. Mpompo

By MIRIAM ZIMBA –
AN old Chinese adage says that ‘the gem cannot, nor man perfected without trials support’, and former defense minister George Mpombo has sworn by this proverb.
In as much as there may be a very thin line between enjoying one’s freedom and the loss of it, Mr Mpombo’s experience in prison has been life changing.
It all began in October 2014, when the Lusaka High Court ruled to uphold the nine month imprisonment with hard labour slapped on Mr Mpombo by the Lusaka Magistrate Court in December 2013.
Mr Mpombo, who willingly surrendered himself to the authorities, was convicted for forgery, uttering false documents and theft of public funds amounting to K18, 000 which related to his failure to retire imprest.
“I entered Chimbokaila’s Lusaka prison on Monday October 4 2014, after surrendering myself at the Lusaka High Court on Sunday October 3, I was made to spend a night at Lusaka division police headquarters holding cell, because the prison does not admit inmates over the weekend,” he narrates.
Undoubtedly, that must have been one of the shortest nights for Mr Mpombo-one in which the reality of incarceration is all that dawns on his mind.
This may have been coupled with the fear of the unknown.
The following day he was ushered into Lusaka Central Prison shortly after the finger-printing formalities, to his greater surprise.
The prison authorities explained to him that, after one-third remission of his nine months sentence, he would only serve six months, depending on his conduct and behaviour.
From that moment, cell number 13 became his new dwelling place, where he, unlike other inmates had the rare privilege at least having access to a single bed.
However, the bed was not in any way personal to holder, he had to share with two other inmates.
This was obviously far from what he was accustomed to because the sleeping arrangement saw him sleep in-between the two, who faced the opposite direction, while he faced the other.
Cell 13 has a peculiar advantage because it happens to be the same one which late President Michael Sata was detained in after he was arrested for allegedly having a stolen government vehicle, when he served as Health minister, but later acquitted by the courts.
The single bed Mr Mpombo was using in cell 13 happens to be the one Mr Sata slept on during his time in detention.
“Cell 13, like other cells was designed  to accommodate 20 in mates but  was holding  about 60  while other  cells had close to 120 inmates in very choking and suffocating circumstances,” Mr Mpombo recounts.
Typical of life in prisons set-ups, cell 13 was not devoid of a cell captain-Dave Zulu popularly referred to as Kapitao by fellow cellmates held this very critical position, and Mr Mpombo describes Kapitao as very accommodative.
The first bell for lock-up was at 16 hours, with the second and final one at 16:30, after 16:40, it was unusual to find any inmate malingering around the prisons, because all doors were secured and locked by that time.
“We then watched television, and had prayers before lights-off at 22:00 hours,” he says
Waking up time in prison began as early as 05:00, and the cell doors were only opened at 07:00 hours, just before the headcount of inmates per cell was done by the prison warders.
After having stayed in cell 13 for about a week, Mr Mpombo was fortunate enough to be moved to a better cell in the penal block which he shared with two other inmates, one of whom is Brigadier General Andrew Sakala, former Zambia Air Force Commander.
Prior to this, Gen Sakala was accommodated in the juvenile cell, which is less congested, with about 40 juveniles being held for various criminal offences.
As the saying that ‘we do not meet people accidently and for no purpose’, Mr Mpombo would have never imagined meeting general Sakala under these circumstances.
“When I was Minister  of Defence Gen Sakala and I had very little personal interaction, not until we met in prison.”
“Because his bail application pending appeal to the Supreme Court suffered bizarre legal twists and turns, he stayed in prison for over two weeks and we formed a strong bond of friendship.
“He displayed strong  character and  unwavering sense of  strong positive attitude as one philosopher once said ‘Be strong  because things will get  better, It may be stormy now, but  it never rains forever’,” Mr Mpombo narrates.
Mr Mpombo’s offer to offer educational lessons in prison was a move that was widely accepted by both inmates and prison authorities.
“Every morning I had to teach English, civic Education and Geography. I also assisted some fellow inmates who were pursuing under graduate’s studies at the University of Zambia,” Mr Mpombo explains.
However, there were some challenges which he faced, among them was the diet, mainly consisting of nshima served with kapenta, beans and rice at intervals.
He was fortunate enough to have a supportive family that was bent on ensuring that he enjoyed home cooked meals, despite the loss of his freedom.
“My wife literally moved from Ndola to Lusaka, she is such a valuable asset and my granddaughter, nieces, and my sister Beatrice were really there for me.”
The love displayed by my daughters will forever be deeply etched on my heart as they really showed priceless love.
They brought food stuffs each day to cater for about seven people, whom I shared with my fellow inmates,” he recounts.
His worst experience in prison was having had to witness some of the injustices suffered by his fellow inmates.”
“Seeing a fellow inmate wallowing in severe depression due to some injustice of property stripping and grabbing of his late father’s property while in prison, he recounts”
Being the fervent reader, Mr Mpombo spent much of his spare time reading motivational books as well as the Bible.
“I also experienced moments of high and lows-spell of depression and despair, but I remained steadfast because my mind was fixed on my goals,” he narrates.
He spent a few moments of each day visualizing his goals, as in accordance with Napoleon Hill’s words ‘everything the mind conceives and believes is totally attainable’.
Part of what formed his survival skill in prison had to look at the whole experience in likeness to late Nelson Mandela’s Robin Island prison experience.
I was basically there because of corrosive persecution by government since 2009, which cost me up to about K200, 000 in legal fees to top notch lawyers,” he explains.
The most difficult moment in his stay in prison was a particular day when his daughters came to visit him.
“They burst out sobbing upon seeing me, I tried to resist, but just could not hold it in,” he recounts.
“While in prison I forged a warm and cordial relationship with Mathews Mohan I found him to be a cerebral intellectual who was never swallowed by prison circumstance.
According to him, Mohan’s mother is a symbol of rare mother’s love, because for five years, she has never missed a day to bring for her son breakfast, lunch or supper, which he said she served with a captivating smile.
In his view, she is a living manifestation of a mother’s love like mother Theresa.
His lessons learnt while in prison include having to let off baggage and bitterness by forgiving all the people responsible for his incarceration.
He quotes Luwana Blackwell who holds that ‘forgiveness is almost an  unselfish acts because its benefits  further more without forgiveness life is governed by endless cycle of resentment and retaliation’, while Paul Boese also says ‘forgiveness do not change the past, but it does enlarge the future’.
His long-term plans are driven by Norman Vincent Peale who says ‘every negative event contains with it, the seed of an equal or greater benefit” and also when life hands you a lemon on, squeeze it and make lemonade.
“I came out from prison more revitalized and re-invigorated and will pursue my political career more vigorously with a lot of gusto and passion. Ross Perot once said most people give up just when they are about to achieve success.”
“They quit on one –yard line, they give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown. Persistence is probably the single most common quality of high achievers”.
His ambition is anchored on the word of God as reflected in Psalms 55:22, Psalms 23, 27and 91.
“I want to salute the commission of prisons Percy Chato and his staff at Chimbokaila prison for their professional conduct and stretch of humanity,” Mr Mpombo says.
True to the Chinese proverb, neither a gem nor man can be perfected without trials, Mr Mpombo walked to freedom a few days ago after a presidential pardon by Acting president Guy Scott.