The rules at this year\u2019s \u2018Katambalale wa Alakatuli\u2019 poetry show were not set in stone.<\/p>\n
That is why poet Raphael Sitima stormed the stage clad in costume. In fact, he appeared on stage dressed like a woman. It was, of course, for a purpose.<\/p>\n
He wrapped several pieces of cloth around his waist. The clothes were party regalia worn by Democratic Progressive Party, United Democratic Front, People\u2019s Party and Malawi Congress Party women.<\/p>\n
It would have been easy to dismiss him as a poetry fraud when he started with the poem \u2018Mkazi ndi Gaga Saundika\u2019, a direct attack on women\u2019s behaviour.<\/p>\n
Not known to the audience was the fact that Sitima had something up his sleeve: a poem titled \u2018Chala Changa\u2019, in which a persona bemoans the betrayal of voters\u2019 trust by public officials, who detach themselves from their campaign promises the moment they are elected into positions.<\/p>\n
By implication (gauging by the colours of Sitima\u2019s pieces of clothes), the betrayers are political party officials\u2014 which, of course, leaves independent candidates untouched, and untouchable.<\/p>\n
Sitima\u2019s act sums up the levels of flexibility\u2014 in terms of performers, topics, and genres\u2014 that characterised \u2018Katambalale wa Alakatuli\u2019 show held Sunday at Mibawa Multi-Purpose Hall in Blantyre.<\/p>\n
Music\u2014 offered by Mibawa Band\u2014 jokes (epitomised through Mr Jokes), dance moves (offered without reservations by while G.y.v. Dancing Crew), and poetry recitals, which came handy courtesy of Henry Master, Samuel Chiputula, Joseph Madzedze, Kenneth Khondiwa, Samuel Joseph, Sitima, among others, were a main part of the menu on a sunny afternoon.<\/p>\n
It can be said, as well, that the \u2018silent\u2019 performer was the audience that turned up in droves\u2014 so much so that anticipation and heat filled the Multi-Purpose Hall in equal measure.<\/p>\n
Khondiwa recited poems such as \u2018Tisewere ndi Mama\u2019, \u2018Wakana Satana\u2019, \u2018Maloto\u2019, among others; Chiputula offered \u2018Ndapezanso Kanga ka Chi Alubino\u2019; Madzedze dished ou t \u2018Muwalangize Anawa\u2019, \u2018Achimwene Anga ku Tawuni\u2019, \u2018Ndikutenga Ukhale Wanga\u2019, \u2018Mayeso a ku Usilikali\u2019, \u2018Achikabudula\u2019, \u2018Changa Changa Nde Iweyo\u2019, among others; Joseph recited \u2018Tisamampatse Busy Mulungu\u2019, \u2018Timafoyila Pati?\u2019, \u2018Ndikufuna wa Pa Facebook Yemwe Uja\u2019, among others.<\/p>\n
Madalitso Nyambo, who travelled all the way from Dedza District, covered his own mile with jokes, Hudson Chamasowa and Mr Jokes also had their own time while digital lights cast shadows of light on them.<\/p>\n
Those who took unnecessarily long on the stage, a good case being Mr Jokes, were \u2018politely\u2019 chased from the stage to pave way for others.<\/p>\n
One of the organisers of the event, Mollen Nazombe, said this year\u2019s event was very important in the sense that it marked the fifth time, and fifth year, they have held the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, we will hold our fifth anniversary in March, where a lot of poets and comedians and what have you, will perform. In addition, we are heading to Lilongwe this March because we want to share the fun,\u201d Nazombe said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The rules at this year\u2019s \u2018Katambalale wa Alakatuli\u2019 poetry show were not set in stone. That is why poet Raphael Sitima stormed the stage clad in costume. In fact, he appeared on stage dressed like a woman. It was, of course, for a purpose. He wrapped several pieces of cloth around his waist. The clothes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39872,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39867\/revisions\/39872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}