian nationalists and western scholars to the independent church. Hostility in this case does not just mean hatred but also the imposition of Eurocentric values and concepts on an African religious experience.

The attitude of many Zambians towards Alice Lenshina and her Lumpa Church since the 1964 violence has been charaterised by contempt and anger. They remember only Lumpa's wrongs, and some of these popular memories are pure inventions that have become myth in a political environment that was dominated by the one party state's version of history.

Former United National Independence Party (UNIP) Central Committee member Kapasa Makasa quoted above demonstrates the refusal to accept that an ordinary village woman could lead something as powerful as Lumpa undeniably was in the 1950s. Makasa also re‑arranges history to prove that Lumpa initially supported UNIP but was corrupted by the enemy. The fact is in 1953 there was no UNIP, to support or oppose. Kaunda and his friends broke away from the African National Congress (ANC) to form UNIP five years after the establishment of Lumpa. Makasa insists that there must have been an imperialist conspiracy behind Lenshina because she was an ordinary woman. She herself conducted herself like an ordinary woman. Thousands of Mama Lenshina s followers did not think that Alice was an ordinary woman. In any case the Lumpa church was not more opposed to UNIP than to the ANC or United Federal Party, the chiefs, or even the British authorities. But at the time of the uprising Lumpa had broken away from the United Free Church of Scotland (UFCS) and was a totally independent church whereas Prime Minister Kaunda led a Northern Rhodesia that was still very much a British colony with Sir Evelyn Hone as governor and the two army battalions sent to destroy Lumpa villages still had British officers, and can be described as units of the British colonial army.

If educated Zambians like Makasa have a slanted view of Lenshina, historians and sociologists while not hostile unnecessarily force the Lumpa Church into the straitjacket of hallowed preconceptions like Bantu prophets, mucapi witch finders or syncretic religions and fail to analyze Lumpa in its own right. Lehmann (1961) and Rotberg (1961) conducted their research into Lenshina before the
uprising and unlike most of the work that was produced by scholars after 1964 their preoccupation is not the political problems of Lumpa and UNIP.

Rotberg's account is well balanced. He did not allow himself to be influenced either by the colonial reports, the missionaries or even Lenshina herself. Rotberg's second strength is his ability to capture the historical situation that produced the Lumpa church. He also warned that the Lumpa church ...has surrounded itself with an effective aura of unnecessary mystery. It has allowed itself and its leader, Alice Lenshina, to become the cause of uninformed speculation and concern. (Rotberg:63).

Such concern as we now know was partly to blame for the tragedy that befell the Lumpa Church in 1964. Although the church was smashed in its military confrontation with the army, and its leader arrested and imprisoned while many of the followers escaped into exile, Lumpa has survived. One observer had noted even in its early days that the Lumpa Church was "...firmly established as a religious group of lasting importance for Northern Rhodesia." (Rotberg:77) Everything that has happened so far suggetsts that Rotberg was correct.

According to Rotberg, Lenshina Mulenga's religious experience, the source of all her fortunes and tribulations, occured in 1953 and was reported by different witnesses in various ways. The White Fathers for example saw it as a hoax from beginning to end planned by her money loving husband Petros Chitankwa who was trying to replicate a sect founded by a Nyakyusa woman in Tanganyika who had seen a vision of Christ and had gained financially from the small religious movement that had grown around her. It seems to me that Petros could have declared himself prophet and still made money if it were possible to fake visions for there is nothing that bars men from becoming healers or prophets.

Most accounts of Lenshina s religious experience describe the familiar rite of passage which prophets in many different religions undergo. First there is the illness. This is followed by separation from family, village community and humanity followed by cure and re‑integration into society. In Lenshina s case, some analysts rationalise that she could have eaten poisonous mushrooms, or suggest she had epileptic fits. I have even heard people suggest it was a case of (celebral) malaria or some other fever which made her delirious. Epileptic fits and ngulu spirit possession have also been suggested as causes. The White Fathers whose crusade against Bemba religion forced the people to be secretive about their spiritual life claimed to have evidence that Lenshina had had ngulu or other fits since childhood. Although they considered themselves the European experts on ngulu the White Fathers in fact did not have full knowledge of Bemba religion.

Lenshina s illness was quite different fom the ngulu experience in that she died and was sent back. Her time has not come God is said to have told the angels. One journalist says she fainted or lost consciousness and people assumed she had died, and that she died several times before regaining her health ( How the dramatic Lumpa crisis ended , ZDM, Monday 7 June, 1993). This insistence that Lenshina was one big mistake shows how difficult it is for non‑members of Lumpa to believe Lenshina s testimony. We are able to rule out the possibility of ngulu and other fits in Lenshina s case, however, because although we know hymns were very important to Lenshina and ngulu spirits are appeased with music appropriate to the spirit involved, there is no record of Lenshina becoming entranced as a result of the singing and drumming, Lehmann s account shows that Lenshina merely enjoyed singing with the other women. We also know that fits of a physical nature, such as epileptic ones, are treated with medicines rather than music. (Mwesa Mapoma pers. comm.) But whether Lenshina died or died or fainted it is a fact that this is how her church started. And as one commentator has said: If visions are possible, it appears that Lenshina had a genuine experience. (Rotberg :68) Whether Lumpa was a hoax or not cannot diminish its importance. Similar doubts have been raised in different quarters by Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic church, or Jimmy Swaggart. Some have been quick to characterise Lumpa a prophecy that failed (Bond 1979: 137) and a failed African uprising (Allen 1991: 379). But the church has survived all these odds.

When Alice Lenshina died in December 1978 she had rejoined the UFCS which had by then been incorporated into the United Church of Zambia but Lumpa did not return to the Scottish church or die with her. Some of Lenshina s followers are known to be active in the New Jerusalem Church and others have openly called for the ban to be lifted since returning in March 1993 from 30 years of exile in Zaire s Shaba province. This continued faith in the Lumpa message proves that Lenshina succeeded in establishing a new church albeit one that has still not won official recognition.

In May and June 1993, Zambia Daily Mail features editor Phillip Chirwa published a series of articles on the Lumpa Church and brought the issue of Lenshina back into the public arena for the first time since Alice Lenshina s death. One thing his articles revealed is that despite the democratic spirit of the Third Republic, the old prejudices that the Lumpa Church encountered in the Kaunda era are still very strong. Some of the people interviewed had good reasons for continuing to hate Lumpa. Their own families were victims of Lumpa violence during the uprising and as one of them said, I think they should not be revived. If we are going to allow this type of religious fanaticism, then it is not right. It is not a good feeling to be orphaned. (Ivy Tembo quoted in, Will Lenshina s Lumpa followers be forgiven? ZDM 24 May 1993)

But there were more orphans in Lumpa families than on the UNIP side. The UNIP Youth Brigade killed more Lumpa supporters than vice versa and this is excluding the victims of army automatic weapons that were killed in the Jonestown‑like villages where they had gone to escape persecution. As Bond reported for the Lumpa members of Muyombe, they were called murderers even though their congregation had killed no one. It is taken for granted that they were fanatical, an image that president Kaunda also held, and they were labelled mad dogs that were a menace to civilised society that either had to be cured or put down. Many Zambians want to believe that Lenshina was an illiterate Bemba woman who made her followers drink urine and smear themselves with f_cal matter before going into battle as a form of bullet proofing much like the Maji‑Maji of Tanganyika used water when they fought the Germans.

Most Zambian accounts of the Lumpa Church ignore the decade of the Federation and concentrate on the period of confrontation with the colonial state. Invariably they remember Lenshina for its "revolting witchcraft rites" (Colin Morris quoted by Roberts:43) such as the alleged use of excresences in magic to protect them from bullets. Not all members of the Church were illiterate and not all could have been ignorant of the power of Bren guns but it is assumed that their belief in an imminent second coming, that Lumpa church membership cards were pass books to heaven somehow prove their backwardness. Yet all Christianity hinges on just such a faith as the Lumpa members had and continue to have. Persecution does hinder the growth of religious movements, but some do thrive on persecution by the state or by the established Church.

Of the other national leaders to have come from Lenshina s home town Chinsali, Kaunda, Makasa and Kapwepwe, only the latter seems to have had a tolerant attitude towards Lenshina. This could be because they both had ties to the royal Crocodile clan and were thus related. However, Makasa who also has ties to the royal clan was very harsh in his dealings with Lumpa and dismissed Lenshina herself as an ordinary woman. When he was transferred from Katete in Eastern province to Chinsali to campaign as UNIP candidate in the 1963 parliamentary elections, Makasa says he did not expect to find any opposition to UNIP. So when he discovered that Lenshina was not pledging allegiance to his party, that she was asking her members not to register for elections and stating that UNIP arsonists (i,e. Makasa s freedom fighters) would not go to heaven he was very annoyed. He blamed the pro‑Federation, White led United Federal Party for turning Lumpa into an obstacle on the road to independence. The exclusive villages that Lumpa members had built without the permission of the district commissioners or Bemba Native Authorities were no go areas for UNIP electioneers and UNIP leaders were convinced that they knew the reason for the government s reluctance to intervene.

The independent villages that the members set up not only at Kasomo, their Zion, but in other parts of the north‑eastern districts are blamed for much of the conflict with UNIP but which was cause and which effect? There are many reasons why Lenshina s followers should have wanted to withdraw from Native Authority villages. One of them was that the UNIP Youth Brigade had destroyed the crops and granaries of Lumpa members thereby forcing them to loot and plunder non‑Lumpa villagers food. ( What Went on in Lumpa villages , ZDM, Monday, June 14, 1993)

Another source of Lumpa s problems was its poor relationship with the missionaries, especially the White Fathers. Bemba converts to Catholicism had been taught to revere Mama Maria, the mother of God. Mama Lenshina was thus condemned as a blasphemous claim from the start. The title Mama merely means grandmother and thus female Lord (as opposed to Lady or wife of a lord). I have to stress that I am not suggesting that Lenshina like Alice Lakwena had acquired the status of a man (Allen: 396). Lenshina s power was spiritual first and political by accident. But as a healer she clearly had both political and religious authority. As a law maker she merely repeated well known Christian commandments. As a leader of an uprising she did not lead the confrontation with the colonial army and was reportedly prevented from giving herself in by the men in her inner circle, namely her husband Petros Chitankwa and other Lumpa deacons until the Governor had guaranteed her safety. ( How the dramatic Lumpa crisis ended , ZDM , Monday, June 7,1993) As a Bemba woman from a polygynous household in a matrilineal society her Christianity could not but have a strongly feminist character which needs to be studied more closely. Lumpa rules and regulations subverted many powerful interests in colonial society and she was not short of enemies but the transitional UNIP government of Kenneth Kaunda hated Lenshina the most. It has been said that members of Kaunda s family in Chinsali were close to the Lumpa church but Kaunda himself was convinced that Lumpa in 1963 had become:


... anti‑society. They have been known, husband and wife, to plan to kill their
own parents because they were non‑Lumpa members and this they have done...

Senior men in the country s security services have reported that the Lumpa followers have no human feelings and their ferocious attacks on security forces bear out the fanatical nature of what I can only describe again as lunatics...No clean‑living and thinking man can accept the Lenshina Passports to Heaven as anything more than worthless pieces of paper‑ a usurping by an imposter of the majesty of God Almighty. Such teaching cannot be allowed to corrupt our people and cannot and would not be tolerated by any responsible government. (President Kaunda. cited in Van Binsbergen:300)

The senior men Kaunda refers to were of course, British officers and Kaunda does not seem to question their version of events. With hindsight we can understand Kaunda s need to prove that his was a clean living and civilised government. After the events in the Belgian Congo a few years earlier had apparently confirmed European fears about Black government, Kaunda was determined to prove them wrong. We also know that he was consistently ruthless with people he described as corrupting our people or later, misleading the masses . These include the trades unions and the opposition parties. It thus seems erroneous to suggest that the Lumpa church provoked the wrath of the state when we know that that state was in the hands of a jittery and authoritarian leadership with little control over its party branches in the villages.

It is ironical that the most independent of the Zambian political and religious organisations is accused of being a front for imperialist forces by people who were still serving under British colonial officers. Lenshina was in many cases ahead of her time even though she was an ordinary woman and not part of the educated elite. She pioneered Zambian hymnology at a time when some of the missionaries were insisting on praising God in Latin. She outlawed polygyny and widow inheritance, which the Zambian feminist movement is still battling against today. Independent churches led by male prophets on the other hand tended to champion the cause of polygyny. How is it then that her followers are accused of threatening to take society back to the prehistoric days before salt, the Zambian dark ages before the mythical ironsmith introduced millet seeds, salt and the divine chieftaincy? And why were armoured cars and machine guns deployed against poorly armed village folk? In his discussion of Mau Mau Lonsdale (1992) has suggested inter alia that the need for Kenyan nationalism to be national rather than split into several local nationalisms has made Mau Mau embarrasing to some political Kenyans who associate it with Kikuyu tribal thuggery. Lumpa was also embarrasing to nationalists like Kaunda and Makasa but not because it was a local (Bemba) church so much as one that was perceived as an obstacle on the road to Zambian independence. Lumpa was a problem because it did not share Kaunda s claim that Zambia was one nation with one church, one party and one leader. From the Lumpa point of view there was the Zambia of the infidels and witches on the one hand and the Zion of the Lumpa church. The two could co‑exist of course, Lenshina s followers did not see any need for Lumpa to submit to UNIP. The UNIP view we have already discussed.

The rest of this paper will attempt to raise doubts about some of the current information on the phenomenon of Lumpa as a prelude to further research into Alice Mulenga Lenshina s feminist, and nationalist religious movement which as Rotberg forsaw has had a lasting impact on Zambian christianity.

2 Peasants, Christians and Anthropologists

Anthropologists have been discussing the reaction to conquest of non‑European peoples for a long time now. There are those who would reduce the entire lives of such peoples to resistance. In the field of religion, for example, the idea is held by many that independent African Churches, revivals of indigenous religious ritual, and witchcraft eradication campaigns, are all forms of anti‑colonial resistance, or even early forms of nationalism (Rotberg:1965). There is a lot to be said for such categorisation because there seems to be strong corelation between crises in colonial political economy and the emergence of such movements.

When, as in the case of the Lumpa church, religious independence emerges alongside political parties such as UNIP the latter claim the sole right to lead the nation and accuse the independent churches of backwardness and of misleading the masses . The likelihood of conflict between independent churches was always high. Despite the fact that the Bible recognises the existence of witchcraft the colonial governors did not. Although colonialism is generally sickening its Witchcraft Ordinances were more directly so because they protected witches and trapped the victims in Native Authority approved villages of terror where they could neither punish the witches nor escape from them (Abrahams:40 and Sichone, 1987).

But Lumpa christianity was more than just resistance. It provided healing of which political liberation is but a part. The Lumpa church provided a solution to and condemned other forms of oppression than the colonial one such as that of women by men, poor villagers by chiefs, opposition party members by governing parties and especially that of majority of the rural population by poverty, ill health, hunger and despair. Some of Lumpa s emacipatory politics were supported by the nationalist parties and for a while Lumpa was the leading force in colonial civil society. Only the White Fathers were consistent in their opposition to the Lumpa heresy.

Most of the commentators on Lenshina give a positive picture, at least prior to the 1963 troubles, of her work in rural Chinsali and abroad. Her acts of religious independence from the UFCS were applauded by other Zambians, her construction of a network of congregations in the remotest and most neglected parts of Northern Rhodesia won her the admiration of many and even the Lumpa cathedral she erected at Kasomo village, deliberately larger than the ones built by the missionaries, were an example of independent African development. All these activities, including the hymns she composed which allowed Zambians to worship God in their own language had parallels in the nationalist struggle for political independence and should have inspired the whole liberation movement. Kaunda like other Zambian nationalists did defect from the UFCS to the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) where he served as lay preacher during the struggle against the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland but this was simply a way of protesting at the pro‑colonial politics of the missionary churches. Kaunda did not believe in a Black church, he wanted one United Church of Zambia to unite local christians of all races and denominations (Cook:1980).

In van Binsbergen s analysis of Lumpa s conflict with UNIP there is a rigourous materialist attempt to relate Lenshina s church to the colonial economy and using the sort of neo‑marxist framework that was so popular in the 1970s, he turns Lumpa into a peasant movement practising a regional cultic mode of production. (van Binsbergen (1981). Mamdani (1988 cited by Allen) peasantises the Holy Spirit Movement of Ugandan spirit medium Alice Lakwena in a similar way. Focus on class struggles is inevitable in Marxism but there is no need to de‑emphasise the spiritual element or limit it to either a reflection of the economic base or as false concsiousness especially since this is the one area in which colonial subjects are able to achieve autocentred development. A recent critic has noted that van Binsbergen s analysis does not:

....ultimately, explain why Lumpa, if indeed a peasant movement, should have been confined to the Bemba; a problem which may only be resolved with reference to the dialectic, which he does not confront, between external forces and local sociocultural structures. (Jean Comaroff:170)

The accusation of a lack of attention to sociocultural structures in van Binsbergen is justified but Comaroff does not seem to know that Lumpa was not confined to the Bemba. Alice Lenshina was Bemba and her headquarters were in Bemba country but hundreds of pilgrims made their way to Kasomo who were not Bemba speakers. Lumpa had followers in all three countries of the Central African Federation and was known from Tanganyika to South Africa. Comaroff is very right to stress the importance of the interconnection between external forces and local sociocultural structures in the analysis of Lumpa. She errs if she implies that this means Bemba culture, however this may be defined. Lumpa Puritanism was influenced more by the UFCS missionaries than by Bemba religious heritage. The Lumpa commandments against tobacco, polygyny, widow inheritance and beer on their own would have greatly undermined traditional Bemba village life and could only be understood in terms of a foreign set of values. In the local method of analysis, Lumpa s healing works were more important than its class struggles so well analysed by neo‑marxist scholars. By healer I do not mean that Lenshina was a ng anga, diviner, faith healer or witchdoctor. We can describe her simply as one who makes well those who are unwell. Naturally, the best example of this is among Christians is Jesus. And we know, as with former Roman Catholic primate of Lusaka Archbishop Milingo, that the gift of healing quickly attracts the support of and gratitude from those who are in need of healing. The unsick on the other hand fail to understand what all the excitement is about and even seem to detest healers and their work as at the very least fraudulent and at worst blasphemous for they are convinced that only Jesus should heal.

In the late 1950s Lenshina was frequently away from her headquarters at Kasomo s village visiting Lumpa congregations on the Copperbelt, in Livingstone and even Bulawayo. In her absence New Zion was still a hub of activity.

The simple shelters of the pilgrims there at the time did not house multitudes
of sick and frightened folk, longing for healing of body and mind, but the grateful followers who had come to labour voluntarily on the erection of the
Temple , a great church building which Lenshina had planned in 1956 when nobody would believe that anything might come out of these intentions (Lehmann:264).

Lehmann did not suggest that the self‑help project was itself a healing exercise but I argeu that it was. Essentially Lenshina s Temple demonstrated the capacity of Africans to work independently. Given the failure of the nationalist movement to prevent the imposition of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland there was a lot of self‑doubt in African society. At a time when liberation seemed beyond their reach, Lenshina offered people re‑birth through prayer, hymns and self‑help work. This Alice Lenshina that Kaunda attacked so viciously was not a warrior queen, she was not even a threat to the post‑colonial state weak as it may have been. UNIP s vulnerability was not of Lenshina s making. In 1963 the Federation was dismantled and independence was already promised by Britain so the politicians had regained their self‑respect. Lumpa on the other hand was popular only among the people most traumatised by colonialism and poverty, those who felt excluded from colonial society and from the transition to independence. All the same Lenshina healed, soothed and gave hope in a way that Kaunda did not and could not until he had become president of the republic with access to state resources and able to perform the role of divine king. A victorious Kaunda was still frightened of a declining Lumpa church because Lenshina s prestige did not decline with the fortunes of her church. She was still a charismatic figure and thus a rival.

Bond has noted that the Lumpa church wanted to withdraw from a world they considered to be ruled by satan and soon to be destroyed by God.Their Zion was not to make war on Zambia but to withdraw from it and to be run according to the Christian principles of the UFCS. As Mazrui has noted such a withdrawal was tantamount to opposing the new UNIP government and as Makasa argued, the same as supporting British colonialism. Such political intolerance was evidently not limited to the UNIP Youth Brigade members who harrassed Lenhsina s followers at village level. Even UNIP leaders like Kaunda exhibited the same hatred for Lumpa as an alternative movements.

Lenshina s name was famous throughout the Central African Federation and neighbouring countries as other healers before and after her had become famous although few could have been on a similar scale. Any healer attracts pilgrims in Zambia, be they practitioners of wetsrn biological medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, local herbalists or diviners. This is not a peculiarly Zambian or even Bantu phenomenon. Sickness and healing affect people in essentially the same manner. Archbishop Milingo has been contacted by the unwell from Korea, America and other parts of the world. In both form and content his healing sessions in Rome are not at all different from the ones that caused him to be removed from Lusaka.









3 Lumpa Healing and UNIP s Liberation

A pupil at the nearby Roman Catholic school reported to the White Fathers
after a holiday that he had seen a whole hut full of magic implements, including rosaries and crucifixes, which the converts had given to Lenshina before their baptism. (Lehmann:251)

Ali Mazrui (1990) has commented on the symbolic irony of the Lumpa uprising . As a devout Christian and follower of Mahatma Gandhi Kaunda professed a feminized form of pacifist politics whereas Lenshina was de‑feminized by the exigencies of her own Lumpa Church which prime minister Kaunda had to confront with state power. Mazrui presents Lenshina as a sort of Joan of Arc on par with Uganda s Alice Lakwena who led her Holy Spirit Movement into battle. This is just not true. Even before Kaunda, Lenshina had engaged in non‑violent struggles against colonial rule. When one of her supporters was arrested for calling a Roman Catholic priest a witch, Lenshina and her followers went to the district commissioner s office and asked him to detain them as well, all very Gandhian. Lenshina was always avoiding confrontation with the authorities and would probably not have opposed UNIP had she been given the chance to test black government. Both Kaunda s anti‑colonial campaign and Lenshina s healing movement have their roots in the UFCS s Livingstonia mission and it would be intersting to compare Lenshina s idea of a Christian utopia to Kaunda s failed Humanist experiment.

A number of questions arise from this antagonistic contradiction between Lumpa s healing mission and UNIP s nationalist struggle for independence a few of which I will now discuss:

If the incompatibility between UNIP and Lumpa derived from a difference in class situation and from a difference in degree of radicalism in the context of class struggle, we still have to explain why these two different movements confronted each other with deadly hostility among the same rural population of north‑eastern Zambia; (Binsbergen:296)

First and foremost, the deadly hostility was not always there. It emerged in the rather anomic period of transition to independence in 1963‑64. For UNIP members, including the more enlightened leaders in Lusaka, independence meant
One Zambia, one nation as the slogan on the new national court of arms stated, under one party and even with one United Church of Zambia and anybody who did not support UNIP was opposed to everything that independence meant (Cook:1980; Cross: 1980 and Sichone:1989). Apart from the Lumpa Church other victims of UNIP intolerance include the ANC, the United Progressive Party formed by Kaunda s chilfhood friend and former vice‑president Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe, and the Jehovah s Witnesses.

UNIP s aggressive campaign for a one party state is one problem that Lenshina did not have a solution to. As Mazrui has stressed, by being anti‑political Lenshina was making a hostile political statement. And this statement was loud enough to irritate UNIP because Lumpa support although declining in 1964 was still considerable (Pitch:82), hence UNIP s attempt to link her name with Sir Roy Welensky, the Zambian nationalists number one enemy (Lumpa uprising: UNIP to blame? ZDM, Monday May 31, 1993). It is clear that in the eyes of UNIP youth brigade members no one was above Kaunda and if Lenshina did not acknowledge that Kaunda was her leader it could only mean she was a stooge of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Another accusation was that Lenshina had political ambitions and was planning a holy war against the state(ibid). There is no evidence for this claim but we do know that she was not a UNIP supporter because in her view religion was above politics. It has to be said that there is no such separation of religion from politics in local tradition and it is, as the Comaroffs (1992:252) have shown, very much the point of view of the missionaries. In this sense the nationalists were justified to accuse Lumpa of being under foreign influence though not in the sense they meant. In any case, why should missionary influence on Lumpa be a problem if Kaunda s politics were also a product of his mission station education?

The suspicion that Lenshina s charisma was not from Christian sources led some of Lenshina s detractors to associate her with ngulu spirit possesion or to regard her as a traditional healer . In Bemba tradition her religious experience does not fall under any of the five categories of spirits that possess people: (i) Kaluwe the hunters spirit (ii) Cilumbu land spirits of the kings from the east; (iii) or spirits of the water in the Luapula area; (iv) Baleka ‑ the spirit of Africans who are not Bemba or of westernised Africans; (v) Mukalai ‑ the spirit of a White person (Mapoma:1988, Cf. Mbiti:70‑81) We could easily suppose that European and/or African Christian spirit(s) gave Lenshina her Christian instructions but since she very clearly had an Africanist and independent approach and also since Lenshina s own report refers to her meeting the Lord we can say that she was sent back to earth not by the spirit of David Livingstone or his followers but by God (Rotberg, 1961:66). This direct contact with God is of course not traditional to Bemba religion where the ancestors mediate between the Great Potter Lesa and the people. So the Lumpa church did not just surpass and by‑pass the missionaries as its name claimed but the chiefs and ancestral spirits as well. Despite its independence Lumpa doctrine was strongly based on UFCS principles (Rotberg:1961, Lehmann: Bond:153) and its members also had (like most Zambians at the time) strong roots in peasant society. Which should we stress when looking at Lumpa? My own interest is on the healing effects of her Christian teaching, hymns and mass mobilisation. The religious experience that Lenshina had has been described by a number of writers with undisguised scepticism. Even the possibility that Lenshina and her husband were replicating a Nyakyusa cult for financial gain was taken seriously. Underlying this scepticism is the sense of disbelief in the ability of the Christian God to move in African ways. As a result of this scepticism we find that Africans are labelled syncreti as if other Christianities are not. If such critics were agnostic then of course they would consider Lenshina like all other charismatic leaders to be frauds.

Lenshina was known to bless millet seeds during the sowing season, a role normally played by chiefs and she did lead acampaign to eradicate witchcraft, but both these acts are part of Bemba and Christian religion. These acts do not prove that Lenshina was indigenising the Christian teachings by incorporating Bemba ritual into Christian worship. Afterall she was delibeartely undermining Bemba religion by these and other interventions. Despite the White Fathers attempt to explain her vision as a result of ngulu spirit possession we know that Lenshina did not regularly fall into a trance as ngulu mediums do. Despite her love of singing we do not find her being driven into a trance by the music as ngulu mediums always do when they hear the music of their spirit. Lenshina's healing sessions also show that she did not claim or aspire to the gift of healing. All she did was give a sympathetic ear to people who had legal, health or political problems, many of which she had no understanding of and did not pretend to. But the people would go away relieved just like those who surrendered their rosaries to her. They were happy that Mama had taken the load off their minds and given them strenghth to face the colonial world .

4 Conclusion: The Return of Lumpa?

How can you expect a man who s warm to understand one who s cold? Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

In this paper I have raised doubts about the authenticity of existing accounts on Lenshina s church and tried to suggest ways in which future research can fill in the gaps in our knowledge of Lumpa. Can we expect members of UNIP or the White Fathers to understand Lumpa? I think not. In his book on the sacred emblems of the Bemba women's initiation ritual chisungu, Corbeil (1982) one of the White Fathers present in Chinsali during the rise of Lumpa reveals how he blackmailed a woman who had temporarily defected to Lumpa into relating to him the secrets of chisungu as a condition for returning to the catholic fold. Father Corbeil smugly suggests that Audrey Richards who had witnessed the chisungu ritual in 1931 had merely been presented with a special, watered down performance whereas he had broken the seal of secrecy and had gained access to the real thing. Whereas it is true he had a stronger hold on his informants than Richards or any other anthropologist had, and also used less acceptable methods of obtaining information, there is no reason to believe that Father Corbeil fully understood Bemba religion. He did look but he did not see everything. An analysis of his misinterpretation of the secret songs he forced the Bemba women to sing for him alone can keep a researcher occupied for a long while. For the purposes of this paper just one example will suffice: in his foreword Corbeil pushes the correct Vatican line on the sacredness of family life and suggests that his book on chisungu will also encourage Zambians, by which he probably meant the Catholicised Bemba, to be a good example to men of all nations. Thus good can come of Africa but only if it is relevant to the catholic mission. It was this Eurocentric attitude that caused hundreds of Chinsali Catholics to defect to Lumpa where Lenshina s hymns enabled them to praise God in their own language. They only returned to the church of Rome when it too started singing praises in local languages. Father Corbeil looked at the Bemba sacred imbusa and saw in them cofirmation of the Catholic views on marriage, women and family planning. Unless Bemba values are translated into Roman Catholic ones, Father Corbeil will not lend his support.

Even Africans who did not belong to the Lumpa church find it difficult to understand what it stood for. Its written rules, Lenshina s hymns, and even her impressive record as an organiser count for nought in the eyes of Zambian journalists, and politicians who see only barbarism in Lumpa about which they are still embarrassed. Historians and anthropologists look for signs of continuation in Lumpa of previous Bemba religious practice rather than the obvious links Lumpa had with the UFCS s Livingstonia Mission. Both views are partly correct but stress aspects of Lumpa that were peripheral to the religious life of Alice Lenshina and her followers.

In rejecting the idea that Lumpa was a continuation of Bemba religion I have suggested that Lenshina was not possesed by ngulu or other Bemba spirits and stressed instead her debt to the Scottish missionaries at Lubwa. Future research should try and analyse Lenshina s re‑birth more thoroughly than researchers have done hitherto. Archbishop Milingo, the former Roman Catholic primate of Lusaka, as a healer also faced the challenge that Lenshina had encountered earlier. He asked the same questions about Christianity in Zambian society as Lenshina had twenty years before him and although Archbishop Milingo s theological training and knowledge of Aristotlean or Thomist philosophy makes his understanding of Christianity far more sophisticated than Lenshina s the answers he arrives at as to what is wrong with European missionaries in Africa are strikingly similar. Despite being a loyal servant of Rome, Archbishop Milingo could not accept that being a christian meant allowing the missionaries to make him in their own European image. The fate of African christianity is that it is considered a corruption of the teachings and rituals taught by Jesus rather than those of the missionaries.

New researchers should avoid the labels we have been using to discuss Lenshina s and other African churches so far for Marx, Weber and Durkheim have probably been exhausted as far as the analysis of religious phenomena goes. An insider s view of Lumpa from members who returned from exile in March, 1993 and members of the New Jerusalem Church is long overdue. It is time for a history of Lumpa, an ethno‑musicological analysis of the healing hymns and a study of Alice Lenshina s contribution to the Zambian theological heritage is also needed. In general we have to begin anew the quest for answers to questions as basic as: what Lenshina was to her followers? Why did the other national leaders from her Chinsali home , Makasa and Kaunda despise Alice Lenshina so much? What Bemba influences can be identified in Lumpa ritual or doctrine since ngulu and ingwilwa spirits were not responsible for Lenshina s religious experience? We even are yet to resolve the mystery of how she got her "Roman Catholic" name Regina/Lenshina given that she was baptised Alice by Reverend Paul Mushindo of the UFCS.

Clearly Lumpa will not disappear from the Zambian religious scene and though the Third Republic is believed to be more democratic than the Kaunda era president Chiluba and the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) are less tolerant in religious matters. Soon after coming into office the Chiluba government unilaterally declared Zambia a Christian state. since then there has been tension between Christians, Moslems and other religious groups. A director of radio and television who happensed to be a buddhist was relieved of his duties after born again christians had complained that he was hindering the work of television evangelists. When the World cup qualifying game against Morocco which was billed as a clash of Christians against Moslems went against Zambia even the government was involved in the protest against the Gabonese referee.

The MMD s national ideology to replace Kaunda s humanism, is a brand of christian fundamentalism popular with a certain type of American television evangelist. Whether Lumpa can be considered Christian by MMD ideologues is difficult to say but even in other sections of Zambian society the hostility towards Lumpa that was widespread in the Kaunda years has not subsided and the reconstruction of the Lumpa Church of Alice Lenshina will continue to be a very difficult task.


















References

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ti

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. "
Martin Luther

MISSIONARY WORK

Last week at Faith Baptis Church (November 4) where I attend church, a gentleman from the Asia Missionary field challenged me. He showed a video of the man called Joseph who spent 2 years in India working as a missionary but bringing nobody to the Lord. Joseph is still at it and hey his prayers have been answered. Joseph has planted several churches in Indian villages. Joseph is a local within India but supported by the international community (I should say Christian believers). Surprisingly, big time missionaries get the big bucks but locals tend to do with what is falling from the master's table. And yet statistics are suggesting that locals are more effective than imports (missionaries). The challenge is how best I can support locals to do God's work right where they live. I am also challenged on how to be an effective missionary right where I live by how I conduct myself everyday.May God have mercy on me. Needless to say that import missionary have done impressive work of spreading the gospel over the years but times have changed to the point where direct contact with locals is perhaps well suited if done by indigenous people.

More Hills of Kafue

Training for Marathon cannot be any better than Kafue where hills provide the necessary endurance.

Kafue Pictures

Picture on right shows the changing face of Kafue town of Zambia, just 48km south of Lusaka. The red building under construction will process recycled scrap metal. It is expected that the plant will go into production in 2007.

KAFUE

Situated at about 48km from Lusaka (the capital city of Zambia), this sleepy town which derives its name from the Kafue River is slowly waking up and thanks to the efforts of the political leaders. Flanked by the Munali Hills to the east, the setting is almost picturesque. The town and especially the Estates (a garden like complex of low to medium dwellings and retail business operations) was founded on the premise that it would be an industrial giant that will eventually decongest Lusaka. It would serve as the economic growth pole of the predominantly rural hinterland. Thus the Nitrogen Chemicals plant was located here. It miserably underperformed and now operates at just a fraction of its potential. A few other operations were set up such as the Kafue Textiles which still produces the chitenje or wrappers for women besides sheets and other fabrics. Brick works and an abattoir/leather tanning plant were added to the list of industrial operations. These industries have just limped all along and the growth in social and other economic infrastructures that was envisaged never materialized. As a result, the living quarters for the workers that were designed in an Estate like manner have collapsed.

In recent years however, there has been a movement towards resuscitating the town. A metal fabricating company is under construction (see photo) and a new hospital to serve the burgeoning population has been completed. A piece of land has been set aside to construct a private university (Cavendish) which at the moment operates from Lusaka. I can only wish Kafue well and look forward to seeing a vibrant town in the near future.

DURBAN -KWAZULU NATAL

I arrived in this historic part of South Afrca 2 days ago. I was looking forward to seeing the Indian Ocean and its famous beaches. The weather has not been very nice. I arrived under very windy conditions and landing by plane was not the most comfortable. It has been rainy and generally colder than expected (the daily max did not climb above 16 degrees C today). I also planned to do some running as means of conditioning myself to rugged terrain (Durban is quite hilly). Unfortunately, my luggage did not arrive. I packed my running gear in the my checked bag and now feel sorry for not packing my running gear in my carry on. The airline was not very helpful even though they told me that I could buy some essentials and keep the receipts. I almost got angry, yet the scripture I read yesterday reminded me tobe content that God's grace is sufficient to sustain me (2Cor12:9). I was also reminded of an old hymn to count my blessings and name them one by one. It just made my day and made up for the lost luggage and poor weather in Durban.

U20 WORLD CUP

It has been a treat to watch the U20 soccer. In fact, I couldn't resist going to the Commonwealth stadium in Edmonton to watch some of the games. Congratulations to the boys from Africa for putting up such a great performance. All the 4 African teams went to round 2 from the group stages and we have Nigeria proceeding to the Q finals. Zambia's loss to Nigeria in round 2 should never have happened! Nigeria played the soccer politics of tying with Japan instead of beating them clean. Well, it was a job well done for the "Copper Bullets"from Zambia as the media called them. I think this is the equivalent of "Chipolopolo."

RUNNING

A past time that I reclaimed is running. I used to run in high school but gave it up when I graduated. During graduate school, I saw a poster that my adviser hang on the wall. It simply said, "Those who enjoy life keep on running." One day I had word with him about it. His answer? "Did you watch the movie called Forest Gump?" I said yes. "Well," he said "wasn't it fun to see that guy running?" I thought about and again I said, yes. I certainly enjoy running outside at my own pace. I can't stand the treadmill. Today, I run with a muchol

CANADA GEESE

Today (May 17), I went for my routine lunch hour jog around Wascana Lake. As I run past the the majestic Legislative Building, I met my usual 'friends.' The Canada Geese were out there staring at me as if to say, "What fun is in running?" Usually, they scatter about as my footsteps get closer to them. Today, they chose to remain put! They all raised their heads as I approached.They were not even quacking! They were about 6. Naturally, I stopped. Strangely, they took to their feet when I stopped. I wondered why they felt threatened when I stood there motionless but not when I was running.

The Canada Geese in Wascana Park are certainly a natural wonder and yes, they are from the same stock as the famous Loon that people associate with the Canadian one dollar coin. My encounter with these creatures did not leave a very impressionable memory. I however learnt that weak things are often chosen to shame the wise and teach us a simple lesson that being the greatest startss from being humble. I wouldn't have imagined that a great countyr like Canada would choose a quaking duck to be a national bird that for generations to come will remain on the face of the Canadian dollar. In their simplicy and lack of intelligence, I am beginning to respect the Canada Geese around Wascana Lake inspite of the mess that they leave behind as droppings!

LILI'S STORY

A long time ago in China, a girl named Li-Li gotmarried & went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all. Their personalitieswere very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of hermother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband great distress. Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it! Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr.Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all. Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said,"Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you." Li-Li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whateveryou tell me to do." Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Everyother day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you, when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her."Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen."Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law. Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially prepared food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had passed, the whole householdhad changed. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with her mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with. The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li hanged, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother anddaughter. Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening.

One day, Li-Li went to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law. She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her." Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li,there's nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her." HAVE YOU REALIZED that how you treat others isexactly how they will treat you? There is a wise Chinese saying: "The person who loves others will also be loved in return." God might betrying to work in another person's life through you.

AGRICULTURE IN THE BIBLE

Ihave always been fascinated by how much agriculture there is in the world of God; the Bible. To begin with, the unspoiled or sinless life started in the garden of Eden. Everything was perfect. When God finally judges the wicked (Revelation 22), we are told that a tree of life is planted in the middle of the new city. The Lord Jesus Christ is presented as an agricultural symbol; a lamb! The first murder that is recorded in the bible was commited by a crop farmer (Cain). Cain killed a livestock farmer (we are told that Cain's brother, Able was a skilled hunter and he was probably the first person that domesticated animals). There is certainly a lot we can learn about life and God's plans for us by looking at agriculture. In one story by Jesus, he said that a seed remains a seed until it is put in the ground. Then it gives a bountiful yield. These agricultural symbols remind me that this old age industry will make it to heaven. Perhaps we will not be working at it as hard; maybe just looking after fruits like Adan and Eve in the garden of Eden. Maybe, we will just be smelling the flowers. It is a wonderful experience to look forward to.

MAHATMA GHANDHI (QUOTE)

"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind," Ghandhi

THE CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS

A few weeks ago, I was in Camore, some 130km west of the city of Calgary. What stands out as you drive west are the majestic Rocky Mountains. They just stood there while clouds swirled round about. I remembered a portion of scripture which says 'even mountains praise Him.' The obvious question that I asked myself as I gazed at the motionless mass of rock was, "How do they do the mountains praise God?" I could not answer the question but I know that they probably have a language of their own which only God knows. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures. Picture at top left shows the Rockies taken from Main street looking west. Bottom picture shows the Rockies taken from the foot of the Rockies in the tourist town of Canmore, looking west.

DEFINITION OF A FAN

"A fanatic is one who won't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchil
Whose fan are you?

FOOTPRINTS

You have probably heard this story before. It is repeated here because many people have been blessed by it. Someone else might if you pass it along. A man of God died and he was warmly received in the bosom of God when he passed on. He asked God to show him his life while he was alive. God warmly obliged. The man was shown a very simple scene. It consisted of 2 pairs of foot steps walking side by side. This wonderful scenery of was however broken by a single pair of footsteps in certain places. The man asked God the significance of the scene. God explained that the footprints represented his promise for his children. “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” Mathew 28: 20. The first set of footprints represented the man while the second was God’s. As to the the single pair in some sections of the scene, God explained that those were the difficult times that the man experienced on earth. During those times, God lifted the man up and shielded him from the troubles of the world. Thus only God’s footsteps could be seen. He is indeed the good Shepherd. He can be yours too if you invite him in your heart.

ONE PAUPER IS BURRIED AT WESTMINISTER ABBEY

Westminister Abbey is not a burial place for paupers. Only those who have made it in life get to rest at this famous burial ground in London when they die. One man however defied the norm. He is David Livingstone who wandered about Central Africa in the latter part of he 19th century, attempting to abolish slavery and introduce Christianity to the heathen. When he died in 1873, his possessions were described as follows:
"In the chest was found about a shilling and half, and in other chest his hat, 1 watch and 2 small boxes of measuring instrument. And in other chest 3 drachmas and half half scrople." Other notable items of Livingstone were his bible, diary and a few items of clothing. Most of Livingstone's items were auctioned off for 3 British pounds! Although Livingstone was not a rich man when he walked the face of this world, he saved his wealth in the right place where moth and rust cannot touch it. He was indeed a servant of God who died in love of the unloved.

WHAT IS AN ADVENTURE?

"To see God's hand in everything makes life a great adventure." Our Daily Bread. Others would say life is a blast if God is in it. At least this is the conclusions that the greatest or wisest man who ever lived reached (Solomon) when he penned his conclusion to the book of Ecclesiates (see Ecc 12:11-14). Without sensing God, everything becomes routine, boring and rather meaningless.

MEETING THE JUDGE

A young man was playing by the river bank. He got swept away by the fast flowing river in no time. He was no swimmer at all and just bobbed up and down the water. In between shallowing the murky water, he shouted for help and got the attention of a man who was strolling by the river. The man wasted no time. He jumped in the murky water and rescued the young man from drowning. The young man and his family were very thankful. A few months later, the young man got in trouble with the law. He was charged with a break and enter crime and brought before the court. The presiding judge at the court recognized the young man from somewhere. The young man equally recognized the judge. It was the same man who had pulled him out of the murky water. The young man told the judge that he was sorry for the crime and asked for forgiveness. The Judge replied, 'I saved you from drowning and I expected you to live a decent life. Today, I am your judge and you deserve to be punished. You will be sent away to a juvenile detention.'
The above story illustrates what Jesus will do to those who have turned from his free gift of salvation. He came as saviour, two housand years ago but He is coming as Judge to demand of us what we have done with his free pardon. Every person will give an account. As you enter the new year, think of how you can improve your accounting to Jesus and let this be your new year's resolution.

THE INN-KEEPER

This Christmas, think of the Inn Keeper in the Christmas story. He flatly turned away Mary and Joseph that there was no room for them at the inn. He probably looked at the hagard Mary in her advanced pregnacy and suggested the stable as an afterthought. He was the happiest man at what happened next. He witnessed the happiest birthday bash ever. I strongly believe that he went to Mary and asked her if he could hold baby Jesus in his hands. How he wished he he had given her more decent surroundings! The best present this Christmas is to make room in your heart for Him who had no room at the inn. Merry Chritsmas to you.

LIVINGSTONE AND HIS LOVE FOR AFRICA

Here is how one of his experiences was described:
"Tales were told as later coffee was sipped and the red embers of the fire glowed in retreat from night air. As the travellers spoke and later slept, their weary bodies were lulled by Africa's choruses. Crickets quietly chirped continuously to one another, while an owl would let out a cosy 'coo oo' in call to a mate. Occasionally large animals such as the hyena and jackal would call out defiantly into the night as the thousands of twinkling stars awaited the moonrise."
The above quote is from Rob Mackenzie's (1993) DAVID LIVINGSTONE THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LEGEND, Fig Tree Publications, Zimbabwe

WEDDING ANNIVESARY

A Toronto man took his wife of 40 years (plus children) to a local hotel to celebrate their 40th wedding annivesary. He decided to give his wife and kids a real treat and asked them to order anything they wanted on the menu. It was a real sumptuous meal and the drinks were top class. At long last, the bill came and the man was dreading what it would come to. He had planned all along to simply close his eyes and put the bill on plastic. All he wanted on this day was to entertain his darling wife and kids. To his surprise and disbelief, the bill came to nothing! The waitress pointed to the lone man in the corner and said , "He has paid everything including the tip." The man went over to the corner and said, "Sir, you didn't have to pay the bill. I know that it is quite high and I don't want to be a burdern on you." The lone man simply smiled and said, "Listen son, I am a Judge and I am always presiding over divorce cases. I was so thrilled to see you celebrating your annivesary with your wife and children. I wish many more couples would do the same so that I don't have to sign divorce papers. Please accept my gesture as a present for your annivesary." The man was lost for words but thanked the Judge.

Note. The story was part of a sermon on building strong families as told by my Pastor at Faith Baptist Church- Regina

DECEASED ZAMBIA SOCCER PLAYERS

Zambia's soccer heroes(they perished on their way to a World Cup Soccer Qualifier) off the coast of Gabon in 1993) should never be forgotten. Their names are posted here in respect of their contribution to soccer in Zambia.

David Efford Chabala (goalkeeper)
John Soko (defender)
Whiteson Changwe (defender)
Robert Watiyakeni (defender)
Eston Mulenga (midfielder)
Derby Makinka (midfielder)
Moses Chikwalakwala (midfielder)
Wisdom Chansa (midfielder)
Kelvin Mutale (striker)
Timothy Mwitwa (striker)
Numba Mwila (midfielder)
Richard Mwanza (goalkeeper)
Samuel Chomba (defender)
Moses Masuwa (striker)
Kenan Simambe (defender)
Godfrey Kangwa (midfielder)
Winter Mumba (defender)
Patrick Banda (striker)
Among the deceased also was Godfrey "Ucar" Chitalu who was the National Team manager. Chitalu, in his hey day, was arguably the best footballer ever produced by Zambia.

ROUGH RIDERS BEAT CALGARY STAMPEDERS

For the first time, I sat down to watch a football game to the end on TV.The Riders as they are populary known in Saskatchewan have had their ups and downs but they enjoy the best support from fans ever. On November 5, they met the Calgary Stampeders in Calgary in a western semi final. The game was shrouded in pre-match controvesies about the Rider Muscot, a gopher who was banned from attending the semi final in Calgary on the grounds that the gopher (rodent) is a pest! The Stampeders commanded the game from the word go. Unfortunately, they made a lot of errors, so called turn overs which the Riders capitalized on. I don't understand all the rules about football but it was fascinating to watch the runs especially by Kenton Keith, who I think was the "Warrior of the game." The Riders are now on their way to meeting the British Columbia Lions in Vancouver next week in the western final game. The winner between the Riders and Lions will proceed to Winnipeg to play in the "Grey Cup."

ZAMBIA'S PARLIAMENTARY RESULTS-2006

CENTRAL PROVINCE
Candidate Party
1 Chisamba Muteteka Moses MMD
2 Katuba Shakafuswa Jonas MMD
3 Keembe Ronald Shikapwasha MMD
4 Bwacha Nyirongo G. MMD
5 Kabwe Central Kayula Kakusa MMD
6 Kapiri Mposhi Malwa Friday P C MMD
7 Mkushi North Changwe Lucy S MMD
8 Mkushi South Chisanga Sidney MMD
9 Mwembeshi Kasoko Edward UDA
10 Mumbwa DR. Chituwo Brain MMD
11 Nangoma Hamusonde Boyd UDA
12 Chitambo Hamir Nassim MMD
13 Muchinga Kunda George MMD
14 Serenje Central Banda Ackimson MMD

COPPERBELT PROVINCE
15 Chililabombwe Banda Esther PF
16 Chingola Katema Joseph PF
17 Nchanga Chimumbwa Charles PF
18 Kalulushi Anson Simama PF
19 Chimwemwe Willie Nsanda PF
20 Kamfinsa Nyirenda Micheal PF
21 Kwacha Mulenga Lombe J PF
22 Nkana Mwenya Musenge PF
23 Wusakile Chela Barnabas PF
24 Luanshya Phiri Njovu Jean M PF
25 Roan Kambwili Chishimba PF
26 Kankoyo Chanda Percy P PF
27 Kantanshi Mukanga Yamfwa D PF
28 Mufulira Masiye Marjory M. PF
29 Kafulafuta George Mpombo MMD
30 Lufwanyama Puma Lwipa F. MMD
31 Masaiti Lundwe Gladies MMD
32 Mpongwe N/A
33 Bwana Mkubwa Zulu Joseph K PF
34 Chifubu Bwalya Benson M. PF
35 Kabushi N/A
36 Ndola Central Mushili Mark PF
EASTERN PROVINCE
37 Chadiza Allan Mbewe MMD
38 Vubwi Kazonga Eustarekio MMD
39 Chama North Todd Chilembo MMD
40 Chama South Nkhata Borniface MMD
41 Chipangali Mwale V. MMD
42 Chipata Central N/A
43 Kasenengwa Tembo Verah MMD
44 Luangeni Cifire Angela N. MMD
45 Milanzi Chosani Njobvu UDA
46 Mkaika Phiri David B ale B. MMD
52 Nyimba Forri Tembo R MMD
53 Kapoche Banda Nicholas MMD
54 Msanzala Dka Peter MMD
55 Petauke Siliya Dora MMD
LUAPULA PROVINCE
56 Kawambwa Chitika Elizaberth PF
57 Mwansabombwe N/A
58 Pambashe DR. Benard Chisha PF
59 Bahati Chimbaka Besa E PF
60 Chembe Mbulakulima .A. Mwansa MMD
61 Mansa Central Musosha Crispin Mumba MMD
62 Chipili N/A
63 Mambilima Chinyanta John MMD
64 Mwense Chongo Jacob .B PF
65 Chiengi Kalumba Katele MMD
66 Nchelenge Mwila Benjamin NDF
67 Bangweulu Kasongo Joseph PF
68 Chifunauli Mwansa Ernest C PF
69 Luapula Machungwa Peter PF
LUSAKA PROVICE
70 Kafue Machila Bradford M MMD
71 Feira Shawa Charles J MMD
72 Chilanga Ngandu P Magande MMD
73 Chongwe Masebo Sylvia T. MMD
74 Rufunsa Chipungu Kenneth MMD
75 Chawama Brendt Sampa Violet PF
76 Kabwata Lubinda Given PF
77 Kanyama Mtonga Henry PF
78 Lusaka Central Scott Guy PF
79 Mandevu Kapata Jean PF
80 Matero Bwalya Sinyangwe Faustina PF
81 Munali Mumbi C Josephine PF
NORTHERN PROVINCE
82 Chilubi Chisala Obius PF
83 Chinsali Mulenga Christopher PF
84 Shiwang'andu N/A
85 Isoka East Namugala Catherene MMD
86 Isoka West Paul Sichimba MMD
87 Nakonde Sichula Able PF
88 Chimbamilonga Sikazwe Brian MMD
89 Kaputa Nalumango W. M. MMD
90 Kasama Central Chishimba Saviour PF
91 Lukashya Mwamba Alfreda PF
92 Malole Munaile Emmanuel INDEPENDENT
93 Lubansenshi N/A
94 Lupososhi N/A
95 Mbala Gaston F Sichilima MMD
96 Mpulungu Lameck K Chibombamilimo MMD
97 Senga Hill Kapembwa Simbao MMD
98 Kanchibiya N/A
99 Mfuwe N/A
100 Mpika N/A
101 Lunte Mutati Felix C.M MMD
102 Mporokoso Misapa Maynard MMD
NORTH WESTERN PROVINCE
103 Chavuma Konga Kenneth MMD
104 Kabompo East N/A
105 Kabompo West Kalenga Daniel MMD
106 Kasempa Pande Kabinga J MMD
107 Mufumbwe Bonshe M.N MMD
108 Mwinilunga East Katuuka Stephen UDA
109 Mwinilunga West Muchima Elijah MMD
110 Solwezi Central Tetamashimba .B MMD
111 Solwezi East Taima Richard MMD
112 Solwezi West Mwanza .H. MMD
113 Zambezi East Sayifwanda Sarah MMD
114 Zambezi West Kakoma Charles W. UDA
SOUTHERN PROVINCE
115 Choma Central Chazangwe George UDA
116 Mbabala Hachipuka Emmanuel UDA
117 Pemba Matongo David UDA
118 Gwembe Ntundu Brain M.M UDA
119 Dundumwezi Singombe Edgar INDEPENDENT
120 Kalomo Central Muntanga Request UDA
121 Katombola Musokotwane Regina UDA
122 Mapatizya Sejani Ackson UDA
123 Livingstone Sakwiba Sikota ULP
124 Chikankata Habeenzu Munji UDA
125 Magoye Mweemba Bennie UDA
126 Mazabuka Central Nkombo Gary UDA
127 Bweengwa Hamududu Highvie H UDA
128 Monze Central Mwiimbu Jack .J. UDA
129 Moomba Mooya Vitalis UDA
130 Itezhi Tezhi Beene Godfrey UDA
131 Namwala Chizyuka Robby UDA
132 Siavonga Syakalima Douglas UDA
133 Sinazongwe Muyanda R. UDA
WESTERN PROVINCE
134 Kalabo Central Mwapela Sikwibele R MMD
135 Liuwa Kashweka Maliwa David MMD
136 Sikongo Ndalamei Mundia MMD
137 Kaoma Central Liato Austin C MMD
138 Luampa Limata J Mwiya UDA
139 Mangango Mwendoi Akakandelwa MMD
140 Lukulu East Batuke Imenda ULP
141 Lukulu West Namakando Simasiku MMD
142 Luena Milupi Charles L. INDEPENDENT
143 Mongu Central Mulyata Joseph MMD
144 Nalikwanda Lungwangwa Lungwangwa MMD
145 Nalolo Mwangala Mubita MMD
146 Senanga Sinyinda Clement W MMD
147 Sinjembela Mubika Mubika MMD
148 Mulobezi Mabenga Micheal MMD
149 Mwandi Liwanga Kainga M MMD
150 Sesheke Central Mufalali Adons MMD

THE NEW ZAMBIAN GOVERNMENT

The people of Zambia went to the polls on September 28, 2006. The seating president (Mr Levy Mwanawasa) was re-elected with a less than 50% majority. One commentator put it this way, “The present set up favours a seating president. There is no way a seating president can lose an election.” Attempts to hold elections under the new constitution were tossed out of the window as being costly. If implemented, the winner of the presidency under the new constitution has to have 50 plus 1% to be declared a winner. In spite the flaws in the rules, the elections were hailed as ‘free and fair’ by domestic and international election observers and the major opposition parties conceded defeat gracefully. Congratulations to them. Mr Mwanawasa has now formed a government. Most keen observers including the ZamPost newspaper commented that the seriousness of the new leader in delivering on election promises would be seen in the calibre of leaders he would choose to head the government. I offer my thoughts on some of the names that have been announced.

1. Mr Rupia Banda. Has been named as V/President or the 2IC (Second In Command). This man held cabinet positions in the KK government. My Banda comes from an aging crop of leaders (I have no idea if Levy made a nomination or whether the man contested elections). As per practice of most African leaders, Mr Mwanawasa has chosen someone who may not have aspirations beyond VP. It is true that presidents in Africa Africa do not like to surround themselves with youthful leaders for fear that they may get ideas of moving one notch up. Mr Mwanawa parried a question on grooming a successor by suggesting that his party machinery through its convention will provide direction. I strongly believe that Mr Mwanawas has robbed himself an opportunity to train a 'young person 'who might carry on his vision. There is nothing wrong with Mr Banda as a person but we may not see much of him by next election. The seating V/P lost his parliamentary seat. He will be sent to the graveyard, i.e. diplomatic srvice.

2. Agriculture- The ‘old man’ Sikatana has been moved to Foreign Affairs. His training as a lawyer were initially as mismatch for agriculture but boy, didn’t he deliver? Right now there is more produce in Zambia than the Food Reserve Agency can find capacity for storage for. My thoughts are that people who deliver should be in charge of program delivery ministries like education, local government, energy and industry. I strongly feel that Levy has ‘robbed’ Zambians of a true servant who delivered food. Foreign Affairs is important but the best place for Sikatana is one of the mainline ministries suggested above. Ben Kapita, the new agriculture minister previously headed the Farmers Union. He has the know how to pick up from Sikatana left and people will be watching him carefully. At least, people know that with sound leadership, they can grow enough food to feed themselves.

3.Education – Lungwangwa George is now in charge. He comes from the University of Zambia where he was in top leadership. On paper he looks ok but will he deliver? Currently there is lip service to developing education in Zambia yet it is probably the most effective vehicle of liberating people from widespread poverty. It is a known fact that a lot of people with 7 years of primary education regress into illiteracy. Zambia has produced a lot of educators who can assist George come up with a programme to provide decent education to the people of Zambia. Education should be a right of every school going age child.Education should not only be for certification. We need education that liberates the mind, empowers one to dream big and prepares one to be an effective member of society.

4. Finance – Magande has returned his portifolio. A lot of favourable things have happened and many of them not at the instigation of the previous government. The copper ore is fetching a higher price than before and the money lenders of this world have been magnanimous in forgiving the colossal loans. People have been told that macroeconomic indicators are favourable for Zambia. This is welcome news but people need to see how these favourable conditions translate into better housing, clean water, good health and everything social. Magande will need more than just good booking. The resource base of Zambia is more than mining. The time to exploit the rich resource base of Zambia is now. Trade and Industry as well as Commerce need to be critically examined. Local people should be empowered to engage themselves in productive ventures. The tuntembas will not take Zambia out of the misery. Finance and the related government departments (mentioned above) should work together and empower Zambians to run productive businesses that will be sustained over many years to come. There is no reason why Zambians should not own hotels, banks, add value to their produce by owning food processing plants etc.

5. Energy and Water – Many political commentators suggest that 21st century wars are going to be fought over energy and water. It is happening in the middle east. America is everywhere today not in the name of exporting democracy but to get an assured access to energy and water. For all the key industries to succeed (agriculture, trade, manufacturing, transport etc), an assured energy source is needed. Currently, Zambia has one aging oil refinery at Ndola (probably the only industry alive in this once upon a time manufacturing city). The challenges for the minister are many and this ministry should have been given to someone with a vision. Zambia has so much sun yet very few people use solar energy to heat their domestic water. They have to rely on expensive hydro generated or coal fired power plants!

6. Tourism – Again times are good. Many international visitors are including Zambia in their travel plans. There are countries that depend on tourism for the majority of their GDP. We can learn from them in terms of how they did it. The new minister should equally encourage Zambians to see Zambia. There should be deliberate efforts to showcase Zambia o Zambians and non Zambians without lacing it with Hollywood crap.

UNDER 14 BOYS SOCCER NATIONALS (TIDE CUP)

The U14 boys and girls national club championships are being held in Toronto (Vaughan and Etobicoke) from October 4 to 9. My son's team, the Regina East United Internationals are representing Saskatchwean. I flew into Toronto on Friday to cheer my son's team. It was a delight to see them tie (1-1) against a highly seeded team from Quebec. My son's team played below their usual capacity. If they had played their usual game, Quebec could have lost by a baskeful. In the opening matches against Manitoba and the Yukon, the Internationals triumped against their opposition by 3 to 2 and 11 to zero respectively.In their regular season games in Sakatchewan, the Internationals did not lose a single game. The work ethic of the boys has been most excellent and a delight of everyone that is part of them. It is very likely that they will be in the top four teams by the end of the Tide Cup Tournamemnt on Thanksgiving day Monday. I look forward to celebrating their well deserved achievement. They have surely brought pride to Saskatchewan, a provinve which most people don't associate with soccer.

Luke 9:23

"If any man will follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, then follow me."
The words of Jesus were often controversial to those who heard them for the first time. We are blessed that so much has been written about what was said 2,000 years ago. We are able to assimilate better what Jesus said. Learned men and those who have walked the walk have explained the 'true' meaning of what jesus said. But, unless you take it personal, the words remain philosophical. The personal element is about following Jesus. It is an open invitation. What is interesting is that Jesus does not hide the conditions of following him. There is a cost to following him. The cost is self denial and taking up your cross daily. Simply put, it is about putting aside your old self and seeking help from Jesus every day about your failures. I can live with this stuff and so can you!

THE PAUPER AND THE PRINCESS

There lived a woman and her son in one village. The son’s name was Fue. The woman lost her husband in a fierce war which people claimed brought hardships in the land. Fue never knew his father because he was born at the time that his father went to fight in the war. The war brought a lot of bitterness because no one knew why the men were conscripted to fight.

As Fue grew older, he desperately wanted to know his father’s background and whether he had brothers or not. There was none. Since he could not find any role model on his father’s side, he became very close to his mother. He copied everything his mother did including plating his hair and applying make up on his face. The boys of his age thought Fue was very strange, especially that he never played with the other boys other than his mother. Fue’s mother was quite happy to see how close she was with her son. She told Fue that she would buy him a special present one day. Fue was quite excited and looked forward to the day that he would get his present. Being a good mannered boy, he never bothered asking his mother when his present would come. He knew in his heart that his mother would honour her word one day and that was enough to keep Fue happy.

One day, Fue’s mother became extremely ill. She knew in her heart that she would die. Fue was very troubled that he would have no where to go if his mother died. After all, he had no living relative. He decided to ask his mother what would become of him if she died. She smiled at him and told him that she was really looking forward to dying since she would be joining her husband who died in the war. She told Fue that there was nothing to be scared about since God looks after everyone. Still, Fue thought she needed an adult to run the house, cook food and look after the maize gardens and the animals. He didn’t think he could do all that by himself. His mother just smiled and told Fue that if ever anything happened to her, Fue should open the old trunk and get whatever was inside. That same evening, Fue’s mother died and Fue was devastated. He could not eat for weeks and he did not even think about the old box that his mother had mentioned. The pain was too much and he had no one to turn to. He was indeed a pauper.

Fue lived on by doing odd jobs for other people in the village in exchange for food. His clothes became worn out and people started shunning him. He could not understand why his mother passed on. Couldn’t she have taken him along? Was there any fairness in this world? One day Fue remembered his mother’s last words about his present. He quickly dashed into the old house and pulled out the trunk which was almost rusting. He thought he would find money and with it, he would buy some decent clothes and probably move away from the village. He badly wanted to start a new life. Disappointment greeted him. There was nothing of value in the trunk except a small clay flowery plate. He nearly threw it to the ground but changed his mind that he would keep it since his mother had looked after it so carefully for a long time. He didn’t know what to do with a plate.

Convinced that there was nothing left for him in the village, Fue decided to go on a journey to some distant country to look for opportunities and probably find a wife to marry. He gathered his few belongings including the clay plate and set off towards the east. He travelled for hours under the tropical scorching heat and around mid day, he decided to take a rest. He took out his clay plate and scooped some water from the stream with it. As he scooped the water from the stream, he saw an image of a very beautiful woman in the plate who looked just like his late mother. Was it some joke? He thought he was getting mad. He stood still and the picture was still there. Since he was so thirsty he decided to drink the water from the plate anyway but the image disappeared. He wasn’t sure whether to be angry or sad. He chose to be happy and so he began to sing a song:

Iyi nsani ehe
Iyi nsani yamaluba
Tekumona apo yikele kwati ni mayo wa mfyele yamaluba
Oh yamaluba, Oh yamaluba

(This plate sure
This flowery plate sure
It looks just like my mother
Beautiful and Flowerly
Beautiful and Flowery)

As Fue finished singing the song, something strange happened. A beautiful princess came out of the plate wearing the most glamorous gown ever imaginable. She also brought wonderful clothes for Fue as well as the choicest food. She told Fue that she wanted him to marry her. They shared the food and the princess told Fue that she wanted him to go with him to her palace. She asked him to jump into the tiny plate with her. They did so and found themselves in a beautiful castle. They lived happily thereafter.

Note: Most probably, this story’s moral is that misfortune can also be a source of happiness. The story comes from northern Zambia.

QUEEN CITY MARATHON TOOK PLACE ON SEPTEMBER 10

As I approached the check in counter at Regina Airport on my way to Montreal, two ladies from Calgary were spotting their QCM (Queen City Marathon) medals around their necks. I was doing the same. They were so proud to see me wearing my 42km medal. We shook hands and chatted a bit on the nice running weather. Over 3,000 participants took part in the QCM. For my part, I was just thrilled to finish the QCM in my PF (Personal First of 4 hr and 16 minutes). I trained for 4hr but a strange headache threw my runnin intentions out of whack.It was great to visit with running friends from Winnipeg, Saskatoon and elsewhere.
A running race always has some memorable highlights. My headache is one. Then the finish line! It was great to see friends from work, my wife and collegues giving that last 100m encouragement to cross the line with a big smile. The pictures are their to prove it! A 75 year old man finished the marathon to a round of deafening applause. That was really great!! When I get his name, I will send him a note of encouragement. The 2.5km Friensship Run from the Running Room to the Leg and back, a day befre the QCM was equally memorable. needless to say that for the first time, I won something. I span the wheel and myspin landed on a free stringed bag.

The bottom line is that people run to achieve a goal and hey, life in general is about setting goals and realizing them. The QCM was one great experience towards achieving my life long goals. I talked about 'retiring' from running but we will see..

AIDS CONFERENCE IN TORONTO

The AIDS conference is just wrapping up in Toronto. The Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation (CBC) has carried out some excellent programming on the conference (video streaming can be seen at www.cbc.ca). CBC carried out extensive coverages of:
1)How grand mothers in Africa are shouldering the burden of caring for the oprhans. Interviews with grandmothers from South Africa and east Africa were quite revealing.Canadian grand mother are equally rendering support through fundraising etc.
2)There have been some encouraging suport from the world's richest and the famous including comments or financialsupport from Bill Gates and his wife, Bill Clinton and Mr Lewis (the UN Envoy for AIDS).
3)The fight of AIDS through drama in Gambia by a nongovernmental organization showed that a lot can be achieved withought spending millions of dollars. The Nova Scotia Gambia Association has been carrying out AIDS campaign warnings through drama in Gambia resulting in reduced AIDS prevalence among the vulnerable groups.
4) There have been some stattling statistics on AIDS prevalence in Canada and North America in general.

Unfortunately, it looks as though the political leadership in Canada has had some second thoughts on whether to support the conference or not. The Prime Minister, for example kept away from all deliberations. Major announcemnts on AIDS by the Canadian government have had to be postponed.

THE DASH

A young boy accompanied his grandpa to the cemetery. They walked about looking at tombstones and the flowers that loved ones had left. What caught the boy’s attention most as they looked at the tombstones was the dash between two numbers. Each tombstone had different numbers but there was always a dash between two numbers. The boys asked grand pa why the dash was on every tombstone. Grand pa seized the moment and explained the meaning of life as symbolized in the dash. He explained that the dash stood for the length of one’s life on earth. The first number stood for when the person was born while the second number stood for when the person died. The dash then was an expression of how long someone lived. ’God will demand an accounting of how the dash was lived,’ he went on. “A dash lived for self is worthless. As well, a dash that did not recognize God as the giver of life and Lord will face judgement. It did not matter how long one lived.” The young man got very scared and wondered how he could avoid the judgement. Grandpa asked the boy to open his heart to Jesus. The boy was born again in the graveyard.
This story is an adaptation of Pastor Grabke's sermon on August13, 2006 at Faith Baptist Church in Regina.

BRIAN

My Pastor shared the following story a few Sundays ago on our responsibility to love others.
A lady was driving home on a cold and grey evening. The sun had already gone down and darkness was setting in. As bad luck would have it, the car got a flat tire. Considering the time of day and the weather conditions, the lady became frantic and waved every car that passed by. Unfortunately, all the cars zoomed past her without stopping. The lady became quite scared and feared for her life. Along came a truck driven by a shabby looking man. The man spotted the lady from a distance and sensed that she could be in trouble. The lady fearing for her life jumped into her car and rolled up the windows. The man stopped and inquired if he could be of any help. The lady was not sure whether she should speak to the stranger.The lady speaking through her rolled down car window said that she had a flat tire and would appreciate some help at any cost. The man got to work immediately and quickly replaced the flat tire. The lady asked the man who he was to which he replied that his name was Brian. The lady asked Brian to name any price for changing the flat tire. Brian refused to take any money but said that he was just happy to see that she was out of danger. He only asked the lady to extend a helping hand to others as means of paying for the generosity he extended to her. The lady thanked Brian and left. Some 5km down the road, the lay spotted a coffee shop and went over to have a cup. As she sat down to order her coffee, an overworked pregnant waitress came to serve her. It was obvious by her expression that she was barely trying to make ends meet. When the lady struck some conversation with the waitress, she learnt that the baby was due any time but money was short. Upon leaving the restaurant, the lady left four $100 dollar bills on top of the change from the $1,000 bill that she had placed on the tray with a note saying, ”Please take the money and use it for the baby.” The lady was overjoyed and before she could thank the lady, she was already driving off. The waitress went home and eagerly wanted to share her experience that evening with her husband. The husband was already fast asleep when she got home but she lightly kissed him on his forehead and said , “I love you Brian.”

The Rolling Stones coming to Regina

Regina is a very small city (by western standards), yet it seems to compete very favourably with big cities. Who would think that the Rolling Stones would stage two shows in this Prairie city? Well, they are coming in October. Confirmed date is 13th October which is the same week of the Queen City Marathon in Regina- billed for October 10. According to local radio talk shows, a second RS show will take place during the same week. I don't know the hipe with the Stones (perhaps a baby boomer effect), tickets on Ebay have skyrocketed to over $3,000! I don't plan on going to see the RS but I am just happy that they are coming to Regina and will certainly complement the Queen City Marathon very well.

ZINADENE ZIDANE

My only qualification to write about this 'idol' is that I have awlays enjoyed the charm and skills of this once retired player. It is difficult to tell what was going on in his head but facts that are emerging indicate that he was insulted. One can say that he lost the nerve to contain the insult. I recently 'attended' a soccer mental training camp that my son's provincial Team arranged. I must say that it was one of the best. I learnt that soccer games are not only won by skill. Intimidation via insults, gestures and the like are part of the package that players with blessings of their coaches unleash on their opponents. Claiming innocence from match officials even when the offence is blatant is another tactic that is used without shame. These tactics are encouraged because of the big money involved in soccer and any sport for that matter. Materrazi, the Italian defence man who is alleged to have insulted ZZ was probably implementing what the coaches had put in his tool kit. It should be noted that this player (Materrazi) is quite a character too. He spat on a player during the European Champinoships and was sent off.

ZZ has issued an apology and by all means, soccer loving people should accept his apology. It was uncalled for, with only 10 minutes to go and millioms of people watching. The racial and terrorist overtones that have been linked to the incident suggests that even a man of steel can break. The zero tolerance to racism that was promoted at the start of the tournament is now moribund and the true colours of how racist soccer is in Europe are emerging. Remarks by an Italian politician/senator that France sacrificed the world cup by featuring an all black team is surely a case in point on how intorlerant Europe is to black players.

WORLD CUP IMPRESSIONS

I love soccer. It is indeed the world sport. I am looking forward to watching the final game on July 9. There have been dissapointments and moments of joy.

A lot can be written on the positive side. There are no more underdogs in world soccer. There was quality soccer no matter where the team came from (in the past, third world countries other than those from Latin America) generally fared poorly. Angola, Togo and Ghana for example put up excellent performances that shocked the traditional power houses. I hope that these teams will keep up the momentum (this is perhaps wishful thinking for teams from Africa where inconsistency is the norm). The quality of officiating has improved with most of the actors being tossed out or caustioned whenever offences fitting such punishment were committed.I was also impressed with the performance of unsung heroes on the pitch. Credit uusually goes to goal scorers in a soccer math but this world cup showed that the match can be won by defenders. Teams with soolid defences included Italy, Germany and France. Defendes like Cannavaro of Italy and Thuran of France were second to none. These defenders turned adventurous goal seekers into spectators. It was great to see that no one player as far as I could tell stood out as the star of the tournament. There is a lot of team work at play these days.

Dissapointments included the early exit of soccer power houses such as the south American countries including Brazil. I was equally dissapointed that the flair of these teams that has always been their signature appears to have evaporated. One soccer analyst suggested that this has to do with the fact that most of the south Ameican stars now play in Europe where the style is about being physical and racing with the ball. Deciding the winner by penalty shoot out has always been controversial. Good teams often exit the competition, robbing spectators a chance to see what they have to offer. Tough luck England! The golden goal rule, though not perfect encouraged players to work hard towards scoring that golden goal. It is no longer the case.Itwould appear that some teams chose not to play attacking football so that they could take the game into penalty shhot outs.

QUEEN CITY MARATHON REGISTRATION OPENS

The QCM (Queen City Marathon)registration has opened. The event takes place on September 10, rain or shine. As an early bird entrant, you only pay $50 if you register online. Some improvements to the QCM will be implemented this year. Although details have not been fully communicated at this time, it looks likely that there will be changes to the route. This is a welcome development because runners have always complained about the narrow paths and running the course twice in some places just to make up the distance.

Assuming no early freeze up, September has just about the perfect weather ingredients for the marathon. It is not too hot nor too cold. A shower or two feels like a massage to the runner. The leaves are just about changing colours too and it is a great incentive to look at the variety of colours in the woods. The Regina community is another great reason to come.There is always that grandma/grandpa clapping the entire time for you. If you have never participated, I encourage you to make it your first. You will not be disappointed!

WINNIPEG MARATHON WAS ON FATHER'S DAY (MAY 18)

This was the first time that I took part in this prestigious Marathon. I was not ready for the whole thing and so I chose to run the half. The atmopshere as would be expected for an event of this magnitude was terrific. Th start line was near the University of Manitoba and the finish line was in the Uuniversity's footbal stadium. Whether you are sore or not, just hearing the drums from 5 km away pumps you up to go to that finish line. Thumbs up too to the following:
1)there was no crowding along the way-running on wide streets for this kind of eevents is an excellent idea
2)the community cheer leaders are second to none, at one station one guy was giving free Molson larger! I wouldn't recommend this for anyone who is serious about running though. It is however his jovial attitude that has earned this guy an entry in my journal.
3) the music along the route was like caffeine that pumped you up
4)i didn't see a frown on any runner, you basically chatted with whoever
5)the volunteers were so cheerful!
6)the last mile - is named after IRV, a volunteer who passed on before the race. the distance by my estimation is longer than a mile and colleagues I talked to wondered about this too! Recognizing the silent majority who make things happen was great feat for me.
What about the downs? Here are some:
1)the unwinding area after the race was too small- too much crowding
2)too few conveniences at scheduled points- one toilet per station (some stations had 2 or more) created unnecessary waiting and lost time
This was over all a life time experience to remember. For full results of this event, check:http://www.manitobamarathon.mb.ca/
The over all winner was Michael Booth, a Winnipeger who clocked 2:31:54. Congratulations to him.

ROADSIDE MARKET

Roadside markets are an interesting feature of Zambia's life. How much money exchanges hands at this markets is not known but it is acknowledged that a lot of people draw their sustainance from them. Markets are part of the informal sector of the Zambia's economy. More people are employed in the informal sector than in the formal sector, according to official estimates. Other than at city markets where city officials levy a fee for trading, informal markets at road sides or peddling are not levied any tax. In the picture above, the road side market is strategically located at Mufulira turn off from Kitwe. The road from Kitwe continues on to the copper mining towns of Chingola, Chililabombwe and the newly opened copper mine of Kanshanshi in Northwestern province. Merchandice at these markets range from cooked food to live animals. In between are vegetables, eggs, curios etc. Weights and measures are not used and a good buyer is one who can bargain. The bargaining is what makes these markets most interesting. What starts like an arguements ends up in two people sharing jokes and their family experiences.In the end it is a win win situation.

COPPERBELT MEMORIES

Driving on the dual carriage way between Ndola and Kitwe was hair raising but a beautiful experience too. The trip looked shorter than when I used to ride mini buses, many years ago. As seen in the photograph, the island separating the road in the opposite direction was overgrown by grass and bushes ( to more than 2 meteres in many places). I recognized this as a danger. At almost every crossroad, the horn had to be used as people sprang up from nowhere onto the road. The grass denied me the chance to admire the beautiful crafts that are usually dispalayed along this highway. In one or two locations, I spotted toy cars, paintings and crafts which add to the beuaty of this highway if grass is cut. A copperbelt energy company usually cuts the grass but only where the power lines are located. The only hope that the grass will get 'cut' is when th bush fires arrive in June.

I took a ride along Chingola road to check out a farm of a relative. Passing by Ganerton, I was told that the suburb is now a shell of itself having lost a lot of people due to insecurity. The situation was better than a few years ago but the huge acreages with horses and well micured lawns was a thing of he past.

My favourite past time in Zambia has always been a roadside market. It is here that one can eat a freshly roasted cob of maize and just chat with whoever. At Mufulira turn off, we decided to stop by and pick up some chickens, tomatoes and rape vegetables. We were mobbed by the merchants. Everyone wanted to sell us something. The choice was so vast that we pretended we were just there to meet someone. We chatted a bit and took a photograph (see insert). We finally picked on one seller and got 3 chickens at a very good price. I was tempted to buy a roast cob of maize but i turned out that the cob was too hard for my teeth!

VISITING ZAMBIA

I touched down at Ndola Airport at about 12 noon. It was indeed a very warm welcome in all manner of detail. The theromometer was near 30 degree C. The low cumulus clouds reminded me that the cold season was just around the corner (see airpot picture in this posting). The staff of this small international airport were excellent and all smiles. This was my second time in 10 years that I had landed at Ndola. I was in a hurry to get to Kitwe, my final destination and flying from Johannesburg to Ndola made a lot of sense. My ride to Kiwe arrived 30 minutes late and during the wait, I made frienship with two guys. We talked about soccer, a very safe subject. My two friends were utterly dissapointed that the once upon a time soccer power house (Zambia) was a shadow of itself in the 21st century. The worst player to them was this guy in the UK! To make matters worse, the stadium that once hosted continental games (Dag stadium) was still lying in rubbles (the stadium was pulled down with the intentions of buiding an ultra modern facility for hosting the Africa Cup of Nations competition). It never took place because of soaring costs.

On my way to Kitwe, I couldn't help shading a tear for the Dag stadium, lying in ruins and probably in peace forever and ever. I hope that one day, someone will resurrect this once upon a time loveley stadaium where Zambia never lost a game ( according to a Zambian legend). The Central Hopspital caught my attention too. It was once a gem but it looked an eyesore. Industies are virtually non existtent in this city of nearly 2 million people. The drive on the dual carriage way to Kitwe was comfortable (this is the only divided highway in Zambia). The road appeared to be well maintained. The highway was however overgrown with grass and the island was basically a jungle! From time to time along the way, people sprang up from nowhere onto the oad. My ride's hand was constantly on the horn to avoid hitting anyone. The trip to Kitwe took about 45 minutes.

It was great to visit the markets, a few shops and eat the nshima and kapenta. The road side markets have always been my favourite. It is here that one can eat roast maize and perhaps get a few bargains from sellers. One experience is shared in the next posting along Chingola road.

VISITING BEAUTIFUL AFRICA

I arrived at 7:20 am at Johannesbury International, this moring of May 8. The airpot is going through a massive facelift. There is construction all over. I wondered why! I later learnt that the country is getting ready for the 2010 World Soccer Tournament. I also learnt later on that a new railway line is being constructed from Johannesburg to Pretoria for the same reason.

The drive from Johannesburg International to Pretoria took less than an hour. My first shock was how chilly the outside was. I soon reminded myself it is getting into the cool season now, Soth Africa being in the southern Hemisphere. What did I see on the way? The famous elephant grasses were as tall as you could imagine, the size of the elephant. My old geography knowledge returned. If the elephant grasses are as tall as can be expected, it is a sign that the wetaher has been good. And true to my observation, my chatty driver (from Friends of Africa Touring Company) confirmed that the year had been good in terms of rains. Food was ample and the tall grass was a testament of the good times. This warmed my heart. To crown it all, the hills on the way to Pretoria just reminded me of what I have been missing all these years of living on the more less flat landscape of the Canadian prairies. I saw the famous acacia trees, miombo woodlands and an occasional baobab tree.

I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat on the bed of the Farm Inn. Before sleeping, I decided to stroll around this gem. African birds greeted me. A bunch of warthogs were idling around. The Inn itself is built in an African style with a thatched roof. It is way out of Pretoria on what looks like a nature reserve. I am looking forward to eating supper. I am sure it is going to be mouth watering.

Family friends that I met 15 years ago in Scotland have invited me to visit with them tomorrow. I can't wait to see them.