*COUPLES KÌLLING EACH OTHER UNSETTLES FDI*
Lusaka, Sunday (April 7, 2024)
MEDIA STATEMENT
Family Development Initiatives (FDI), a faith based organization, is disturbed that Police recorded two muŕder cases within two days in Lusaka resulting from family disputes.
A 44-year-old man, Mike Ilishebo, of Lusaka’s Meanwood Phase One area took his life after allegedly strangling and stàbbing his 35-year-old wife, Valarie Franco, following some trouble in marriage.
Another 48-year-old man of Appollo Military Camp, Winston Mulenga Kabaso, was discovered dèad in unclear circumstances, with his 6 year old son indicating to Police that his parents were involved in a violent altercation prior to his dèath, resulting in the detention of the Deceased’s wife, Agness Mulebi.
FDI Team Leader Sheikh Yusuf Ayami said the two incidents are saddening because couples generally are the bedrock of any family adding that families cannot move forward without them.
“As Family Development Initiatives (FDI), an organization that is concerned with the welfare of families living in a peaceful and prosperous manner, we are saddened with the kìlling of a wife by a husband who later committed suìcìde,” he said.
The Religious Leader said couples kìlling each other has consequences beyond the nuclear family.
“When the two people that should anchor the development of the family take their lives because of some misunderstanding between them, the consequences are not restricted to the couple alone but extends to the children and the extended family. Problems are there where people interact, where there is a union and where there is some form of partnership be it in marriage or outside marriage. However, as a community we need to find it within ourselves to resolve these issues amicably,” he said.
Sheikh Ayami said the motivation for resolving marriage conflicts amicably is in the interest of preserving the family, both in its nuclear state and the extended family.
“The effects of what comes from either reconciliation or taking drastic measures including kìlling each other extend beyond the entire family,” he said.
The FDI Team Leader urged the community including religious leaders, government and social workers to take keen interest in the way couples manage their marriages and provide counsel as soon as possible.
“Problems are always going to be there and no body does not go through problems. However, solving problems should not go to the extent of taking away someone’s life but find ways to resolve the challenge,” he said.
