By Dickson Mumba
The Kamuzu mystery continues and promises to have a far more dramatic and intriguing ending, and for me the end to this mytery is in sight. When Jumani (MHSRIEP) first surfaced almost a decade ago many Malawians marveled at the striking resemblance to Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the late Ngwazi, the young man bore
At the same time the Kasungu family dismissed him as an imposter, a crook, a conman and the all familiar ‘Kamuzu had no children’, as if Malawians needed to be reminded.
Yes, we all grew up and grew old knowing Kamuzu had no children. And yet the family thought it wise to remind us of the ‘seemingly’ obvious fact. What the family failed to do though was to dismiss or take away the resemblance Jumani had with Kamuzu let alone explain it convincingly.
Fast forward to January 2019, Jumani mysterious and suddenly dies and another ‘Kamuzu son’ surfaces not only with the same striking resemblance but also, and most importantly, with revelations he is not alone. Now the story is just beginning! This reminded me of some rumours that I used to hear while growing up. That “Kamuzu’s children lived abroad”.
I am not sure how the family will choose to comment on these recent developments. But one thing is now certain, unless Kamuzu’s private life and the mystery that still characterises him are unmasked, these claims will not be buried with Jumani. I saw some ‘claim’ that puts the number at 7, all sons.
Now that’s even more intriguing! Rather than continue being dismissive, the family would do Malawi, and themselves, a lot of justice by engaging with all these ‘sons’ and establish the truth about their claims. Some quarters have suggested that perhaps the family is afraid that these sons will lay claim to Kamuzu’s vast estate. I doubt that this can be so.
These men seem to be all grown up and appear not to have been brought up in poverty. They also seem to have gone to very good schools by international standards. So who was responsible for ‘this’ upbringing? So maybe Kamuzu may already have provided for their upkeep.
Maybe these ‘grownup boys’ simply want to set the record straight, that they are Kamuzu’s children. Not the money! But let’s not forget that there has always been strong speculation Kamuzu may not have been Malawian after all. There have been stories about one chief Mwase who, it is claimed, vehemently denied the Ngwazi was his ‘son’.
There is one Banda in Ghana who is a Kamuzu lookalike. Are the resemblance and the name a mere coincidence? Could the nationality of Kamuzu be the real reason for the continued mystery of his life even after ‘the Lion’ has been asleep for two decades? The only thing that we can say for certain about Kamuzu is that he ruled Malawi for 31 years.
The rest is a mystery! Come to think of it, why would some 40+ old men claim they are someone’s children just for the money? Am begging to think differently. Perhaps we need a commission of enquiry to summon all persons, alive today, who were close to Kamuzu to tell the Nation what the rest of us don’t know about Kamuzu.
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