Ma Blacks irk KK fans after 11 postponements

Malawi’s respected reggae band, Black Missionaries faces accusations of receiving money from two church choirs as well as a club in Dwangwa, Nkhotakota, but failed to turning up for shows for 11 consecutive schedules, Malawi News Agency (Mana) can reveal.

Mana has observed that Black Missionaries Band, from September to November last year, received K1.2 million (about $1 769) from Dwangwa Club, K450 000 (about $663) from Nkhunga Chikondano CCAP Women’s Choir and K400 000 (about $589) from Nkhunga Divine Mercy Catholic Church Choir as payment for different shows, but they did not turn up for even a single performance.

The band kept on postponing the agreed dates up until the groups were fed up.

While Nkhunga Chikondano CCAP Women’s Choir managed to receive part of the money from the Blacks as refund, Nkhunga Divine Mercy Catholic Church Choir and Dwangwa Club management are yet to get their cash.

Chairperson for Dwangwa Club, Steve Chapola, said he is disappointed with the Black Missionaries as there has been no communication to substantiate the group’s failure to honour their performances.

He said their club will involve lawyers if the Black Missionaries does not refund their payments.

“We first agreed to have a show on November 28 2015 only to learn that they had set aside the same date for the Matafale Memorial show. Anjiru [Fumulani] kept on insisting they would come for a show until a day before the event when he acknowledged they would not make it.

“We postponed the show to December 4 2015, but it did not work because he was sick. And again the event was shifted to January 1 2016. This show also failed to take place because they had a breakdown. We hired vehicles to where they were stuck, but they refused to accompany us,” said a concerned-looking Chapola.

The chairperson emphasised that they want a refund of K1.2 million despite other expenses incurred such as fuel, advertising and other logistics.

Chikondano Choir secretary Florence Manjawira said out of the K450 000 they deposited into the Black Missionaries Band’s bank account, the Blacks only refunded K400 000.

“We are still pressurising them through Nkhunga Police Station to refund the balance. We paid them in September, but they refunded us late December,” she said.

In a separate interview with Mana, director for Divine Mercy Choir, Hendrix Mtiwala, who claimed the band did not fulfill their agreement between August 2015 and January 1 this year, said he personally refused to receive a refund from the band because they had invested a lot in advertising and other logistics into the preparation of the show.

“The show has been postponed for five good times. During all those periods, I had to travel to different destinations to meet band members for preparations. There were times we met in Blantyre and Mzuzu. We also marketed the show through newspapers, posters and radios.

“I refused to get the money because they wanted to refund when I was alone and I felt they were supposed to refund all the expenses which had so far accumulated to K1.3 million. They wanted to give back K400 000,” he said.

He advised the band to live by their promises adding:  “They should not be greedy with money. Moreover, what was wrong with them telling us that they were engaged?”

Black Missionaries Band leader Anjiru Fumulani confirmed the developments with Mana during a phone interview, saying that they indeed postponed the three shows on several occasions, but the reasons behind the withdrawal are concrete and valid.

“It is indeed a sad development, but we could not do it just to disappoint our fans, we love them and we will perform. As for Dwangwa Club, we are waiting for management to tell us what they agree, we will follow suit whether to have another date for the show or to refund the money,” he said.

The band leader said the crew refunded all the money to the women.

“I am sure the person whom we sent to refund the K50 000 delivered it to them in cash,” he said.

Black Missionaries promoter Jai Banda said he is not aware of the band’s agreement with the choirs, but admitted he is aware that Dwangwa Club wanted a refund.

“I am aware the band wanted to make other arrangements with Dwangwa Club, but the management refused because they have postponed the show for a number of times. I ask the Blacks to honour their agreement,” said Jai. n