Page 66 - 2020 SoMJ Vol 73 No 2_Neat

The Society of Malaŵi Journal 57

Book Review:

Melvin E. Page. Distinguished Conduct, An African Life in
Colonial Malawi.
262pp. Luviri Press, Mzuzu, 2020. ISBN 978-99960-66-37-5

David Bone

Professor Melvin Page, an authority on the history of Malawi, describes
his book as ‘the true-life story of a real African hero, reimagined in the context of
Malawian history’. His hero is Regimental Sergeant Major Juma Chimwere of
the King’s African Rifles, a Yao from Zomba District. Though the author has few
personal details to draw on about his main character apart from his military record,
he writes a biography which describes his military career and beyond, and by
involving him in some of the significant events of Malawi’s colonial history seeks
to shed some light on aspects of that period.
One main strand of the narrative is R.S.M. Chimwere’s long and
distinguished military service. Having enlisted in the Central African Rifles, as
the regiment was then known, during the reign of Queen Victoria, Private
Chimwere first saw action in Sir Harry Johnson’s campaign against chiefs who
resisted the imposition of British authority. His first posting abroad was to fight
in the Ashanti war in Ghana, and this was followed by campaigns in Kenya and
Zanzibar and then in Somaliland. During the KAR’s long and arduous Great War
struggle in East Africa with the German commander von Lettow-Vorbeck and his
schutztruppe, Juma Chimwere was wounded, decorated for gallantry and
promoted to the highest non-commissioned rank in the Regiment. Retirement and
a spell with the KAR Reserve followed a final two year posting to Tanzania.
Supplementing details from official military records with other archival