Dear Diary,
Never in this life, even before I relocated to the Munda wa Chitedze Farm from the hustle of your city have I seen the month of June to be as cold, dark and dreary as it has been this year.
There has been no peace at the farm, the cloud has been falling on our heads as we have lost so many prominent people in our society in one month. The only time I can compare is during the Covid-19 season.
Don’t get me wrong here. Every life is precious. It is not undermining that those dying every day in our crowded hospitals don’t matter. Every life matters. Every life is precious.
On June 1, radio personality and actor Hope Chisanu died in America. His acting exploits in Shemu Joyah movies Seasons of a Life and The Last Fishing Boat, appearance in the Mama’s Restaurant soap and The President is Dead are among the works he will be remembered for. As a radio personality, everyone knew him as Bemberezi.
Then came the death of lawyer Ralph Kasambara. That he was a distinguished human rights lawyer is engraved in the country’s history. At the time of his death he was on bail pending appeal following a court conviction for conspiracy to murder. We are not here to malign the dead, but matters must be put in context, that is our belief at the Munda wa Chitedze Farm.
On June 10, the day Kasambara was buried, tragedy struck again. Vice-President Saulos Chilima, former first lady Patricia Shanil Muluzi, protocol officer Abdul Lapukeni, medical officer Chisomo Chimaneni, police and army officers Lukas Kapheni, Flora Selemani, Dan Kanyemba, Wales Aidin and Owen Sambalopa died in a plane crash in Chikangawa Forest as they were heading to Mzuzu where they were supposed to hit the road for Nkhata Bay for Kasambara’s burial.
That death shocked the whole nation, and the world at large. Now, we hear ground work investigations have finished. Still, at the Munda wa Chitedze Farm are still wondering why the names of the German investigators have been shrouded in a thick veil. You see, names matter.
Let’s wait and hear the results. I am no prophet of doom, Dear Diary.
June has also seen the death of The Very Reverend Killion Mgawi, the first Malawian General Secretary of the Nkhoma Synod of the CCAP.
Without mincing words, Mgawi was the very library of the Nkhoma Synod. No one can dispute that. The history of Nkhoma Synod is synonymous with the life and times of Mgawi.
Charles Kapenga, founder of the Believers Assembly International Church, was the other man of the collar who departed from us last week.
To close the month, on June 30, Malawi lost music icon Lucius Banda. To say the least, Lucius has been legendary where Malawi music is concerned.
His signature in Nthawi, released after he was released from prison where he was incarcerated during the Bingu wa Mutharika regime is one song of deep meaning. Friends desert when you are in trouble.
With Survivor, another album, Lucius clearly shows he is a survivor. He lost his Balaka North parliamentary seat due to that imprisonment, but regained it later.
His metaphor on time comes back in Time. It is for Mabala that many will definitely remember him. That song brought out the story of the Mwanza Four who died in a fake car accident.
Lucius was always revolutionary. This is very clear in Take Over. You could say the song was quite treasonous. When he says Soldiers take over, you would read between the lines that he was actually urging soldiers to take over.
But no, Lucius believed in the tenets of democracy. In Chigawenga, the artist prays for the abolishment of the death sentence, reasoning: “If the government slaughters a murderer, how different is that.”
One could go on and on to find the measure of man in Lucius. He was extraordinary.
Dear Diary, in William Shakespear’s Julius Caesar, Pindarus helps his boss Cassius kill himself. Pindarus believes that ‘suicide’ freed Cassius from the bondage of life.
And then, Martin Luther said in his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech: “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty we are free at last”. It didn’t take long, he was assassinated.
Free at last, free at last, here at the Munda wa Chitedze Farm, we thank God Almighty that Lucius is free from the bondage of life we are in.
