Africa-Press – Zambia. A couple of weeks ago, we suffered the misfortune of finding ourselves in Ndola’s Kabushi Constituency attending a funeral. It is best known as known as the place where Bowman Lusambo, a loquacious and boastful towering individual once served as MP. Of course, Lusambo is never shy of reminding the nation about his unparalleled performance there!
The funeral attracted mourners from further afield as Lusaka and Chipata. Once these visitors had finally located the funeral house after getting lost in the laybrinth of walk paths, they couldn’t waste time sharing what they had just witnessed.
“Is this the place where Lusambo was area MP?” a lady wondered as she wiped off beads of perspiration. “The roads are literally impassable…….pot holes everywhere!
“I equally witnessed heaps of garbage on every street corner…..” exclaimed a young man. “Ati Los Angeles……”
“There are blocked sewer lines everywhere making raw sewer spill on the streets!” someone that seemed to be a local resident quickly added.” While the roof top of one of the classroom blocks at Kabushi Secondary School that got blown off by heavy rains a while ago remains unattended to.”
There can never be a better description of Kabushi than this. Kabushi constituency largely remains undeveloped…….a backwater constituency! Where are the wonders that Bowman bragged ?
Immediately after being elevated to the lofty position as Lusaka province minister in 2018, Bowman scaled the mountain top and declared that he would transform Lusaka to something that non of us had seen before!
“My record is clear where I am coming from and I am confident that with the support of our people here, we will change the face of Lusaka because that is what we are here for,” enthused, Bowman.
Those listening to him obviously thought he had performed wonders where he had come from. And 2 years later, he would recount to a shocked US diplomat thus, “The people who visited Lusaka three, four years ago, if they come today, they will think they are in Los Angeles!”
Wow….really, Bowman? As renowned vlogger Simon Mwewa would tell you, Lusaka remains generally a very dirty city…… unplanned settlements, litter plagued streets let alone perennial floods due to poor planning!
Of course, we won’t pretend we’ve been to Los Angeles…….but according to what we’ve seen on our small screens, this is a modern city surrounded by vast mountain ranges, valleys, forests, beautiful beaches along the Pacific Ocean, and nearby desert.
And according to our ever faithful uncle Google, Los Angeles is known as the entertainment capital of the world offering a myriad attractions and activities: movie studios, the Sunset Strip, Venice Beach, landmark museums, world-famous theme parks, wineries, breweries, outdoor activities, exciting nightlife, and much more. Honestly, can you compare our Lusaka with such a mega city? This is as good as comparing a lizard to a crocodile……stop day dreaming!
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