• FUNERAL procession for late Youngson Kalobo at Nkana Stadium with his casket being heavily guarded by his Jerabo followers.

By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA –

THE name Youngson Kalobo will for some time linger on the minds of many residents of Kitwe.
This is because of how he dominated the city, and commanded respect among many residents, both the young and the old.
Mr Kalobo, who died last week and was put to rest last weekend, shot to fame for more bad reasons than good.
He superintended over the notorious ‘Jerabo’ group that has been associated with all sorts of mischief, which includes harassment of ordinary residents in society.
It was, however, Mr Kalobo’s dealings in copper at the infamous black mountain that brought him into the limelight in Kitwe and the Copperbelt as a whole.
If one met him for the first time, it would be hard to know that was the man behind the notoriety that has come to define the ‘Jerabos’.
He looked like a ‘nobody’ and yet he commanded respect among his faithful followers who regarded him as their hero.
It was not surprising, therefore, that even in his death Mr Kalobo still managed to attract great attention as seen from how his burial procession brought Kitwe to a near standstill.
Hundreds of people from different walks of life, including his Jerabo followers and many others from the informal sector as well as politicians, took time to attend the burial, which was preceded by a church service held at Nkana Stadium.
Pandemonium nearly erupted during the burial procession when the Jerabos blocked traffic on some roads leading to Wusakile Stadium, including the Kitwe-Ndola carriageway on the stretch between Wusakile round-about and the showground as the body of Mr Kalobo was being transported for the church service.
The burial procession which started in the morning was only concluded late in the afternoon, around 16:00 hours, because of the many people who attended the programme.
With that massive attendance at the burial programme, last week Saturday was just short of being declared a day of national mourning in honour of Mr Kalobo, who was a ‘king’ in his own right.