When it comes to writing, particularly on personal and career development, there is one mighty pen that writes silently yet powerful in the country. The man swinging this pen is Kasuzi Mbaluko from Zomba district.
He has written and published good books such as Loving Your Career (2016), Succeed as an Entrepreneur (2017), Integrals of Tactical Marketing (2018), Fundamentals of NGO Operations (2019) and Building Multigenerational Wealth (2020).
Mbaluko has a unique and automatic-like style of writing which has seen him releasing books each year since 2016.
Generally, career and personal development are critical benchmarks of a successful life that every person strives for.
Mbaluko backs his motivation behind his writing on career and personal development:
“There is a growing need for personal and professional growth in whatever sectors of life we are in this journey called life. Elements on personal development enrich our living on earth. It is a way for people to assess their skills and qualities, consider their aims in life and set goals in order to realise and maximise their potential.”
He said a mission driving him is to write books that add value by providing information
and insights for improving life and ways of thinking.
“Every one of us has rich potential which if left untapped, people go to the grave with unutilised things. Each one of us should become everything that we are capable of becoming,” said Mbaluko.
Aged 40, Mbaluko is a Malawian author and community development practitioner, has more than seventeen years working in community development. He has a genera l i s t background in development programme, designing and implementation.
His writing career dates back to early 2000 when he was a first-year student at Chancellor College in Zomba, a constituent college of the University of Malawi.
Mbaluko recalled: “Each day, I would spare an hour before sleeping to scribble something. At the Writers Workshop every Thursday, we would critic the literary works. Members would present works, dissect them and give feedback on areas where the writer had done well and those where they need to refine.
This helped the members to perfect their art of writing. What inspired me to write was that one was able to bring out ideas in an environment which is calm. At the same time, one was able to share their thoughts to a bigger audience than just addressing few people.”
He , however , bemoaned that the reading has deteriorated in Malawi since most people are consumed with technology. He argued writing well goes hand-in-hand with reading.
Mbuluko said writing is the foundation of a great nation because it lets one express and share their ideas that benefit the society.
He said the writing landscape was improving, particularly on production, citing many places (companies) where one can print and publish their works.
“Now, there are a lot opportunities in writing as compared to the past. For instance, there are lots of online writing platforms where one can send their articles. There are also a number of institutions training their learners in language-related courses with syntax, semantics and related elements of linguistics. This should encourage people to write more,” said Mbaluko.
Capitalising on his vast knowledge and experience in community development, Mbaluko is now working on a book that details the underutilised indigenous knowledge which can propel community development work in Malawi.
He feels there is a big gap in how our cultural values mix with the development aspirations we have as a country, including the strategic national agenda of 2063.
Mbaluko said there is an urgent need to change mindset if Malawi is to develop and achieve the MW2063 agenda.
“I mean both the short and long terms goals need a big deal of mindset change. For example, why is it that when people in a community want to discuss their affairs, they do not request for allowances but if an organisation wants to have even a two-hour meeting they demand allowances? How come that when passing messages for cultural things there would be 90 or 100 percent patronage while if it is an NGO calling the same, there would be lots absenteeism unless people are motivated by allowances? Development in Malawi is at a snail’s pace,” he said.
According to Mbaluko, regardless of what the reading culture is in the country, there is need to churn lots of reading materials. For a nation to develop, there is need for cross-fertilisation of ideas. More materials need to be developed so that a majority of our people should read and gain insight.
“In Chichewa we say Mutu umodzi susenza denga (no man is an island). In a community where a majority do not have food, those with it cannot rejoice. The whole community partakes of the same. More materials need to be written for the nation to be literate,” said Mbaluko.
In an earlier interview, Writers Union of Malawi ( Mawu ) President Chikumbutso Ndaferankhande celebrated a rise in more local authors publishing their books.
“It is exciting to hear of more local authors publishing their books. Be assured that Mawu will support all local authors,” he said.
