Hour has cometh, release me – Mkhombe tells wife
MBABANE – “The hour has cometh, release me,” these were the final words spoken by Sam Mkhombe to his wife, Nomsa, before he passed away on Monday.
At midnight, Mkhombe warned his wife that she shouldn’t prevent angels from doing their job – taking him to his Creator.
At 4am, he told her again that the hour has cometh, and she must release him since he was in pain.
After that, Mkhombe, who hailed from Mbangweni, Mbabane, passed away at 67 years. He died at the Mbabane Government Hospital where he had been admitted.
This was revealed by his wife through a representative, Lindiwe Zwane at a memorial service in honour of the late former Private Secretary to His Majesty the King.
The memorial service, which was attended by over 400 people, was held at the Evangelical Church in Mbabane yesterday.
Nomsa described her husband as a loving man, her soulmate, friend and a forging Christian. When she was offside, she said Mkhombe equipped her to be teachable.
Nondunduzo Mkhombe, his daughter, said her father would sometimes long for God, and how pleasant life was in the presence of God and the people who died in the Lord.
He had soft spot for young people, she said. She said he was soft spoken, patient and disciplined.
Nondunduzo mentioned that her father allowed debates at home, and unfinished discussions had to be concluded the next day.
CONTINUE
“The debates would go on until midnight or late in the morning. We would continue where we left off the next day,” Nondunduzo said.
She said her father never dismissed any thought, as all opinions mattered to him. She remembered her father for knocking at her bedroom door with a knobkerrie, which he carried when they went out to jog along the road.
She said her father carried the knobkerrie to scare off dogs, as she was afraid of them. He said they used to watch Aljazeera news channel together .
“He was a brilliant guy,” she said. Mkhombe’s children pledged before the mourners to heed to their father’s advice to show unwavering love to God. A representative of the Mkhatshwa family at Lwandle, Manzini, said the deceased was active at the Mbabane Interdenominational Couples.
He said they learnt family management from Mkhombe.
Mkhombe, whose other names are Mpopoli and Mkhosi, held a strong belief that a multi-party political system of government could co-exist with the institution of the monarchy, with His Majesty the King remaining as the Head of State and retaining some executive powers.
His political views were contained in his obituary.
In such a dispensation, it is stated in the obituary that he believed the party with the most seats in Parliament would remain advisors to His Majesty through the Legislature, and following a clear manifesto that has the best interests of emaSwati at heart.
In an assertive, yet respectful way, Mkhombe confidently shared his opinions with the highest level of Eswatini authority that the political movement and pluralism route was inevitable in the changing landscape of the Eswatini politics.
DIVERSITY
A man of paradoxes, Mkhombe was a proud liSwati, patriotic to the core and monarchist who believed in the values of diversity in thought and universality of human rights. He was unshaken in the belief in the dynamism of a people’s culture, or that a nation must constantly adapt to the changes in the word order in order to survive.
He started his elementary education at Nzongomane Primary School. He completed his primary education in five years. He received his secondary education at Edwaleni. After the Junior Certificate examination, he was offered a temporary job at Nzongomane Primary School to help Grade VII pupils revise for their final examination, only to find that they were the same learners with whom he had registered for Grade One.
He completed his high school at Florence Christian Academy.
He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the then University of Botswana and Swaziland in 1979. In 1982, he obtained a post-graduate Diploma inArchival Studies from the University of Ghana-Legon.
Mkhombe went on to obtain a Certificate of Training of Teachers at ESAMI in 1987 and a Diploma in Human Resource Management from IDM in 1988.
He further obtained a Master of Science in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1998.
EMPLOYED
He worked as a teacher at Edwaleni High School and St. Christopher’s High School between 1979 and 1980. In 1981, he was employed as an assistant lecturer at the University of Swaziland (Eswatini) and later as an assistant registrar.
He worked as a government archivist between 1982 and 1986, and served as a secretary to the Scholarship Selection Board. He also worked as a human resources manager at the Swaziland (Eswatini) Royal Insurance Corporation (SRIC) between 1987 and 1994. He was then appointed by His Majesty the King to serve in the Prince Mahlalengangeni Commission Vusela II between 1992 and 1993. His Majesty the King appointed him to Liqoqo in 1996 and later became an executive secretary to the King’s Advisory Council between 1999 and 2003.
From 2004 to 2011, Mkhombe served as a private secretary to His Majesty King Mswati III. Since then he has provided consultancy services to various groups, with the most recent being the Eswatini Christian Medical University, Africa Ntjilo Empowerment and Dynamic Management Solutions. He served in various Boards which included EswatiniBank, Eswatini National Provident Fund, Eswatini Water Services Corporations, FEDICS and Swaziland Sugar Quota Board.
Mkhombe was the founding chairman of the then Human Rights Association of Swaziland (HUMARAS) and also the founding chairman of the Institute for Democracy and Leadership (IDEAL).
He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Nomsa, three children who are Nondunduzo, Nosisa and son-in-law Mbonisi Maseko and grandchild Yandisokuhle Maseko.
we can face the truth,” he said.
Bishop Samuel said the country needed a church that was capable of objecting false teachings that suggest that a person can transform the content of a Christian message to suit a singular political philosophy. He said the genocide happened in Rwanda because some Christian leaders transformed the message of the Gospel to suit their political ideologies.
“As a church, dear brothers and sisters, you have to re-imagine and rethink the mission and vision in which the values of the peace you are seeking are embedded. Peace stands on pillars and there is a need to create a strong foundation. Like a house, peace must have a strong foundation and one of those pillars is the truth. People must be accountable to the truth,” he said.FORGIVENESS
Bishop Samuel said peace has four other pillars, and the key one was forgiveness. He said the nation will need to forgive itself over what happened during the political unrest and further forgive even the perpetrators of the violence. He stated that the Rwandan people had to forgive themselves and each other first before they could heal from the wounds of the genocide.
He added that mutual understanding was another pillar that they implemented to heal from the wrongs of the past and move forward. He said failure to understand one another was a conflict and lack of peace. He said understanding restores peace and political stability in a nation.
“Peace demands patience and peace is a process that requires endurance. Patience, therefore, is a very key pillar that needs to be erected so that the nation can stand. Peace is not a quick fix, but demands patience and long-suffering. The tree of peace is watered by patience, therefore the people must be patient with one another.
IDEOLOGIES
Lastly, I want to introduce dialogue as a pillar for peace and honesty. Dialogue is to present one views to someone despite holding difference in ideologies,” he said.
The Bishop based his speech on the book of Philippians 4 verse 7 and said the country needs to desire everything good and seek to practice the Lord’s peace.
Bishop Samuels was speaking under the titled topic of peaceful means into resolution of indifferences and was requested to share his experience of the genocide and indicate pitfalls that the country needed to avoid. His sermon was interpreted by Pastor Ngwane Dlamini.
Other speakers during the National Prayer service held at the Mavuso Trade Centre included Anglican Church Bishop Dalcy
Dlamini who said the nation needed healing and restoration from the outcome of the political unrest.
The newly-installed bishop said the healing of the country needed to start from the pastors. She said most pastors are hurting and wounded inside, yet they were expected to lead the nation in its healing purpose. Bishop Dalcy called upon all pastors and leaders to make sure that their healing was a priority.
AMAZING
“It is amazing how much work and power God has given to his people, but we are all hurting and wounded. Pastors and leaders are hurting, there is a need for healing and it must start with the leaders. Blood was spilt and wounds were opened, and now the nation needs healing. It is unfortunate that we cannot just jump to restoration and leave healing behind. People should heal first before we address the issue of restoration,” she said.
Bishop Dalcy emphasised that the healing of the nation was a priority for the country to move forward.
Apostle AM Simelane of Revival Life Ministries also delivered a moving sermon, calling upon the Lord to revive His miraculous power and save the nation. Pastor Hertform Xaba, Apostle Zachariah Mthethwa and Reverend N Maseko also delivered powerful sermons.