By Mpandashalo Mwewa.
Former Kabwe Central Member of Parliament, Hon. Tutwa Ngulube, has not died. He has shown us how to live! My personal encounter with him was that of urging me to use my career to promote justice by investigating cases and share the truth, a very difficult task because the truth goes against the court of public opinion. I obliged because we don’t go into journalism to be popular. It is our job to seek the truth and share it with the general public to help it make informed decisions.
It’s this same truth that puts constant pressure on our leaders, forcing them to give us answers in situations where we have raised pertinent issues of national interest requiring their input. He helped me to see through the lies surrounding the political persecution of one his clients, cases I thoroughly investigated and reported on, cases that have made me expose the growing trend in Zambia of eliminating political opponents through the Illusion Of Truth!
Mr. Ngulube, who is suspected to have suffered a heart attack, passed on at the Specialised Heart Hospital near the Kenneth Kaunda international airport. His driver and ADC, a Mr. Chibanga Kalumbi, narrated that his Boss called him about lunch time on Friday to pick him up from his home in Lusaka for the hospital as he was not feeling well.
He drove him to the hospital and stayed by his bed side until about 10pm. On Saturday morning, Hon. Ngulube called him about 6am to pick him up as he was likely to be discharged. But upon arrival an hour or so later, the driver, instead, found his condition seemingly taken a downturn.
In the next hour or so, the ADC found himself witnessing Doctors trying hard to keep him alive and later trying to resuscitate him. Confirming the development to Journalists in Lusaka on Saturday morning, acting Patriotic Front President, Given Lubinda, described the death of Mr. Ngulube as a huge loss to the party and his friends. Mr. Lubinda said the Patriotic Front was scheduled to have a meeting on Saturday morning, but after being informed about the death of Mr. Ngulube, the party decided to cancel the meeting in honour of Mr. Ngulube who was described as the party’s dear friend, a good lawyer and hard-working colleague.
Hon. Lubinda said the funeral proceedings would take place in Kabwe at his family residence and all the members of the PF Central Committee would be travelling to Kabwe to join the family in mourning the gallant friend of the party, Mr. Ngulube. Tutwa Ngulube was born on 12th April, 1979 at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka from Onesmus Sandani Ngulube and Miriam Tivwale Mtonga Ngulube. He did his primary education at Woodlands A primary school and went to Chama Secondary School as a boarder where he completed his secondary education in 1997. He got married to Glendah Sokontwe Ngulube and together they had five children.
In 1999, he enrolled at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and graduated in 2004 with Bachelors Degree in law. In 2002 while studying at UNZA, Tutwa started working for Legal Resources Foundation. After graduating as a law student in 2004, the foundation sponsored him at Zambia Institute of Advance Legal Education (ZIALE). He came back in 2007 and was admitted to the bar to practice law as a legal practitioner. Between 2005 and 2007, Tutwa enrolled at the American University in Cairo Egypt for a short course in Human Rights.
While working with Legal Resources Foundation, he had a privilege of working with nongovernmental organizations among them Women in Law Southern Africa (WILSA) and Women in Law Development Africa (WILDAF). Working with WILSA and WILDAF gave him an opportunity of training paralegals and offering Human Rights courses. In 2006, Legal Resources Foundation transferred him to Kabwe to be in charge of the Kabwe office where he took over from Abram Mwansa who is now Solicitor General.
Tutwa Ngulube’s political career started when he was a law student at UNZA having served as a Law Association secretary general. He also vied for UNZA student Union vice president. It was during this time that he joined the Forum for Development and Democracy (FDD) under the leadership of Lieutenant General, Christon Tembo and Major Richard Kachingwe. Coming from a humble background, Tutwa decided to join politics to offer a service and add colour to politics by being himself.
He noticed that most of the elected leaders always abandoned their people and failed to criticize leadership by running away from the truth. Tutwa was one of the most influential youths of Kabwata who managed to elect Major Richard Kachingwe as the first FDD MP for Kabwata constituency. He and his colleagues, among them, Antonio Mwanza who is currently PF Media deputy director, worked very hard as UNZA students during the time FDD swept almost all the parliamentary seats in Lusaka.
At that time, Tutwa and his colleagues, despite being students, were very instrumental in politics. In 2004 Tutwa joined the Patriotic Front (PF) when the FDD lost direction after the death of its founder, General Tembo, and worked very closely with the late President Michael Chilufya Sata. When the late President, Mr. Sata, decided to stand in 2006, Tutwa and his colleagues managed to garner a lot of support and votes for Mr. Sata and the PF party.
When Mr. Sata contested in the Presidential by-elections in 2008, Tutwa and his friends were very confident he Mr. Sata would actually win the elections but he went on to narrowly lose the election.
Tutwa had an opportunity to represent Mr. Sata when he came face to face with the courts of law as leader of the strongest opposition political part at the time. As one of the people that worked closely with Mr. Sata, Tutwa knew the late President to be a very honest man who inspired him and his colleagues in politics. Mr. Sata’s honesty gave Tutwa a lot of courage and its this boldness that made him speak the truth. In some cases, his honesty has made him come in conflict his own party, the PF.
One can comfortably state that he enjoyed the opportunity of being a PF member, the party that had given him a rare privilege of representing the people of Kabwe Central constituency in Parliament. A politician who stood for the truth, a reputable lawyer and a businessman, Tutwa Sandani Ngulube was a force to reckon with to many young people and emerging politicians in the country.
May the soul of this advocate for justice rest in peace!