WILLIAM KAWA NTUNGO SIMUKWANYA, the first headman of Mwambezi village, was a leader in his own right. He is known for settling and establishing a village wherever he went.
Born at a village called Chalumba in Mbala District early 1900s, he grew up to be a man of great stature both physically and intellectually. His reputation resonated with all the chiefs of the Lungu tribe, including Chief Tafuna, Chief Chitimbwa, Chief Chinakila and Chief Zombe.
In his formative years as a young man William found himself a bride. He married Esther Namfukwe with whom he had four children – Rebecca, Evance, Mwila and Adah. Evance happens to be this author’s dad.
William married off two of his daugters to the chief's clan - the Sikazwes. Evance, the only son, married Mirriam Nachula, who is the proud mom of this author. Upon marrying Esther, William established himself a village which was simply called William by river Mwame in Chief Chitimbwa’s chiefdom area in the south-west part of Mbala District and 60 kilometers from town.
As it was the culture in his time, he married off all his daughters at the right time. Being the only son, Evance assumed responsibility for his parents and he was the last to get married. In 1967, when Evance decided to move into Mbala town to look for work and support his family, he could not leave his dad and mom at village William alone. He had to bring them closer to town. So he settled them at the source of Mwambezi Stream 12 kilometers from Mbala town.
There was already one family at this place the Sikalumbi's. When the Ntungo's moved there, the place was established as Mwambezi Village. And William Ntungo Simukwanya was given the honor to be the Village Headman. Given the strong leadership skills that he displayed and the respect that he commanded, people endearingly refer to him as Ntungo. William Ntungo Simukwanya died in 1984 leaving behind over 30 grand children.
When the people of the village organized an economic development grassroots co-operative they named the co-operative after him - Ntungo Agricultural Co-operative Society (or simply Ntungo Co-operative). Ntungo Cooperative is a Mwambezi village member driven entity. Through Ntungo Co-operative the people of Mwambezi village are able to access agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizer. It also helps the people of Mwambezi village sell their produce upon harvesting.
Chrispin Ntungo, one of the grandsons of William Ntungo left Zambia to study in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada in 1988. Over the years Chrispin Ntungo has helped with children education and purchasing of farm inputs and other causes. In 2016 Chrispin Ntungo thought about how he would revolutionalize the support and empower the people at Mwambezi village to support themselves in the years to come. After brainstorming with family and close friends, it became apparent that forming a charitable or nonprofit organization would be ideal. This led to the organization of Ntungo Noble Projects Ministry registered as Ntungo Noble Projects, Inc.
Ntungo Noble Projects, Inc. is nonprofit organization headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada but works very closely with the Ntungo Co-operative at Mwambezi Village identifying development needs, developing project plans and implementing poverty relief and community development projects.
