Honouring or not honouring Machuluka Music

During the last weekend event of Mdauku wa aTonga (MWATO), this tribal - or is it cultural - grouping  decided to honour musician Andrew Mphande who trades as Machuluka in the showbiz cycles.

The reason he has been honoured is for popularising the Tonga language through his music.

Now, this is where I have been prompted to come in. If the reason he was bestowed with such an accolade was because he modernised Tonga traditional dances like Malipenga, Chilimika, Honala etc. into a Tonga music genre then I sure would not have had any case.

I know several musicians that come from Tonga Land like Nepman, Saul Chembezi and others but very little has come from them to show that they are Tonga; that's going by non-existent of Tonga language in their music.

Well, if language was the benchmark for honouring musicians then Wambali Mkandawire should really get numerous awards every time the Tumbukas are celebrating during Chigona Pamuhanya ceremony in Bolero.

Sad that although we have many musicians emerging from the Lomwe belt, not many would enjoy the same during the Mulhakho wa Alhomwe ceremony because they do not promote Lhomwe in their music at all.

And again Gawa Undi, the Chewa King would have a lot of work in his wake to honour all those musicians that are promoting ChiChewa by using it in their music.

Now the reason I am taking this route of argument is that, what is it that Machuluka was honoured for? That he is a musician who sings in Tonga or he is a Tonga who sings music in his mother tongue?

If the answer is the former then we have no contest because we will now start examining his music against those other musicians from the past and present from Nkhatabay.

I think people have ever heard of a track called Kwedoli a Tonga song done by Morson Kalikokha Phuka and the New Scene band in 1987.

The song was Amos Mwase's composition. By the way, according to Uncle Sam Malunga, Mwase is one of the guys who were brought to Blantyre by Policitian and businessman Katenga Kaunda together with Emmanuel Manda Chingaliwa from Chinthechi and Dam Dam Longwe. These played in the Katenga Humming Bèes.

Emmanuel Manda who later joined the True Tones was an accomplished drummer introduced to music of fishermen and Malipenga by his uncle Mr Chilalika.

But at the time of his Katenga Humming Bèes days that played at a club called Star Light along the Chikwawa road Manda was just a vocalist and dancer who also played the conga drum known as mbunde in Tonga.

Ada Manda started playing the drums that made him popular when he joined the True Tones which later became Muzipasi Band which eventually gave birth to Love Aquarius the band he led until he died. 

His other colleagues like Amos went to New Scene while Dam Dam went to form the Tione Ochestra that became famous with a song called 'a Gondwe a kalandira ndalama'.

There is also a famous Tonga song by Paul Chaphuka 'AnyaMemba' which also popularised the Tonga language. I can go on and on.

It will be a mistake if Machuluka has been honoured for being a Tonga who sings music in his mother tongue, especially with tracks like ‘Zowala Za Mwana Wangu’ released just in 2016 which catapulted him to fame.

Well much as I can't convincingly doubt his talent but I can still contest that there has been good musicians that have emerged from the Tonga Land that equally deserve recognition. The fact that others have since died cannot hide the fact that they also need such accolades.