A 53 year old Head Teacher of Kabulu Primary School in Lunga District in Luapula Province has drowned after the Canoe he was in capsized on Lake Bangweulu.
Confirming the matter to ZANIS, Luapula Province Police Commanding Officer Fwambo Siame identified the deceased as Boniface Mwelwa of Malombola village in Chief Kasoma Bangweulu’s chiefdom in Samfya district.
Mr Siame revealed that the incident happened on 12th April, 2023 around 18:00 hours at Makumba area on Lake Bangweulu.
He disclosed that the deceased met his fate as he was coming from attending a preparatory meeting for the Musubilwa Mpembwa Traditional Ceremony at Chief Nsamba’s palace in Lunga district.
He said that after attending the meeting the victim booked a canoe to take him back to Kabulu Primary school which was being paddled by two teenage boys.
Mr Siame said when they reached an area called Mukamba on Lake Bangweulu, the canoe capsized and that the two boys survived while the deceased failed to swim.
The body of the deceased was retrieved around 23:00 hours and has since been deposited at Samfya District Hospital Mortuary awaiting postmortem.
Upnd sacrifice for employing 30,000 teachers. Rip
Time has come to tighten regulation of marine vessels in Zambia. There’s a wild west situation on our water bodies.
So sad…very sad…the Head Teacher was only performing his duties and sadly died in the course of serving others. MHSRIP This DMMU country coordinator what exactly are they doing? It is not about taking photos and looking smart…people are dying everyday from drowning incidents what are they doing about it. If you can’t do anything please leave and let others brains tackle the problem.
I’ve said before that the Government needs get serious with these needless accidents by requiring everyone that ventures out on Lake Bangweulu, or any other Lake or river, to make sure they have a life vest. Anyone caught transporting people without life vests / jackets must be arrested and imprisoned. Otherwise avoidable accidents like this will continue to happen needlessly. UPND wake up and do something!
Well said life vests must be a must