‘JB’, ‘Atcheya’ meet over maize scarcity
Former presidents ‘Joyce Banda’ and ‘Bakili Muluzi’ met on Sunday in Blantyre to dramatise the problems currently facing the country.
This was during Kenneth Khondiwa’s poetry album launch held at Chrichi Multipurpose Gardens in Chitawira where presidential mimickers Frank ‘Atcheya’ Naligonje and Kenwoood ‘Aunt Gate’ Sambalika stole the show with their set.
With Aunt Gate playing the role of Banda and Naligonje that of Muluzi, the two thespians took it to the podium to address some of the problems dogging the country such as the maize scarcity facing the country.
“Sapano inu amayi mukuti mulibe pulobulemu yet ana anu akugona ndi njala mynumba mwanu. Tiziti mutu wanu ukugwira? [Don’t you see that there is hunger marauding in the country?]” Naligonje addressed Khondiwa, mimicking Muluzi’s amid ululation from the audience.
In her attempt to clear herself from the maize scarcity, Aunt Gate went on to blame people for the chaos, attracting stitches of laughter from patrons.
Clad in People’s Party (PP) and United Democratic Front’s (UDF) colours, the two went on to exchange words and sell their political manifestos.
Asked to justify his position on the matter, Naligonje said artists have an obligation to address and interpret current issues.
“As artists, we move with time. We do this to be relevant to the issues of the day. So, we thought it wise to address the issue of maize scarcity through our performance,” said Naligonje.
He said the shortage of maize has hit hard Malawians, especially rural masses that are finding it hard to access the staple.
“We are urging politicians to be proactive not reactive to the issue of food security in the country. They need to foresee such issues before they get out of hand and start ‘politicking’ about them,” said Naligonje.
