Daily Revelation Reporter
President Hakainde Hichilema has directed Home Affairs minister Jack Mwiimbu and Inspector General of Police Graphael Musamba to review the gun licensing system.
And late Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha, who was shot by his wife Jane Lusengo, was yesterday put to rest at Lusaka’s Memorial Park after a fully parked sendoff requiem service which was held in his honor at Mulungushi Conference Centre in Lusaka.
Speaking during the funeral service of Gen Shikapwasha, President Hichilema said he had been seeing so much usage of firearms at parties.
“Given the manner in which the General departed from us, through gunshot wounds, and the observation I have made this year alone, from Christmas to new -year and now, I have been seeing so much usage of firearms.
“At parties people are carrying arms, they are loaded, they are going for a party. How would you load a gun when you are going to a party? What is your intention? Who do you want to harm? I have seen it in social circles, this is the culture the country had begun to embrace in the last 10 years that a gun is one of the items you carry around. No! No! No! No! No!No! So have directed the Inspector general of police and the minister of Home Affairs to review the gun licensing system,” President Hichilema said.
He said laws surrounding the practices, the permits and purchase of bullets should be reviewed.
“I would rather spend that money not on bullets but on fertilizer. I am not joking here, I would rather spend that money on seed. So minister, I see you where you are seated, you have got my message from this funeral house, start looking at the laws, the licensing, authorities and procedures for guns for ammunition so we can protect citizens in the homes, in public places,” he said.
“We should go further and deal with this issue so that people can feel safe anywhere all the time. Minister you have heard.”
The President also urged Zambians not to pick guns against each other.
“I am not talking about the circumstances of his death, don’t misunderstand me. I am talking about citizens rising against each other. There is no need. This man was not just a General, he was a giant in size and if he used his size, he would crush a lot of us. But he never did that. Self-restraint, responsibility, care for others,” President Hichilema said.
President Hichilema said Shikapwasha demonstrated what it meant to save the nation.
“Many of us are pretentious that we serve the nation but really we have other agendas behind serving in public offices. We learn from him that when we decide to serve the public, we should do it with all our hearts without any hidden motives for personal gain. When we serve the public as he did, our personal interest will be taken care of,” he said.
President Hichilema also said many citizens don’t want to work but they want to live well, saying this is a contradiction, which must be learnt from the late.
He also said some wanted to eat but did not want to work, saying those who don’t want to work should not eat.
Following the arrival of Lt General Shikapwasha’s remains, the service was followed by songs from different church groupings and tributes from family members.
The hall was filled to capacity and many people from all walks of life gathered to pay their last respects to Lt Gen Shikapwasha.
As the coffin made its way in the hall, there was a gloomy mood as mourners’ mostly women wept.
Giving tributes were Lt Gen Shikapwasha’s daughter Tusa who said her father inspired many from a religious, leadership, diplomacy and political side of things.
Tusa said retirement did not hold him back from doing what he was good at and that the children would continue what he planted in them in their various capacities.
Tivo, the son to the late, said his father was a God fearing man who showed his children that love was an act of service.
He said the father also had an amazing ability to make extraordinary things look ordinary.
Others who gave tributes include former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa who described her cousin as a remarkable individual, a man of great integrity, compassion and dedication.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha who is former Zambia Air Force commander and Cabinet minister died on January 15, after he was allegedly shot by his wife at their residence in Ibex Hill area.
Police informed the nation that Lusengo, 73, was formally arrested and charged for the murder of her husband.
According to the police, Lusengo caused the death of Lt Gen Shikapwasha using a double barrel shotgun, serial number 168462 by shooting deceased in the abdomen causing him to sustain a gunshot wound on the left side of the abdomen resulting in his death.
Those who attended the funeral include senior government officials and members of the clergy.
