March 20 2025
Greetings from the Munda wa Chitedze Farm where peace, and only peace, reigns supreme.
You see, the villagers around the farm have started harvesting their maize. You see, we always tell them to pre-test it before harvesting. The cobs must be brown. They should never harvest the cobs before they face towards the ground.
To further test the dryness, they have to put a few grains in a glass bottle and shake it. If the grains make a musical sound, then their maize is ready for harvesting and drying.
You see, moisture content must be minimised to lower than 30 percent. This saves the villagers from post-harvest losses because partially-dried maize is apt to rot and means losses for the farmer. What’s more, partially-dried maize runs the risk of aflatoxins, which are a health hazard, lethal as a matter of fact.
So, some of the villagers are harvesting dangerously early to cushion the hunger in their homes. Others are doing so for fear of thieves who may rob them of their hard-earned yield.
Dear Diary, the maize discussion was closed, as here at the Munda wa Chitedze Farm we don’t worry much about that staple.
As I write, Alfred Gangata has just been granted bail in an alleged fake MSCE certificate case. A case that smacks of political intolerance. His being ferried in an ambulance raised questions, his being jostled between courts in Dowa and Lilongwe raised many an eyebrow. Even more, his warrant of arrest was surprisingly issued by a Child Justice Court.
And then, some panga-wielding ruffians had the nerve to hack some civil servants protesting a 20 percent pay hike. You see, where all this hacking will take us nobody knows, but it certainly does not sit well.
So, today is Francophone Day! You see, much as Malawian students should have been given more Portuguese and Swahili lessons, the French language is an important tool for cultural appreciation and philosophical understanding of our very being. We need to communicate more with our Mozambican and Tanzanian brethren, but French is also a matter of necessity.
You see, most of our literature, philosophy and language scholars learn the philosophical lessons from the French masters in English. The existentialism philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre is better understood when explored in the original language. The original Mariama Ba’s Un chant écarlate has better expression than its translation, Scarlet Song.
If you think about poetry that is full of deep colour and language David and Birago Diop will bring out the best. For folklore, you turn to the Senegalese philosopher king Leopold Sedar Senghor whose tales of Leuk-le-Lièvre brings out a more vivid portrayal of our local Kalulu the Hare. The only difference is that the former Senegalese leader explored how the animal kingdom was disturbed with the coming of Bouki-l’hyène (Fisi the hyena) relates to the coming of the colonialists in Africa.
Dear Diary, excuse my affinity for things in French because that is what makes things run at the Mudzi wa Chitedze Farm. Our idea of protest is deeply ingrained in the July 14 1789 revolution when peasants stormed the oppressive Bastille Prison to end the French monarchy. Talk of revolt, that was it.
While we are talking about revolt, the Ivorian President Ibrahim Traore comes off the pack of African leaders. While African leaders are busy talking about agrarian reforms, he is bringing all that talk to reality.
Recently, Traore made available to his people tractors to transform their agriculture. Back home, when some tractors on a similar cause were brought, they were stolen in what our great journalism mentor Zeleza Manda (say it in hushes for he is somewhere within this page) calls the Tractorgate. You see, while leaders elsewhere are busy showing tractors nobody gets, Traore has not only given them to his people, he has also offered them fuel to keep them running.
Dear Diary, just moments ago, a picture of prisoners at a cemetery in Kanjedza searching for a python has gone viral. We will reserve the question of the wisdom in exposing prisoners to the threat of a python attack shows what we think of our prisoners: Second-hand citizens who deserve nothing but death!
On the other hand, Traore has turned the prisoners in his country into farmers! Our song about turning prisons to be mega farms is just by word of mouth because whatever they produce is consumed by you know who.
What is more, when the prisoners farm for the national silos in Ivory Coast, their sentences are being reduced! In a number of years, the country is also beating Africa in onion production.
Excuse me, Dear Diary, for my dear love. Can we import Traore for a week?
