Corruption, tribalism and democracy: coded messages in Wambali Mkandawire's popular songs in Malawi

Critical Arts, July, 2009 by Reuben Chirambo

Contemporary popular music in Malawi raises the problems of corruption and tribalism to reveal their endemic nature. It challenges the views of the ruling groups, who deny that corruption or tribalism exist in the country. Popular musicians essentially express the frustrations of the ordinary people, who are the main victims of such ills. Lucius Banda (popular musician-cum-politician, affectionately known as 'Soldier'), for example, in his songs of the 1990s (before joining the UDF in government), described corruption and regionalism (tribalism) as probably the major problems affecting the entire Malawian society, since the advent of democracy (Chirambo 2002). He cites, amongst others, the violence that erupted in 1999 following the announcement that the UDF and Bakili Muluzi had won the elections, as a case in point. Northerners attacked southerners in some parts of the north, asking them to return to their home region, and accusing them of stealing the elections to put Muluzi back in the president's office. Though the violence was by no means widespread, it nevertheless showed that electoral violence, based on tribal differences, is a potential reality in Malawi.

In this article, I discuss Wambali Mkandawire's presentation of the problems of corruption and tribalism in Malawi, in the following songs: 'Ulimbo na Phula' and 'Mutipulike' [Hear us] from his album Zani Muwone (2002), and 'Katoto' from Kavuluvulu (1991). These are amongst the songs that articulate more profoundly the specific meaning of corruption and tribalism, within the mode of coded meanings. Wambali's coded messages in metaphors define and describe corruption and tribalism as two of the major, chronic problems in Malawi.

On corruption: 'Ulimbo na Phula' (1)

In the song 'Ulimbo na Phula,' Ulimbo refers to a type of glue tapped from glue-producing trees. Young boys mostly use the glue to trap birds, just as it can be used to hold things together. To make traps for birds a generous layer of ulimbo is applied around a stick which is then tied to a tree branch. Then winged ants are set on the glue, using one leaf of the wings, so that they should try to escape with the remaining wings. As the winged ants flap to free themselves, they attract birds which, to catch the ants, have to settle on the stick smeared with ulimbo. Once they settle on the stick, the birds too are caught by the ulimbo. The boys then easily catch the birds and set the traps again. Phula, in this song, refers to the tar used in building tarmac roads: this specific tarmac road is the Northern Corridor between Dar-es-Salaam Port in Tanzania, and Chilumba on Lake Malawi in Malawi. The road, which passes through Karonga district headquarters in Malawi, is meant to facilitate the flow of goods from the ocean port in Tanzania. The road was built into a highway during the 1980s, when RENAMO soldiers fought against the FRELIMO-led government in Mozambique. The war disrupted the route to Nacala Port in Mozambique, the nearest and cheapest port for landlocked Malawi. Dares-Salaam, through the Northern Corridor, became the alternative port for imports to and exports from Malawi. For Wambali, the road also facilitates corruption in that it enables cross-border traders to travel with ease between his country and Tanzania, and bribe customs officials at the borders. Within ulimbo and phula in the title, therefore, are encoded messages that corruption is like a trap that ensnares its victims. The tarmac road, facilitating the easy movement of goods and people, therefore, is a mark of development, but it also has the potential for abuse and corrupt practices.