Bridging development gaps through community empowerment

The truth, that indigenous knowledge and common sense are commodities in which many Chikhwawa people are rich, was there for the taking. But nobody, not even those rich in it, was innovative enough to explore the opportunities that come with this bequest.


The cost, as expected, was high: the apparent lack of basic amenities, strengthened by a litany of unfulfilled expectations.


Not that Traditional Authorities Katunga, Mulilima, Chapananga, Ngabu and Lundu did not know or care about the status quo; that is why Katunga faults the two issues for limiting Chikhwawa people’s definition of ‘good life’ into a mere search for the basics.


“Poverty had become accepted as an inevitable feature of life. There are people who get satisfied leading simple lives that border on resource constraints,” he says.


Indeed, people have come to regard poverty part of the life system that deepening poverty levels have fallen under the same category as earthquakes, flash floods and bad weather- acts of providence, ancestral spirits or God.


It may just be now that these perceptions are changing, thanks partly to President Bingu wa Mutharka’s assertion that- despite the grim picture painted by United Nations Development Programme indices that rank Malawi among the world’s poorest nations- the country is, after all, richer in resources than the spirit of its own people.


The other reason for this mindset change could be the initiative by the Blantyre Synod Health and Development Commission (BSHDC), through its Church and Society arm, aimed at enhancing community participation and advocacy capacity in the quest for satisfactory public services.


Limbani Chipembere, BSHDC Programme Manager for Governance, says their intervention came after realizing that much of the poverty in Chikhwawa could be alleviated through attitude change.


“We realized that people have abundant resources coupled with a well-developed indigenous knowledge system that has been underutilized for a long time in Malawi. The problem was lack of skills on how to harness this knowledge and keep it up to date with latest world trends,” says Chipembere.


So hopeless was the situation that though people realized the dangers of growing millet in the face of non-existent market opportunities, underutilization of land in days that have come to be defined by climate change, the disenfranchising aspect of low prices, and neglect of community problems, they left such problems unresolved for over 46 years of independence.


Add this to the fact that one of the characters of the Chikhwawa people- the drinking of local brews, which turned millet into a cash spinner within the community- was changing fast in this age of bottled-and- packaged lives, the type of life that has relegated gourds to mere relics and historical, other than practical, ware.


Advancements in technology have left indigenous knowledge systems wanting, raising the need to ‘update’ its values. This update, Chipembere enthuses, includes turning local knowledge into a horse that will carry Malawians through the race of poverty to the finish line of prosperity.


“Malawi has a rich cultural heritage and impeccable local knowledge system that have neither been embraced nor improved. We have failed to utilise this resource and, as a result, lagged behind in many crucial areas of development,” he adds.


All these factors have forced the resourceful people of Malawi into the cold arms of self-resignation as they watch their efforts bear unproductive results. A good case in point is the cultivation of millet in Chikhwawa. Besides maize and cotton, farmers peg their hopes on large scale millet farming.


However, experience has shown that, though grown on a massive scale, the crop has left communities in the area of Paramount Chief Lundu poorer and disoriented due to the unavailability of lucrative markets. Farmers have adapted to this challenge by turning millet into a poultry feed and main ingredient in local brews.


Then, there is the issue of villagers from Chinkole in T/A Katunga’s area; they have spent the past 46 years leading subsistence lives, turning them into perpetual dependants of rain fed agriculture and victims of natural shocks. All these years, community members have failed to realize that continuing to farm as individuals when they lack such resources as organic fertilizers and modern machinery is a renewed attempt at hugging poverty.


This scenario, however, is different from the subjects of village headman Namila in T/A Mulilima’s area. Unlike their subsistence counterparts of Chinkole, Namila people have problems with maize surplus and abundance. Too much produce has not changed their fortunes but turned them into fair-trade cry babies.


But these problems are not restricted to farming. Public service delivery systems have their dark sides, too, as communities have come to learn from the experience of Kandeu Primary School in T/A Kasisi’s area. For years, parents and guardians felt so elated seeing their wards go to school, only to get disappointed with pupils’ immediate allergy to learning, a problem whose root was suspected to be witchcraft.


How, community members wanted to know, could children get so enthusiastic about enrolling at Kandeu primary school, only to develop cold feet immediately after? Through Kandeu Village Rights Committee (VRC), people discovered that the real reason was lack of school uniforms. Every time Kandeu pupils came into contact with pupils from other schools at district events, it was easy to trace the majority of them by dressing, or lack of it.


“It (lack of uniform) made them different from other pupils; It made their poverty more visible,” chips in village headman Kandeu.


A Parents-Teacher Association meeting revealed that most parents could not afford school uniform. In fact, it was discovered that some parents only bought school uniform for children in senior primary school classes.


But WARA, a Catholic Relief Services integrated community support programme, came in handy to provide school uniforms to needy pupils in T/A Kaisi’s area.


Chikhwawa District Education officials feel, however, that the Kandeu scenario is not common place, and that the district was not far from meeting Millennium Development Goals on increasing access to primary education. This is a feeling replicated by the subjects of Village headman Mpokonyola in T/A Katunga’s area: asked how they could tackle the problem of absenteeism, they are unanimous in settling for the Parents-Teachers’ Association problem solving set up.


They forget their own problems, though, in their quest to pick the speck in Kandeu’s eye. As consumers, Mpokonyola communities have been subjected to unfair trade practices whenever they go to buy goods and services at Dembo Market.


Some of the maize traders at Dembo are middlemen who work for Mozambican businessmen at a commission. For unknown reasons, apart from the apparent motivation to get quick returns, these Malawian traders have for years been selling substandard maize that, when processed into flour, turns bitter.


Community members confronted the unscrupulous traders to no avail: the traders acknowledged selling ‘bad’ maize but refused to withdraw it from the market. Even the words of village headman Mpokonyola bore no fruits as he reveals:


“The trader was still reluctant saying he was only an employee of a Mozambican trader. The owner of the business was later called and withdrew the commodity while admitting that it was, indeed, substandard. He finally brought good maize”.


Signs on the ground are that each Chikhwawa problem has a solution. In fact, community mobilisation and sensitization campaigns have already created strategic alliances that have evolved into a positive chain of reactions as citizens claim their right to development.


Since July 2009, Chikhwawa has mobilized 40 community based educators and 1,500 members of VRC- all these efforts in pursuit of Section 30 of the Republican Constitution, which guarantees the right to development irrespective of one’s status in society.


“So far, so good,” says group village headman Mbendelana of T/A Kasisi.


In 2009, his subjects realized that Chikhwawa Primary School lacked blocks, teachers and pupils’ toilets, desks, and headmaster’s office. On February 28, 2010, a meeting was held with MP for the area, at which people agreed to contact the British Department for International Development (DFID) for assistance.


“On April 16, 2010, the project, worth over K40 million, started with the construction of two self-contained teachers’ houses, four school blocks with two class rooms each, one head teacher’s office and eight toilets for teachers and pupils. Within three month, it was over,” says Mbendelana.


What inspired the chief was the level of community involvement. During one of the community members’ monitoring sessions, it was discovered that the door padlocks were of poor quality; community members quickly asked the contractor to fit good quality ones, and durable paddocks were soon purchased and fitted accordingly.


Communities surrounding Kalima Primary School in T/A Maseya also prevented a bad situation from getting worse. High absenteeism levels prompted them to call for a Teachers-Parent-Pupils meeting at which the pupils revealed that absenteeism was a reaction to corporal punishment meted by teachers.


These included severe beatings, orders to dig deeper-than-child height pit latrines or banishment from class. All these punishment forms violated the child’s right to education. People threatened to report the matter to the Primary Education Advisor but the teachers pleaded promised to change.


For three weeks, from early February 2010, VRC members monitored the situation and confirmed that the teachers had really changed.


Millet farming, too, has become lucrative as farmers have utilized the concept of collective bargaining to negotiate their way into produce supply opportunities; so have cotton farmers, though many still complain that they are still attached to exploitative companies through loans on farm inputs offered at the beginning of the planting season. Those who are not bound by exploitative contracts also face the problem of manipulated weighing machines.


But Davlin Chokazinga, Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) Director General warns: “Farmers and, indeed, consumers, should make sure that they buy from sellers with MBS certified equipment. Many farmers are losing a lot in income through manipulated scales. We have intensified sensitization meetings since April this year, and will not hesitate to bring perpetrators to book.”


Farmers have also come around the problem of cheating by forming cooperatives and associations. Propelled by the hope that it will be difficult to fool a dozen eyes, maize, sugarcane, and cotton farmers no longer sell their produce at the farmyard: this task has been designated for focal business points where the market forces of demand and supply dictate shelf prices.


On the community development front, trends have also changed as people take more responsibility. In T/A Ngabu’s area, for example, Constituency Development Funds meant for the construction of a school block were misappropriated and villagers are following up.


It is a success story arising from the jaws of self-defeat. Civil Society Organisations and development partners are there to oil the spirit of community involvement.


“It is a good thing when people start to demand development. It is their right and not privilege as some policymakers want us to believe,” says Chipembere.

Oiling Malawi's Household Food Security Situation through Permaculture

Malawi's local farmers have, through experience, come to learn it the hard way that to embrace agriculture is to accept a world of contradictions.

Since time immemorial, agricultural practices have been so replete with certainty and uncertainty, balances and imbalances, and progression and retrogression that it has become a norm to accept years of bumper yields along with skinny years. This variation in conditions has, in effect, made it natural to refer to materials used in plant and animal production as ‘variables’ due to their changing nature.


Nevertheless, this shadow of positives and negatives, enthuses Peter Mazingaliwa- Acting National Coordinator for Malawi/US Exchange Alumni Association (Museaa) - offers room for reflection.


“The time when people used to accept situations as they came is long gone; modern scientific discoveries offer us room to devise ways through which we can tame some of the unfavourable conditions. Science has proven that the positives from agriculture can be sustained, and the negatives arrested,” says Mazingaliwa.


This leads to the question: Is it possible to tame the variables in agriculture, and, at least, attain some level of sustainability?


“Sure, it is possible to achieve sustainability in, say, food production in agriculture. It just needs favourable policies, unfazed commitment, continuous research, and responsive communities. One of the ways to achieve food sustainability, for example, is to promote permanent agriculture, or permaculture,” says Mazingaliwa.


The term ‘permaculture’ is itself a challenge to agriculture- an area long-associated with the eternal flux of opposites- because it introduces new approaches to natural systems. In fact, the whole concept is premised on the idea that it is only through paradigm shifts in agricultural systems’ theory and holistic organic ecology that the world population can achieve a balance and, therefore, stability.


Mazingaliwa says this is the reason Museaa, which acts as a platform for national and international networking among Malawians who have studied in the United States as one way of contributing towards national socio-economic development, has been conducting capacity building programmes in addressing issues that impact on agriculture productivity.


“One of these issues is that of climate change. Climate change, various studies have shown, is contributing towards global food insecurity. But problems associated with climate change can be mitigated by promoting ideals of permaculture,” says Mazingaliwa.


Museaa has, with US$23,900 (about K3.8m) funding from the US State Department Alumni Affairs Division, been implementing a climate change programme aimed at encouraging communities to develop permaculture as one of the effective adaptation techniques.


Among others, it is promoting an understanding of climate change as a concept, in terms of its causes and effects, and promoting awareness of human activities that contribute to climate change, including deforestation, urbanization and desertification.


Working with agricultural extension workers, field supervisors from NGOs working on environmental issues, smallholder farmers, Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Water Development, among others, it has engaged community leaders and pupils on permaculture techniques and assisted in forming permaculture clubs in secondary schools.


Permaculture, as a climate change mitigating tool, discourages overdependence on rain-fed agriculture by promoting water-harvesting methods. Mixed cropping (different crop types and root systems) is preferred over mono-cropping, and it also encourages the use of local materials such as organic manure.


“It is important that we promote these things, starting with the youth. This is the reason we have been carrying out climate change programmes on Adaptive Agriculture techniques among Malawian youths in both primary and secondary schools. Because young people are yet to experience the ‘rest’ of life, they are better-placed to absorb new knowledge and change their world,” said Mazingaliwa.


“We need permaculture to sustain food productivity. For your own information, Malawi has not yet attained food security, despite pronunciations to that effect, and this is because we depend on rain-fed agriculture and one type of crop, maize. We are thus more vulnerable to climate change and, unless we adopt permaculture, on the verge of perishing,” he said.


He, however, urges Malawi to continue being part of international community efforts on climate change. Mazingaliwa notes that, so far, Malawi has been a keen participant at international meetings, a process that started some 17 years ago and reached a climax in November 2009- when world leaders met for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change.


Climate change refers to conditions characterized by persistent shifts in the general patterns of the elements of weather. These shifts may be observed as clear trends for some of the elements including temperatures, but may also become random or unpredictable. A good example of this involves the onset of the rains.


However, Mugove Walter Nyika- one of Malawi’s climate change experts, and senior official at the local NGO Rescope- notes that climate change is as old as the planet earth itself, but says current changes in climate are unique and different from anything that has been experienced before.


“In the past, climate changes were associated with natural cycles such as sunspot activity. The sunspot activity is a change that takes place in the chemical activities on the surface of the sun, which determines the amount of energy that the sun sends outwards to us.


“(But) other changes in climate in the past have been less predictable. These include changes that were caused by the impact of meteorites smashing onto the earth, or the impact of massive volcanic eruptions, both of which sent clouds of dust into the atmosphere which blocked part of the rays of the sun,” says Nyika.


Meteorites are large pieces of rock that are moving in space and which, at times, may collide with the planets. The blocking of the sun’s rays by the dust clouds led, in the past, to periods in which global temperatures drastically dropped.


Nyika warns of dire consequences if communities and governments do not care: “Previous changes in climate had a big impact on life on earth. Some changes led to the extinction of some forms of life such as the dinosaurs. Some changes led to the cooling of the planet, resulting in large sheets of ice covering the surface of the earth.”


He notes, however, that current changes in climate are due, mainly, to human activities’ impact on the earth. For example, the industrial revolution, fuelled by fossil fuels such as coal and oil, has been the main driver of climate change. Other activities, like deforestation and chemical farming, have also accelerated the changes in climate.


But it is the later activities that have started to feature prominently locally.


This could be attributed to recent findings by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that, while the main source of global food remains the soil, the climate that influenced rainfall patterns has really changed- the sort of change that honours no human boundaries.


WMO indicates, for instance, that the year 2010 was the warmest on record. It also says that the years between 2000 and 2010 have registered the warmest period in time since records began. Among others, communities from across the globe are experiencing unusual weather patterns and more frequent incidents of extreme weather events.


“All these will impact on agriculture productivity,” he says.


That is where permaculture, as one form of climate smart agriculture, comes in. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, climate smart agriculture entails activities that increase productivity, resilience, removes greenhouse gas emissions, and enhances national food security and development goals.


Among other approaches, this is achieved by revolutionizing the management of soil, water, landscapes, technologies, and genetic resources to ensure higher productivity and resilience, while reducing the greenhouse footprint, according to Bunda College of Agriculture Environment and Development expert, Dr. David Mkwambisi.


Mkwambisi openly hopes for a balanced world that will reduce the trade-off between productivity (output) and emissions per unit of agricultural product.


“Global experts on environment and development have realised that agriculture can be a critical tool to solve problems associated with climate change and weather variability in many countries,” says Dr. Mkwambisi.


What is clear, in the end, is the fact that climate change has sired a son called hope: the hope that, while climatic patterns may change, at least agricultural productivity cannot!

Oiling Malawi’s backbone with rural finance

Agriculture remains, to Malawi, a silent dictator-a cruel and demanding one at that.


It has been like this since the infamous ‘Scramble for Africa’ in the late 1880s; a trend that continued after Malawi received independence from Britain in 1964. Indeed, history has it that Malawi was meant to be a farm-yard for the Federation of Nyasaland and Rhodesia.


While the other two members of the Federation (Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia; and Southern Rhodesia, the new Zimbabwe) had vast reserves of proven mineral resources, Nyasaland (Malawi) was thought to have none. The only option, so the colonisers thought, was to turn this land-rocked country into a garden of the three-tier union.


Both the Federation and colonialism later collapsed under the weight of immense resistance and nationalism, but the mentality of Malawi as an agricultural nation did not die with them. That is how Malawi has continued to pay annual tributes to the silent ruler called agriculture.


Indeed, our tribute to agriculture now runs at around K38 billion a year. In the 2011/12 National Budget, the K38 billion allocation to agriculture ranks forth on the list of priorities as education, as usual, leads the pack with K54 billion, the health sector with K43 billion, K40 billion for development activities, and agriculture, carting home K38 billion of the K303.7 billion financial blue-print.


“The role of agriculture in national development cannot be over-emphasized. In fact, food security is the basis of good health, and this is why government has invested in the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp), apart from promoting agriculture through initiatives such as the Green-belt Initiative,” says Agriculture, Food Security and Water Development Principal Secretary, Erica Maganga.


So, the tribute to agriculture comes in many forms, and not only through financial allocations approved by the National Assembly. As Maganga says, there is the irrigation-inspired Greenbelt Initiative, the Fisp, the metal silos’ construction programme, continuous research at Bunda College of Agriculture, Makoka, Chitedze and other research stations, plus a horde of agricultural extensive programmes.


It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the International Fund for Agriculture Development (Ifad)- which has no country office in Malawi, but has been contributing towards the country’s agriculture sector since 1982, contributing a whopping US$122 million (about K20.7 billion) to date- indicates that the agriculture sector employs 85 percent of the population.


Ifad, which on November 3 this year signed an agreement to open a Malawi office at a ceremony held in Italy, further indicates that the sector contributes 45 percent of Gross Domestic Product- further confirming the influence of the silent dictator.


Maganga notes that Malawi has one of the most successful agriculture programmes in Africa, hence, Africa’s adoption of the Africa Food Basket programme- an initiative inspired by, as it has come to be known worldwide, the ‘Malawian Story’.


This is a story of bumper maize harvests for six consecutive years. Not only on maize production, though. Cassava, sweet potatoes, rice have registered increased production levels as well, concluding the story of more tributes to the silent dictator, agriculture.


It is a good story, acknowledges Charles Henry Nyekanyeka, manager for Bvumbwe Community Savings and Credit Cooperative (Sacco). Only that something is amiss, he says, because agriculture officials seem to have forgotten that mentality, too, has to move with the times.


Nyekanyeka says, while the goal posts have been shifting- in terms of prioritization and resource mobilization- nothing seems to have happened to mentality.


“Agriculture has the potential to change our fortunes. However, it is often neglected by policymakers. This is because these policymakers still have the mentality that the people who produce our food live in the backwaters of society,” says Nyekanyeka.


He suggests, among others strategies, that budgetary allocations should not be made to fulfill long-time traditions but, rather, to change the platform and people’s lives.


But the situation on the ground shows no signs of these, adds Nyekanyeka.


For one, the Malawian farmer is long-used to selling such unfinished agricultural products as cotton, tea, tobacco, sugarcane, soya beans, pigeon peas, among other strategic crops, as the top farm-produce buyers busy themselves with logistical plans on how to export more raw materials abroad.


Secondly, Malawi’s best brains continue to regard agriculture as the wasteland of human capital, preferring, instead, such disciplines as financial accounting, statistics, marketing, economics, logistics, among the high-paying jobs.


This, says Nyekanyeka, is bad for Malawi’s agriculture industry.


“But there is something worse than these, and this is the issue of poor access to financial services, especially for the rural masses. This has ensured that Malawi gets stuck in terms of agriculture development. It is all because the rural farmer has been neglected, in terms of financial empowerment,” says Nyekanyeka.


As a result, Malawi continues to underutilize her productive agriculture land, and frustrate her dedicated and hardworking farmers- farmers who know nothing but agriculture.


This has contributed to low investment in agriculture by small scale farmers, unattractive prices at produce markets, poor extension services, food insecurity at household level, and information gaps, according to Nyekanyeka, who prefers Saccos to commercial banks.


“Experience shows that, commercial banks and other financial institutions show less interest in, and are cautious of, financing agriculture due to the impact of climate (change) and uncertainty, and the cynical character of agricultural markets.


“In addition, some of the challenges to rural financial intermediation include information asymmetry (irregularities and gaps), lack of suitable collateral, high transaction costs, and other risks related to agriculture. What this has done is to deepen the vicious circle of capital formation for both sustenance and development,” says Nyekanyeka.


But, as with all problems, there is a solution to such rural challenges as low per capita income, small size of rural markets, low agricultural productivity, low investment rate, and lack of incentives to rural investors. The solution comes in the name of cooperative societies!


The truth is out in the world that cooperatives have the ability to ably carter for the financial needs of the rural poor – in this case, the 6,885, 526 people Ifad classifies in its 2009 report as Malawi’s rural poor- as part of their contribution to the two rural-financing strategic goals of rural development, and rural poverty reduction.


These needs are met by increasing access to finance for rural small scale farmers to improve crop productivity, promoting principles of financial inclusion by promoting affordable payment mechanisms and depository facilities to communities outside the banking ambit, as well as reducing economic vulnerabilities.


“Savings and access to credit helps rural farmers and rural households manage seasonal liquidity shortages, and meet planned and unplanned life events. In addition, cooperatives have a special relevance to rural areas because their model differs from that of other financial institutions in so many ways,” he adds.


Some of these ways include the fact that the majority of cooperatives’ clients are largely outside the ambit of most formal banking services; they are member-owned service organisations based on the principles of mutual self-help, self-governance, proximity, and local knowledge; their business model is driven by demand, as they are set up on the realization that their members need financial services, and; are lauded world over for their quest for financial self-reliance, as characterized by a ‘savings first’ approach.


To achieve these goals, says Nyekanyeka, cooperatives use approaches such as value-chain financing and study circle.


Value chain is premised on the realization that provision of the right finance at the right time can mean greater efficiency, improved product quality and increased incomes by expanding access to affordable and convenient loans.


Study circle, on the other hand, is a method that allows people from all spheres of life to express their opinions democratically and without fear of intimidation- giving participants a platform to broaden their knowledge of issues by appreciating experiences and viewpoints of others in their community.


Studies have shown that these approaches reduce costs associated with extension services as community members are able to identify and solve their own problems. They also increase the level of farmers’ knowledge on current and probable produce prices, post-harvest management (storage and pest control) skills, HIV and AIDS and business management information.


“Loan processing costs are reduced, too. And, so, are monitoring and debt collection costs. In short, chances of default are reduced, “says Nyekanyeka, adding:


“It is so simple to start addressing challenges in Agriculture. But the National Budget is not enough. That is why agriculture has, in more ways than one, been neglected. We need to increase rural people’s access to financing,” says Nyekanyeka.


Nyekanyeka ties his point on Bvumbwe Sacco statistics that 80 percent of its members are farmers.


And it sounds sweet, really, heard through the prism of ordinary ears. Not to Dr. David Mkwambisi, the Bunda College of Agriculture-based Environment and Development expert. Mkwambisi argues that, “despite the proliferation of farmer-owned organisations and farmer (dominated) cooperatives, the poverty index among smallholder farmers is alarming”.


Dr. Mkwambisi notes that “this clearly shows that designing, implementing, monitoring of agricultural interventions is not coordinated, thereby duplicating efforts, confusing the farmer, disturbing ecosystems and landscapes, while increasing administrative ecological footprints”.


In other words, Dr. Mkwambisi’s prescribes policy misfiring as the weevil in our agricultural stem.


It is encouraging, however, to note that the Bankers Association of Malawi (Bam) has stated that its members are trying hard to bring the cash that changes lives to the rural areas.


Bam executive director, Fanuel Kumdana, notes, however that rural banking goes with extra-costs in terms of security and operational needs.


He says, for example, that automated machines require electricity and security. In the absence of electricity, Diesel-run generators take the place, making it more expensive to run rural operations.

Thyolo Bananas Go Banana

...As Banana Bunchy Top scare affects farmers' livilihood


A tense hush falls over the entire field whenever a banana plant crushes to the ground in Thyolo.


Down and out- Some of the banana plants destroyed in Thyolo


It has been some 11 months since the first banana plant collapsed last October, but farmers from group village headmen Kalintulo and Maoni can still not get used to the idea of chopping down the very banana plants that have sustained them for ages.


“That,” says one of the affected farmers, Smart Namakhwa, pointing at one of the fallen banana plants in his one hectare field, “has been the source of my income for years.”


He finds no solace in the fact that Maoni is not the only village affected in Traditional Authority Mphoka’s area.


“That would have made sense in the past. These days, Malawians seem to have lost that communal spirit. We no longer care about each other; Maoni’s problems cannot be of Kalintulo’s concern. That is the attitude these days,” Namakhwa adds.


Kalintulo - We are finished

That is the only point the father of three sons and four daughters mentions with emphasis, before dropping into self-withdrawal again, aware of the challenges that lie ahead.


That is what happens to people who have been taken by surprise.


All was well for Namakhwa, who claims to have ‘inherited banana cultivation from his parents, until Banana Bunchy Top disease hit the village in October 2010. That was to mark the beginning of a sad routine for Thyolo farmers.


The routine goes like this for farmers whose plants are hit by Bunchy Top: identification and confirmation of the disease. Crop sanitation, which includes the spraying of aphicides. Sometimes, a hole is dug through the infected plant for herbicide injection. Then, 24 hours later, the crops (infected mats) are destroyed.


That is not all, though, because focus now turns to all alternative hosts. These include ginger and taro, if they are present in the vicinity. The last step is a life-long commitment, as farmers are told to carry out routine checks for symptoms of the disease in, otherwise, healthy looking plants.


All these procedures puzzle Kalintulo.


“I have never seen something like this (disease) in my life. Let those in the know help us,” Kalintulo says.


Behind him, the banana plants are either yellow, stunted, or fallen.


For the stunted banana plants, it is a tragedy of great proportions because their bunches are visibly weak, the number of leaves is reduced –with the leaves portraying a yellow margin- and the suckers are stunted. This affects the ability of leaves to expand, thereby impacting negatively of fruit production.


That is what scares village headman Kalintulo. He has children to take care of. He has disputes to resolve. But, before all these things, he is his own individual; he is Simeon Samuel, his real name before he ascended to the throne.


“I have children who depend on me. And I depend on bananas to pay school fees and meet my family needs. There are times I think that our children will die because of this. Come to think of it; before the disease, my income from banana sales ranged from K30,000 to K80, 000.


Now that has been reduced to zero,” Kalintulo says.


He has so many questions: “We found our parents cultivating bananas, and we took it up from them. Now, what shall we do? How are we going to pay school fees? How will we survive?”


And (he has) one answer. “I think we are finished; all we want is that
this disease should go.”


That is his wish (that the disease should go); a wish better said than done.
Can Banana Bunchy Top disease really go?


“No, it is impossible to eliminate Bunchy Top,” says Misheck Soko, chairperson of the task force instituted to strategise on the issue of Banana Bunchy Top disease.


Soko has never been a prophet of doom. He is merely looking at history of the disease, and drawing practical lessons from it.


“In Australia, for example, they have had this disease for a long time. They have never been able to eliminate it. The second reason is that the virus that causes Bunchy Top has an alternative way of surviving elimination mechanisms,” says Soko.


In Malawi, he adds, it will even be more difficult.


“It all boils down to the way we do our agriculture. We have people who cultivate bananas as their core source of income, and these are easy to reach out to, and work with. Then, we have people who grow bananas at their backyards, people who are into banana cultivation by fault. These are the threat to eliminating the disease because they cannot be easily monitored and reached,” adds Soko.


What this means is that large scale banana farmers can be incorporated into efforts geared towards controlling Bunchy Top. The ‘backyard’ farmers cannot, because “they don’t value their bananas that much”.


This explains why Malawi’s appeal for assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, in a project that aimed at ascertaining the amount of land dedicated to banana production, achieved mixed results over a decade ago. Large scale farmers, like those from Nkhatabay and Thyolo, provided proper measurements for their fields.


But ‘backyard’ farmers did not; they inflated the figures. Others even deflated them.
That, too, is the reason Malawi still has problems quantifying the amount of land dedicated to banana production. The more reason national banana production statistics cannot be relied upon.


The last time the country carried out an assessment was in 1997. And the amount arrived at was 308 hectares.


Not a true reflection, agriculture experts argue. Malawi, therefore, needs another assessment exercise. But the ‘backyard’ farmers will still be there to mislead.


“However, let me say that we are making progress. We have made some great strides from the time we launched the campaign on Bunchy Top. We have notified extension teams. We have raised awareness among banana farmers. With proper coordination, the way we are doing, we will be able to control the disease,” says Soko.


Soko says, however, that the disease is still spreading. He adds that there might be some pockets of land where existence of the disease has not yet been recorded, posing the danger of further spread.


Surveillance has always been Malawi’s age-old problem, though; starting from the time Banana Bunchy Top disease was first reported and confirmed in Thiwi area, Nkhotakota. The year was 1994, and the disease has continued to spread to all the three regions of the country.


The disease is caused by banana bunchy top virus, which affects all banana varieties and reduces productivity of the banana orchard to zero, with time.


Banana Bunchy Top is transmitted from plant to plant by banana aphid (pentalonia nigronervosa), and spreads through movement of infected plant materials.


That is how the disease has managed to spread to all districts in Malawi except Karonga, Rumphi and Chtipa.


Nobody knows whether this is due to government’s delays in completing construction works on the controversial Karonga-Chitipa Road.


“We are finished,” says Kalintulo.

Of Democracy and Chikhwawa District

The people of Chikhwawa are loaders of meaning: the river Shire is loaded with symbolism of both a shallow hole- you go in and come back- and a grave (you go and never come back, stuck in the mouth of a crocodile); the rain-maker Mbona remains a symbol of the ancestors still holding sway among the living; while traditional leaders stand for unquestionable powers.



So, Shire does not just flow, it purifies; does not just erode the soil along the way, it fertilizes- according to Alfred Chaliwa from the area of Traditional Authority Mlilima, Chikhwawa.



“What this means is that the river washes away people’s dirt, many bath in Shire here. Where does the dirt go? Downstream. But Shire also washes away fertile alluvial soils, depositing them along the way,” Chaliwa said.



The river Shire, symbolism, and scorching heat are part of the Lower Shire psyche. With this in mind, one is made to believe that Chikhwawa’s people are experts at coming up with meanings to everyday phenomena.



Far from it. It is a lesson Civic and Political Space Platform (CPSP) leaders learned the hard way earlier this month. As part of a Dan Church Aid initiative to build religious and community leaders’ capacity in preparing for next year’s Local Government Elections (LGE), CPSP courted religious leaders just days after the Episcopal Conference of Malawi’s issued a strong-worded Pastoral Letter. CPSP, which has planned similar sessions in Blantyre and Mwanza, said it wanted to emphasize the role of religion in politics.



After 16 years of multiparty democracy in Malawi, Chikhwawa people are yet to find the real meaning of democracy. At Chikhwawa National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) offices, members of the clergy leaned on tables and scratched heads, but could find nothing concrete to call heads or tails.


Chikhwawa Pastors Fraternal chairperson, Hussein Nguwo, blamed it on unpleasant experiences people have come to associate democracy with. When experiences are painful, they cease to be the ‘greatest teacher’; instead, they become a distraction and burden.


The problem is that people have learned to dismiss such burdens, leaving a litany of problems unresolved. Unfortunately, says Pastor Nguwo, this has turned out to be the case with democracy.


“One of the reasons is that voters are disappointed in Members of Parliament (MPs), most of whom prefer urban areas to their constituencies. They think councilors will be no different.”


It is a challenge warranting a multi-sectoral approach. It means religious leaders continuing to pray for rains, offering spiritual food, visiting hospitals and prisons; but they should also preach politics, responsible politics.


“We should encourage our members to take voting seriously. We have a role to play,” said Nguwo.


This has been part of the problem, too; realizing that there is a ‘role to play’ without understanding the basics: what democracy means and its aligning principles. Noel Msika, CPSP Southern Region coordinator, said the Republican Constitution is the chief guideline.


But Constitutions are themselves principle causes of conflicts, he observes. They have, throughout the history of civilized politics, provided the ground for rallying cries from communities in general, and communities of interest.


Msiska said the word Constitution, susceptible to great latitude of interpretation, would be but imperfectly understood if we supposed that people attach the same meaning to it.


“This has never been the case,” Msiska said.


Not long ago, in monarchies, it was qualified by the name of ‘national development’; in countries under representative regimes, it has for long been christened ‘development’, promising respect for charters and fundamental laws; while in one party states, mainly characterized by ancient national representation, it takes ‘reform’ as its object, Msiska noted.


‘Everywhere, it means change and trouble. In our case, it has largely represented national consensus and solidarity.”


But, like all guidelines, the Constitution must also embrace two important principles: the ability to challenge accepted social mores and the latitude to make mistakes. More related to this is the principle that elected leaders must generally respect the generally held consensus to protect certain values while being free to challenge their continual validity.


In so doing, there will be mistakes. As has been the case in Malawi- the Third Term attempt by former President Bakili Muluzi, abuse of power by the opposition during President Bingu wa Mutharika’s first (2004-2009) term, Democratic Progressive Party’s current dominance in parliament culminating in rubber-stumping of crucial motions including that to modify the National Flag- someone at some stage is bound to take a step too far.


The challenge to most Malawians, says Pastor Velias Bwanamali of Kasinthula Assemblies of God, lies in failure to respect the right of others to ‘go a step too far’, saying it is through mistakes that human beings get the best out of themselves.


In Malawi, summary judgement of politicians has become an obsession, and Bwanamali is worried. He said it was apparent that anger is taking the place of reason, offering no chance for reflection on the meaning of democracy.


Not all things need serious reflection, though. Some things are too obvious to be unclear, said Limbani Chipembere, Programmes Officer for Church and Society-Blantyre C.C.A.P Synod. Take, for instance, the issue of voters, monitors, candidates, and an independent electoral body- every election needs them.


Every election has conflict built into it, too. Elections are a child of politics, which is, by its very nature, a form of positive conflict- competition to achieve a greater good.


Chipembere says, however, that some of the obvious things warrant reflection. One of these include our voting system, the First-past-the-post. Because one can ride at the back of even a single vote, Malawians were sanctioning voter apathy.


During the 2000 LGE, political analysts faulted the electoral calendar for encouraging voter apathy, same with the 1999 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections. They said during the 2000 LGE, held in November, voters’ focus was limited to their stomachs and granaries- never ballot boxes.


They also attributed it to elections’ hung-over. The previous year (1999), people were on the non-paid-for lines again, voting for a Head of State and Government and MPs. The disputes that ensued after announcement of the Presidential poll might have angered many, forcing them to fold the hand that stretches into the ballot box.


In last month’s By-Elections held in Dowa and Mangochi voters preferred to stay home, again. The DPP MPs elected will still walk the narrow, green road to the New Parliament Building to represent the few who voted for the ‘many’.


“This trend should spur us into reflective action. We must trace the problem and map the way forward. I feel like MPs or councilors elected by a few do not carry much aura of authority; ideally, the more voters turn up, the more authority one has,” Chipembere said.


It is a perception shared by Vincent Chibowa, Advocacy and Communications Officer for Christian Service Committee (CSC). He said religious leaders stood a better chance of coercing congregation members back to the voting lines, the way they know the importance of standing on long farm input subsidy lines.


Apathy thus eats through the seed of development, leaving voter hopeless, in the process breeding more voter apathy. Chibowa noted, however, that the tendency to force development policies on people could be one of the reasons people were shunning the road to the polling station.


“We need to have open minds. Leaders should not come with buckets of wisdom from their offices; an open mind will bring out solutions to electoral challenges,” said Chibowa.


It is with open minds that others, notably NICE, have started to unearth the problems. What comes clear at Chikhwawa NICE Resource Centre are issues of illiteracy, lack of accountability and accessibility of political representatives.


It seems that Chikhwawa women remain far behind in terms of reading culture. From January 2009 to May 2010, the percentage of female readers has never exceeded 15 per cent, while the lowest was 7 per cent. On the other, male readers always surpass the mark of 85 per cent. These figures are for people who visit NICE District Library, Ndife Amodzi, Chikhwawa Prison, Mtera and Sangano.


It is a threat to the 50-50 women representation campaign. How can people who do not read widely get the information top make informed decisions?


It is a jig-saw complicated by inaccessibility of MPs. In the absence of councilors, MPs are largely regarded as the first-line of call. Chikhwawa has registered some success because every Traditional Authority, Paramount Chief and Senior Chief has their mobile number publicly displayed. It is a mark of accountability.


But community members complained over MPs. Legislator for Chikhwawa North, Grain Malunga’s, number is missing. He is inaccessible. Same with MP for Chikhwawa South Joseph Tembo: his number, too, is missing, rendering him inaccessible to his constituents when he is out of Chikhwawa.


The case is different with Chikhwawa Central legislator, Bernadetta Mlaka Maliro. Instead of furnishing only one mobile number, she has provided two.

Mwanza Border District Struggles against Health Challenges

Brown particles of dust run into the clear sky as, on the bare grounds of Nankhubwe Community-based organization in Mwanza West, six under-five children play seek and hide and take turns to run over each other, oblivious of what is taking place in their little bodies. Forty years from now, they may not be there to play.


Most of the people from Chiwembu Village know the ‘truth’ about the children; so, they look at the children with heavy interests, shaking their heads as they go towards wherever their legs or bicycles may carry them. They may choose to go wherever they wish to, but their memories will always bring them back to the spectacle of the children creating fun out of the dust.


The problem lies in telling the children they are HIV-positive. How does a parent inform an innocent-looking three-year old they are living positively with HIV, a thing they may not comprehend?


“It is sad; so sad,” says T/A Nthache of Mwanza. “It breaks my heart to know that they may also get infected with Tuberculosis (TB) as their immune system breaks down.”


Chiwembu Village, where the children stay and play, falls under his jurisdiction. So do Silota, Zilima, Kagulo, Kachipanda. All these villages are now united by the universality of challenges, mostly health related, being experienced by community members.


These challenges, says Nthache, are HIV and AIDS, TB and the influx of Mozambicans who scramble for meager resources such as drugs.


”We are caught in the middle of a complicated web; we don’t know what to do, really, but we are trying. As T/A, I have never tired from mobilizing my subjects against HIV and AIDS, and TB,” adds Nthache.


Mwanza district is itself a web, too. Being a border district, it is a beehive of sexual activity for truck drivers, fueling the spread of HIV and AIDS. Mwanza District Hospital is also a web that seems to be catching more flies than it can hold: people from Senzo and Chitungweni villages in Mozambique scramble for meager medical resources with communities from the district.



HIV and AIDS also seem to have sanctioned the help of TB in a conspiracy against good health, concocting a disaster of twin proportions.



Nthache says, as if that were not enough, people from Chikwawa also find it easier to go to Mwanza District Hospital than Chikwawa. All this against resources designated for a single district.


However, those who pile pressure on the meager resources are those who can walk, or cycle or board Matola. Others are incarcerated by circumstances, and forgotten. Take, for instance, prisoners at Mwanza Prison.


”These people live on one meal a day, a trend that seems to condemn, and discriminate against, those who are HIV-positive to their early grave. It is bad, yet preventable,” says Machilika Matemba, an HIV and AIDS activist from the district.


Machilika is executive director for Mwanza AIDS Support Organization (Mwaso), a humanitarian organization formed by people living with HIV and AIDS. It seeks to promote behaviour change, build hope where only desperation exists, and improve the well-being of those infected by HIV in the district.


Mwaso learned from experience that inmates have no leeway to the hospital, a reality that begins with the prison walls: They are tall enough they hinder prisoners’ view of Mwanza District Hospital.


“It is worse for those (prisoners) living positively with HIV and AIDS. One meal a day is not enough for someone in dire need of nutritious food to boost the immune system. It becomes a multiple problem because, when immunity is weak, TB also comes into play,” says Matemba.


His organization thus established a support project at Mwanza Prison for those who cannot scramble for the basic necessities in the open. HIV-positive prisoners always fight two battles: the one within (HIV in their blood), and that outside (scrambling for a share of medical resources and services at public hospitals).


Mwaso’s nutrition and Stop TB campaigns seem to be working, however. Among others, prisoners grow tomatoes, mustard, onions, cabbages, Lettuce, and ask for sputum examination when they cough for three weeks. This applies to both those living positively with HIV or not.


Already, indicators are that the initiative is raking positive results.


Stanley Mbewe, Senior Superintendent for Mwanza Prison, says the facility has 294 prisoners (as of Saturday, September 5, 2010), 43 of whom are living positively with HIV and AIDS.


“The programme has really helped matters here. The biggest challenge remains the general lack of resources. We need wheelbarrows, raking and splaying materials,” Mbewe says.


Not that the funding Mwaso got from VSO is not enough; it is enough for drawing the battle lines against malnutrition, HIV and AIDS, and TB- reaching the end of the battle line is a multispectral issue.


Geoffrey Kumpama, Clinical Officer for Mwanza Hospital, is one of the people pulling the strings towards the battle line, a better end. He says the hospital has been trying its best to tie the loose ends through the work of Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs), who he says are well-equipped with knowledge on TB, HIV and AIDS, Malaria, other Sexually Transmitted Infections, and hygiene.


The challenge, as is typical of Mwanza, , comes from Mozambican service seekers.


There are no HSAs on the Mozambican side of the border, making it difficult to trace people with TB, mobilize people to go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing, good nutrition practices, preventing STIs.

Ministry of Health spokesperson, Henry Chimbali, says Malawi and Mozambique signed a bilateral agreement on health four years ago, and that nationals from the two countries are free to access health services in either country.

The challenge, acknowledges Chimbali, is that health services in Malawian local hospitals is free while Mozambique imposes fees on public health services.


"We are working out on how to reach a middle point," Chimbali says.


This, in a way, means that the scale remains unbalanced, and that the negative effects of this still cross the borders into Malawi, in the form of foreign citizens seeking medical help at Mwanza.


But Kumpama looks at the positive side: “The bottom-line is that TB is treatable; those living with HIV can still live long, productive lives; truck drivers can prevent STIs, including HIV and AIDS, by employing preventive measures; and HSAs are crucial in medical service delivery,” Kumpama says.


To which Nthache adds: “United, we can make Mwanza district better. By
this, we mean nutrition-wise, health, education, social-economic
development. It’s all in our hands.”

Rich Minds, Empty Pockets: The Story of Malawi's Veteran Musicians

Their music still holds the stage today, a sure sign of the nation’s satisfaction with their unconventional minds and mastery in phrasing.


Some of them arrived onto the music scene at a time the national bar line had regimented Western music into a stable series of some two, three or five beats to measure, some of which were being fused into Malawian music.


To a large extent, both colonialism and mono-partism never injured the traditional local beat.


The beauty with Malawi’s veteran musicians like the late Allan Namoko, Stonard Lungu, Michael Yekha, Daniel Kachamba, Robert Fumulani, among others, is that they knew how to ignore the bar line.


The effect was breath-taking: Western music never impeded the flow of local music but was merely a convenience, not a mathematical division or equation for success.


Take, for instance, the late Kachamba or Fumulani. They might never have graced the walls of music schools as a first call towards the journey we call music, yet one notes the rich harmony in their music and resourcefulness.


That is why we still dance to Khunju Reggae, Bambo a Tereza, Mbambande, Mlendo ndimame Luo, Baba Mika, Chisoni, Ulendo Wanga, Ndikakwatira kuMangoni, and yearn for more. It is the powerful effects, suspended dissonant notes and orthodox arrangement that strike the chord of sweet memories in us.


Theirs was probably the pioneering generation of local music, diving in unnavigated waters and, yet, leaving prints on our entertainment-tuned minds. A generation that could arrange a series of suspensions in different voices, each of whose resolutions intensified the emotional effect of the whole, while lending nobility, authority
and unmistakable force to the rhythm at a time of simple technologies.


Well before computers took over the natural sound of the banjo, guitar, and visekese. Of course, some music experts have questioned the music of the likes of Namoko, arguing that the legendary musician’s instruments sound more Afro-jazz than Tchopish (as in Tchopa) to be Malawian.


When the computers took over, rendering guitar wizardly a pastime, it was as if most veteran musicians knew what was coming and never wanted to see ‘real’ music die. Most died before getting a full dose of the corruption that is called local music. Off they went, their music uncorrupted.


However, the most remarkable thing about them is how they died in, mostly, a state that never befitted their status in society. In life, it was their talent that stood out, with the likes of Kachamba being bestowed the coveted Doctorate of music accolade. In death, it is their abject poverty that strikes us.


Should we say the voice of conscience is never loud in our nation? If not, why does history keep on repeating itself? Music scholars agree that in the keyboard, for instance, you have everything to do with the perfection of harmony. Why is it that those who play the keyboard are starved of real life harmony? Why don’t they live the life of a keyboard?


When Namoko died in abject poverty, people thought it was the end of neglect over music greats. But, until recently, his grave lay unattended to. At least until Zodiac Broadcasting Station remembered the ‘Lameck’ star.


Other concerned citizens, the likes of human rights activist Undule Mwakasungula and lawyer Ralph Kasambala have also taken to the sympathetic road, remembering national anthem composer Michael Sauka.


A well-paved path now marks the road once an abode of unkempt grass and mice.


The truth is that it is all too late; the dead never take a walk up their graves to appreciate how impressive the sorroundings are.


The world will judge us by the way we take care of our living greats while, at the same time, appreciating how we honour the living-dead.


Because their music still lives, and they live in us (our hearts), the Namokos, Kachambas, Yekhas are the living dead.


And, then, we have the living-living. Those who still live, and their music lives in us, too. These include the likes of Guides Chalamanda of the Line fame, Maurice
Maulidi of Ulendo Wanga, Batson Kapalamula, George Khombe, Herbert Makuluni and Lommie Mafunga.


For his old age and music prowess, financial constraints stood in the way between Chalamanda and the studio for his debut album. Thanks to Edgar ndi Davis, the acoustic-guitar addict has shed off the tag that for decades stood more galling than the sound of his single playing onradio.


For Maulidi, society continues to treat him unfairly through non-payment of loyalties. Having played with the Songani Strings Band and dedicated more of his 67 years to music, the veteran musician feels it is not worth it to be a musician in Malawi.


Like Chalamanda, he looks forward to the day when he will double as a living-living and living-dead when the time comes. This comes through album production.


“Money is the biggest problem,” Maulidi sums up what, to most musicians, is an everyday reality.

Memories are often sweet. It’s the present that mostly pains.


“The way Malawians pretend everything is okay with old-time musicians, yet poverty has become a way of life; it pains,” chips in Lommie Mafunga, one of the surviving musicians.


Mafunga, of the Baba Mika fame, a song that once took Malawi Broadcasting Corporation’s (MBC) airwaves by storm between the late 1980s and early 1990s, is no stranger to Malawi music.


He considers himself lucky to have brushed shoulders against the likes of Allan Namoko. Brushing shoulders is one thing; it is beating the greats at their own game every musician dreams of.


Mafunga and his Tinyade Sounds did just that on April 12, 1992 during a festival of local acoustic bands. The pint-sized musician scooped first position, beating the likes of Namoko. As a result, four of his songs captivated a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) crew it took them to London.


The songs are: Kumwalira Kwababa, Chiwerewere, Miseche, Munthu Sakondwera.


It did not end there for the Nchalo, Chikwawa-born musician who looks younger than a product of June 27, 1968. On October 15, 1994, while working for SUCOMA’s Nchalo factory, an entourage of music production experts from London came looking for him and his Tinyade Sounds. They wanted him to become part of a Malawi video film on travel, alongside Namoko and Chivu River Jazz Band, Fumbi Jazz Band, Ndingo Brothers
Band.


The crew, led by George Clever, captured the Ndingo Brothers in Ndirande Township, used children pushing bicycle rims as background for Namoko’s music. So impressed were members of the crew they promised to source band equipment for Mafunga in the United Kingdom.


“I thank the then District Commissioner for Chikwawa (Chikhwawa) district, Mr. Dakamao and the then culture and sports organizer for the district, Charles Chibwana. They did a commendable job in trying to truck me down. This was a life-time chance and my music even played on BBC radio,” said Mafunga.


For that, he received 85 British Pounds which translated into K4, 095,according to Mafunga.


At this point, his smile disappears as fast as it came. He dives straight into present realities.


“It will take time for Malawians to appreciate old-time musicians;people who shaped the face of current music. We have lost respect for our music veterans and now look up to Western musicians for inspiration. Very bad,” said Mafunga.


He has caught the veteran musicians’ bag, too; the bag of poverty.


Like Chalamanda before 2009, and Maulidi now, Mafunga has no music album to call his own. A patch of singles here and there is all he calls a measure of greatness. What is more?


“I am not even married. A wife needs food to eat, clothes to wear, and may even get bored with a routine meal of sun-dried fish. Children, on the other hand, need uniforms to wear to school, school fees, and clothes. I can’t afford all these because I need band equipment for myself. Life is tough,” said Mafunga.


He added: “For the past three years, I have been surviving on Chimtuwi for lunch.”


His hope in releasing an album seems to have been realized last year, when he recorded Bwato Ndimoyo album. It has 10 songs including Munthu Sakondwera, a rendition of Baba Mika, Zikomo Makolo, Safunsa, Mebzyala, Tichezera, Mwana Wamasiye, Dziko, and Serena.


While the album- whose title truck warns Lower Shire people to move upland from their flood-prone habitats- was released last year, Mafunga has been failing to source K5, 000 for covers.

He has failed to utilize an opportunity O.G. Issa offered to sell his music. Most musicians struggle to reach this.


K5, 000 stands between him and the future; the old song for veteran musicians.
“The fear of dying poor keeps me going,” he said.


To the other veteran musicians, it is the hope that ‘tomorrow will be
fine’ that pushes them forward.

Malawi Censorship Board: Saving Malawians from Offensive Acts

...'Public entertainment can offend the audience’


Censorship has, since time immemorial, pitted the state against artists who argue that it is not the responsibility of the state to regulate morals while proponents of the same argue that censorship is a key determinant of what is acceptable and what is not in society. In this interview, RICHARD CHIROMBO talks to spokesperson for the Censorship Board, Chrissy Chiumia, on this controversial subject. Excerpts:



Is censorship ‘Malawian’? In other words, how old is censorship in Malawi?

Censorship was established in 1968 under the Censorship and Control of Entertainment Act. Censorship Board draws its mandate from the same act which is to regulate films, public entertainment and publications for the sake of public morals and any other matters related to the same. The law was modeled on similar regulations from the Western countries which are founded on the undeniable fact that the content for films, public entertainment and publications may offend the audience, or even the larger public, and, therefore, should be subjected to regulation.



Ok, how does the Censorship Board carry out its duties?

The Board is mandated to regulate public theatres- facilities used for films and other types of public entertainment- used for public entertainment. This is in terms of the content of the public performances and the physical specifications of the public entertainment facilities. The Censorship Board currently runs four core technical services. Film classification services, regulation of public entertainment performances and public entertainment facilities, law enforcement against pornography, and public education on censorship regulations



From the look of things, it seems like we have maintained a firm grip on the old notions of censorship. Don’t we run the risk of getting stuck with a leaking boat somewhere in the raging sea of democracy and freedom of expression?

Some years back, Government embarked on the Censorship Reform Programme whose key components are: to review the censorship law so that the responsibilities of the Censorship Board is aligned to the freedom of expression and other democratic rights that are guaranteed in the Malawi Constitution; to enact new legislation to govern the regulation of films and public entertainment and establish a successor institution to the Censorship Board with revised mandate, duties, regulations and guidelines as recommended by the censorship law review and in line with international best practices; to embark on institutional capacity development for the successor institution so as to effectively discharge the new mandate and responsibilities as ushered in by the new legislation; to overhaul the operations of the Censorship Board so that its programmes and services are guided by best practices in the regulation of films and public entertainment.


So, where are we now with the law review process?

Censorship law review exercise was commissioned to the Malawi Law Commission which carried the exercise and submitted its report and recommendations to Government. All preparatory work for the Classification of Films and Public Entertainment Bill is completed.



I understand that one aspect of censorship deals with cultural standards in public entertainment- and you have Cultural Standards Officers responsible for Public Entertainment at the Board. Why hire people to standardize culture?

The post-naming system of cultural standards officers is more of an administrative matter and does not represent any change in the technical programmes of the Board.

This was a result of the functional review exercise that was carried out in all ministries and departments in 2004. For Censorship Board, the exercise recommended change of institutional name to Cultural Standards Board and change all technical posts to cultural standards officers.


In 1998, the Censorship Board was moved from Office of the President and Cabinet to be one of the Divisions in the Department of Culture. The change in institutional name was meant to re-align this office with the overall responsibilities of the Department of Culture- which is to protect, preserve and promote culture in Malawi. Under the new institutional name, the functions and overall mandate would remain as under the Censorship Act.


During the same time, the censorship law review –as carried out by the Law Commission and which was the initial phase of the Censorship Reform Programme - had also just been concluded. The censorship law review report recommended new legislation and a successor institution to the Censorship Board, and it was in the best interest of these recommendations that the change to Cultural Standards Board was pended. Since the functional review was an administrative exercise, it became imperative that, while waiting for the enactment of the new legislation, the new ‘post naming’ system of cultural standards officers be maintained as human resource authorities in Government had already given a nod to such proposal. This is only an administrative matter and is not meant to change the overall mandate of Censorship Board as stated under the Censorship Act.


A new institution will be established in line with the proposed Classification of Films and Public Entertainment Bill, and this will come with a new system for the various technical posts. This will be part of the Censorship Law Reform Program which Government started some years back.


Does the Board regulate morals and cultures?

Censorship Board is a regulator guided by the Censorship Act. Our work is strictly guided by the Censorship Act which spells out regulations for films, film shops/libraries, film making, facilities used for public entertainment, publications, and public entertainment performances. Regulation is done through the various licences, permits, classification certificates, film classification services, routine inspections, investigations and law enforcement campaigns. We have incorporated public education campaign to complement our efforts to enforce regulations.



By the way, is censorship still relevant today?

That question was the subject of the Censorship Law Review exercise. Government also carried out nationwide consultations on the relevance of the Censorship Board in light of 2004 Malawi Constitution. I refer you to the Law Commission and its report on the review of the Censorship law.


Four decades after the Censorship Act was enacted, experience has shown that regulation of public entertainment is still relevant as seen in: Regulation of Offensive, Morally corrupt and Insulting content (because) what you may perform at public entertainment may sometimes surely offend the audience, or even the larger public; a system to regulate substandard public film theatres (because) regulations for public entertainment have become very convenient to regulate substandard public film theatres other than the responsibility of enforcing film classification requirements in public film theatres; preventive measures against fatal accidents (as), in other countries, there are well recorded events where fatal accidents have occurred because of substandard facilities used for public entertainment or negligence of the facility managers or performers. The latest example being the night club fireworks accident in Brazil where lives have been lost. (Censorship is also the) benchmark for Adult Sex Industries. The current regulation for public entertainment offers a platform for the regulation of adult forms of entertainment which are already popular in other countries



At what level does censorship become relevant in public entertainment?


The current censorship Act had two main purposes. To regulate films and publications through censoring (regulation of content), and to be the means to regulate the public entertainment sector. The two issues were from the start conceived to be quite different but very convenient to be regulated under one legislation. That is why the Act was named Censorship and Control of Entertainment Act. For argument sake, the responsible office may have been called Censorship and Entertainments Board to highlight and emphasize that entertainment is a separate issue altogether. Other than regulating content of the performances, regulation of entertainments goes beyond matters of Censorship.



What have been the main challenges faced by the Board?


Most public entertainment facilities used to compromise on the technical specifications for such facilities. There was lack of regular dialogue with this office. With a public entertainment section that is now fully manned, we are regularly speaking to the managers and there are notable improvements.




How about some cultures which encourage women to expose sensitive parts in public? Isn’t this a challenge?

We are currently working on this and I will avoid any comments for now




I have never heard of achievements registered by the Board. Do you, really, win your battles?

As with any other Government offices, we plan what we want to achieve every year and, as a regulatory office, one of our goals is that, every year, we should be scaling up our key outputs in form of licences issued, entertainment permits issued and pornographic films confiscated, and number of films classified. Most of the times we are able to beat our key targets very convincingly, and our performance, as measured by the set targets, is usually above average.




And, there is other censorship requirement that playwrights bring their scripts to you. Do people take it seriously?


Most drama groups do comply with this requirement as those who cannot comply would commit an offence under the Censorship Act and be liable to prosecution.

Malawi’s changing poetry trends

A cacophony of cheers ripples around Blantyre Cultural Centre (BCC). Not that the poetry performance has ended; it is merely the end of one more stanza in Robert Chiwamba’s sensational poem, ‘Mudzafa Imfa Yowawa’.




After him, poet Joseph Madzedze will come and convert his tongue into the tyres of a sports car: mesmerizing the audience with his fast pace and carefully stitched message. Madzedze seems to have mastered the art of weaving long messages into one stage performance.




And, if it’s Madalitso Nyambo’s turn, the cacophony of cheers will still ripple around the BCC. One poet after the other, the cheers never die.




This concert of diversity- where poets work around the traditional poem instruments such as theme, rhymes, sentimentality, use of images, metaphors and similes to concoct messages- has not always existed as, as recently as six years ago, new generations of poets could imitate those who came before them.




In fact, the likes of Benedicto Okomaatani Malunga, Gospel Kazako, among others, served as frontiers for various poets, with their reciting style fixing for a long time the lines of creativity in poetry.








Vernacular poems revolution

“It is true that in the past most budding poets were copying from the established ones. I feel one of the main contributing factors was limited media for performance poetry. You will agree with me that we did not have local TV and there was only one radio station (MBC) where poetry was covered,” Katsoka, Poetry Association of Malawi (Pam) president, says.




Katsoka says the other factor that has assisted to unearth new talent in poetry is the numerous recitals that Pam, institutions such as the Malawi Writers Union, and individuals like Q Malewezi have helped revolutionise vernacular language poems.




“Most poets are reciting in own style. As I have already said, we need to appreciate that budding poets can be forgiven when they imitate someone. I can cite an example here. There was a time when Sylvester Kalizang'oma was trying to recite like me (and) this was healthy and look at how matured he is now,” Katsoka says, adding that the country has begun appreciating poetry.




However, Katsoka says poets should not get excited with the new-found creativity, but should follow established rules.




“Yes, Chichewa poetry, just like any other poetry, is guided by rules and can be critiqued using the basic elements and forms of poetry. However, chichewa poets have no limits in terms of composition and performance. Poetry should be different from story telling much as sometimes both are spoken word. I feel that some of the poems we are enjoying now are mere story lines from which, with expert guidance, good poems can be developed,” he says.



For that to happen, he says, there is need to have the cultural policy in place. There should also be more financial investment by the government and private institutions in poetry.








Education revolution

One of the countries female poets, Evelyn Pangani, concurs with Katsoka, but offers a different explanation on the cause of the poetry renaissance.




“In deed, in the past people used to imitate the likes of Okomaatani. However, the change in trends can, in my view, be attributed to advancements in education among poets. Most of the poets went to university and are making use of the knowledge acquired. This has led to a shift in thinking among poets, who are reciting using many forms of poetry,” Pangani says.




Pangani, who produces Joy FM’s ‘Patsinde’ poetry programme, says even poets who have never been to university have learned to perfect their game, a development he attributes to the exposure enjoyed by poets nowadays.




“More importantly, what has changed is the mentality. Poets used to think that a good poem had to have advice embedded into it. These days, poets are coming up with pieces that border on jokes, or act as a social critique. Style, in terms of speed and tune, has also changed for the better. You will also have traces of humour, whether it is a sad or celebratory poem,” Pangani says.




Kalizang’oma, on his part, says things have really changed in poetry circles. He says this is partly because poets have learned to adopt some of the devices employed in foreign language poetry into vernacular poems.




Says Kalizang’oma: “We have seen Malawians trying a hand at visual poetry, acrostic poetry (a poem or series of lines in which certain letters, usually the first in each line, form a name, motto, or message when read in sequence) and other forms of poetry.”



This, says Kalizang’oma, is a far cry from the days poets believed that a convincing poem had to have high-sounding words, idioms, and such other appendages.








New-found hope

Kalizang’oma says it has become possible to use plain language and still scintillate the audience.



“We are matching forward. We have moved away from the mournful poems of old, and are ready to use the imagination to come up with unique products,” Kalizang’oma says.




That, too, is how Katsoka views the situation. He says there is need to consolidate the gains made by, among other things, conducting monthly recitals, supporting the production of audiovisual materials from its membership, open a library where all works of poetry will be accessed by the general public, and targeting student-poets from our secondary schools by establishing and supporting poetry/writers clubs.




“Poetry just like any other form of art is dynamic and will continue to develop. As Pam, we feel that we have taken a good path. The future looks promising for this oldest form of art. Through the initiatives that I have already highlighted, new and exciting poets are yet to emerge.”

Malawian Artsists Sweat and Sweat for Nothing

...As industry returns remain meagre


For the Malawian artist, the completion of an art project - be it a mural, painting, portrait, or a poetry and music album - is always an unfinished business - like a journey travelled half-way through.



This is because, in most cases, instead of jubilating and heaving a sigh of relief, anger and longing for justice follow, a gritty residue of frustration and helplessness. Not to mention a labyrinth of regrets.



Take the issue of poets, for instance. For all their marshalling of words, their masterly when it comes to crinkling their lips into a smile or mourn after a masterful performance, and even the fixing of their monocle or monocle-bare eyes into the eyes of the audience during at a live performance, they are finding it difficult to let their unified voice penetrate the concrete walls of the Copyright
Society of Malawi (Cosoma)'s mind, an institution that was supposed to
play hen-mother to them.



“Cosoma, which is supposed to protect all artists, has been refusing to protect us. We have even been told that Cosoma can only protect the interests of musicians, and we feel this is not on,” says Felix Njonjonjo Katsoka, Poetry Association of Malawi's president.



Katsoka says poets' call for consideration has not borne the desired fruits, merely passing over Cosoma officials' heads into the windy distance of nowhere. Poets, he says, now feel that the institution that is key to protecting and safeguarding their works has become a master of delivering poetic justice.



They also feel that they have been left at the mercy of unknown devices. This, he says, has not impressed the poets because Cosoma, despite being armed to the tooth by the laws of the land, and despite having a vast fund of experience in planning and carrying out anti-piracy programmes, has been up to its, sometimes, snap judgments.



“We have tried to talk and reason with them on the need to protect our works to no avail. This is one of the reasons we have been calling for the institution of a Culture Policy. We, really, need a culture policy because, apart from looking at issues like these, artists in the country will benefit from government's funding, as is the case with sports associations under the Malawi National Council of Sports,”
Katsoka says.



Katsoka says the poets cannot understand Cosoma's current stand as, by forming their own association instead of working in isolation, they had hoped that life through one voice was less constrictive than that of isolated minds.


Cosoma's offensiveness has, therefore, troubled the poets, he says.


Given a chance, he enthuses, they would have liked to be behind the steering wheel in safeguarding the intellectual property rights of poets, goading the fight against those who reap where they did not sow. As it is, they can only sit stiffly, and fume.



For the time being, however, now that their belief that Cosoma was there to protect musicians, poets and all the other categories of artists have been defeated; the poets will have to fend for themselves.



As reality would have it, however, Cosoma is not without reasons.


Responding to the concern in a written response, Cosoma's senior licensing officer, Rosario Kamanga, says, “It's difficult for me to understand what is meant by Cosoma ('s) refusal to offer royalties to poets” as protection hinges on proof of exploitation.



Said Kamanga: “What seems not to be appreciated is what royalties are.



Royalties are, by their nature, given to individuals or rights holder associations whose works have been exploited and in their case their works need to be reproduced through photocopying, downloads or similar reproductions.



“Currently, the (poetry) association is already benefitting from a grant provided by the Royal Norwegian embassy through the cultural support Scheme and, should it be established that their works are being exploited through some of the means outlined above, then, the association is bound to benefit from royalties corresponding to the
degree of exploitation.”



Film Association of Malawi vice-president, Ezaius Mkandawire, says his association also has problems with Cosoma, especially when it comes to getting intellectual property owners paid.



Mkandawire says, while Cosoma has been providing holograms on DVD films, protecting the owner of the art work goes beyond the provision of protection on DVD sales.



“We are looking at protecting the interest of all filmmakers including those that make development films purposes for instance. These films get used on television however MBC asks for exorbitant fees before telecast. The correct way was that MBC needed to be paying for such uses,” Mkandawire says, adding:



“Cosoma has not done anything in making sure that owners of the work get paid their dues. The film Association of Malawi is, however, planning a stakeholders' meeting where, among other things, there should be a discussion to map the way forward regarding such issues. I am sure it is only here in Malawi where products on television which is run on tax-payers money get to be used for free by the nation while production houses pay tax in creating the works.”



Mkandawire says there is need to put in place strategies aimed at protecting the interests of all filmmakers, including those that make development films purposes for instance.


“These films get used on television. However, MBC charges exorbitant fees before telecast. The correct way was that MBC needed to be paying for such uses (but it doesn't),” Mkandawire says.


Book Publishers Association of Malawi executive director, Andrew Chisamba, says all original works were, “in principle”, entitled to protection.



However, Chisamba adds that, for such protection to be extended to works of art, art work owners are obliged to fulfill some obligations.



“For example, the originator of the work is supposed to deposit an original copy with Cosoma so that you may be protected. Cosoma also provides security features such as holograms on DVDs, music (products); so, may be the poets don't buy holograms,” Chisamba says.



Adds Chisamba: “But, in principle, Cosoma has no limitations when it comes to protecting intellectual property and I don't see the reason why they would not want to protect the poets when they produce original work.”


In the end, however, looking at the poets and Cosoma's responses, it is clear that Cosoma and poets are merely swapping punches in the presence of the enemy - violators of intellectual property rights - to the advantage of the common enemy, but without working out any plan that is visionary.



While poets want Cosoma to state what its plans - and not views - are, when it comes to protection issues, it's only views that are coming out.


The warped logic of it all makes Katsoka laugh. The forced laughter of a man struggling to be impressed and happy! The laughter fashioned by a sad mind. It is all because, for the time being, seeking Cosoma's protective hand is like looking for a needle in a haystack!

The dust that powers music from Singano Village

...Keeping the Fumulanis, Matafales, Makondetsas legacy alight


The brown dust has the tendency to rise from the ground and settle on people’s eyelids whenever The Black Missionaries Band plays on open ground at Mankhokwe Ground in Chileka once a year.


Sometimes, the name of the show changes. Last year, it was the Evison Matafale Memorial Show. This year, it was the Chileka Memorial Show. But the dust does not change its colour, and still clings to people’s faces in the heat of the dancing moment.


“Everything that happens here happens for a purpose. The dust, when it rises, inspires us that, though we have lost grandparents, parents, uncles, brothers, cousins, nieces, nephews and relatives who happened to be great musicians, we will forever be inspired by their death and keep their mission in music going,” Moda Fumulani says.


It is Sunday afternoon, and Moda has just had a great music performance as part of the activities marking Chileka Memorial Show.


His sentiments reveal how the dust of Mankhokwe has become a symbol of death and rejuvenation. The dust keeps Singano Village’s dead, including talented musicians such as the late Robert Fumulani, Arnold Fumulani, Musamude Fumulani, Gift Fumulani, Evison Matafale, among others.


However, it is the settled dust that keeps the dead because, according to Moda, the meaning changes when it rises.


“When it (the dust) rises, it becomes an instrument of hope, assuring us that we can still realise the aspirations of all those great people we miss. It is upcoming musicians from Singano (Village) that epitomise this hope,” he says.


Moda says new generations of Chileka musicians have managed to keep the mission afloat through unity. He says Chileka would have lost its status as the jar of music had musicians chosen the easy path of selfishness.


“This (spirit of unity) started a long time ago. During the time of my father, Arnold, who was a master of the bass guitar while with Likhubula Jazz Band, he could play alongside Sailesi Fumulani and others. You never heard reports of quarreling.


“In fact, what The Black Missionaries Band does, by giving all of us the platform to perform, is what used to happen in those days. It has always been part of the Chileka music tradition for elders to incorporate children, and for the children learn from those with experience. That is how we have managed to weather the storm of death and carry on with the music project,” Moda says.


Moda says, in the same spirit of going on with the music tradition, he feels duty-bound to “finish my brother, the late Gift Fumulani’s dream”, citing his (Moda’s) efforts to continue the late brother’s music projects.


He said he has been trying to immortalise Gift’s albums namely; ‘Ndikuyimba, ‘Mphamvu Yake’, and ‘Stephano’.


“When Gift was in hospital, he used to tell those who visited him that he would release a fourth album, ‘Loto la Farao’, once he got out of hospital. So, I have tried my best to ensure that his dream is realised in his absence though things have not always worked according to plan,” Moda says.







Mission on

However, the challenge with inheriting the work of others is that one runs the risk of being accused of copying. In fact, some people have suggested that Toza Matafale Mona sometimes sounds like his brother, Evison.


What does Mona say?


“That is not true. It is easy to carry the mission forward without sounding like you are copying, and that is what I do. Please set the record straight to people who have been making such allegations that, while I am committed to continuing with the mission of Evison, I have never tried to copy him,” Mona says, adding:


“Actually, if you listen properly, you will realise that I have my own unique voice. May be because we (Evison and I) are brothers, somehow people think our voices sound the same.”


Like Moda, Mona says he is determined to keep Evison’s name alive, saying, as part of that wish, he has already composed a number of songs which will be compiled into an album next year.


While agreeing with Moda that the Matafales and Fumulanis of this world teach their young the basics in music, he says that some children have in-born talent.


“What I mean is that not every child born in Singano Village turns out to be a musician. It is those who have in-born talent that flourish. Music is a call, and, fortunately, most of us in Singano Village happen to be called. And then we are lucky because we have all these musicians who teach upcoming talent the skills,” Mona says.


In fact, as part of passing the skills to new generations, The Black Missionaries Band has a youth band that nurtures Chileka youths who have exhibited traces of ingenuity in music.


Band Leader for The Black Missionaries Band, Anjiru Fumulani, says the idea is to oil the legacy of those long-gone, and hand the mantle over to new generations when the brown dust calls.


“This is one way of investing in the future. The most encouraging thing is that those who are part of The Black Missionaries Youth Band have shown that they have talent, and mesmerise fans when given the opportunity to perform live,” Anjiru says.


One of the youths who has shown potential is Davie Tambwali, 21. He mesmerised music-lovers during the Chileka Memorial Show when he performed ‘Ndalama’, a reggae song that advocates for a return to barter- the exchange of goods with goods.


In the song, the persona bemoans that the greatest loser after the introduction of money is love- and recollects problems whose root can be traced to money.


Another member, 20-year-old Vincent Kanthu, has also composed a number of songs, including ‘Chikondi Chathu’, ‘Watsikira Konko’, ‘Chikondi Chake’, among others.


The two, both of whom hail from Singano Village in Chileka, were identified after they released a single, ‘Udzingosekerera’, in 2006.


“The future is bright. The platform is there for us; we just need to master the instruments we are being taught,” Tambwali says.


That is how the music tradition has become part of a cycle- call it the Chileka Musical Cycle. Once every year, the sleeping dust proclaims rejuvenation when it rises from Mankhokwe ground. And, in its wake, new talent keeps on emerging.

Will The Bl;antyre Cultural Centre Renovations' Projects Ever Be Completed?

...Questions over Blantyre Cultural Centre renovations’ time frame





It was presented as a scheme of progress advanced in line with the inclinations of Malawian artists.


In the end, however, plans to renovate the Blantyre Cultural Centre (BCC), formerly the French Cultural Centre (FCC), have become an idea strange enough to be an object, not of pity or horror, but of ridicule.


At the centre of controversy is the timeframe set aside for the BCC renovations project, with Ministry of Tourism and Culture officials writing in their development blue print that the project will take two years.





Voice from within

Not surprisingly, the development is attracting a barrage of more questions than answers, with Tourism and Culture Minister, Moses Kunkuyu, also questioning the rationale behind the time frame.


“Two years? Why two years? I thought the place is small, and the renovation works could be completed within a reasonable time frame,” Kunkuyu says.


Kunkuyu adds that, looking at the venue, it would be possible to wind up works within one fiscal year.


He adds that, given his way, he would look for the possibilities of completing the works within the shortest possible time, while not compromising on quality.


“May be this is a sign that we need to change the way we do things, not only in the arts but in tourism too. We should adopt the work ethic of efficiency in carrying out development projects. Taking two years to renovate the place could cost the government more,” Kunkuyu says, adding:


“Are we not talking of renovating grass-thatched structures, windows and other things? Is it necessary to do that in two years? I thought it was possible to do it within, say, six months. That’s what I am thinking.”



Only if thoughts were directives!







Weighing the options

Poetry Association of Malawi president, Felix Njonjonjo Katsoka, says he does not understand how the decision to carry out the renovation works was arrived at, saying two years is an age to poets.


“You may wish to remember that we held the Land of Poets Festival at FCC, and it was such an attractive and well-attended event because BCC is centrally-located and people from various parts of Blantyre find it convenient to get to the place,” Katsoka says.


In addition, says Katsoka, BCC offers lower rates since it was bought to further the cause of artists in the country.


He says this is why poets welcomed the government’s decision to buy the place with both hands, in the hope that things would improve.


“Two years is unnecessarily long. The renovation works can be completed within months. We ask the authorities to reconsider the time frame so that we, artists, may not get negatively affected by the works,” Katsoka says.


Musicians Association of Malawi (Mam) Southern Region Chapter chairperson, Sam Simakweli, concurs.


Simakweli says two years is such a long time for a venue that has become the hub of entertainment for musicians.


“For your own information, BCC has become a preferred performance venue for musicians in the Southern Region because it is relatively cheaper than other venues. So, taking two years to renovate the place will, definitely, negatively impact on music shows,” Simakweli says.


He says it does not make sense for officials responsible for the renovations to spend two productive years on one facility, instead of thinking about stocking the venue with music equipment, claiming that, “if anything, the things that need to be renovated are doors, windows, the grass-thatched shelter (stage), and toilets”, among other things.


“We are not against the renovation works. No. They (renovations) are long overdue. It is a shame that the venue has no proper toilets, and this is becoming an embarrassing issue when foreign tourists attend live performances at the venue only to discover that they cannot use the toilets because of the poor condition they are in,” Simakweli says, before adding:


“But we have problems with the time frame. We understand that, initially, there was K200 million set aside for the project, but, may be because of things such as cash-gate, the money disappeared and the officials have had to source the funds from elsewhere. May be this is why they are talking of two years, so that they may have time to source funds.”


But the Southern Region Mam chapter is not the only bewildered arts body, as the National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) is equally baffled.


Ntam general secretary, Manasseh Chisiza, says the government’s decision to buy BCC after the FCC closed shop has given the industry the benefit of venue options, and that this has helped promote the trade because artists can carry out a cost analysis and settle for the cheapest venue.


“We (in the theatre industry) depend on the BCC and Nanzikambe Arts Café. The renovations will, therefore, limit our options, especially because two years is such a long time. It will definitely affect us,” Chisiza says.


He says any efforts geared towards limiting the time would be welcome, so long as that does not compromise quality.









Rising above limitations

However, the Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam) says it will not be affected by the renovation works because it does not depend on one venue to carry out its activities.


Bpam president, Alfred Msadala, says, because of the mobile nature of his organisation, it will be possible to stem the impact of the closure on his association’s members.


“We move a lot, exhibiting books in various places. We focus on institutions such as schools, and this means that we do not depend on one venue. Just this coming January, we will have an activity at Chichiri Secondary School, which is close to BCC. But, of course, we have used the facility before,” Msadala says.


But, while life goes on for Bpam, other arts associations, including Mam, are billed to stat singing the blues!


After all, Kunkuyu insinuates that moving at a snail’s pace has almost become part of the warm-heartedness that is Malawi, contributing towards the stagnations of the arts in the country for more than four decades.


“As I have said, there is need to change the way we do things,” Kunkuyu says.