THABO KAWANA MOURNS LUNGO KAWAYA
Ministry of Information and Media Spokesperson and Director Thabo Kawana writes…
THE GOOD DIE YOUNG INDEED
As a young man myself, I was sent to work on the copperbelt. I remember praying to God and thanking God for the opportunity, but I had questions:
How do I live there? I had never being to the copperbelt before and I had no friend I knew there, how do I communicate in a predominantly Bemba speaking Province and I knew no Bemba word? All I could speak was English, Lsk Nyanja, Lozi, a mixture of Tumbuka and Nsenga.
But God been God knew exactly what was to happen and how I would live and communicate. So with faith, I moved to the Copperbelt 23 years ago.
And like an Angel sent to me, I met a young man who became my friend, my best friend and eventually a brother in a relationship that would span 23 years unbroken.
Over the years, we rode together, played together, worshipped together and shared moments together. We cried, argued, laughed and went through our high and low moments together. No matter what life threw at me, I always knew I had a friend and brother to turn to and to share my high and low moments with.
Politically, we always stood on different stand views. He was PF all his political life, he believed and held strong in PF in opposition, in office and in opposition again. This never affected our bond at all, infact, it strengthened our bond as we could argue and laugh at our leaders and political views we held different as it where.
He was there when my first child arrived and I was there when his arrived. We transitioned from boys to family men together and brought our families up together allowing our strong bond to grow from just the two of us to our families both nucleus and extended.
When death threatened his life some six years ago, we held together and fought until death gave up on him and left him alone, we did everything medical and otherwise until we defeated it together. The same happened when death threatened my life, we came together and held strong until we defeated it together.
The Hospital became our new meeting place as we shared the same days with myself on dialysis and himself on physiotherapy. I could go wait for him after my dialysis as he underwent physiotherapy and he would come to the Renal Unit to wait for me on the machine if he finished early. We wr together thru thick and thin, In good and bad times, in sickness and in health.
This time around, with us apart and him being in Kitwe and my self in Lsk, I was certain he would again pull through but it was not to be. This time it was not death threatening his life but God calling him home, to heaven.
Today I make a trip back to kitwe to be with my friend and brother for the last time, to mourn and put him to rest. The road from Lsk to Kitwe is full of memories we created together, the many times we traveled this road together. The stories we told, the jokes we made, the stop overs we made.
How do I travel this road alone today knowing I am going to pay my last respects, to say goodbye instead of hello? Dear God, give me the strength but above all, touch the family, his Wife, children and the many other friends he had and those known to him.
Give them the strength and understanding that this earth is not our home.
Rest in peace my dear friend and brother Lungo Kawaya (Bashi Muzo). Go well until we meet again, you have run your race well and you have been good and faithful through it all.
Indeed, the good die young.
MYSRIEP🙏🏾😭