Page 33 - Number 2 2021 Volume 74

Maria Chidzanja Nkhoma 21

(Wellington Mkukupha, Frank Kamwendo, Stampi, Eddie Manda) were fabulous
musicians whom she sang with post MBC band.
What I do remember is that these men were always respectful towards
my mother - often when they saw her they would use their term of endearment
and refer to her as “Anankho”. When I met some of these band members my
mother would only have been in her late 20s and early 30s, but she commanded
respect and she had that air or perhaps a haughtiness that she carried. It is
remarkable that she was travelling with the MBC band in her late teens/early 20s
clearly demonstrating her maturity, tenaciousness, self-worthiness and self-belief.
This is what I believe drove her on too. How remarkable to have been able to
transcend all the criticism, judgementalism (if there’s such a word), stigma in
60s/70s society in Malawi.
You can see in this photo that my mother was a very beautiful and
stunning young woman…I did think so at the time. I also felt she transitioned into
a regal and attractive woman in her later years.
Many trips to Lake Malawi staying at Livingstonia Hotel, Club
Makokola, Nkopola Lodge. The best parts of these trips was eating anything we
wanted and going crazy over the buffet, swimming in the lake and pools. My
recollection is only seeing one of the cabaret shows and even then not all of it.
She clearly had been able to negotiate that my brother and I were part of the
ensemble, but I am not sure why these cabaret shows stopped. Perhaps this was
going to be one of those conversations, I was saving for later…for when the time
the was right…but it was not meant to be.
A memorable trip to Lusaka on UTA (the defunct French Airline) and
being spoiled by the air stewards and then arriving in our luxury hotel with an
amazing swimming pool. We were too young to watch the shows and we spent
most of our time swimming and drinking plenty of fizzy drinks! The more I ponder
back, she was not just a hard negotiator to be able to have hotel, air tickets, meals
all paid for, but it is actually a reflection of how talented and sought after she was.
In her interview with Yvonnie Sundu (The Nation 25 July 2014) my mother tells
of how she was offered a great opportunity to work and perform in hotels in
Intercontinental West Africa. She chose to return home instead to a boyfriend….
She did make decisions from her heart; she was an emotional and passionate
person.
She joined MBC in 1982 – I would have been 8 years old, and I went to boarding
school about this time. She had to find full-time employment because singing did
not bring a steady income. She had 3 children and so worked full-time. She also
did ‘gigs’ just to supplement her small (meagre) salary; she modelled (many will
have seen the Ponds advert, and the Warm Heart of Africa calendar); she did voice
overs for adverts. She was only a young woman of 20/21 when she had 2 children
and still needed to make money which in hindsight was very difficult in the era