OLIVER SAMBOKO writes
@SunZambian
CONTINUED trespassing in the stillborn cemetery has displeased a traditional leader of Siavonga district in Lusaka Province.
Kanyelele Township section headman, Rodgers Kandama, said it was unchristian and also unZambian for people to trespass in a sacred place like a graveyard.
He appealed to the local authority to immediately fence off the cemetery and ask people that had built or planted gardens there to immediately vacate them.
‘‘It’s sad that people are trespassing on the cemetery for stillborn babies and nothing is being done to stop the abomination. I think its high time people started respecting the dead,” he said.
He said those who had built on the land or were growing vegetables there should be ashamed for disturbing the dead.
He said his committee of elders would soon summon the culprits to admonish them.
Headman Kandama said the local authority and the traditional leadership in the area must immediately call for an urgent meeting to address the issue before the dead “turn their anger on the community”.
The headman commended the Seventh Adventist Church (SDA) for refusing to be allocated part of the graveyard to build a church.
He described the move by the church as true testimony that the Christian community was unhappy with what was happening.
“It’s not right for people to take the dead for granted, the community should keep in mind that graveyards are not play grounds,” he said.
Headman Kandama observed that erecting buildings or making gardens in graveyards was tantamount to mocking the dead.
