Nkana Member of Parliament Alexander Chiteme has commended the SDA Church in Kitwe for burying 18 unclaimed bodies that have been laying at Kitwe Hospital mortuary for a month.
And Hon. Chiteme has urged other churches and the Dorcas mothers from other locations in the country to emulate what the Dorcas mother’s in Kitwe have done.
Hon. Chiteme says what the Dorcas mothers have done is a true indication of how a real Christian should be stating that he was deeply touched by the gesture of the church.
Speaking during the burial of 18 unclaimed bodies at Kitwe’s Chingola road cementary today by the Kitwe North Mission District Dorcas Community Service, Hon. Chiteme says Christianity is not only demonstrated in payer but through good deeds or actions such as burying the unclaimed bodies.
Mr Chiteme said he is concerned that the people have lost morals adding that the situation witnessed today where the dead cannot be claimed in this time and era leaves much to be desired.
Mr Chiteme who is also Minister of National Planning emphasized that government cannot work alone without the input if the church.
Speaking earlier Evangelist Patrick Luapula wondered how Zambian family values have deteriorated to levels where loved ones have left one in hospital mortuaries.
Evangelist Luapula noted that it is unfortunate that relatives has distanced themselves from burying their loved ones because they can’t afford to bury them hence they situation of having unclaimed bodies.
He said there is need for Zambians to consider and love one another with good words adding that the church in Kitwe has been provoked by the love of humanity hence the move.
” We need as a country to love one another and appreciate each other. It is unfortunate that people have distanced themselves to such situations of helping one another,” he added.
Meanwhile Kitwe North Mission District Dorcas Community Service President Constance Hanantonga said encouraged Dorcas to continue with community service in the district.
She disclosed that over K15,000 was spent towards the exercise.
The Dorcas mothers where joined by Members of the SDA youth movement Catholic church and the United Church of Zambia women.
Among those buried one was female with the rest being males.
(The Independent Observer)
Abandoned or unclaimed bodies is just one of the signs of extreme poverty in our country. The SDA Dorcas mothers chose good quick-degrading coffins that won’t attract grave robbers. This should ensure that the bodies quickly decompose and become food to other forms of life so that humans play their natural role of being eaten also because they also ate other living things when they were alive. It’s all natural, nothing mysterious.
Its high time we started cremating such bodies or even proving it as a service like Hindus do, I mean all this is too costly every town should have a crematorium
Jat Jay: But cremation costs money too. Money which those who abandon dead relatives do not have. In fact Kitwe City Council should have buried the bodies instead of relying on the SDA Dorcas mothers from whom the KCC has already collected taxes.
It doesn’t cost money in the long term…if 18 bodies are unclaimed with 5 weeks imagine how many bodies are unclaimed with a year ..that’s over a hundred and thirty a year include coffin, burial and fuel costs..its the same as buying gas cylinders for the crematorium.
The thing is, bigger hospitals are referral centres. For example, if Shangombo district hospital can’t handle a case, the patient is referred to Mongu; and is Mongu fails, the patient is referred to UTH. All the expenses are paid for by the ministry of heath through ambulance transportation, but if the patient then dies at UTH, as is always the case, then the family is left to itself. Here you are talking of a village family, with nothing, against the Lusaka funeral expenses. In short, this is one reason people end up abandoning their loved ones.
Thank you SDA, the almighty God will reward you.
What where was the Local Council?
God bless Zambia.
@Simangulungwa Kayama. it’s exactly what Jay Jay is saying, since funeral costs are left for the family, cremation would help because there would be no coffin to buy, food for mourners, and other funeral expenses. With cremation available no family will fail to claim the remains of their relative.
What govt can do is equip each and every district hospital with crematorium services, services that should be offered at a much lower cost.
@Jay Jay, please stop thinking in money terms. Crematorium have fixed price. The difference is price in what you put your parents ashes, a bottle, box or wrapped in newspapers.
It is same as letting your parents know that they are worth 70pin.
After all there is no guarantee that you receive ashes or crude oil instead.
Let’s burry our loved ones, at Memorial Park.
Nostradamus – Please stop drinking whisky whilst blogging it distracting to other sober minded readers!
You are a fool
But four weeks is too short a period to call a body unclaimed…
Yes here you are right. 2 weeks is too short, only if they know background of the dead.
SDA might have took responsibility of the people they had information about.
Even here in America we burry church members who didn’t have family base or members from foreign countries.
— am very wise man.
Imagine like someone has said above about referral..the relatives in rural Zambia maybe waiting for FRA and GRZ to pay them!!
nchinshi tufwila fwe baume eeeeee pano pa chalo (Glorious Band)
Ntumbacushi: Pantu tamumfwa. Muliba mpulamafunde.
Philipo chimbini waimba
Dorcas Mothers have always done commendable community work,most of it is not covered by the media and not noticed by politicians. I am catholic but have always admired the selflessness christian commitment of these wonderful ladies.They are actually the very soul and human face of the SDAs. My advice to Dorcas Mothers is to keep people like Chiteme and Chitotela away from their community activities as these people will only abuse their good deeds for political gain, although they should never turn down donations from these corrupt men. Money from a criminal is still money.It is the crime that is condemnable not the money.Even Mother Theresa accepted money from the Mafia to help the poor. whilst strongly condemning their crimes.
It can never be a church’s responsibility to undertake this role and people clap hands. Its government responsibility through municipalities. It’s wrong legally. We have a government which is not working.
Local government in Zambia is disaster zone. It has never recovered from KK’s so-called decentralisation. There has been no innovation in local taxation to fund local services. There’s a growing multitude placing demands on municipal services without a corresponding increase in revenue.
DORCAS MOTHERS STAY BLESSED.
THE COUNCIL HAS MONEY FOR ALLOWANCES ONLY.
What is the procedure of burying unclaimed dead bodies in Zambia? Those burying unclaimed bodies must follow the law if at all there is one on this matter. 4 weeks is morally not enough. The church is also not pure, sorry the world has seen a lot of bad things happening. Every system has loopholes.
Well done Dorcas.The tribalism it has killed pf party,in Zambia,as I’m talking now NOAH HABENZU he is suffering at UTH the government has failed to evacuate the boy to India so that he can go and get special treatment. Simple reason because he is a TONGA sole William.
Where’s HH to help his fellow SDA church members in these dark times? Oh i forgot he’s busy seeking the kingdom of Plot 1.