KATIMA MULILO – Zambian truck drivers on Monday took time out of their busy schedules to honour the late president Hage Geingob for fostering peaceful integration within SADC.

They are often on long journeys from the Port of Walvis Bay through Katima Mulilo to Ndola in Zambia and Lonshi in the DRC.

New Era engaged some at the Wenela border post, where they were waiting for immigration clearance to proceed to Walvis Bay from various Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries and vice versa, some of which are landlocked to facilitate goods and services. 

David Siseke who was driving from Walvis Bay into Zambia, expressed his heartfelt message to the Namibian nation and Africa at large.

“We are sending condolences to the Namibian nation. We know you have lost ‘a big man’. He used to do the best things for us. He even cared for truck drivers coming from other countries. He cared for us, and gave us the peace we are enjoying today. We really enjoy the peace of mind when travelling from Zambia to Namibia, and vice versa. We thank him, and God bless Namibia,” Siseke observed. 

The trucks were mainly carrying Mukula timber, a protected high-quality tree species found in Zambia.

Most of the Zambian truck drivers remember the late Geingob for his impressive track record on the SADC member states’ regional integration and trade facilitation efforts.

A case in point is the late president’s intervention in 2017 when he telephoned his former Zambian counterpart Edgar Lungu to help secure the release of about 200 of approximately 400 haulage trucks seized in Zambia. 

The trucks were held while Zambian authorities verified permits and other relevant documentation, after which they would receive clearances to continue their journeys to Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. 

Trucker Jacob Piri said “we have lost a true leader within SADC. He was a good man. He kept peace within the region with other leaders so that we can transport our goods and services peacefully.”

Another trucker Winda Katjali, who was enroute to Kasumbalesa in the DRC from Walvis Bay, said: “As you know, Zambia and Namibia are sister countries. Our forefathers and presidents have been working together. All I can tell Namibians is to unite and mourn our father in peace”.

Gift Kangombe also sent his condolences to Namibians. “May God comfort the family of the president and the country at large. We are very sorry; we are mourning together,” he added.

David Tangisha expressed his deepest condolences to the Namibian nation. 

“It is very bad to lose a president. My condolences go to all the Namibians, and his family,” expressed Tangisha, who drives the Solwezi in Zambia to Walvis Bay route.

Before Geingob’s intervention in 2017, the trucks, many of whom were carrying Mukula timber, got impounded so that the authorities in that country could confirm where the wood was harvested, and whether the trucking companies owned the relevant papers needed to transport the protected species.                                                                                        Some of the impounded trucks originated from companies registered in Zambia, as well as from Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. 

- anakale@nepc.com.na