by
Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.
Emeritus Professor of Sociology
I first slept away from home 70 years ago in 1959 when I was 6 years old. My mother and I were travelling from Lundazi to Chasela Primary School and spent a night in Lundazi before we were to catch the Central African Road Services (CARS) bus service the following day. We slept in the Lundazi Council Rest House opposite the present day Lundazi Bus station. It was 3 pence or tiki to sleep downstairs and susu or six pence to sleep upstairs. It was noisy all night. This was during the British colonial Northern Rhodesia which is now independent Zambia in Southern Africa. Since that time, I have spent numerous nights in rural Zambia Rest Houses and motels. I have slept in motels and lodges in Lusaka and the Copperbelt.
I have spent nights in hotels in Johannesburg, London in the UK, in Amsterdam in Holland, in Jamaica, and in the United States. As the popularity of Airbnbs has exploded, the popularity of Serviced apartments has also exploded in Lusaka. What I love about them is not only that they have laundry, cleaning services, and comfortable living arrangements, but I get to cook my own food. I stayed at a Serviced Apartment for a month when I decided to go and visit relatives in Lundazi and Chipata. When I returned the Service Apartment was fully booked. I found another one at the Upland Apartments along Leopard Hill Road.
When I entered the gate, the first thing I noticed was the sound of construction. It looked like 5 apartments were completed. Many more were under construction. The landscape around the front of my apartment was gorgeous with beautiful flowers. When I entered the apartment, the first thing that surprised me was that all the furniture in the whole apartment was unique and different like nothing I had seen before. There was a huge TV in the living room. The tables, kitchen cabinets, chairs or the furniture just looked very odd and different. I had never lived in a place where nearly everything inside seemed to challenge almost everything I had experienced about an apartment or even a house.
I cooked my dinner, took my shower, and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, I boiled a big mug of tea and was walking to the living room couch or sofa when something just hit me. High above the living room wall above the sofa was a very large, odd picture frame with a large photo of some man raising his fist high in the air as a symbol of defiance. Within a split second, I recognized the man; it was the iconic photo of the great Nelson Mandela. How did I miss it the previous night? Numerous questions exploded in my mind. Who puts the photo of Mandela in a Serviced Apartment? Why? Who was the foreign owner of the apartments who did this? Was he trying just to ingratiate himself with Zambians or Africans? What did it all mean? Is it why I had slept so well because the revolutionary heroic spirit of Nelson Mandela was always guarding and watching over me? Was the spirit of Mandela bathing over me as I innocently slept during my first night in the apartment? Whose mind was behind the uniquely artistic creative aura of the whole apartment? I was overcome with curiosity with numerous questions.
I talked to a young employee who gently broke the news to me. The owner of the Upland Service Apartment was a Zambian, Mr. Chanda. I was stunned. How could a Zambian do something so unique in which he was not just following what foreigners especially Europeans or bazungu had already done? When I finally met Mr. Chanda, we immediately laughed and hit it off. We went into friendly tribal Zambian banter of mbuyaship between Bembas and Ngoni Easterners. During the few days, there were loud sounds of construction as a large number of over 30 young men worked all day.
Before I left for Kenneth Kaunda International airport on my last day, I was able to talk to Mr. John Chanda and take a tour of the construction site. The 57-year-old told me he had been to the United States where he obtained his master’s degree in business administration. When he returned to Zambia, for many years he co-owned and was a CEO or Managing Director of a large truck transportation company. He decided to build service apartments employing his own unique style which I loved. He obtains Rosewood and Teak wood from villagers in rural Zambia. All the unique furniture was made on site providing carpentry and other skilled jobs to the local Zambian population.
I cannot wait to spend time again at the Chandaland Serviced Upland apartments at 097-906-9729 or 077-793-6868. My biggest challenge now is how can I build my own Serviced Apartments and call them Temboland apartments so that I can beat this Bemba man from Kasama?