Dying in the Diaspora: A Case of Sikwebela Malitela is a Shame to PF Govt Who issued a Painful Denial Statement to His Family

By Muyeba Muyeba

Death is something that many people have experienced in their families and communities, and will continue to experience long after many readers of this article are long gone. From time immemorial, we as a people from every race on this earth have treated death as a sacred passage from this earth to a resting place, to those who believe in the resurrection until the sound of the second trumpet and to none believers until the soul is reborn in another form of being.  In order to understand how death happens, it is important categorize death in the manner in which one meets his/her end of life.

There are two categories that I would to refer to in this article. The first one is sudden death, which occurs without notice and with very little expectation by those that love the deceased. In this category we have road accidents, asthma attack, suicide, homicide, heart attacks and strokes etc.

The second category comes after a long term illness where relatives and friends wait for a miracle to happen and in most cases the miracles that people see at the end of it all is death. During the period of illness, some people plan for their funeral services in a way such that they go to extent of purchasing and paying for funeral services to avoid leaving behind huge debt for the family. Funeral pre-planning (personal funeral planning) is a wise practice that’s becoming increasingly accepted and appreciated. People are sometimes hesitant to pre-plan a funeral because they think they’re not going to die anytime soon, or they may not like the idea of thinking about their own death and funeral. In many African cultures pre-planning for a funeral was considered a taboo but a lot has changed in recent years. There may even be some superstition that planning your own funeral will somehow bring on a hasty death. However, many people who get over their initial resistance to the idea actually find funeral planning to be a freeing experience. You’re able to make sure things are done in the way you’d like them, and you’ll know that you’re relieving your loved ones of some very burdensome future responsibilities.

You can begin the funeral planning process long before you are even close to death. If you’re ill or in the process of dying, funeral planning can be a proactive way of dealing with the inevitable. This takes place in a form of insurance. Funeral insurance is an insurance policy designed to cover any costs directly related to your funeral. The payer may stipulate what costs are to be covered or the funeral insurance policy may pay out a lump sum. Funeral costs covered may include embalming, other cosmetology, flowers, burial plot (or grave space), grave marker (or other memorial) and more.

This brings me to the discussion currently in the Zambia media over the death of Sikwebela Malitela. Dying in the Diaspora is not cheap and people should not demonize those that die in the diaspora as though they have committed a sin or a crime. Dying in the diaspora is simply dying in a foreign place away from those who mean a lot to you and who may be at hand to give a helping hand. Anyone can die at any given time and from any kind of death. In the case of Sikwebela, it was unfortunately a sudden death that caught everyone in his family by surprise. How then do we come to the aid of a departed friend who may not have had insurance to cover his death?  This is where the culture of help that is embedded in our DNA comes in. Zambians and let me say Africans at large have always been known to help each other in times of need. And funerals stand out as one area among many others where people go out of their way to extend a helping hand in form of finances support, material support, and spiritual support. We as a people cannot divorce ourselves from helping because like Mwata Kazembe XVII alluded to when he ascended to the throne, he called himself Mushindike abafwa tabayishidika, meaning escort those who die to grave because a dead person will never escort themselves to the grave. I agree sincerely with the words of the Mwata. Sikwebela needs to be escorted because no matter what happens, his body will have to be buried by someone who will escort him all the way to the grave.

It is sad to note that some political parties in Zambia want to politicize one among many other deaths that have happened outside Zambia to gain political mileage. This is an acceptable, but if they are doing it without any political motive, well and good. Political parties in whatever form they come should desist from such acts of trying to win popularity through the back door. Funerals ought to be respected and accorded the decency they deserve. Cadre mentality at funerals should be replaced with humility and respect for the deceased. Politicians who try to gain mileage at funerals should to be shown the door and leave the bereaved families and friends to mourn their loved ones in a somber and decent way.

Zambians die every month around the world and in most cases our Embassies never donate a cent towards the cost of repatriating bodies of deceased colleagues back to Zambia. The reason they give is, “We are not funded to help with funerals.” What then ought we to do? The onus falls on families, friends and the communities in which people live to raise monies to send these bodies back home. In the Midwest of the United States, Zambians have on several occasions been involved in fundraising and arranging for funerals of departed colleagues. It gives me great pride and joy to state that Zambians living in the Midwest States have a very vibrant community system, which has on many occasions rose to the challenge of making sure that no Zambian is left behind. Sending a body from these Midwest States of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota to Zambia cost a minimum of $12,000. This is no easy amount to come across or a cheap tab for anyone one to pick up given the time limits that funeral homes require of the community to come up with the said amount. Yet Zambians and the communities of Africans come together like it has always been our culture back home in Africa to ensure that the bodies of our brothers or sisters are sent to be buried among their own with respect and dignity.

Some people may argue and say we live in a modern world where everyone should have life insurance.  The answer is yes, everyone is supposed to have life insurance but not everyone has one when they die. When death strikes, it does so at the most critical time of people’s lives. Many that die in the diaspora are either students or just people chasing the dream of success and are struggling to make it from day to day. Hence they may not even have insurance that we all talk so much about. Bear in mind also the confusion that comes with the death of any individual and the arrangements which have to be made for the body to leave for the motherland. Nobody at that particular time ever thinks of the deceased’s life insurance since the paperwork takes long. What is at hand that need urgent attention is to find money to send the body home within the shortest period of time, hence the need to have an organized communication system in place that sets the engine of who we are as Africans, to help one another in time of need rolling.

To Minister Given Lubinda, I respectfully urge you to do some serious soul searching before you make those painful statements, which hurt close families. I don’t care who dies whether it is a destitute Zambian or whatever position the person held in society, death is painful and no body plans to die in the manner our brother Sikwebela died. The bottom line is he is Zambian and he deserves better. The death of Sikwebela Malitela should not be treated lightly as he was first and foremost a child of some parents who loved him dearly, secondly a Zambian and above all someone who died under mysterious circumstance. Minister Lubinda’s Ministry should have sent investigators to find the cause of his death than to speculate on reports from Embassy Officials who are not forensic experts.

What I expected from my political colleague Lubinda was to rise to the challenge and set into motion the fundraising wheels to get Sikwebela’s body back to Zambia as soon as possible. I recall 5 years ago when the then Zambia’s Ambassador to United States Inonge Mbikusita Lewanika came to the rescue of one Zambian lady who died in the Midwest (Name and State with-held). While the Embassy did not donate money as an institution, she made sure that she sent the Second Secretary to help with the paperwork to have that individual’s body shipped to Zambia in the shortest possible time. This is what is expected of Embassy and Foreign Affairs staff, to have the Zambian people at heart. Our friends from countries like Kenya even hold Funeral Harambees to help raise money for funerals and their Embassy officials are always on top of such issues.

Another example that comes to my mind happened under my watch in 1996 at Lusaka International Airport. The time was 1546 hours and we had just boarded Z9-640 to Johannesburg. There was a delegation of women from the African Methodist Church in the United States of America visiting Zambia who came late to the airport and were rushing to get on the flight onward to the United States. One of them collapsed and died at Lusaka International airport in the departure lounge. The American Embassy was contacted, and immediately they sent an official to make arrangement to have the body taken to St. Anne and three days later shipped to the USA even when the trip was not sponsored by the US government. But just because she was an American, they showed responsibility of coming to the aid of one of theirs. This is how a sympathetic and responsible government works. There is no need for Minister Lubinda to make such disparaging statements over a matter that can be handled by the Director at the European Union desk in his ministry. Can you imagine Secretary Clinton making a statement of an American dying at the Victoria Falls? Where are his diplomatic etiquette and moral obligations?

My caution to Minister Lubinda is that, as Zambians become part of the global village spread all around the world, there is need to understand that these deaths will occur on a regular basis and he should know the ramifications of neglecting his own people. I understand that the government cannot repatriate every one that dies in the diaspora but a loving sympathetic word to the family of Sikwebela from a high ranking official such as the position he holds would make a difference than adding salt to injured hearts of relatives and friends that are mourning a departed friend. When we sing our national anthem; as proud and free Zambians, we must live and walk with joy and pride where ever we are as Zambians knowing that we have a caring and loving Minister who has our interests at heart, no matter our circumstances and position we hold in society.

Let me remind fellow Zambians spread around the globe on the need to take stock of our own responsibilities of ensuring that we set aside some reserve for rainy days. People’s pockets are getting tight and not many are willing to stretch that hand of help sighting their own issues that they have to deal with such as accumulated bills. We need to start planning for our end time passage from this earth. And the answer is Insurance, Insurance Insurance.

All sentiments expressed in this article are those of the author who stands responsible to its publication. Any constructive comments on this article are welcome and should be sent to [email protected]

Posted by Editor on November 28, 2012. Filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry