Remembering Evison Matafale

The late Evison Matafale in deep thoughts

He bursted onto the local music scene like a powerful tropical thunderbolt. Overnight his music conquered the airwaves. His sharp soul-piercing voice became ubiquitous and subject to mimic from up and coming artists. The twenty-first century Malawi was experiencing a revolution without guns, bombs or bloodshed - a musical revolution - the Matafale revolution. But if his entry into the music scene was dramatic then his exit was mystifying. Evison Matafale reportedly died in police custody on 27th November 2001 leaving behind several unanswered questions. I have never seen Malawians mourning a musician the way they mourned Matafale. Today, exactly 10 years after his death, memories of the slain Malawi's king of reggae remain as fresh as they were ten years ago.

Despite being a secondary school drop-out, Matafale was well informed on a diversified array of issues. Always ready to take issues head on, he epitomised a new brand of the 21st century youth. He was never a coward and always called a spade by its name. He landed himself into trouble on several occasions for being a firebrand. In fact, many people in the corridors of power looked down on him with disdain. For instance, he was booted out of Lilongwe Teachers Training College and nearly got assassinated in Kasungu for speaking out his mind. It was also the venomous letter he authored to the president of the time that landed him in prison whence he never came back.

Matafale was a musician extraordinnaire. Many people have said that he never wrote his songs, they just came straight from his mind. I still remember this musical genius in 2001 show at the Silver Stadium in Lilongwe. During the show he challenged the huge audience he had mesmerised with his hit songs that music flowed in his blood. And to prove it he told us that he was going to play a song that we had never heard before and continued saying that the song was going to be released in later albums, say Kuyimba 15 or 16. He played the song and hell broke loose as the entire stadium took to the dance floor. Even Zimbabwe players who were to play a game that afternoon joined the jolly malawians in dancing to the Thafale beat. I still don't remember how the song went like, but it was one of the best songs ever composed by the youngman. Unfortunately, we will never hear that song again.

Matafale's music is timeless. It addresses current issues with the same force it addressed issues ten year ago. The songs touch almost every aspect of our life and they appeal equally to all: men and women, boys and girls, the rich and the poor, believers and non-believers. Just listen to songs like Sing a song, Malawi, Nkhawa bi, Nkhoswe, Zaka zonsezi, Freedom and Yang'ana nkhope, you will agree with me. These songs are as relevant today as they were almost ten years ago. Matafale has always remain the same in time and space. Great South African reggae musicians Sipho Johnson and Angola Maseko who came to perform in Malawi a year after the death of Matafale were completely puzzled by the quality of his music. It never occured to them that a Malawian could produce the music of Matafale's calibre. 

However, with continuous creativity and fame of his remnants, the Black Missionaries, Evison Matafale is slowly becoming a footnote in the Kuyimba trademark having contributed only two of the eight Kuyimba albums so far. There are even fears that the Kuyimba architect might be lost along the way as the Black Missionaries continue the epic journey started by the versatile Evison Matafale. The band is now getting stronger and stronger as time goes. The fortunes from their sweat and creativity are also better as compared to what Matafale used to get ten years ago.

The onus is therefore on the Black Missionaries to keep the Matafale legend alive and strong. So far they have shown that they are more than willing to keep the Matafale heritage alive for ever. For instance, every Black Missionaries live concert begin with Matafale compositions. They have sang songs about him alongside the other fallen Chileka soldiers: Musamude and Gift Fumulani. The Chileka memorial shows, which are held every year will also go a long way toward maintaining the Thafale legacy. Tommorrow I will be attending the Tenth Evison Matafale Memorial Annivessary in Chileka and I know that I will have some nice time. All along I have been impressed with the efforts taken by Anjilu Fumulani and company in sustaining the Matafale legacy through this annual event. They are doing exactly what the sons of the late Bob Marley and Peter Tosh Jamaica.

But there is still more that the Black Missionaries and even other stakeholders can do to promote the Matafale legacy. For instance, Matafale's memorial T-shirts can be printed and sold on the market. And what about writing a book or producing a documentary? A small museum can also be built on a family plot in Chileka where some of his belongings can be kept. The entire information on the Fumulanis can also be stored in such a museum for use by curious followers of this musical family. Imagine how it can feel to read the draft of  one of Matafale's songs written in a tattered note book! It will definitely feel great.

The Black Missionaries should also think about producing a Matafale "dub" album from some of his selected songs. Malawi has a lot of studio wizards who can play with the computer to produce such dub songs for the fallen star. They should also consider producing a "riddim" album from some of his songs. Beats of songs like Freedom, Rasta has the answer, Mkango wa Yuda, Watsetsereka and Step down babylon among others can make good reggae riddims. A number of artists can be approached to contribute their songs on such a riddim album. If well produced such an album can be a tribute befitting the Malawi's fallen reggae king. Just listen to the Jamrock riddim, which has been popularised by the likes of Damien "Junior Gong" Marley if you want to get me loud and clear. You may be interested to know that the Jamrock beat was originally done by Ini Kamoze in the early 1980s. So the jamrock riddim has help to revive Ini Kamoze, an almost forgotten musical genius. It is my hope that Anjilu and company will buy this idea and try to implement it. May the soul of Evison Matafale rest in eternal peace. 

This Africa was mine

This Africa was mine,

This Africa was mine.

This Africa was mine,

before you crossed my line.

This Africa was mine,

before you came to dine.

This Africa was mine,

before you brought your wine,

This Africa was mine,

before you broke my spine.

This Africa was mine,

before you burnt my shrine.

This Africa was mine,

before you stole my mine.

This Africa was mine,

before you snatched my vine.

This Africa was mine,

before you lumbered my pine.

This Africa was mine,

before you killed my swine.

This Africa was mine,

before you planted your mine.

This Africa was mine,

before you reduced me to a porcupine.

This Africa was mine,

Yes, this Africa was mine.

 

NB: The persona, an African, complains about the pain that the developed countries of Europe and Asia have inflicted on Africa. The pain is too much such that the continent been forced to resort to  the use of basic survival strategies like a porcupine. And indeed like the nocturnal African porcupine, Africa is rarely involved in international decision making. The poem navigates one through European voyages of discovery, slave trade, missionary activities, colonialism and neo-colonialism.

The Importance of History to the 21st Century Student

Appreciating history: a statue of Hastings Banda, the first president of Malawi, in Lilongwe

The twenty-first century is definetly a scientific and technological age replete with awesome scientific and technological milestones that our forefathers never dreamed about, let alone imagined. Our life has been made simple, thanks to the landmark scientific and technological innovations of our age. For instance,  today Malawians are able to purchase vehicles from Japan within minutes simply by punching a few buttons on their laptop and getting connected to the right websites. Infact, technology has been woven into our everyday life with the finest fabric so much so that we can't do without it. Little wonder, therefore, that almost all countries are trying to promote science in their schools for fear of being left behind in the breakneck race for technological development. But should art subjects like history be neglected because we are so much into technology? The sober answer to this question is a big no and this article strongly contends that  History and  other art subjects should not be left behind.

Every country needs to inculcate a spirit of scientific inquiry and innovation in its people, if it is going to make any headway in the twenty-first century. This fact can not be disputed. All developed countries of the world have made tremendous technological advancements to be where they are today. This explains why Europe parted ways with the rest of the continents in terms of development after going through the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. Great nations are built by inventors and thinkers.

We have also seen how the wars of today have been fought and won with the aid of technology. In the wars of today, it is not the physical strength of the soldiers or their numerical advantage on the battlefield that counts, but rather the intellectual capacity of the millitary engineers in inventing hightech millitary devices. History will always remember how the world held its breath when the two atomic devices were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, to end the Second World War abruptly. Today the world is witnessing the use of drones with precision never imagined before in attacking targets deep behind enemy lines.

It is also true that the many problems that are confronting the human race today like strange diseases, extreme hunger, poverty, and terrorism, just to mention a few, need a lot of scientific and technological innovations to address them if humanity is to survive. Already we have seen how scientific research and innovations have made strides in combatting many of these challenges. Honestly speaking, the promotion of scientific and technological development is not an option for governments of today, it is the only way. It's either we adopt it or we are wiped out from the face of the earth.

But while the sciences are enjoying a conducive political environment in the world of today, other art subjects like History need not be forgotten. History, is one of few subjects that promotes morality and partriotism in students. Beyond that it has a lot to offer to students in particular and to humanity in general. Hence it is supposed to be a hub for any country's development strategy.

What good can a country get from its youth who have received the best training in science but are wanting in moral values? The answer is, very little, if it is not, nothing at all. Such people may have no respect to humanity. We may in the long run witness the negative use of technology whose sole result is destruction and doom for mankind. This even explains why there are calls from other corners of the world about country A or B not using technology responsibly. These are moral concerns. But if the people in the corridors of power of the countries in question did not have any moral education, how can they judge the morality of their usage of technology? It is extremely difficult. Hence students should also be encouraged to take art subjects seriously, if our development is going to be meaningful.

The rating of movies and establishment of censorship boards by governments of today is also a moral issue. In fact morality is on several occasions married with science and technology to produce something good for society. So as long as the issue of morality is still crucial in the twenty-first century, then governments should not ignore the arts for the sake of science. For it is the art subjects like History, which inculcates a sense of morality in our students. Honestly speaking, science without morality is at best counter-productive and at worst suicidal.

We can also take a scenario where students pursue the sciences without the spirit of partriotism as retrogressive and disastrous for any country. Partriotic citizens have a feeling that they owe their country something. They fill extremely satisfied whenever they have done something worthy a mention for their country. And these are the people who try to give their best to their countries with no regard to honour or monetary rewards. Hence countries with a lot of partriotic citizens have higher chances of developing than those with very few partriots. A closer look at countries like USA, Israel, China, Japan, India and Britain will justify the arguement that partriotism is a very goog ingredient in the recipe for development.

But which subjects promote partriotism in our students? There are many art subjects that does this and History is just one of them. Therefore, those countries which would like to use science and technology as their springboard to development should not forget to promote the teaching and learning of History and other art subjects in their school curriculum. Partriotism should be promoted first in our youth before we send them on various errands in our quest for development.

History also acts like a speedometer, informing us as to how fast we are cruising on the highway to development. Hence if we ignore it, we may think we are moving fast when in actual sence we are not moving at all. It also acts as a mirror that can help us to check if we are on the right lane or not. So all countries that would like to check their progress in terms of science and technology would seriously consider promoting the teaching and learning of History and other art subjects in their schools.

In a nutshell, it can be argued that the teaching and learning of art subjects like history is crucial and should be promoted in our schools just like we are doing the same to the sciences. History helps to instil moral values and a spirit of partriotism in people. It also helps us to gauge our rate and level of development over a specific period of time. It has been said many a time that a people without the knowledge of their past is like a tree without roots. Just imagine what would have happened to many of today's scientific and technological developments if history did not collect the works of Leonardo Da Vinci which have been used as the surgeon's tool by modern inventors? Some of these developments could not have been there for the works of the great man could have been lost for ever. And Da Vinci himself was a genius both in sciences and the arts.

NB: I was forced to write this article upon being told by a colleague that my services as a History teacher were no longer required in the twenty-first century global village as the subject appeares to have  .