Find Chilembwe’s burial place

January 18 2024

Dear Diary,

As I write, President Lazarus Chakwera has just finished speaking after a tree-planting exercise in Phalombe, where he also witnessed the installation of sub-T/A Kaduya as Paramount Chief for the Alhomwe. That settles years of the non-existent supreme ruler among the Alhomwe since the death of Ngolongoliwa in 2019.

The President has been in the Southern Region where he has been involved in a number of engagements. On arrival at Chileka Airport from Lilongwe, he chose to use the M1 which passes through the populated townships of Che Mussa, Chirimba and Mbayani. The logic was to hold whistle stops to address residents.

From some clips doing rounds, it appears some of the residents had a thing or two with the President, they booed him. Similar clips are clear when Chakwera went to launch police and prison officers’ houses in Kanjedza and Bangwe, visited Zingwangwa Admarc and toured some new road projects in the commercial capital.

Before all these momentous occasions, Chakwera attended the commemoration of the Chilembwe Day on January 15 at the Providence Industrial Mission in Chiradzulu. The national icon was slain along his followers in an uprising against colonialism in 1915.

It is strange that some today argue that Chilembwe was too quick to start fighting for independence against colonialism. They argue that Malawi is underdeveloped because we started to fight against colonialists far too early.

The very idea that we should wait for Westerners to develop our country is weird in itself. Besides, Alexander Bruce Livingstone, a descendant of David Livingstone was brutal on Chilembwe and his people.

The Chilembwe Uprising boiled down to a Chilembwe-Lisitoni duel. Livingstone burned Chilembwe’s New Jerusalem Church three times. He also made natives work on his Likulezi Farm free of charge, Thangata.

In fact, in those days, Nyasas were being taken away to fight against the Germans in the so-called World War 1. Chilembwe questions how the natives would benefit from the European war.

Chilembwe had all the reason to fight the colonialists!

I digressed.

So, Chakwera has just finished speaking after a tree-planting and chief-installation event. Earlier, he visited and cheered the sick at the John Chilembwe Hospital. On Chilembwe Day, the President made a declaration that Phalombe District Hospital be renamed after the gallant fighter.

This led to a backlash, with some saying all district hospitals are given the district name.

Others wondered why a Phalombe hospital could be named after a man from  Chiradzulu. Yet others argued that Chakwera must have built another hospital in Chiradzulu and name it after Chilembwe.

One thing for sure is that no one questioned if the change of name would bring more medicines into the hospital. Besides, naming structures has always been a political issue: Chikwawa was once named Chikhwawa under Bingu wa Mutharika. The Kamuzu Stadium earned the name Chichiri before the name reverted. Remember how Bakili Muluzi changed Kamuzu Highway to Chipembere Highway before Bingu changed it back to Kamuzu Stadium.

And then there is Kamuzu Central Hospital which became Lilongwe Central Hospital. By the way, can’t someone think of naming Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Blantyre Central Hospital?

The point is, there will come a time when someone will think of renaming the John Chilembwe Hospital.

While we are at it, Chilembwe was caught trying to flee to Mozambique. He was dressed only in pyjamas when was caught by Africans working for the British police in Nyasaland. These were private Kaduya, private Naluso, private Kambalame, lance corporal Mandana and sergeant Useni.

Mandana and Kambalame shot and killed Chilembwe’s brother Moris.

Naluso fired the first shot on Chilembwe and Useni finished him with a bullet into his head.

Historians record that it was actually Useni who was one of the people that buried Chilembwe in an unmarked grave for fear that his followers would make his death spot a shrine.

The revered historians still indicate that Chilembwe was buried in the Esperanza Tea Estates in Mulanje.

The wonder is, why has independent Malawi not set out to find Chilembwe’s remains on the estate? We have so many able archeologists in the country who can ably trace Chilembwe’s remains.

Even ministry of National Unity principal secretary Elizabeth Gomani-Chindebvu could lead that team.

Otherwise, I would maintain the colonialists do visit the site where Chilembwe was buried for their own tourism.