Words by Musonda Mukuka
In December 2025, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Kunda took to the stage at the Ngoma Awards, an annual ceremony that celebrates artistic excellence across Zambia.
The event traditionally brings together prominent figures from different sectors of society, including chief executive officers, directors, politicians and established artists, who are often invited to present awards to the year’s deserving winners.
On this particular occasion, however, Lieutenant Colonel Kunda was not on stage to hand over a trophy but there to receive one, having been named Most Astounding Male Creative Writer for his debut novel, Too Hard to Be True.
For a lieutenant colonel with more than 30 years of military service, receiving a prestigious award for creative writing might appear to be an unexpected turn in an already accomplished career.
Yet writing has been an important part of Kunda’s life for many years, developing alongside his military career and his considerable contribution to education.
His life has taken him through several professions and responsibilities, from soldier to teacher, headteacher and education administrator, while allowing him to nurture a passion for literature that eventually resulted in the publication of a crime novel that has attracted both readers and critical recognition.
Born in 1972 at Kabwe General Hospital, Kunda spent the first years of his childhood in Katakwe in Kasama District, where he attended Kopongolo Primary School up to Grade Four.
He later returned to Kabwe and continued his education at Ben Kapufi Primary School before proceeding to Mukobeko Prima School and eventually Highridge Secondary School, where he completed his secondary education.
It was during his time at Highridge that he began to appreciate the extent of his imagination and his ability to create stories from almost anything around him, and it was there that he began thinking seriously about becoming a writer.
The military, however, was also calling, and after completing secondary school Kunda joined the army.
His pursuit of education continued alongside his military career, beginning with a diploma from Kwame Nkrumah University and later a Bachelor of Education in English Language and Literature and Civic Education from the University of Zambia.
He subsequently pursued a Master’s degree in Education Administration and Management at DMI St Eugene University in India, demonstrating the same determination to develop himself academically that would later characterise his professional and literary life.
It was during this period of tertiary education and military service that Too Hard to Be True began to take shape.
Kunda first read the story of John Mopelo and the corrupting influences that draw him towards crime to his friend, Colonel Kapisha, at the Zambia Military Academy in 1996.
Although his responsibilities included military training, teaching and academic studies, he continued working on the manuscript and gradually transformed the idea into a complete novel. What began as a creative undertaking would eventually become a nearly 20-year journey towards publication.
In 1998, Kunda left a hard copy of the manuscript with his friend, Dr Beck Banda, at Independence House, with the hope that Banda would help him find a publisher.
Unfortunately, the manuscript was misplaced and disappeared from view for several years. It resurfaced in 2005, when Kunda was working as a teacher at the Army School of Education, at a time when his own career was increasingly moving towards education.
It was during this period that he was introduced to Captain Kennedy Sialoombe, who promised to assist him in getting the novel published.
When Captain Sialoombe was transferred to Luena Barracks in Kaoma, Kunda followed and took up a teaching position where he taught English.
His career in education continued to develop, eventually leading to his appointment as headteacher at four different schools. Throughout these changes in his professional life, however, Too Hard to Be True remained unpublished.
The breakthrough finally came when Kunda was serving as headteacher at Arakan Girls Secondary School and Sialoombe had risen to the position of Director General.
It was at this stage that the long-awaited publication of Too Hard to Be True finally became possible.
Kunda regards General Sialoombe as the person who championed the book and helped ensure that the manuscript that had travelled with him for so many years finally became a published novel.
The difficulties Kunda experienced in bringing his book to readers are familiar to many Zambian writers. Traditional publishing opportunities remain limited, meaning that talented authors frequently have to rely on their own resources to print and distribute their work.
Poet and academic Anna Zgambo believes that this is particularly unfortunate in the case of writers such as Kunda, whom she considers to be a significant literary talent.
“Lt Col Francis Kunda is a literary force. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Literature and Languages. Unfortunately, at the moment, Lt Col Kunda is printing a few copies of his novel with his own resources.
This is unacceptable. Zambia must invest in him by publishing his books for the masses,” Zgambo says.
Kunda identifies Chinua Achebe and crime fiction writer James Hadley Chase among his major literary influences, and elements of those influences can be detected in Too Hard to Be True.
The novel centres on John Mopelo, a man who attempts to live within the confines of the law but gradually finds himself increasingly attracted to the world of crime.
As the story develops, greed, love and fate push him into a struggle between his conscience and his desire for survival and material success.
The result is a fast-moving crime story that explores human nature and the difficult choices people make when confronted with temptation.
The novel examines the pursuit of wealth, the willingness to compromise morality and the attempts people make to silence their guilt until the consequences of their decisions become impossible to escape.
Its ability to combine suspense with an exploration of human behaviour is part of what has helped it attract readers and ultimately earn recognition at the Ngoma Awards.
For Kunda, however, the significance of the novel goes far beyond the award it received.
“Of course, Ngoma is prestigious, but what is important is the fact that this novel has not only been a compelling creative pursuit but also a defining part of my core curricular journey.
It challenged me, entertained me and, most importantly, revealed in me a passion for storytelling,” he says.
He describes Too Hard to Be True as a gripping and raw portrayal of human nature at its most conflicted, arguing that the novel exposes the pursuit of wealth, the temptation to abandon morality and the desperate efforts people make to silence their guilt.
In his view, the law often appears distant and dismissible until the consequences of wrongdoing finally become unavoidable.
“The law, often seen as distant and dismissible, makes its entrance only when the consequences become unavoidable, and by then it is too far, too late to be true,” he says.
Kunda’s success as a writer came at a time when his professional career in education was also entering a new phase. In January 2026, just a month after the Ngoma Awards, he was appointed Director of Education.
Despite the apparent differences between military service, education and literature, Kunda does not regard these as separate aspects of his life. Instead, he sees them as connected by his constant desire to think, learn and create.
“The military isn’t a science per se, but it’s a job that you do that involves thinking. Creative writing also involves thinking. I have always had time to think and time to write, and this is the focus of my existence,” he says.
His creative process is relatively straightforward. He believes that writing begins with the willingness to sit down with the intention of creating something and then committing oneself to refining it until it reaches the desired standard.
He is already working on two new books, one a collection of poetry and the other a novel, which he hopes to release in the future.
“It’s important to refine what you create. You’ll see the next book that is coming out from me; it will be a more refined text. This time I’m doing two books, one for poetry and a novel. I invite you to look out for them. I would have finished the two books by now, but my health has been failing,” he says.
In March 2026, Kunda suffered a major setback when he experienced a stroke. Shortly after presiding over the funeral of a former director, he went to hospital and discovered that he had suffered a cerebrovascular accident.
The stroke left him unable to walk or talk and even unable to lift his hand, dramatically interrupting both his professional responsibilities and his plans for his literary work.
Nevertheless, the resilience that has characterised his military service, academic journey and writing career has also been evident in his recovery.
Although he has not yet fully recovered, Kunda has regained the ability to walk and talk and continues to work towards a full recovery.
“A stroke is something that people must know about and work towards avoiding. I believe that if this disease has to be fought, it must be fought with knowledge,” he says.
The experience has also taught him the importance of patience, something he acknowledges he did not always possess in abundance.
“The recovery is periodical. It’s not instant. It has taught me about patience. I’ve had a problem with patience myself, but I’ve had to learn it the hard way because of this disease. I am up to now still recovering from the disease.”
Although recovery remains a daily struggle, Kunda continues to look towards the future and hopes eventually to return to his professional duties and devote himself to the creative projects he has already begun.
He remains optimistic about what lies ahead and believes his unfinished projects still have the potential to reach a wider audience.
“Of course, we still have a long way to go. Believe me, these are good projects, and I want to believe that they’ll go as far as they can. I wish all the best,” he says.
Kunda’s contribution to Zambian society extends well beyond the pages of Too Hard to Be True. His influence can be found in the schools where he taught and in the four institutions where he served as headteacher.
At one of those schools, he helped raise the pass rate from 45 percent to 100 percent, an achievement that reflects the commitment he brought to education.
His contribution can also be seen in the Zambia Army, where he has spent more than three decades serving, and increasingly within Zambia’s literary community, where his emergence as an award-winning novelist has added another dimension to an already remarkable career.
Given everything he has accomplished, from military service and education to literature, Kunda was asked how he would like to be remembered.
His answer was not about his rank, academic qualifications, awards or professional achievements, but about the service he has tried to offer to others.
“I would like people to just remember me as Francis Kunda, who gave himself to the people and who wanted to give the best to the people. That’s why every time I’m given an opportunity to serve, I do my best and to the best of my abilities. So what I really fight for in life is the best because nothing is better than the best,” he says.
Kunda also expressed gratitude to those who have supported him throughout his military, educational and professional journey.
He thanked Army Commander General Geoffrey Choongo Zyeele for being an example of hard work, resilience and professionalism, and expressed appreciation to his Director General, General Kennedy Sialoombe, whom he credits with mentoring him and helping bring Too Hard to Be True to publication.
He also thanked Deputy Director General Mwalungali Evans for his positive approach, as well as fellow directors Chalikosa, Mizyawo and Bubala for their support in the education sector of the army.
He extended his appreciation to all the headteachers of army-run schools and to writers across the country, wishing them success in their respective endeavours.
The story of Francis Kunda is ultimately one of persistence and reinvention. For decades, the manuscript of Too Hard to Be True remained unpublished, moving from one stage of his life to another until circumstances finally allowed it to reach readers.
By then, its author had already established himself as a soldier and educator, but the publication of the novel revealed another dimension of his character that had existed quietly alongside those professions for many years.
His Ngoma Award has now given that literary journey public recognition, while his continuing recovery from a stroke has reminded him that some battles require a different kind of strength.
Through military service, education, writing and adversity, Francis Kunda continues to demonstrate the determination to pursue what he describes simply as “the best”.
Too Hard to Be True is available for K300. Copies can be obtained by calling or WhatsApping +260 977 954 869.
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Cover of too hard to be true
