“MAUREEN MWANAWASA LOVED TO PREPARE TRADITIONAL DISHES FOR HER HUSBAND LEVY”
DID you know that during the period President Levy Mwanawasa spent at Mfuwe’s Mushroom Lodge for his annual holiday, he seized the opportunity to officially launch the lodge which was a brainchild of the late Lusaka businessman, Friday Ndhlovu?
And do you recall that last week, the author stated that he witnessed First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa preparing a traditional dish for the President?
He also witnessed President Mwanawasa’s younger children swimming.
Well, the author has revisited his Mfuwe experience by sharing images of Maureen in action, with the children swimming.
Below is the story covered by the author during President Mwanawasa’s official launch of Mushroom Lodge.
Following the story are images of Maureen and their children swimming, President Mwanawasa posing with the employees of the lodge and the author enjoying a game drive after interacting with President Mwanawasa.
Look out for a traditional toothbrush [in one of the images] that the author used during this excursion.
By Amos Malupenga in Mfuwe
[December 28, 2007]
Zambians must invest in hard work and not nationality if they want to succeed in whatever they do, President Levy Mwanawasa has advised.
And Mushroom Lodge chairman, Friday Ndhlovu, has called on the government to give the Luangwa Valley a VAT free status in a bid to promote tourism in the area as was the case in Livingstone.
Officially opening Mushroom Lodge and Presidential House in South Luangwa National Park on Thursday [28th December, 2007], President Mwanawasa said Zambians could succeed in anything they wanted to do as shown by Ndhlovu’s determination over they years. He said it was sad that most Zambians wanted to use their nationality as collateral instead of investing in hard work and integrity in business.
“Most Zambians would say ‘give me this business because I am a Zambian; a foreigner cannot get this business when I am here as a Zambian’,” President Mwanawasa said. “Stop using nationality as a collateral unless it is laced with hard work, integrity and a motive to create development for people and make profit thereafter.”
President Mwanawasa said anyone approaching him for help or assistance in business or anything else on the basis that they were Zambians would not succeed because he would be a wrong sympathiser.
“I will just tell you that ‘you have chosen a wrong sympathiser,” President Mwanawasa said. “Friday Ndhlovu has succeeded not as a Zambian but as a Friday Ndhlovu, a hard working individual.”
President Mwanawasa said tourism was a people-oriented industry which served the people by the people themselves. He said tourism, worldwide, had emerged to play a role as a fastest growing industry and was to become a driving force to boost the world economy now and in future.
President Mwanawasa said last year [2006], Mfuwe registered 18,000 foreign visitors and 12,000 Zambian tourists while the park recorded 900 jobs.
President Mwanawasa said Zambia, like all Southern African countries, depended on biodiversity and mainly wildlife to attract tourists. He said the Luangwa ecosystem was famous for its rich and diverse wildlife resource and hosted the big five. He said it was therefore important for Zambia to conserve its flora and fauna.
airports.
And speaking earlier, Ndhlovu said the opening of Mushroom Lodge marked a new era in the Zambian tourism sector which had been dominated by foreign investors. He said Mushroom Lodge was the first large Zambian investment in South Luangwa National Park, and probably in the whole valley offering competitive product of world class standards which catered even the most discerning tourists or travellers. Ndhlovu said they had invested US $1.6 million with the help of Development Bank of Zambia and other stakeholders.
He said the lodge was designed by a Zambian and built by Zambians under the supervision of a Zambian. He said the lodge management had plans to build two bush camps next year [2008].
Ndhlovu urged the government to improve security in the park because cases of thefts of property and unruly behaviour such as noises from the bars and discos were on the increase. He said the emergence of housing estates without proper planning was posing a security risk and urged the government to find a lasting solution to the human/human conflict now prevalent in the area.
“Please, do not kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” Ndhlovu said. “Why not give the valley VAT status? Why Livingstone alone?”
The images below:
Maureen pounding in a mortar with a pestle, and their children swimming, President Mwanawasa posing with Friday Ndhlovu, the employees of the lodge and the author with former Republican Vice-President Enoch Kavindele before he left the lodge to enjoy a game drive after interacting with the President.
ALL the pictures were taken by THOMAS NSAMA who even managed to zoom into the lion that was resting in the shrubs, during our game drive.
