Mwanawasa unwinds from complex issues at Kuomboka

Mwanawasa unwinds from complex issues at Kuomboka
By Mwala Kalaluka in Mongu
Sunday April 01, 2007 [04:00]

PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa on Friday told Mongu residents that he agreed to attend this year's Kuomboka ceremony because he wanted a place to unwind from the complex issues they discussed at the SADC conference in Tanzania . And President Mwanawasa urged the country's political players to start considering traditional ceremonies as a unifying factor. Addressing scores of residents that came to welcome him at Mongu Airstrip, President Mwanawasa said what the regional leaders deliberated upon during the regional heads of state summit in Tanzania were very complex issues.

"When I told my colleagues that I was going to attend a big traditional ceremony in Western Province, they extended their greetings from the SADC countries to the people of Western Province," President Mwanawasa said. He said they discussed the political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe among others. About a hundred people died in the DRC capital Kinshasa recently when government forces exchanged fire with losing presidential aspirant Pierre Bemba, while President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has come under criticism following the beating of opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsivangirai by the Police.

On the reason behind his acceptance to attend the 2007 Kuomboka Ceremony, President Mwanawasa said: "I am here in the Western Province to unwind, to be entertained and to enjoy the culture of the Barotse people." President Mwanawasa said he perceived this year's Kuomboka ceremony as a special one. "To demonstrate that I have come to enjoy in Western Province, watch how I will dress tomorrow (yesterday)," he said.

President Mwanawasa jokingly put it that he had come as the new Ngambela for the Litunga. He also distanced himself from a short messaging service (sms) text message that had been circulating ahead of the Kuomboka ceremony that he advised Litunga Lubosi Imwiko to stop using a boat during the traditional ceremony because the boat represented Patriotic Front (PF). "No, I could not have sent such a message to His Royal Highness because we need the boat," President Mwanawasa said as the crowd broke into laughter.

He said sending such a message to the Litunga would just show that he did not appreciate the importance of tradition. While delivering his address, President Mwanawasa got attracted to a placard being held by an MMD cadre which read: "Waci (clock) 1 Ubwato (boat) 0".

And President Mwanawasa said instead of spending the bulk of their time shouting and insulting each other, it was important that politicians drew inspiration from traditional ceremonies and found a common ground of understanding. "It is important that we get united and this is the message we should get from traditional ceremonies," President Mwanawasa said. "We should be smiling and joking at one another because we are all Zambians." And provincial minister Adonis Mufalali said in his welcoming speech that the people of Western Province were geared to celebrate the Kuomboka in high spirits despite the floods that had wrecked havoc on their crops.