Jack Zimba

  (This article was written in 2019) JACK ZIMBA, Mwansabombwe   IT WAS only a casual inquiry by the banks of Ng’ona River in Mwansabombwe district, Luapula Province. I asked one lad - about 16 years old - where I could buy akalumba. Akalumba (lightning) is witchcraft used to kill people, popular in Luapula. Many people here believe in black magic or witchcraft. The previous day, I had walked into the newly-opened Mwansabombwe museum, which displayed, among other items, witchcraft objects. One of them was labelled akalumba, which the curator explained as something witches use to kill. And so my inquiry was not really out of the ordinary, but then, I did not expect to get the answer I got from the youth. Although his initial reaction was to laugh off the inquiry, the youth later became serious about the matter. “I know a man who lives at that house who can sell you what you are asking about,” he said, pointing to a house nearby. “Oh, wait,” he said suddenly. “That...

  Frank Mutubila Pictures: Chishimba Bwalya   JACK ZIMBA WITH a career that bestrides seven presidents, two political systems and generations of reporters, Frank Mutubila is definitely the last man standing, outlasting all his contemporaries in the game, and outliving most of them. And yet the 71-year-old broadcaster, who is fondly known as Uncle Frank, is not about done. No. He actually has an after-life plan for his career. “Retiring? No. I can’t think of it. I may slow down, but I will keep on broadcasting. And even when I go to Heaven, I will be broadcasting there,” he says. But the broadcaster, who won one of the highest medals from the President for distinguished service to the nation in 2022, did not start as a broadcaster. In fact, his mother wanted him to grow up into a preacher like his father. Frank was only nine when his dad died, but he says he left a lasting impact on his life. “He impacted me greatly. I was actually in awe of this man, he was a...

  According to government figures, Delhi has as many as 60,000 stray dogs. Delhi has millions of automobiles on its roads, that are also responsible for the air pollution in the city. JACK ZIMBA New Delhi, India AFTER driving for over three hours under a misty blanket on the Yamuna Expressway from India’s capital, Delhi, we finally arrived in Agra , in the state of Uttar Pradesh. And after weaving through an endless stream of human traffic, we finally entered the grounds. And there, under the warm glow of the morning sun, the magnificence of the Taj Mahal shone like a pearl rising out of the Yamuna River, on whose bank it sits. At that point, my dream should have ended, but this was no dream at all. I was standing before the Taj Mahal. It is hard to describe the Taj Mahal without running out of superlatives, or running the risk of losing one's journalistic objectivity (if one must REALLY be objective in describing a masterpiece). Standing before the Taj Mahal, I got that sam...