Maravi

Monkey nearly drowns Mpombo in swimming pool

Monkey nearly drowns Mpombo in swimming pool
Written by Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Monday, June 29, 2009 2:39:58 PM

DEFENCE minister George Mpombo last Thursday almost drowned in a swimming pool at the Royal Livingstone Hotel after a monkey that he tried to photograph charged toward him.

According to hotel workers who witnessed the incident, Mpombo who was carrying some documents as he passed by the poolside in the afternoon saw a monkey and decided to take a picture of it.

As Mpombo prepared to look through his camera, the monkey noticed and advanced towards him while making a lot of noise.

Mpombo then turned to run away from the animal but accidentally fell into the swimming pool.

"It was around 16:00 hours when he tried to take a picture of the monkey. The monkey in turn advanced towards him in irritation while beating itself on the chest and making a strange noise monkeys make when annoyed or threatened," one worker who declined to be named for fear of victimisation said. "In an effort to run away from the monkey, Mr Mpombo who was scared fell into the swimming pool and it had to take three security men from Mint Master to get him out of the pool as it had become apparent that he could not swim and was almost drowning. The three security people had to grab him by the collar of his t-shirt to get him out of the pool in which all his documents had fallen. His cell phone also fell into the pool."

The workers explained that Mpombo then headed straight to his room after being rescued. The workers, who said the incident attracted people's attention, said they retrieved the documents and the minister's phone from the pool and later took them to his room.

"The whole scene attracted the attention of tourists who were on the Sun Deck and the poolside, and the monkey has since earned itself a name of being a civilized five star hotel monkey," another worker said.

Another worker explained that Mpombo the following day went to the poolside in the company of some people and he was heard telling them that he almost died the previous day.

"The following day [Friday] he came here with some people and loudly said that he could have died in the dam while pointing at the swimming pool. This caused laughter among the hotel workers because he kept on referring to the swimming pool as a dam and asking how deep it was as he could not stand when he fell in," one of the workers said.

Last week, a monkey urinated on President Banda's shoulder during his press conference at State House.

Mpombo was in Livingstone to officiate at the 14th session of the Zambia/Namibia Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security at New Fairmount Hotel.

During the meeting on Friday, Mpombo said he was satisfied with the collaborations between the Namibian and Zambian defence and security services that had led to sustained peace and stability on both countries' border.

"The spirit of oneness that has been a hallmark of our bilateral relations has remained a source of inspiration during our interaction at various levels of co-operation. This should be nurtured to ensure that interaction continues to benefit our two countries," said Mpombo.

"We are particularly satisfied with the collaborations between our defence and security services that has led to sustained peace and stability on our common border. That notwithstanding, there is still room for increased co-operation between our defence and security services. I therefore, wish to call upon this session to explore all avenues of enhancing our co-operation."

Labels: GEORGE MPOMBO

posted by MrK @ 1:40 PM