The dynamite voice Verson Idi

Dynamite comes in small packages, so they say. While some view this adage as just a patter, there are a few living proof of that.

And it could not come as a coincidence that the entertainment industry provided that particular person.

In Malawi, just as is the case elsewhere, broadcasters are supposed to entertain. Anyone coming short of this attribute is in the wrong job.

But it becomes another issue altogether when a country’s media industry unearths a gem that has entertained, impressed and swayed myriads with his pleasant, yet nonchalant voice over the years.

His simple, small demeanor and stature envelops such a powerful voice that when it booms from a radio set, one is bound to stop everything and listen attentively to one man blessed with such a powerful voice on the other end.

“The news read by Verson Idi. First the headlines…” his voice roars on radio, with such pleasurable diction, grammar and tempo. Each word is heard separately and so are the vowels and consonants.

Just over 60 years ago on October 24, the family of Peter Charles Idi of Mapemba Village, Traditional Authority Kuntaja in Blantyre gave birth to their first born son whom they named Verson.

Being from Chileka, home to Malawi’s second largest airport, young Verson’s dream was to be a pilot.

“Our home is close to Chileka Airport and I was fascinated by planes flying over our village every now and then so that I wished I could fly one of them. It then happened that soon after my Cambridge School Certificate at St. Patrick’s Secondary School in Limbe, in the early 1970s, I joined Air Malawi right at Chileka Airport.

“But the going was tough, all of the pilots were Europeans and they gave me tough lessons in weather reading and Geography so much so that it was no longer possible for me to fly. I was left as one of the traffic officers on ground. Fortunately, I travelled quite a lot on duty on Air Malawi planes in and out of Malawi. During my flights, I admired those making announcements in the plane and wondered how they managed to do it while flying the plane,” recollects Idi.

This passion about people making announcements in the plane drew him towards a new obsession.

“So, in the late 1970s, my parents advised me that it was only on radio where I could effectively communicate with people. Luck was with me in that when I applied to join Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), I was successful in the interviews and started working as a translator under the supervision of the late Richard Paliani,” he says.

His first goal, having joined MBC, was to have Chichewa versions of programmes such as Spotlight on Africa, International Crossroads and Dawn Over Malawi.

Recollects Idi: “I introduced the translations which Paliani approved as Africa Sabata Ino, Nkhani Za Uku Ndi Uku for International Crossroads and Dawn Over Malawi for Tsopano Kwacha. Slowly, I was allowed to present these programmes until I finally settled on Nkhani Za Uku Ndi Uku. I then mastered the rules of the microphone so much so that I developed an interest in reading news.”

In the late 1970s, Idi was awarded a scholarship to study news and current affairs at Radio Netherlands.

In the years following, he was promoted to head of news and current affairs at MBC.

In the early 1980s, MBC was looking for someone to sell news and programmes on air. And the opportunity fell on Idi. He moved from News and Current Affairs to Business Affairs where he rose to head the unt.

He narrates: “I worked for a good four years. The interesting thing was that while at MBC, I worked in almost every department except engineering although I was able to record some of the programmes myself, which was then a job for the then said department.”

Idi also headed the Training and Human Resources and Research and Development departments.

One of the selling points for Idi is his news reading. He is a full package who gives the impression of someone who must have gone through preparations before sitting in front of a microphone.

“One needed a sober mind to be behind a microphone because the bosses then hated mistakes on air, bad pronunciations and poor preparedness,” he breaks it down. “Such was the discipline I went through that it taught me to hate making mistakes on air. It was a habit to listen to top presenters and news readers on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Sky News and Voice of America (VOA). Not to copy them, but learn from them.”

For him, news reading is a talent, but it is also a skill which one can learn and master through training.

His experience at MBC made him grasp a number of openings that resulted in him acquiring more knowledge.

Idi left MBC in 1999, hoping to set-up a radio station, but his severance pay was not enough to fund such an ambitious project.

In 2000, the then president, Bakili Muluzi enlisted Idi and three other friends to plan and launch Joy Radio.

“I was grateful for that recognition. It was the president’s wish then to have a radio station, TV and newspaper all under Joy, but we only concentrated on the radio part of it under the supervision of Henry Chirwa who was also my boss at some stage at MBC,” he says.

After four years at Joy Radio, where he was head of programmes, Idi moved to help establish Mulhako wa Lhomwe Radio, a project which is yet to see the light of day.

In 2007, he joined Star Radio as director of news, programmes and marketing. Coincidentally, Star Radio was owned by the same person who also owned Matindi FM.

“He asked me to move to Matindi FM as its programmes head where I continued to present programmes and read news. But in 2010, the CCAP Blantyre Synod asked me to come and get settled here as its station manager. My wish is to see this radio station covering the whole country and add on a TV station before I leave,” he says.

But what is the trick to his longevity?

“Good food, drinks among others, help one to keep their voice steady as mine has been,” is his answer. In December, Idi was voted as MBC’s 2014 Legendary Broadcaster and News Reader.

“I want to retire happily and be remembered as a broadcaster who always wanted nothing but the best behind the microphone, a broadcaster who hated mistakes on air who does not want to copy others but just be a proud Malawian,” he said.