TONGUE TIED: Malawi's vernacular languages sentenced to death!

The loss of some aspects of language may, from a point of view of those not well-versed in it, seem like the shape of nature itself.
In other words, corruption of a language or its death all together may be regarded as an extension of bush rule, which is premised on survival of the fittest.
However, for Botswana-based linguistics scholar Evance Fred Kapwepwe, any loss of aspects of language is bad for posterity, as “future generates may have nothing to cling on, in terms of language, and stand prone to shaking with every puff of air thrown at them in the name of foreign language.
“Whatever happens, language has to be preserved.  That is why I will forever feel sad that one of the bodies that critically analysed one of the languages in Malawi, namely Chichewa, closed shop. I am talking of Chichewa Board.
“Of course, I understand that, in the name of fairness, we needed to have bodies that look into aspects of all languages in Malawi— notably Chichewa, Ngoni, Tumbuka, Lhomwe, Nkhonde, Tumbuka, Sena, among others— the way tax-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts news in languages such as Tumbuka, Lhomwe, Sena, among others. That is what we need,” he says.
In the absence of such a board, or boards, language gets sacrificed on the altar of modernity, so that it is common to hear an announcer on many radio stations in Malawi read “mauthenga”, instead of ‘uthenga’, celebrate ‘maufulu’, instead of ufulu, invite azimayi and azibambo to phone during a phone-in programme instead of extending an invitation to amayi and abambo, among others.
“That is true. The new generation is pronouncing words anyhow, sometimes using words that do not exist long enough that they become part of lexicon. If course, language is dynamic but that should not be at the expense of syntax,’ he says.

The issue of Chichewa Board, and like boards, has been debated including by Gregory Hankoni Kamwendo of the University of Zululand who, in an abstract, submits: “A language academy, known as the Chichewa Board, existed in Malawi from 1972 to 1995. Its three functions were: to compile a Chichewa dictionary; to produce a standard orthography of Chichewa; and to contribute to the general development of Chichewa.

The then President of Malawi, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was very instrumental to the establishment and execution of the functions of the board. Following the defeat of Banda in the 1994 elections, the Board was dissolved and replaced by the Centre for Language Studies. This article is a critique of the Board and its successor. Whilst the Chichewa Board worked in the tradition of language academies (and served as the highest authority on Chichewa in Malawi), its successor (the Centre for Language Studies) is a research unit at the University of Malawi and does not carry a prescriptive tone.”

It could be this lack of “prescriptive tone” that is responsible for confusion lingering over Chichewa use.

Other tongues may be facing a similar predicament, notably Chichewa, although some traditional leaders, including Inkosi ya Makhosi Gomani and Senior Chief Kachindamoto, Inkosi ya Makhosi M’mbelwa have been making efforts to revive the language. 

Whatever the case, the truth is that there has always been a mother tongue; sometimes neglected and forgotten, sometimes remembered and preserved through orthographies.
Mother tongues were there when the colonialists made the long trip to Malawi. Mother tongue is not a language but a way of life.
No wonder, then, that organisations such as Malawi Pen have been promoting writing and reading in mother tongues. It is a way of linking literature to the people.

For example, Malawi Pen recently initiated a programme aimed at promoting reading and writing in disadvantaged schools. Three schools such as Chichiri Reformatory School at Chichiri Prison, Ntcheu Community Day Secondary School and Nkhamenya Girls’ Secondary School benefitted from the same.

WORRIED: Kishindo-- Picture by Richard Chirombo

Under the project, Namisu Women’s Reading Club was also included. Pen International website indicates that this was done “as we felt the move required specialised attention in the field of literature. Our support fits the group’s aims because the starting point for the reading club participants is the reading of literary materials before including other reading materials on HIV and AIDS, farming, environment, gender, climate change and health.”
It is common knowledge that groups such as Namisu Women’s Reading Club did not need literature materials published in English, hence the importance of mother tongue.
The sheer joy of communicating in mother tongue outweighs everything else.
No wonder that colonialists did everything to suppress the mother tongue, and made all attempts to treat their own language – the invading language—as a potentate, even if it was a language loaded with words from Latin, French, Portuguese, among other borrowed words. They simply could not tolerate languages such as mother tongues spoken by African natives.
Unfortunately, the gulf between the mother tongue and official tongue, which is often looked down upon, stays unabridged.
From time to time, steps have been taken to suppress the mother tongue, in the rush to the so-called civilisation.
But the ceiling of respect for mother languages such as Chichewa, Tumbuka, Tonga, Lhomwe, Sena, Yao, among others, dropped so low in 2014 that mother tongues were booted out as media of instruction in schools. It is official. Malawians are an English-speaking people.
Those who value mother tongues emerged from the year 2014 to face a falling sun. Their beloved mother tongue was still there, yes; but had been declared unofficial in a country where the speakers are called natives.
It is clear, looking at such developments, that the country’s education system is full of the scars of colonialism and imperialism.
The issue of mother tongue is, of course, haunted by another battle— the battle for supremacy among mother tongues. But that is another story.
Professor Pascal Kishindo, University of Malawi language and linguistics lecturer, observes in a paper titled ‘ Language and the Law in Malawi: A Case for the Use of Indigenous Languages in the Legal System’ that the use of looking down on mother tongues by embracing, for example, English, is as old as the soil we step on.
He cites the use of English in the legal system.

The abstract reads: “In Malawi's legal system, English is used as the language of legal proceedings and records. In cases where the plaintiffs/defendants do not speak English interpreters are provided. However, there are two factors which militate against this state of affairs. First, Malawi is a highly non-literate country with an estimated non-literacy rate of 48 percent. Second, English is not the vehicle of communication for the majority of the Malawian population.”

The paper therefore argues that the legal system should make use of indigenous languages; “not only will this facilitate communication but also eliminate the need for court interpreters. It will also give the feuding parties the confidence that they are not being misrepresented. Since communication is only successful when the receiver can interpret the information the source has put in the message, there is need, therefore, to render the law into the languages(s) that is/are familiar to the receiver. This will save citizens from being poorly defended, misjudged and unjustly condemned.”

Kishindo is not the only one to bemoan the fact that indigenous languages seem to be neglected in the country, as Themba Moyo, in an article titled ‘Language loss and language decay of Malawi's indigenous languages’ puts it crudely that Malawi is reeling from the problem of language decay.

The article indicates that, with the exception of Chichewa, almost all of Malawi's indigenous languages face imminent “decay”.

“The languages facing loss and decay have been suppressed, neglected and not developed, particularly since Malawi attained her independence in 1964. This is a crucial matter in issues of national unity, group identity, language choice and community culture, all of which impact considerably on nationhood, state democracy, equality in language use and in the general development of a country,” Moyo observes.

He argues that the neglect of such languages is evident in printed materials.

“This article contends that, in effect, the rest of Malawi's indigenous languages are facing considerable loss and decay with regard to their development. This is particularly in print, where none of them appear as instructional languages in early education, mass communication or in literary publications such as in novels, short stories, poems, plays, etc,”

Moyo then calls for “equitable recognition of linguistic diversity and development of all languages” to act as “a unifying force for the overall development of the country's national life”. 

LEARNING IN VAIN?: Learners like these at Namikasi Secondary School in Blantyre can only learn local languages for knowledge sake; nothing else 
However, in a move that can best be described as a blow to indigenous languages, the Education Act passed in Parliament in November 2013, which former president Joyce Banda assented to in 2014, means government’s policy is that the English language is the only medium of instruction in education institutions.
The Act in question introduces the [English as a medium of instruction] policy as follows: 78. Language of instruction. (1) The language of instruction in schools and colleges shall be English. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of Sub-section (1) The minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, prescribe the language of instruction in schools.”
Malawi Pen president, Alfred Msadala, is bemused with the development.
He, however, observes that the bill was passed when election fever gripped Malawians in 2014, a development that culminated in the bill escaping close scrutiny.
“As it is, Malawi is an English-speaking country. Actually, I was surprised to learn from the Commonwealth Secretariat that Malawi no longer recognises mother tongues,” Msadala says.
So, local languages may exist but are not recognised in the books that matter. It is the final nail on local languages’ coffin.