….Seeks MK180 Million for the week-long event
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Maseko Ngoni Heritage Trust has announced that this year’s uMhlangano Wa Maseko Ngoni will run from Monday, August 31 to Saturday, September 5, 2026, with the grand finale to be held at the Gomani Chikuse Memorial Grounds in Nkolimbo Village, iNkosi KwaTaine, Ntcheu District.
Addressing the news conference on Monday, July 27, 2026 in the capital Lilongwe, Maseko Ngoni Heritage Trust Secretary General Kandi Padambo disclosed that this year’s event requires MK180 million.
“The budget of this year’s function has been pegged at K180 Million with funding sourced from Maseko Ngonis, corporate organisations and organising of fundraising activities such as golf tournaments and dinner and dance,” the statement reads.
The Trust says the annual ceremony, revived in 2013 a year after iNgwenyama Gomani V ascended the throne, was established to preserve and promote Ngoni heritage.
“While the Maseko Ngoni always held traditional Ngoni ceremonies, it was in 2013… that the youthful King decided to revive and formalise the main annual ceremony and decreed that the Maseko Ngoni should henceforth hold an annual all Kingdom ceremony to be called uMhlangano waMaseko Ngoni,” the statement notes.
The Maseko Ngoni trace their origins to the area shared by present-day eSwatini, South Africa and Southern Mozambique, considered the ancestral home of the Nguni people.
After establishing an early presence in Songea, Tanzania, they migrated and eventually settled in Mozambique and Malawi.
Following the 1884 Berlin Conference, the Maseko Ngoni Kingdom was divided between colonial powers Portugal and Britain.
The portion that fell in Nyasaland, as Malawi was then known, was referred to by the colonial administration as the Southern Ngoni Kingdom.
The Trust outlined five key objectives for the annual gathering.
These include strengthening the cohesion of the Kingdom, familiarizing Maseko Ngonis in different parts, including those outside the country’s borders, and ensuring that children and young Maseko Ngonis are exposed to Ngoni culture and customs.
It also seeks to cooperate with other Ngonis from within and outside Malawi “with whom the Maseko Ngoni share a common ancestry with a view to strengthening kinship.”
The fifth objective is to “enable interaction with other ethnic groups in the country by inviting them to the function and thereby promoting co-existence, good neighbourliness, reciprocal respect and unity.”
This year’s gathering will be held under the theme “UBUNYE BUNAMANDLA”, translated as “Unity is strength”.
The Trust said the theme reflects a commitment “towards building a strong Malawi which appreciates diversity and values mutually beneficial co-existence.”
The 2026 uMhlangano is expected to draw wide participation.
“The 2026 uMhlangano WaMaseko is expected, as has been in other years, to be patronised by all Ngonis in Malawi including our Zwangendaba brothers and sisters in Mzimba and Mchinji and also Chipata in Zambia who, through their performing groups, fully participate in the function,” the Trust stated.
It added that the Maseko Ngoni of Mozambique, under King Zintambira Maseko, who is directly related to the Maseko Ngoni Royal Family of Malawi, will also attend and fully participate.
Invitations have further been extended to several Ngoni royal houses and royal representatives in the Republic of South Africa, eSwatini and Lesotho.
Traditional leaders and members of other ethnic groups in Malawi, some with their traditional dance groups, are expected to grace the occasion.
Government dignitaries, prominent Malawians and members of the Diplomatic Corps are also expected to attend, a practice the Trust says “has now become a tradition.”
The week-long programme will feature various activities culminating in the main ceremony on September 5.
The Trust closed the statement with an appreciation to all stakeholders, saying “Siyakubongani nonke.”
