Mjura Mkandawire 1926-2013: Teacher, Musician and broadcaster

“Kunali John Chilembwe Muboma la Chiradzulo, anali m’busa wa bwino….”

This song does ring a bell to anyone who knows the history of Malawi and the freedom fighter, Reverend John Chilembwe.

Titled John Chilembwe, the hit is popular among Malawians. It is a household song to many people especially onJanuary 15 every year when Malawi commemorates the John Chilembwe Day.

Many Malawians do not know who did the song. It is the late Mjura Mkandawire, a citizen of Chihola village in Traditional Authority Chikulamayembe in Rumphi. He died today, July 25, 2013 at Livingstonia Mission hospital in Rumphi after struggling with rectal cancer for some time.

He is gone, but his works will live forever. You can never go wrong if you describe him a versatile ethno-composer extraordinaire of Malawi.

He was a teacher, musician and radio producer by profession. His legacy in music composition and recording rests on his two productions JohnChilembwe and Poka wanangwa.

Recorded in the 60, the songs expos

e natural talent that was in him which is rare in most of today’s music productions. The artworks in the songs are powerful and capable of standing the test of time.

The John Chilembwe track was done in honour of the late reverend for his job that finally saw Malawi becoming an independent nation after years of being British rule while Poka Wanangwa is political song done inChitumbuka, a language used by many people in the northern region of Malawi. The songs talk about the abuses Malawian people faced during the Colonial time.

Mjura’s life

Born on September 17, 1926, Mkandawire’s life will be celebrated because of the contributions he made to the broadcasting industry in Malawi. He is one of the first four black men to work at the Federal government radio station now Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). He is one of the first people to work at the station.

Malawi’s first president, the late Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda trusted him among the first people to run the radio station without any help of the Whites.

In an interview with him in July 2012, Mkandawire said in 1963 when the Federal government time was coming to an end, Dr. Banda wanted to have total control in everything. He said the president had no confidence in the

Whites and so he wanted his own people to work at the radio station.

This was what created his opportunity to join the media. He was a teacher then at Blantyre Secondary school. He and other three other people were hand-picked to go to London to study Broadcasting, Announcing and Audio Programming under the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programmme. They returned late in 1963 and started operations of MBC Radio One.

The ambitious Mkandawire was not satisfied with the job at MBC and he wanted something more than just broadcasting. He believed that a qualified teacher from the then only teachers Training College based in the northern region of Malawi at Nsonya and a trained broadcaster, he would do much more than just broadcasting.

Fortunately, both Ministry of Information and Education were under one ministry. In 1964, he was granted an opportunity to go to Northern Ireland to study music. He graduated with a certificate in music and returned home to rejoin MBC as a broadcaster.

Music career

The qualification earned him a music director position at the station and he served the position for 17 years. He is the first MBC employee to introduce and read news in Chitumbuka language. It was also during his time at MBC when he composed the two songs. The first one was Poka Wanangwa in 1965 and the other in 1966.

“Between 1965 and 1970 was the period when I concentrated much in music composition and broadcasting. I wanted something really exceptional and relevant to the times. Stories of John Chilembwe were big stories then and I knew a song about him would be loved by many people and that is why I decided to compose it. I took my time and without any influence or pressure, I did it and was liked most by people. I feel honoured that the song is still appreciated up to date,” he said in an interview in 2012 while revealing that he did many songs and the story is shared in his biography.

He also revealed that he composed most of the songs being used by both the Army and Police bands.

The teacher

Mkandawire left MBC in 1981 on retirement, but because he was poached from the teaching career to join broadcasting without resigning, he wrote a letter to government describing how he left his teaching career to join MBC.

He told them that he wanted to return to teaching.

He was allowed to do so considering that he had many academic certificates in education one of which was obtained at Adams College (1948) in South Africa, and vast experience in teaching obtained during his seven years teaching period in Zimbabwe.

He was posted to teach at the Blantyre Teachers Training College (BTTC) where he spent six years before retiring. After the retirement, he joined Phwezi secondary school (1988).While at Phwezi he developed an eye problem and he quit the profession and went to live at his home village.

Mkandawire who died while married and with six children and 14 grandchildren, did both his primary and secondary education at Livingstonia Mission in Rumphi.

During his time, he received several awards with the last being an honorary degree of arts he received from the University of Jerusalem of India.