His songs have been on Malawian radios. Virtually, everyone recognised him on the streets of Blantyre.
His is a type of story that would wrinkle a sceptical person’s forehead. But it’s a true story. For 30 years, music lovers have been blessed with the gospel artist.
Even after leaving the country, each album released in the 15 years he was away, was cordially received by his Malawian fans.
He is well known legend of gospel music, Allan Ngumuya.
His journey from Malawi to Indiana, USA and back has been long, winding and, to say the least, improbable.
When he finally returned, he came back and launched his political career which many thought was a fluke and marked the end of his illustrious music career.
Having won the Blantyre City South constituency in the 2014 Tripartite Elections as an independent, Ngumuya went into hibernation as he was seldom seen in the music circles.
But the man whose voice is sleeker than his stature was very much around, working on his 15th album.
“People think I have left music but I have not and I want to prove to them that I am still continuing what I have been doing and known for the past 30 years, the journey I started in 1985,” said Ngumuya in an interview.
Beaming with a toothy smile, he went on to say: “I started from a humble beginning and clocking 30 years in music in an industry like ours is something else. I wouldn’t have done it any better than releasing my 15th album called Osankhidwa Ake. This is my thank you to people and God.”
In the album, Ngumuya has collaborated with Piksy and Homeland Singers in two separate songs.
“There is a track called Mundisinthe Mbuye, which is a composition made of a sax and an organ, just to give people a church feel. I did this one with the Homeland Singers while with Piksy, we did Achina Davide, an old school touch which he has brought in a new feel with me doing the song the way things used to be done musically in the past.
It has taken me two years to record and mix the album which is a combination of three genres—mbaqanga, reggae and Malawi-centric theme I am known for. For the first time, I did most of the recording while Macdonald Muwawa played drums and keyboards, Wilfred Manyozo and Mvahiwa Hanke played guitars, Godfrey Mbidzi is bass guitarist with Blessings Ching’amba doing the mixing,” explained the artist.
Twelve songs make up the album. It’s going to be a free launch on June 28 at Comesa Hall while Lilongwe’s turn will be on July 5.
“It’s going to be three solid hours of my performance of songs from my very first album to the latest. I will sing all the popular songs which I have put into different themes like joyful and happy, songs of hope as well as praise and worship. So, there will be 36 songs with 12 from each theme.
“It will be me plus my band and all those artists I have collaborated with. The idea is to bring back the old feel so that people should remember me. It’s mature music as I want people to weigh me,” said Ngumuya.
He set out for South Bend, USA in 1998 to pursue a college education. With dreams of starting a television station in Malawi, he earned an associate degree in video technology at Ivy Tech Community College in 2002, then a bachelor’s in business administration at Davenport University in 2005 and a master’s in communications at Indiana University at Fort Wayne in 2009.
Talking about his political journey, he says it has been tough, although he has no regrets this far.
“It is a tough journey as you are dealing with people who have high expectations and want changes instantly. Development is done gradually and periodically which is different with music where you just give people what you or they want. But so far, I have no regrets. Of course, as a human being, I lose my head but I always pray to God to use me in the right way. How you balance being a musician and a politician it all depends on how you manage time.
“Thank you to all Malawians for the support, kindness and passion. I have sung to people in prisons, death beds, those who were in trouble and I have met others who saw God because of me. It has been an amazing 30 years and very fulfilling. All that matters now is to get to heaven so that I continue singing there,” Ngumuya said.
