The Bodyguard’s Banishment to Nthalire.How cruel Malawians treat each other in government departments.Working in medieval dark ages in Nyasaland.At that time at MRA Customs and Excise Dept, you could be in trouble for mounting a DSTV dish on the roof of your house.

The Bodyguard’s Banishment to Nthalire.

How cruel Malawians treat each other in government departments.

Working in medieval dark ages in Nyasaland.

At that time at MRA Customs and Excise  Dept, you could be in trouble for mounting a DSTV dish on the roof of your house. 

While at Chitipa, we heard that some officer was sent to Marka Nyathando border post in Nsanje because,,, fellow officers had reported to the old school seniors that he had a satellite tv dish at home.

 

The seniors didn’t even have the courtesy to ask how  he managed to purchase that television dish… they just handed him a transfer letter to Marka. Marka Nyathando border post in Nsanje was one of the worst places they could send an officer to just to punish him.

And those demons who sent that officer there were commenting,,, “Yeah, we will see how he is going to watch his television at Marka Nyathando with his tv dish.” 

Well to give you a picture of how Marka Nyathando was back then,,,, just magine all rogue border posts had dodgy but simple names like Chiponde, Mqocha, Chisenga, Katumbi etc… but Marka was special. It had even its own surname…. Marka Nyathando.

And that’s the first place they would think of  dispatching an officer to...if they really didn’t like him.

When the demons  got rid of that officer, they satisfyingly remarked, “How could he buy a dish? He should have started with a TV Malawi aerial then move to Multi Choice Arial (Kachiwaya).”

For them a junior officer was not entitled to good life.

We heard when another officer was transferred there,,,, his wife refused to stay there and returned to Blantyre. 

Because of all this petty jealousy,,, officers were afraid to buy stuff like tvs etc for the fear of the reprisals.

A rumour was going around that one officer hid his satellite dish behind his house for the fear of being reported.

One day Suzgo the lad I was living with in Chitipa asked me, “Abraz.. Kodi inu BTs munalibe DSTV? Chikhala munali nayo sibwenzi titaonera Euro ikubwera July’ yi?” (in his Mzimba accent)

I didnt answer his question.

I had DSTV set which was just laying idle at my bros place in Blantyre. I sent him a message to send me that DSTV set. 

My brother sent it to the Karonga New Building Society Office together with my upright tall ‘Supreme’ refrigerator.

Well, I forgot to tell you we never had refrigerators in Chitipa,, only a few rich families at Chitipa had them… apart from the bottlestores.

To keep pots of food like.. "ndiwo" from going bad overnight,,,we had to use the old school method,,, heat the ndiwo and place the pot in a basin of cold water on the floor. 

That was our trusted fridge which kept our ndiwo from going bad overnight.

There was one interesting character at Chitipa at that time, Mapopa. You could not have visited Chitipa at that time with encountering Mapopa… or his elder brother. 

Mapopa was a young man who used to be at the centre  of most of the troubles happening at Chitipa at that time.

He could cause all sorts of problems that affected the work of the Customs Office in those days. Every Officer hated Mapopa until one day when by chance or fate I met him in Karonga, drunk with him and offered him a lift back to Chitipa.

Mapopa was happy to have a ride in that Customs and Excise land rover and admitted, “Ah aka nkoyamba kukwera galimoto ya Boma, bwana.” I assured him that would not be his last if he stopped causing trouble.

Mapopa became my good friend and a very good informer of the smugglers’ activities.

When UDF opened their office at Chitipa, they gave them a yellow pick up. Mapopa became the driver of that pick up.

Mapopa one day overheard me arranging transport to carry my fridge and DSTV set from Karonga and he went, “Ahh , Bwana ndikatenga katundu wanu.”

True to his word he took  the UDF pick up and brought my things. On his way back from Karonga to Chitipa,,, everybody was asking Mapopa, “Ni vichi ichi?”  “Who is the owner of that tall fridge?”

When Mapopa brought my things, I  mounted the DSTV on top of my house without fear or remorse... and  switched the tv on...

Boom the English premiership was on..… Suzgo didn’t go to school for 2 days and I didn’t go to work as well. 

The following morning we connected the fridge… and that sweet sound of a refrigerator was so satisfying. 

No more ancient ways to keep our ndiwo.

Yours truly rebel leader captured at his colonial residence in Chitipa that time.

They say the house was built in 1932 for the colonial District Commissioner. 

To be continued…🔥