•DANNY on duty

By PASSY HAACHIZO –

March 30, 2015 started as a boring day for Danny Mweetwa, a mini-bus conductor who resides in Garden-Chilulu Township in Lusaka.
He was struggling to fill his bus with passengers.
Danny told his older brother Bernard that it was better they take some rest after mid-day.
Whilst he was complaining to his  brother about the business not going fine, his cell phone rang. He could not recognise the number that was showing on his phone.
When he answered the call, a strange voice said:
“Hello…hello…is that Mr Mweetwa Danny from Lusaka? Sir you are a lucky winner of a house. Will you come to Airtel headquarters with your NRC (national registration card) tomorrow?,” the voice asked.
“I could not believe my ears; me winning a house worth K600,000 during the just ended Airtel 1 Bo Promotion? No! Maybe it is someone else,”
narrated Danny.
He said he then shouted, “Nawina…Nawina…(I’ve won! Ive won!).”
Danny was unaware that he was startling his passengers on the mini-bus who mistook him for a drunkard as most conductors and minibus drivers were considered due to the way they shout at passengers.
Danny was among the 540 Airtel subscribers who had participated in this year’s just ended Airtel 1 Bo promotion which closed on March 26, 2015 with the announcement of the winner made on the 30th of the same month.
Danny was not the only winner. Esnart Manda, 30, a Top Gear Sales Assistant also won a car worth K175, 000 in the same competition.
Esnart is a mother of two, Omry and Malumbo. She is married to James.
She said her luck meant a change of status.
“Bauze kuti ine yacinja status lelo (tell them my status has changed today),” she was heard telling friends on the phone with a wide smile on her face.
Danny expressed joy all the  way to and from Silverest Garden residential area where the house was finally handed to him.
“Can you imagine just a single scratch card of less than six Kwacha; I have become a landlord of a house worth 600, 000. This God of mine is
good, 1 Bo. It is true that miracles are still working. I want to encourage my friends to participate in the next promotion as well in case,  they become the next winners,” he said.
Danny is 19 years old, the last born in a family of 11 and the first landlord in the family.
His mother, Eva Hasuna is married to Peter Mweetwa both of Chief Shakumbila in Mumbwa District in Central Province.
In 2001, Danny was enrolled in the first grade at Chitembo Primary School in Liteta area where he went up to his seventh grade in 2007.
Danny had a difficult childhood upbringing. But after completing school in 2012, he had nothing to do.
“After completing my secondary school in 2012, I went home in Mumbwa where I only stayed for six months. You know if you have been in school and then you just sit at home it doesn’t seem to make much sense so in 2013, I relocated to Lusaka in search of greener pastures which I did not even find,” he said.
He decided to join his brother as a conductor.
The brother was a mini-bus driver.
“When I failed to find a job I became a conductor to the bus that my older brother was operating since he had completed school much earlier than me,” he said.
Danny and his brother live in a one-roomed house where they pay K250 per month as rent in Garden Township.
He  had no idea as to when he would go to college due to lack of finances.
His brother encouraged him to let no one entice him to sell the house as it was rare for one to find such an asset.
“I am equally happy that my brother has won such a big house which no one has ever had in the family. I only want to encourage him not to be enticed by the devil to start thinking of selling the house,” Danny’s brother Bernard said, patting Danny’s shoulder.
United States (US) German-born Physicist Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) said, ‘ In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity’.
Yes, when the gate seems closed, hold it and push it gently for one never knows maybe it is already open.
Danny only pushed it a bit on March 26 when he bought an Airtel scratch card worth K5. He only used a K2 and became a landlord.
Works, Transport and Communications Minister Yamfwa Mukanga urged the two grand prize winners of the Airtel 1 Bo promotion not to sell their
property but use them for their own benefit.
Mr Mukanga commended Airtel for continued effort towards providing decent housing and transportation to its clients through 1 Bo promotion.
He said it was imperative that the private sector came up with such innovative ideas of empowering its clientele.
Airtel representative, Peter Correia congratulated  Danny for winning the house and Esnart for being the fourth lucky winner of a car worth 175, 000.
“We believe in empowering the people and we take accommodation and transport as first priority and we hope to change the lives of our clients.
The transition from being a conductor to a landlord has changed Danny’s life as he is a shining example to every youth that has faced hardships. Never to lose hope in life as God sees people’s endeavours and one day, will change their lives.