Posts

Showing posts from March, 2017

I could have killed my husband

Image
  Mutinta pictured at her home. JACK ZIMBA W HAT would you do if your husband’s girlfriend invaded your bedroom in the middle of the night and savagely attacked you while you slept? That is the situation one woman of Lusaka was faced with. Now divorced for 10 years, Mutinta* talks about the pain of living in an abusive relationship. A fading bite mark on her wrist is a sad reminder of her deeply troubled marriage. She has similar marks on both thighs, inflicted on her by her husband’s lover. One night, when she couldn’t take the abuse anymore, Mutinta became like a cornered animal and hit back, savagely beating her husband. “He wanted to hit me, and I was upset, I was shaking. I have never felt that angry before. I just reached for a helmet under the bed, closed my eyes and just started hammering,” she says. “I used to ride a motorbike back then, and I would park the motorbike outside, but I kept the helmet under the bed. “I think it was a combinatio...

Shambalakale: The forgotten mansion

Image
Email The mansion viewed from the observation post. Pictures by Jack Zimba JACK ZIMBA, Chinsali NOW here is a place you probably did not know actually existed – Shambalakale farm. Nestled in a lush mountainside in Chinsali, Muchinga Province, Shambalakale farm was meant to be the retirement home of Zambia’s first President Kenneth Kaunda. Shambalakale is a Swahili term meaning “old farm”. The estate, which stretches about 12km, is situated in Mafupa village, a few kilometres from Chinsali Boma. Hidden from view by a pristine forest is the mansion that Dr Kaunda built. After driving on a very bumpy road, you find an old tarred road, which is still intact, leading up a mountain. About 300 metres and you come to a metal barrier and a guard’s house. Beyond that, there is a long driveway lined with trees – flamboyant trees, umbrella and Christmas trees. There are also Bougainville plants. Then you come before the w...