Chill

Gonapamuhanya Cultural Festival returns Saturday

It is summer. And it is time for festivities.

As gig-goers will be merrymaking at the internationally-acclaimed Lake of Stars Arts Festival in Nkhata Bay, the Tumbuka ethnic group from Malawi and Zambia will be converging for a cultural festival at Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe’s headquarters at Bolero in Rumphi.

The event tomorrow is to commemorate the first Chikulamayembe named Gonapamuhanya because of his tendency to bask in the sun after eating.

Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe arriving at a previous event
Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe arriving at a previous event

Several dignitaries are expected to attend. They include Vice-President Saulos Chilima, Cabinet ministers, politicians, Themba Mphamba of Lundazi in Zambia and his district commissioner.

Gonapamuhanya festival general secretary, principal group village head (GVH) Mwendapadera, said in an interview on Tuesday that all is set for the event.

“Preparations are at an advanced stage and most of the officials we invited have confirmed to attend,” he said.

The Tumbuka settled in Malawi, having crossed into Malawi from the Tanzanian side—landing in the country at Chilumba in Karonga—in the 15th Century after migrating from Timbuktu in Mali.

They came to be called Balowoka, for crossing the lake, by the natives they found in the Nkhamanga Kingdom.

Gonapamuhanya was the first Chikulamayembe to settle at Bolero.

They were Swahili-speaking business people, selling jewels, hoes and soap.

Chikulamayembe said the name is a corruption of the Swahili words ‘chukuwa jembe’ (take the hoe).

“When we settled in Rumphi, we found the Tumbuka of the Nkhamanga Kingdom farming without hoes. So, as Swahili-speaking people, we said chukuwa jembe. But the Tumbuka could not understand us. They thought we said ‘chikulamayembe’. That’s how our name came into being.

“And our chieftaincy came on a silver platter without waging war with any tribe. The Tumbuka gave us the chieftaincy because we came with hoes, soap and jewels. We never killed anyone,” said the supreme chief of the Tumbuka in an earlier interview.

Gonapamuhanya festival is held every year to remember these origins and to celebrate the Tumbuka cultural heritage.

Dance, recounting of history and beer drinking are some of the activities that dominate the event.

However, the climax of it all is the triumphal entry of Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe into his headquarters to lead his subjects in commemorating their first ruler.

Garments are spread on the road along with tree branches royalists cut for the chief to walk on.

The crowd at the venue cry out ‘Hail our chief! The highest of authority in our land!’ while others ululate.

After settling among the Tumbuka, Gonapamuhanya married Nyaluhanga, but the two did not bear any children.

He then married Nyakumwenda with whom he had several children.

The present Chikulamayembe, Walter Chenje Gondwe, ascended to the throne in 1969 in acting capacity. He took over from the eleventh Chikulamayembe, John Hardy Gondwe—also known as Ziwange—because he was sick.

In 1977, Walter was crowned the twelfth Chikulamayembe. In 2002, Chikulamayembe was elevated to senior chief. And in 2007, he was elevated to Paramount Chief.

In 2012, his son Mtima Gondwe was unveiled as acting Chikulamayembe at a similar event. n

 

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