. MUNG’OMBA

By KAIKO NAMUSA and PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –
GOVERNMENT and the legal fraternity in Zambia have mourned the demise of eminent lawyer-cum-business executive Willa Mung’omba, who died in South Africa yesterday after an illness.
Mr Mung’omba, 74, has been described as a legal luminary and a fine legal and business brain.
Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) president James Banda said in an interview yesterday that the Association was saddened by Mr Mung’omba’s death.
“We are saddened to learn of the death of Mr Mung’omba who served as LAZ president at some point. He was a person who had respect for both the bench and everybody in the legal profession,” Mr Banda said.
He said Mr Mung’omba, who also served as Constitution Review Commission (CRC) chairperson, earned his respect by being eloquent and courteous with the people he interacted with.
Attorney General Mumba Malila said Zambia had lost a great citizen who combined his business and law profession well.
Mr Malila said that although Mr Mung’omba had in the later days of his life concentrated more on business, he still had a major impact in the legal fraternity having been one of the founding members of LAZ.
Lusaka lawyer Eric Silwamba said he was shocked to learn of Mr Mung’omba’s death which he as a major blow to the legal fraternity and the country as a whole.
“He was one of the great legal luminaries we have had who also contributed to the supreme law of the land through the Constitution-making process,” Mr Silwamba said.
He said Mr Mung’omba and his partners contributed a lot in the training of lawyers and produced people who became judges and senior lawyers.
Mr Mung’omba died in Johannesburg yesterday where he was flown for medical attention on Thursday last week.
His younger brother Ridah Mung’omba confirmed the death of Mr Mun’omba who passed away at Donald Gordon Medical Centre yesterday.
He is survived by a wife, Betty, and two children.
Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines-Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) management, where the late Mr Mung’omba was executive chairperson, also confirmed the death in a statement yesterday.
“The Board, management and staff of ZCCM-IH regret to inform the business community and the general public of the passing on of Mr Willa D. Mung’omba, the executive chairperson of ZCCM-IH, this morning (yesterday) in South Africa.
“Arrangements for the funeral will be communicated in due course,” the statement said.
Mr Mung’omba was appointed by late President Levy Mwanawasa in April 2002 to head the CRC.  He served as president of the African Development Bank from 1995 to 1998.
He was also the World Bank’s appointed team leader in the initial preparation of the ZCCM Limited privatisation report and plan by the United Kingdom-based Investment Bank NM, Rothschild & Sons and  international law firm Clifford Chance.
He served as chairperson and director of Capital Bank Limited.
Mr Mung’omba was the ZCCM-IH executive chairperson since December 1, 2011, and once served as a director of ZCCM Limited from 1996 to 1998.
He also served as non-executive director on the initial board of the Emerging African Infrastructure Fund, a donor-funded financial instrument to encourage public and private sector partnership in infrastructure development in sub-Saharan Africa.