WHEN Dr Rozius Siatwambo married Nachombe Kabunda, there was no bed in their home, no stove in the kitchen and little in the fridge apart from bread and soya chunks.
They lived in a single room with a mattress on the floor and a makeshift cooking element balanced on bricks.
Yet, despite the hardships, the wife saw beyond the conditions and chose to believe in her husband’s vision.
“She didn’t marry the mattress, she married the dream,” Dr Siatwambo said, reflecting on their early days together.
Today, that dream has become the Great North Road Academy Group of Companies, a thriving education enterprise with more than 2,000 pupils across its schools.
Dr Siatwambo grew up in Batoka, a rural area in Southern Province, before moving to Lusaka’s Chawama compound.
To support himself through secondary school at Arakan Boys, he repacked sugar and sold second hand clothes commonly known as Salaula to pay for transport.
It was in Lusaka’s Soweto Market, at a small restaurant owned by Kabunda’s sister, that the two met.
She was working there and he was a frequent customer. But what began as casual interactions soon developed into a partnership that extended far beyond marriage.
With both coming from rural backgrounds, him from Batoka while Kabunda from Chibombo, they shared an understanding of hard work and sacrifice.
The couple’s first step into education was modest, just a small tuition centre with only four learners.
Both trained as teachers, they worked side by side to grow the business, often reinvesting what little they had.
As the school expanded, Dr Siatwambo encouraged his wife to further her education so she could play a stronger role in managing their growing enterprise.
Today, she is co-director at the Great North Road Academy Group of Companies, focusing on mentorship and academic support, while he serves as chief visionary officer or director.
Beyond education, the Siatwambos have also invested in other ventures.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, they opened Twalumba Resort and they also operate a hotel, lodges and a rehabilitation centre which has diversified their portfolio.
Looking back, Dr Siatwambo questions whether younger couples would endure what he and his wife once did.
“If I showed up today with just a mattress and a cooking element, would I even get a second date? Or she’d say, “no stove, no story!”
he asked on his Facebook page.
“My wife and I lived in a one-room house. Bed? Just a mattress. Stove? Forget it, we had a ka element balanced on bricks, illegally connected to the socket (don’t try this at home ). Ngati nimu fridge mwenze che tu bread, mu corner kasaka kama chunks (in the fridge, there was just bread and a sack of soya chunks at the corner).”
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, September 10, 2025
