Page 25 - Start Up_Genesis

A Brief History

“My father, Doctor Simon If something happened to me would take it from us.
Mwewa, went to Munali today, you and your mother So he started building flats near
Secondary School and got would be out on the streets.’ Garden which are called the
a scholarship to study at I’ll never forget the day he Green Diamond Flats. Soon
the University of Delhi. He picked up a spoon and said ‘You enough, people started talking
obtained a degree in economics see this spoon? It doesn’t belong about how the mayor was a
and came back to work for the to us because the government businessman and so the Kaunda
government. owns everything.’ He told us it administration fired him for
He’d always tell us when we was better to build a house-even that.”
were kids: ‘You see this beautiful if it had one bedroom-because
house? It’s nice but it’s not ours. it would be ours and nobody

The Birth of Simoson Building

“In 1986, my father was driving bush and it was very rocky. they immediately went to the
along Lumumba Road and in My father pulled over and told bank and drew up papers.
those days, it was just one strip this man that he was looking for In August 1987, Simoson was
of road. He saw this Indian land to buy and coincidentally, built and opened to the public.
gentleman by the name of Mr. Mr. Isa replied, ‘I actually own What people don’t realize is
Isa and this man was clearing this land and want to sell it that Simoson is actually the first
the land where Simoson now because I can’t manage the indigenously owned shopping
sits. At that time, there was property.’ And so my dad made center in
nothing there; the land was just an arrangement with him and
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