EVEN on his deathbed, Muna Singh Snr. had lost none of his sense of humour.
At the time he was losing his life to a liver complication in India, he had not lost his faith in Jesus, yes Jesus Christ!
In a short video released posthumously, Muna is heard advising his followers back here in Zambia to continue praying because he was yearning to return home to eat Nshima and Kapenta instead of Chilli food in India. Of course, it was said in jest.
Muna was hopeful that he would recover. Well, he didn’t, and news of his passing soon solemnly filtered through leaving Zambians in shock.
Yet this is the man who had made many recoveries in one of the most dangerous sports that he dominated with sheer brilliance and dare-devil forays for almost a decade.
Muna was born into motorsport royalty. His father, Guru, was one of the pioneers of the sport in pre-independence Zambia winning several national titles.
Guru then passed on the baton to his brother, Satwant, who dominated local and continental rallies for over two decades.
Satwant won several national titles and unrivalled eight African championships.
However, if there was one man who rivalled Satwant locally, it was his nephew Muna.
He didn’t give his more experienced uncle a free lane. He interrupted Satwant’s success, occasionally chipping in with national titles.
In his Subaru Impreza, Muna was a beast, but when out of the steering wheel, he was such a good guy one would doubt he would harm a fly.
He was a media-friendly man, ever-smiling and willing to grant interviews. He was one man I enjoyed covering since I joined the media industry and was pleased to have been around when he won the 2005 ARC title having won his first a year earlier.
Not only will his family miss him, but the Zambia motorsport family and the world at large because his contribution to the development of sport will remain unmatched.
Post-Satwant retirement in 2000, Muna made motor rally his own, winning almost everything at his disposal, including three African titles.
He was an absolute entertainer during super spectator stages. He would spin his Subaru with reckless abandon.
That he didn’t die when he negotiated those hilly terrains and gullies presupposed he would live almost everlastingly.
So to die at 53 is most definitely going to be seen as premature. And, Yes, it is.
Go well Muna Snr as Zambia mourns the gallant son of the soil and May Your Soul Rest in Peace.
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