Kasungu in tears as Kapheni rests
Mazinga Community Ground in Senior Chief Santhe in Kasungu District was filled to capacity as scores of mourners gathered to bid farewell to one of their own, Lucas Kapheni.
He was a guard commander to fallen Vice-President Saulos Chilima and died alongside his boss and seven others in a military plane crash in Viphya Plantation in Mzimba on Monday.
As the remains of the 46-year-old Assistant Commissioner of Police arrived in Makwale Village at around 3pm from Lilongwe for burial, what was being heard as a distant occurrence turned into a sad reality, sending the mourners, led by Cabinet ministers, into tears.
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda, who is also a member of Parliament for the area, said it was unfathomable to accept the reality that the energetic young man they were together in South Korea a week ago is no more.
He said: “Today, Thursday, we are burying a dedicated young man with whom we travelled on duty in Korea to discuss matters that will help develop our economy. Exactly one week later, Kapheni is no more. It’s hard to believe.
“We cry for a young man that served his country well. But we cry with hope that God is in control and we look up to him.”
On her part, Senior Chief Santhe said she has lost a productive son of the community who had a bright future.
Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, who represented President Lazarus Chakwera, said the country is in a lake of tears following the plane crash that killed nine people, including the Vice-President.
Kapheni is survived by four children—three boys and one girl.
