Farewell Big Sam
By Dickson Jere
I bid farewell to Dr Sam Phiri whom I affectionately called “Big Sam”. My close interaction with him was in Mozambique when he was running NSJ Media Training Centre for SouthernAfrica. I and late Jowie Mwiinga had a project that needed some investigations to be done in Mozambique but we had a shoestring budget. So, we contacted Sam Phiri who graciously offered his apartment as my sanctuary during my many trips there. His beautiful BMW became my car in Maputo…
I later reconnected with Sam when I was in State House. The search for a professional Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information led us to Big Sam. He was with OSISA in South Africa and through his friend Mike Daka – we found him. He got the job!
At his swearing-in ceremony, he showed up in the greenish safari suit at State House. President Rupiah Banda joked about his dressing.
“Baba Jere, your friend is taking ku UNIP.. ” he said amidst laughter.
By the way, when I was running Executive Issues newspaper, unsolicited, Sam got intouch on behalf of OSISA with funding. He paid for the pinting of the copies ahead of the 2008 Presidential election.
At his death, he was Head of Mass Communication at the University of Zambia (UNZA). He had gone back to the academia…
Go well Big Sam.
