Burial of Elizabeth Lisuntha Banda, Nation Online editor who died suddenly on Friday afternoon, will take place today (Sunday) at Siwambala Village, Traditional Authority Kaomba in Kasungu.
On Saturday, hundreds of mourners bid farewell to Banda at the College of Medicine mortuary and the Blantyre Pentecostal Assemblies Church in Chitawira, Blantyre, before her body was taken to Kasungu.
Tears and sombre faces characterised the occasion as her body was transferred from the mortuary to her church.
President of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Malawi Bishop Gilford Matonga hailed Banda, a likeable figure at Nation Publications Limited (NPL) where she worked from 2000, “as a precious life gone too early”.
“Death has robbed us a very precious life. She would have contributed very much to her family, church and the nation,” said Matonga, who travelled from Lilongwe to Blantyre upon learning of Banda’s death.
“As for me, I celebrate her life. We should celebrate her contribution to the nation,” he added.
Her resident pastor, in his sermon, also noted that Liz, as she was fondly known, added value to other people’s lives.
Banda, a graduate of the African Bible College, joined NPL as a reporter and over the years rose through the ranks to become editor of Nation Online.
NPL deputy chief executive officer Alfred Ntonga described Banda as a hard worker who brightened up the lives of other employees.
Banda, 38, is survived by a daughter, Yanjanani.
Directions to her village for those travelling from Lilongwe to Kasungu are as follows: Before you reach Kasungu Boma, you pass Chinkhoma, Lisasadzi and then a place with a sign Camel.
After Camel there is a small trading centre called Bwanali where you get to Nkhotakota Road Turn Off on the right. But you immediately turn left and follow a dirt road for a few metres, passing through a drift, and there is the village, where Liz will be laid to rest.
