33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! –John 11:35
Pakuona imfayi, misonzitu ikula! Ndilira, ndilira ine misonzi. Ndilira misonzi pakuona imfayo, ndilira aaah ine misonzi. – Malawi Christian funeral song
The year 2024 has been a year of mourning the loss of our music icons, legends, and political and civic leaders. Local and international spheres are filled with tears for the loss of beloved ones.
I had not been so angry, sad, and mad with fury and rage since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in August 1997. The year 2024 has the ugly scars of the tragic death of Malawi’s Vice President and eight members of his team in the Northern region.
I mourn for others friends, relative, but June 10, 2024 deaths of Malawi’s hero, will forever crowd my mind with pain; John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Junior, and Robert F. Kennedy on my mind.
The announcement first that his plane was “missing” and the follow-up government announcement that the Malawi Vice President Right Honorable Saulos Chilima, daily sinks in my heart and the unanswered “why” question has gone unanswered, even by a costly Commission of Inquiry.
On the international platform, Tina Turner, champion of surviving as a woman in man’s world, passed on to the sweet bye and bye. Gone too are Gordon Lightfoot (if you could read my mind love, what a tale of thoughts could tell….), legendary music man and music woman maker producer Quincy Jones joined the heavenly homeward bound call. Other international stars and icons are James Earl Jones, John Amos (both of Coming to America fame),, Maggie Smith, Russian opposition leader Alexie Navalny, Nikki Giovanni, Phil Donahue, Bill Cobbs, Louis Gossett Jr., O.J. Simpson, Willie Mays, Pete Rose, and many others.
In Malawi, I start with the passing of our last remaining sibling to my late Dad, Uncle Webster Pwelere Mbekeani, barely two weeks after communicating with me to wish me a happy 70th birthday. My nephews Pepe Chimasula, Suleman Karim both passed away in a painful death, too harsh to recount; Mussa Chiwaula, Chilipo Saeluzika, and Uncle Francis Sazuze, too said their good-byes to Earth. Ine n’tafusa a Mayombo ali kuti? Wawa Mayombo! (I must ask, where are the Mayombos? Respect, Mayombo).
Another shocker was the passing of my journo buddy (who dubbed himself “Wapa Ntchito” as a quip to people who indulge in work relationships) Willie Zinga. We were three (Him, Felix, and me); with WTZ’s passing our Trio of Serious Professional Journo’s is reduced to one (me). Truly a severe shocker was the passing of my very good mentor in the religious sphere, MaiBusa Dorothy Ngwira. Then a riveting shock departure by a revered friend in the legal sphere, retired Court of Appeals Justice Duncan Tambala, and prominent lawyer Ralp Kasambala on June 7, 2024. Ndilira ine misonzi!
The government announcement three days after Kasambala’s passing, was that of the plane the country’s Vice President Chilima and 8 members of his entourage, was missing.
It was heading toward Mzuzu to attend Kasambala’s funeral. The June 10, 2024 announcement was met with disbelief, annoyance, and anger, and many heart-clutching anguish.
A few hours later the government came with the announcement everybody had already assumed. The government announced the death of the VP and 8 others by plane crash. Ndilira ine misonzi! His death narrows contenders in the 2025 presidential elections; onboard the pane was former First Lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri Muluzi. Ndilira ine misonzi!
The anguish of the senseless tragic death of the person many young Malawians looked to as their future leader has taken numerous ways. Included in this are demonstrations and calls for the current President Chakwera to resign. But the Malawi Constitution does not have a clause where a president can be asked to resign; he can only be removed from power through impeachment in Parliament.
Currently the opposition parties do not have the voting power to succeed with this provision. Almost all other political parties in the Tonse Government have jumped off the Tonse ship.
Closing off the month of June, 2024, Malawi’s leading Musician-turned-politician, former MP Lucius Banda died after a brave battle with illness on June 20, 2024.
Joining the fray of the departing loved icons of the nation was on August 29, 2024 of the famous Dedza Father Claude Boucher, known as aChisale, custodian of Ngoni Culture, proprietor of Kungoni Center of Culture and Art at Mua in Dedza district. He was joined by Willie on August 31, 2024.
A very dark three months for Malawi in the mid months of 2024. But as the year inches to its final chapter, a professor is appointed Vice Chancellor of Malawi’s Catholic University, and becomes the second woman VC in the country.
As we are dancing, jumping up and down, and shouting with joy and jubilation, Vice Chancellor Professor Ngei Jumbe Kanyongolo passes away. Her death was a mere two weeks from the death of her brother Eliya Jumbe.
Ndilira ine misonzi!
May their souls rest in Jehovah God’s eternal loving peace.
