NGOMA

By XAVIER MANCHISHI-
THE International Organisation for Migration (IOM) employee Felix Ngoma, who was abducted by suspected Janjaweed militia in Sudan, has returned home describing his 21 days in detention as the most horrible time of his life.
Mr Ngoma arrived on Ethiopian Airlines at 14:00 hours to the jubilation of his family and Government officials, including Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary George Zulu and his Tourism and Arts counterpart Steven Mwansa.
Narrating his ordeal on arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, Mr Ngoma said his captors sometimes kept him without food or water for days on end and only survived through some well-wishers who risked their lives by sneaking food to him.
“The first four days I went without food and water,” the surprisingly composed Mr Ngoma said.
“Those people did not care whether I had eaten or not but somehow I knew that as long as they kept me under lock and key, they were not going to harm me.”
Mr Ngoma’s joyful mother, Halesi Chima, jokingly asked him how come his potbelly was still intact despite his disclosure that he went for days without eating.
He thanked the Zambian and Sudanese governments, his employers IOM, the entire United Nations Systems in New York and Geneva, the African Union and United Nations chief of Mission in Sudan for their role in securing his release.
Mr Ngoma said working in Sudan was an occupational hazard but vowed to go back to work as soon as possible.
He said all the people who were instrumental in his release occupy a special place in his heart and lauded the united front all stakeholders put up after hearing his abduction.
Mr Ngoma’s wife Mary recounted the anguish of hearing that her husband had been abducted by the rebels and that the family feared for the worst but never lost hope.
“To borrow his words, it was a horrible experience. We lived in fear wondering what was going to happen to him. Thank God he is here with us today,” she said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba said President Michael Sata was happy with the release of Mr Ngoma and that the Head of State was closely monitoring the case.
Mr Kalaba said this at his office during a brief ceremony at which IOM chief of Mission Andrew Choga and UN resident coordinator Janet Rogan handed over Mr Ngoma to the Zambian Government.
Dr Choga said the IOM was happy that Mr Ngoma had returned unharmed and that the organisation was looking forward to work with him after he recovers from his ordeal.
Ms Rogan said the UN System rejoiced at the momentous release of Mr Ngoma from his captors and that the organisation was happy to have played a part in securing his release.