THOUSANDS of mourners attended the burial on Tuesday of Zambian opposition politician Paul Tembo, who was murdered shortly before he was due to testify against three ministers in a government corruption case. Tembo, who was shot on Friday in front of his wife and family, was buried in his small hometown Kabwe, a mining town 143km north of the capital Lusaka. He was buried in accordance with the traditions of his ethnic Ngoni warrior tribe. Ngoni royal rites were on display, with the coffin covered with fresh cattle skin, and mourners singing war dirges. – Reuters
Tuesday July 10, 2001