Medardo Cardinal Mazombwe dies at 81

We all know that some day we are destined to die. Yet when the cold hand of death visits us, the shock in us all is palpable. I can’t help but provide some reflections on the death of Zambia’s first indigenous Cardinal, Medardo Joseph Mazombwe. The country has been robbed of a much loved son of the land, the man who preached the word of God to all of us and stood for justice. 

I want to take you back to 2010 when in the company of other Zambians, I travelled to the Vatican in Rome, Italy to witness his creation as Cardinal - a historic occasion for the Church in Zambia. It was such a wonderful and memorable experience to witness the events through the lens and provide updates for the nation.

It was on 20^th November, 2010 on that chilly Italian morning that Emeritus Archbishop Medardo Mazombwe joined 24 others to be created cardinal by then Holy Father, Pope Benedict the sixteenth during the Public Consistory. The occasion was a colourful one and was repeatedly spiced by dance, ululations and cheers, mostly from the African travelling delegation. As he stepped forward and knelt before the Pope to receive his red hat, several Zambians who had travelled applauded him and ululated. It was a great moment to witness one of their own become one of the Princesses of the Church as Cardinals are sometimes called. I watched through the lens and was enthused to capture the images on camera in the majestic and iconic St. Peter’s Basilica. Soon after the Consistory, I stepped forward to congratulate him and receive a blessing.  I felt this excitement inside me like never before. It was such a privilege to be one of the first few Zambians to receive such a gesture from the new Cardinal. 

The following day I was to return in that same Church for the Holy Mass on Sunday, a continuation of the ceremony for creating the Cardinals. As usual the Church was full to capacity and many people were beaming with excitement in anticipation of the Mass that was to be presided over by Pope Benedict the sixteenth. On this day, Medardo Cardinal Mazombwe and 24 others were consigned with a ring. The ring is a sign of the bond that exists between the cardinal and the Church. In his usual soft voice, the Holy Father called upon the Christians to pray for the new Cardinals.

“I invite you to pray for the new Cardinals, asking for the special intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God, so that they may exercise their ministry in the Church fruitfully. As the new Cardinals accept the burden of this office, I am confident that they will be supported by your constant prayers and your cooperation in their efforts to build up the Body of Christ in unity, holiness and peace.” 

There were other events too lined up while in Rome. Soon after the Consistory, the Pope had an audience with the new Cardinals, their family members and all the faithful who had come to Rome for the Consistory. During this occasion held on Monday, the Pope delivered a discourse in several languages greeting thousands of enthused pilgrims from around the globe. In English, he said: “I extend a cordial greeting to the English-speaking prelates whom I had the joy of raising to the dignity of Cardinal in last Saturday’s Consistory. I also welcome their family members and friends, and all the faithful who have accompanied them to Rome.”

This welcome from the head of the Catholic Church gave me a sense of belonging to the universal Church. I felt very much a family member of the more than 2 billion Catholics.

During a thanksgiving Mass organized by Zambians based in Rome, Medardo Cardinal Mazombwe called upon leaders to promote justice, love and unity.

“And those of Us who are called into power and leadership, let us remember that justice is love. Where there is no justice, it is a proof that there is no love. The kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of justice, love and peace. The world nowadays is in crisis with regard to justice, there is so much injustice around us,” he said. 

When I spoke to Fr. Moses Haamungole, a Catholic priest who was at the time studying in Belgium, he described Cardinal Mazombwe as a great son of Zambia who contributed to the debt cancellation for Zambia. Fr. Haamungole who was in Rome for the Consistory further said the appointment of Cardinal Mazombwe “confirms the maturity of the Catholic Church in Zambia.”

“I am very happy the Church has recognized his contribution… and I think he still has an important role to play in the Church in Zambia. He (Cardinal Mazombwe) is one of the advisors of the Pope, so in many ways he will be called upon to give his input in the affairs of the Church,” he said.

Cardinals occupy a very important position in the Church. The College of Cardinals is responsible for electing a new Pope whenever there is a vacancy in the papal office and advising him on matters of greater importance. It is also from among the Cardinals that a new pope is elected. Despite holding such an influential position in the Church, Medardo Cardinal Mazombwe did not have a house of his own but chose to live in the parish of St. Francis De Sales in Thornpark, Lusaka. This sums up anything that has been or can be said about this man – a humble and committed servant of the Lord. 

   

According to a statement from the Catholic Archdiocese of Lusaka and the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), His Eminence Medardo CARDINAL Joseph Mazombwe, the Archbishop Emeritus of Lusaka Archdiocese passed away in Lusaka’s University Teaching Hospital (UTH) on Thursday, 29 August 2013 at around 17.40 hours Zambian time. 

Brief PROFILE of Medardo CARDINAL Joseph Mazombwe as compiled by ZEC

Zambia‘s first indigenous Cardinal

Cardinal Mazombwe was born on 24 September 1931 at Katete in the Eastern Province of Zambia. He was ordained a Catholic priest on 4 September 1960 and became Bishop of Chipata Diocese on 7 Feb 1971.  Between 1996 and 2006, he was the Archbishop of Lusaka until his retirement in 2006.

On 30 November 2010 the then Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI created the Emeritus Archbishop of Lusaka, Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, as Zambia’s first indigenous Cardinal, at a public consistory held in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican. 

Cardinal Mazombwe has held several senior positions in the local and regional Church, such as Zambia Episcopal President (1972 – 1975; 1988 – 1990 and 1999 – 2002); and as Chairman of the regional conferences of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (A.M.E.C.E.A.) (1979 – 1986).

In the months leading to the year 2000, Cardinal Mazombwe, as Archbishop of Lusaka, was an ardent campaigner for the cancellation of Zambia’s international debt, in the Jubilee 2000 movement. Most visible among some of his numerous pastoral initiatives, is the sprawling Cathedral of the Child Jesus (Pope Square) in Lusaka.

Cardinal Mazombwe’s optimism and courage in the face of Cancer inspired many that visited him in the last twelve months. Even as he grew weak, Cardinal Mazombwe never gave up his passion for the affairs of the Church and the nation.

MHSRIP

Lessons from the Zambia Railways saga

Live in Zambia and earn 140,000 kwacha re-based (2600 US dollars)? Is that rich?  Yes by Zambian standards.  

Poor Zambians are waking up to the rude shock that a chief executive of a public company is getting well above many citizens in terms of salary and other conditions of service. I am saying so because many Zambian can only dream to get that amount of money after toiling for more than 40 years in public service.

As if that is not enough, Professor Clive Chirwa lives in a luxury apartment where it costs Zambia Railways about 72 million per month in rentals. His other entitlement of 2.6 million kwacha rebased annual bonus and 25% share in Zambia Railways after working for 5 years were agreed upon by his lawyers and government prior to signing the contract. This was revealed by Prof. Chirwa himself on ZNBC’s Sunday interview. So it must be shocking to learn that a government that had promised to introduce austerity measures aimed at cutting unnecessary expenditure is allowing such extravagancy at Zambia Railways.

In this story, there is also the issue of former board members of Zambia Railways engaging in a brawl with the Chief Executive Officer, Professor Clive Chirwa over allowances. Mr. Chirwa has expressed disappointment over the insatiable appetite for money by some of the board members: "I am very surprised that people in Zambia have got this attitude of getting allowances. This thing should come to an end. Perhaps this story of Zambia Railways will bring up some sanity within the allowance culture where without doing anything, you get allowances. This should be stopped once and for all".

Perhaps, Professor Chirwa has been away from home for too long because this is certainly what is happening in many institutions in the country. The whole concept of being on the board is misconstrued by many to imply a full time job where you must be paid like workers who turn up every day. We have seen this happening, not only with public institutions alone but with even private ones.

 

The board before it was dissolved held a press conference at which they accused Prof. Chirwa of “undermining their authority”. They also revealed that “the man (Chirwa) never wanted to listen to anyone” and that “the man made obscene demands from a company which is insolvent.”

The revelations that have come from both sides send a cold shiver down the spines of many ordinary Zambians. After all these issues have only come out because the two parties did not agree well on how to plunder the finances from the Euro bond. What is happening at Zambia Railways is only an offshoot of the hypocrisy that goes on in many institutions in this country. Many Zambians are left to wonder as to whom they should trust to run the affairs of this country on their behalf. The politicians have failed them and professionals have also done the same.

This matter brings into question the case of public investment into Zambia Railways. Gael Raballand, a senior economist at the World Bank and Alan Whiteworth, technical adviser at Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR) in their research paper puts it succinctly:

“With the poor economic and financial returns to railway investment and the uncertainty over Congolese traffic, public investment in railways in current circumstances appears highly risky. Few of the new rail routes proposed in the Sixth National Development Plan appear economically viable under any circumstances. While certain new routes could possibly be viable if mines are prepared to sign long term contracts, such decisions are best left to the private sector. Given its poor track record in railways and the underfunding of essential public services, rather than investing in railways itself, the Government’s role should be to: (a) facilitate private investment in the sector; and (b) ensure that trucks cover the full cost of the damage they cause to the roads by enforcing appropriate road user charges.”

The rest will have to be left to time to help us know whether this is a viable project to be undertaken by government.

  

Pope Francis, the friend of the poor

I have known Argentina as a great footballing country that has produced some of the greatest players to have graced the world’s much loved sport - football. Talk of the great Diego ‘Amando’ Maradona of yester-years and now Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, has been added to that list of great Argentines who have shaped this world.

When his name was announced as the man to have risen to the head of the Catholic Church, little did it click my mind who this man is. But by asking us to pray for him before he could give us his blessing soon after his election left me thrilled by this mark of humility. The world certainly needs “a shepherd who is close to his sheep”. This is what has been said by many people about the new Pope. 

From what we are reading concerning his life, he is a man who has chosen simplicity in the world where many use their positions to amass wealth and live in vanity. By the choice of Francis, he has again shown that he wants to identify himself with the poor like St. Francis of Assisi did. We are told Pope Francis had “a reputation as a humble pastor who even in high office commuted to work by bus, lived in a small palace rather that an apostolic palace and cooked his own meals”. 

The argument as to which Francis he has chosen as his guiding model was put to rest on Saturday 16^th March, when he addressed journalists. This is what he said: “During the elections, the Emeritus Archbishop of San Paulo, Claudio Cardinal Humes (OFM), a great friend, when things were becoming dangerous he was comforting me. And when the number of votes was reaching two-thirds, there was the usual applause because the pope was elected. He hugged me… then he said don’t forget the poor and then that word just stuck with me – the poor. Then I immediately thought of Francis of Assisi.

In case you want to read more about St. Francis follow this link:

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50

Pope Francis described Francis of Assisi as “the man that represents poverty, that represents peace. He is the man who loves and looks after what has been created.” This he said is what he wants to do for the church and for the world. The new pope said he wants to preside over “a poor church for the poor”. During his address to the journalists, he called upon them to use their professional skills to represent well the gospel and the reality of the church.

Through the meeting with journalists, Pope Francis has demonstrated his love and appreciation for the role of the media in society. Journalists report what is bad and good, beautiful and truthful. This according to the new pope is what the church equally represents, therefore the two must work together to advance the mission of Christ. The meeting with the journalists gave us more insight into the life of Pope Francis.    

It could have been worse

The nation's morale would have sunk to its lowest levels had Nigeria scored the penalty and went on to win last night's match against the African Champions - Zambia.

In the game against the Nigerians, the Chipolopolo looked short of the form that helped them win the Africa Cup trophy for the first time in their history. A bad Mbombela pitch in Nelspruit contributed to the lack of precision but it could not be entirely faulted as both sides struggled to find cohesion. Herve Renard's charges created a few chances in the first half. Rainford Kalaba was the first to threaten sending his shot just over the angle of the post and bar. Chisamba Lungu's free kick was pushed away by Vincent Enyama and defender Stoppila Sunzu headed wide from another set piece. The Super Eagles had their own set of chances and could have put the match to rest had Chelsea's John Mikel scored from a spot kick in the first half. The Nigerians increased their pace after the break and Emmanuel Emenike could have scored had Armed Musa played him at the far post rather than choosing to shoot himself. Emenike later cut inside his man and slotted in to open the scoring for the Super Eagles but they were denied by a controversial penalty decision. Kennedy Mwene stepped forward to set his own record as the first stopper to score a goal in open play in the entire tournament's history.  

It was the same old story of Zambian players failing to convert clear chances into goals as we have witnessed in the past one year or so. I am one of those who are skeptical about the Chipolopolo's chances of making it out of group C. This doesn't mean am not patriotic but am being a realist. I can be called all sorts of names by some who think we can do well at this tournament and even threatened by others who believe that prayers alone will guarantee Zambia success.

As they say statistics don't lie. And if you take time to analyse Zambia's past performance since winning the AFCON in Gabon, you would see that we have not been good in front of goal. Our team has averaged one goal per match which is not a good thing especially when you are playing at tournaments like the Africa Cup because goals can decide which teams progress in case of any tie. Let's take the last match that the team is going to play against Burkina Faso for example. This is both a simple and crucial match at the same time. Crucial in the sense that all we need is a win by any scoreline because by doing so the team will amass five points and top the group if Nigeria lose or draw. I would say tough because all the Stallions (Burkina Faso) need is a draw to secure top spot regardless of the results in the other match. The four goals they put past Ethiopia despite being a man down have given them a plus and belief that they can go all the way to the finals. They are a good team after all with exciting players like Alain Traore and Jonathan Pitroipa. These are the two most dangerous players that we have to guard against when we meet on Tuesday.

The Zambian team is full of talented young men who can rise to the occasion and beat Burkina Faso to sail through to the quarter finals but one thing is standing in our way to do so. We don't have natural great ball finishers who can be compared to the likes of Kalusha Bwalya who had scored in that match against Burkina Faso when the two teams met at the 1996 Africa Cup in South Africa. Where can we get a player of the late Kelvin Mutale's calibre, someone who could score three goals in one match? When are we going to see midfielders and defenders like Elijah Litana score goals when the strikers have been tightly marked, where? Why are we not clinical with free kicks and other set pieces like corners? These are the questions that Renard and his assistants must find answers to as they drill the team to take on Burkina Faso.

We also have very good reasons to remain positive as Zambia take on Burkina Faso in the last fixture of Group C.  Zambia has never lost to their opponents at the Africa Cup. The Chipolopolo beat the Stallions 5-1 during the 1996 Africa Cup in South Africa and posted a 1 all draw in another AFCON match in 2000.

The Chipolopolo should count themselves lucky to have scored that soft penalty against the Super Eagles of Nigeria to earn a valuable point. In many cases that foul would have earned Mayuka a yellow card for going down too easily. So it will be wise of us if we can utilise the only chance that we have against Burkina Faso. The good thing about this fixture is that fate is in our own hands because we just have to win this match. There are no permutations from the other encounter between Nigeria and Ethiopia unless we complicate matters by drawing in our fixture.

Is Zambia keeping the goals for the Africa Cup?

The Zambian fans know what it is like to participate in the Africa Cup having watched their team take part in 15 finals this far. The team twice lost in the finals to Zaire as Congo DR was known in 1974 and 1994 against Nigeria. Despite the team’s triumph in last year’s finals, the fans are keeping their hopes low because of Zambia’s lacklustre performances since that famous win against Ivory Coast. 

The scoreless stalemate for Zambia in a practice match against Norway has not helped matters ahead of the Africa Cup tournament kicking off in South Africa on Saturday 19, January. Preparatory matches for a team often referred to as the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) have been far from impressive and “chaotic” in other words. Many soccer fans and pundits had hoped for a win against Norway to reinvigorate the waning euphoria that greeted the nation when the team won the Africa Cup last year but this was never to be. 

The people have reasons to be worried. The reigning African champions have not won a single match in all the friendlies that they have played so far, losing to Saudi Arabia (2-1), Tanzania (1-0), Angola (2-0) and drawing against Norway. The other source of concern is the team’s inability to score goals. From the time the team was crowned African champions, they have not scored more than two goals in a single match. These statistics have further aggravated the nation’s fears about their team’s ability or inability to defend the trophy.  

When team coach Herve Renard was asked whether he was worried about his team’s failure to put the ball behind the net after the Norway match. The French man gave a cheeky response, “we are keeping the goals for the Africa Cup”. Renard and his charges will have to prove this when they take on minnows Ethiopia in their opening match on Monday 21 in Johannesburg.  

There is some consolation though because a similar pattern of results was recorded before the nations cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The other source of comfort is in the fact that Renard has retained 19 of the 23 players who took part in last year’s finals. Notable inclusions are Jacob Mulenga, the player who missed the tournament due to injury and a tournament debutant Mukuka Mulenga who was voted 2012 Zambian footballer of the year. These two players will add another dimension to the team that triumphed in Gabon and Mulenga might be a solution for Zambia in front of goals. Many players in the team are still unknown to the world but key midfield players like Rainford Kalaba, Nathan Sinkala and Chisamba Lungu have great individual skill capable of disturbing any defences in Africa. They showed this by ripping apart Ghana, Senegal and even Ivory Coast on their way to winning the trophy. 

Team captain, Christopher Katongo, the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the year will lead his peers when the team takes to the field in South Africa. In Emmanuel Mayuka, the top scorer at last year’s finals, Zambia can look to impress. He is one player you can choose to ignore at your own peril. Ask the Ghanaians, they will tell you what the Southampton FC striker is capable of doing. He broke the hearts of the Black Stars when he scored the deciding goal in the semi-finals of 2012 for Zambia to win the tie 1-0. The defence led by Stoppila Sunzu, the man who scored the deciding penalty in the final and Hichani Himonde is probably the best backline on the African continent. Sunzu is already attracting interests from top European teams and is currently in England finalising his pending move to Reading. Kennedy Mweene in goal is another star with plenty of experience in that area. 

There are good reasons also to be hopeful. South Africa is second home to Zambia as many of our players play or have played in that country in their careers. The team will therefore have more support from the the locals and Zambians based in that country. This group has also been together for a long time to understand each other well and deliver the positive results. In fact many of them are either playing together at TP Mazembe or at least meet every week during matches in South Africa. The team has also received adequate support from government and the corporate world; hence shading off worries about winning bonuses and upkeeps during the tournament.