Matafale remembered amid chamba smoke

The misty blend of dust and chamba smoke engulfed the air at Mankhokwe grounds in Chileka, Blantyre where scores of the city’s residents converged to celebrate the life and work of fallen reggae legend Evison Matafale.

The memorial show attracted several artists such as Annie Matumbi, Lambanie Dube formerly known as Limbani Banda, man of the moment Skeffa Chimoto, Njati Njedede and The Never-ending Jupiters Band.

Taking a glance across the vast masses, one could not help noticing the prevalent Rastafarian colours and scores of dreadlocked Rastas.

This probably accounts for the free-for-all sale and smoking of chamba on the sidelines of the performances.

However, this could not account for incidents of violence that were common at the event.

For instance, a girl aged between 14 and 16, was gang-raped by almost four men.

Is this what Matafale stood for?

“Matafale was a peace-loving man as you can tell from his music; he was a Rasta but his music was for all people that is why we do not restrict anyone from this gathering. Don’t be cheated by the colours and the dreadlocks, most of the people here are not necessarily Rastas,” explained Black Missionaries leader Anjiru Fumulani.

Prior to the performance of the Black Missionaries, Skeffa Chimoto justified his ‘reggae dancing machine’ title by giving an energetic performance of the hit songs Chinamuluma Chakuda and Dalitsani Okondedwa.

Anthony Makondetsa then further lit up the stage with a performance of Mbumba ya Abraham and Ndilibe Mlandu which saw the crowd singing along.

The Black Missionaries celebrated the talent that was nurtured by the very man whose life they were celebrating by giving a powerful performance of songs from their Kuimba franchise.

Their performance was spiced up by freestyles from Lambanie Dube and Annie Matumbi.

But it was the self-acclaimed Nyakwawa, Annie Matumbi’s ragga version of Yang’ana Nkhope that kept the audience demanding an encore.

The event was also graced by Minister of Culture and Tourism Moses Kunkuyu who noted that it is government’s duty to promote the arts as it helps promote culture.

“We need to give these artists the support they need while they are still alive. In other countries, events like these are big and government is proud to see the Black Missionaries organising an event of such magnitude,” said Kunkuyu.

He further added that government recognises the influence that Matafale had in the country through his music.

“Matafale was a courageous man who was never afraid of expressing himself; we all know the controversy around the cause of his death. So, we recognise the contribution he made to the Malawian music industry and to the nation at large,” said Kunkuyu.

On his part, Fumulani said they have been organising the event to celebrate the life and artistry of the band’s founder.

“We have been holding this event annually for a decade now and the event keeps on getting bigger every year,” he said.