Kalembe Ndile’s heart was in the village where he was loved

Former Kibwezi Member of Parliament Richard Kalembe Ndile. [File, Standard]

I initially met Kalembe Ndile while as a budding features writer with The Standard in the 1990s. He was fighting for the settlement of squatters at Masongaleni settlement scheme in Kibwezi. The squatters had been driven from Cyullu Hills in the 1970s to create a game reserve and while some had been settled in Masongaleni, others were living in squalor on the roadside in Makindu.

They had no food, no water and goats would not envy the roofs over their heads. Their clothes were tattered and they slept on the earthen floor or on hard back-breaking makeshift beds. The authorities had abandoned them and Kalembe seemed the only person they could turn to. Kalembe who was fighting for their settlement at Kiboko settlement schemes, had invited journalists to witness the hardships the squatters were undergoing.