Mathias Manyeka: Broadcaster 41 years on radio

Once a young man born in Mulanje, Mathias Manyeka is a rare gem.

He is one of the few Malawians who have lived all their life as a broadcaster. His journey started in 1971 and has lived on till today.

“I went for seminary education at Kachebere Major Seminary for two years from 1969. However, looking at some of the problems haunting my family, I had to withdraw from school in 1971, the same year that I got employed by MBC. I just jumped at the opportunity when I heard there were interviews,” explained Manyeka.

Since then, the man has lived his life as a broadcaster.

As soon as he was inducted into radio, Manyeka took to broadcasting as a fish to water.

Even without prior training, Manyeka excelled. His first challenge was to produce the women’s desk programme.

“The management was led by Europeans. We had Mr. David Turner from BBC as director general. We had a three-month course from which time I was given hands-on training of the work. I was given a challenging role of producing women’s programmes. And at MBC, I was the first man behind women’s productions and that time our head was late Malango Banda and my very first role was producing Zokonda Amayi.

“Giving tips on how to motivate women to listen to the programme was an uphill but exciting task. I was assisted by Nyokase Madise and Mercy Chipeta in the department and I seemed to be doing very well. As such, after a year management noted that I had special talents, so they moved me from the women’s productions department to the religious section,” recalls Manyeka.

That opportunity, according to the 69-year-old, was like him going back to his original wish, serving God.

He explains: “I was doing religious recordings throughout the country but eventually, I was inducted on how to train pastors to broadcast on a network as opposed to pulpit approach. At that time, Reverend Jossam Sankhani was heading the section but I took over when he left.”

After sometime on the religious department, another call came for Manyeka.

This time, it was for him to produce documentaries for the sole radio station in Malawi.

“They said I was a serious minded person so they asked me to be doing documentaries and become a producer of outside broadcasts.

“At that particular time, journalism was tailored within the concept of the one party system because one could not just come out with ideas and do them. We were supposed to be the voice of the government and so all the programs were toeing the party line,” he affirms.

And just when the call for Manyeka to call it a day beckoned, another another opportunity came knocking at his door.

This time around, outside Malawi.

“In 1982 I was sent to the BBC wing of the National Broadcasting School where I specialised in development documentaries to do with farming just for an example. I was there for about four months. When I came back, I was equipped with knowledge and I learnt how to dramatise everyday life for purposes of information,” he said.

That training gave birth to one of the famous programmes on MBC, Nzeru Nkupangwa.

“That was one of the programmes I started and produced for a while. I am happy it is still around,” he says with a smile.

In 1993, he got another training opportunity, albeit this time around for a different channel of media, television.

“I went for television training in readiness for the MBC television channel which then was about to start. It needed qualified personnel to take up the challenge and so I went to London again for almost four months, for television training,” he says.

However, it took time for the television dream to materialise and so he kept hoping.

Explains Manyeka: “While I was antagonising on when the television channel would come, I was given a bigger role as the controller of programmes. I then became the in charge of all the programmes on the network. I was on that position until I retired in 2001 after 31 years with MBC.

“I enjoyed my life as a broadcaster, a journalist of sort. The main challenge I had was when Malawi was embracing multiparty democracy from one party regime, I became unpopular because I was against some broadcasters raising the flag of certain parties at the expense of the others. It was a difficult time as many journalists did not understand that multiparty means equal opportunities and views of all political parties,” he says.

After close to three years of retirement at home, another job call came for Manyeka.

“After 31 years of a fulfilling journey, I was approached by Gospel Kazako to start up Zodiak Broadcasting Station. And this is where I am until today. If you combine my experience both at MBC and Zodiak, I am in my 41st year of working as a broadcaster,” he says.