So today was an interesting and very LOOOOOONG day! The President of Zambia (whose name i have completely forgotten) was expected to arrive in Ikelenge today at 11:15am. The whole place was in a dither, people travelled from quite a ways a way to come here him speak. the reason he was coming is because Chief Ikelenge went all the way to Lusaka to complain about the roads (among other things). We arrived in Ikelenge around 10:30 as we had a load of chairs (for the important people in his entourage). then we sat and waited and waited and waited. it was a VERY hot day! at 12:45 we headed back to the car as we were about to pass out from heat exhaustion and our legs were tired of standing in the same place. they had a few forms of entertainment but there were so many people crowding in that we couldn't see most of it. around 1:10 we finally heard a helicopter and hurried back to get a spot in the crowd. we were disappointed to find out it was simply soldiers who had come to secure the area. the president finally made an appearance sometime after 2pm, way beyond the time we might call 'fashionably late'. by that time i was just plain annoyed! i was hot, tired and hungry! (not a good combination). we stayed for most of his speech, but soon got tired of it and went in search of something cold to drink. however, we did hear him say that he is going to send graters to 'fix' the roads (he OBVIOUSLY hasn't SEEN the condition of the roads or he'd know it was WAY past the point of grating) anyhow, he also declared Ikelenge a 'Boma' which basically means that they'll be (eventually) getting more money from the government, as well as "better schools, better nursing, bigger police station, more military presence" etc. we're a little scepticle as to when this is all going to take place, but at least he's acknowledging the North West Province now. :)
for those of you who know Pete Fisher you may be as shocked as i was to hear that his wardrobe does contain something other then khaki shirts and short shorts! we heard that Pete was to give a speech and we sort of had a bet going about what he was going to wear. i have to admit i lost. i tho't he'd be in his usual garb, however he was wearing a a shirt like a Zambian flag and ..... LONG pants! unfortunatly i didn't get a picture of this as proof, however i do have a pic of him in his shirt.
so, after standing in the sun for about 5 hours, we returned home to wonder... was it all worth it?
The President's name was Rupiah Banda
ReplyDeleteI am of Ikelenge's top royal blood and it's sad to see the under development in my area. Just like other members, I turned down the possibility of being chief because of these selfish, reluctant politicians whose goal is to squander the area's abudundant resources to fulfill their personal ambitions. The Gold, culture and Zambezi river source (need say the reason for Victoria fall's existence). The money is used to develop their home towns and they leave nothing for the people of this beautiful area of Ikelenge and North Western as a whole. The government has neglected this area since the took over from the british. I visit every now and then, and shed tears. The author now lives overseas, tired of jungle politics.
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