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| Entertainment |
| Society: Lucius has survived |
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by
Herbert Chandilanga, 11 November 2006
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06:13:34
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After the long circle—from home, through courts and prison and then back home where he now comfortably plans ahead—musician-cum-politician Lucius Banda says he does not accommodate any regrets.
He was on August 31 this year jailed for 21 months by the Zomba Magistrates Court for forging a Malawi School Certificate of Education and uttering a false document. But after an appeal, the High Court in Blantyre acquitted him on Tuesday.
The strong feeling that filled the air was that the arrest was politically-motivated, by President Bingu wa Mutharika’s own admission—tit-for-tat—for moving a bill to put in place procedures which Parliament would use to indict and impeach a president.
“People will one day sit down and contemplate. They will one day wake up to a situation where they shall have a President they want to impeach. It is when they will reflect on how important the impeachment procedures are,” he foresees.
He does not curse God for his stay in prison.
“I was whispered to on the essence of going to prison. God allowed me to go in there and see things with my own eyes,” he eases a little bit and smiles. “Maybe he saw that I had started singing love songs and wanted me to keep on fighting for the helpless. So he said: ‘Lucius, go and sing about prison’ and I had to see prison first.”
“I’m now closer to God than I was before. I now know the power of prayer and fasting. I’m a person who died and attended my own funeral,” he seems to laugh all the tribulations off.
But his sense of strength, being the Soldier he is touted to be, gives way to a realisation of how discomforting prison life can be.
“It is sad that in a democracy things haven’t changed. Prisons have gone to worst extremes that will make it difficult for prisoners to transform.
“I’m compiling experiences from what I recorded in my diary. I had good and bad times but obviously the bad ones must be more,” he turns to times he exercised social responsibility. “I’ve rescued many youths from homosexuality and also encouraged the sick and weary.”
He says the bad experiences include people living on one poor meal a day and sleeping uncomfortably and at awkward times.
“I had the support [in prison]. I must have broken the record because I would have visitors from the start to end of visiting hours. My party fellows visited me, so did other friends and relatives,” he says.
So, how did it feel to spend over a month without a show?
“It was unpleasant. I was jailed a day before I was expected to be in Chintheche, Nkhata Bay for the Lake of Stars international music festival. I’ve always wanted to be there and this would have been my first time.
“When I was arrested, the adverts ran and when I accessed the weekend papers, I looked at the adverts. It was painful. Most of all I thought about my band...its members. They are people who depend on me. They have families to run...it was sad,” he paints a word picture.
But he is back and ready to breathe more life in the band. The next question would be whether there is any truth behind the rumour that he will cut another album, Cell 51, a chronicle of his prison escapades.
“Sure, Cell 51 will come out soon. But it will extend beyond that cell which was my first in there. I was moved to Cell 53, previously occupied by Clive Macholowe.
“People must not expect a sombre product. It will be lively, a mixture of gospel and love songs. A man is only whole when he puts variety into his ways of doing things,” he says.
But the waiting must not be painful.
“One or two singles must come out in December. I had promised God I would sing a dedication to him if he made things work out in my favour. I must now honour the promise,” he says, revealing he will sing more of God, the most important ‘Man’.
Soon after Lucius went to prison, mice were out to play and his Survivors album was rocked by piracy. Pirated DVDs moulded the streetside.
“Sure, this resulted from my absence. It’ll stop, I’ll take care of it. I’m a fighter. I will cooperate with the Copyright Society of Malawi [Cosoma]...and I hope with my release, they have stopped it already. They know what I’m capable of doing,” he gets as militant as ever.
Another knock was the conspicuous absence of his music videos from the country’s only television station, the state run Malawi Television. Rumour had it that the ‘ban’ had links to Lucius’ political inclination—his allegiance to the opposition UDF.
Then recently, some of his militant songs disappeared from charts on the two state-run broadcasters—Radio One and Two.
“But this is sad. They are denying the taxpayer enjoyment of the songs. If this is the case, they have to ban all songs they think are a thorn in the flesh and let’s see who suffers. Actually the ban on my music videos was a blessing in disguise, it helped me sell plenty DVDs, perhaps the record ever set...over 2,000.”
He pours out praise on Radio One and Two DJs who “risked their bread and butter” to play his songs.
As he narrates his long story, his better half—Sunganani—who he declares has proved a strong woman in the course of tribulations, cuts him short and tells her tale.
She sighs, lost for words and a proper beginning.
She fetches from the many depressing experiences and singles out one, when the Information Minister Patricia Kaliati referred to Lucius’ conviction and sentence as “one of the normal occurrences”.
“I felt sorry hearing this from a fellow woman, a fellow mother who must know and understand better the tribulations a woman suffers in the absence of a husband and father,” she pauses, takes along breath and tells more:
“It was not easy trying to fetch for answers to my kids’ questions, asking “where daddy had gone.” The couple have two children, John, 10, and Laura, 6.
She says she was at a loss for solutions when the many people who used to get help from the parliamentarian were approaching her for assistance.
Lucius says some of the underprivileged kids he pays schools for were kicked out school in his absence.
“Among the many things I have to sort out, this is one of them,” he says, wrapping her giant arms around his nose, pulling her close in an assuring manner as if to say, “your man is here, relax.”
He had earlier on contemplated on how his wife, expecting their third child, would have felt without him.
At the end of it all, Soldier—as Lucius is fondly called—is back. But for now, he is planning to leave and jump the border for a moment, for a breather with his loved one where they will pay no water and electricity bills. |
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