Celebrate Uhuru with pride – Julius Sakala
FIRST black Ndola Town Clerk, Julius Sakala, has called on citizens on the Copperbelt and entire Zambia to commemorate Independence anniversary with pride and unity.
Dr Sakala, 87, said Zambians should be proud to be independent because taking over the running of the country’s affairs from the British colonialists was a challenging task.
He served as Town Clerk from 1966 to 1977 after taking over from Edward Barlow and later on served as mayor of Ndola after leaving the public service.
Dr Sakala, who is also a veteran lawyer, said it was a huge challenge to run the affairs of the local authority as the first Zambian to do so.
“It was a challenge for a Zambian to be given the responsibilities that a white man was undertaking as chief executive officer of the council.
“The community both Zambian and foreign watched you closely so that you do the best while some whites were sceptical. But in the end, all of us triumphed regardless of race,” he said.
He said one of the first tasks he had was to ‘Zambianise’ most positions at the local authority and so Zambians had to be taken
for training to take up positions of directors and other senior positions.
Dr Sakala urged Zambians to be proud of what they had achieved and to live in unity as opposed to raising squabbles on issues that could e resolved on the round table.
He said Ndola residents in particular needed to remain friendly and uphold the motto, ‘Ndola the friendly city’ and that they should also be hardworking.
“I have lived here for so many years because Ndola is what it is. It is the friendly city and after so many years, it remains the friendly city,” Dr Sakala said.
He also called on civic leaders and employees in local authorities to sacrifice and remain committed to serving the residents.
Dr Sakala said the best way to honour those that fought for Independence and those that served the nation just after Independence was to work hard and to remain united.
He was appointed Director of Housing and Social Services in 1965 at the Ndola City Council after working as a social worker for Government in Lusaka.