By Beatrice Bangula
Blantyre, August 28, Mana: Chewa Heritage Foundation (CHEFO) will on August 3, 2024 hold a ground breaking ceremony for the construction of its office and stadium at a function that will take place at Msampha Village in the area of Traditional Authority Chadza in Lilongwe.
Chewa Heritage Vice Chairperson who is also the organising committee chairperson for the ceremony, Dr. Sefelen Khumula told Malawi News Agency (Mana) in Blantyre on Saturday that the ceremony is for all the Chewas all over the world including other tribes.
“Despite being a ground breaking ceremony, this will also be part of fundraising for funds meant for the construction of CHEFO offices, our own stadium and other amenities,” he said.
“This is the place where our children will be able to learn the history of Chewa Tribe and culture.
We invite all the Chewas to this ceremony and also other tribes to appreciate our culture and support us in the fundraising drive, Khumula said.
CHEFO Publicity Secretary, Jimmy Chikuni said this is a very important ceremony which all the Chewas need to attend since its part of preparations for Kulamba ceremony which will be held in late August at Mkaika, Chewas Supreme Ruler Kalonga Gawa Undis Headquarters in Zambia.
“A lot of things will happen during the ground breaking ceremony, there will be different activities including Chewa Traditional Dances by different groups from which best performers will be selected to perform at Mkaika during the Chewa annual Kulamba festival where people from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia pay homage to King Gawa Undi,” Chikuni said.
Meeting as the Chewas is vital in order to move forward as a tribe, this is where we encourage each other and learn from one another,” he said.
“We have all the support from all Chewa chiefs; the chiefs have contributed a lot financially for this event,” he added.
Senior Chief Chilooko from Ntchisi said the purchase of the piece of land is a big relief to the Chewa Heritage and all the Chewas.
“At first we used to pay for venues for our events, now we have hope, we will have our own stadium for our activities. We have chosen to buy the land at the centre because it will be easy for the Chewas from the North and South to reach during events,” he said.
CHEFO has bought the land at Msampha Village through several fundraising activities.
