Reading Time: 3 minutesThose who follow classical music will be familiar with one of its most remarkable works, Handel’s Messiah. Messiah was composed by the German-born George Frideric Handel in 1741. By then, Handel had settled in England and was living on Brook Street in London, where he remained for the rest of his life. Messiah is an oratorio: in simple terms,

Reading Time: 3 minutesDr Kamuzu Banda did not mince words about the Central African Federation, which sought to bring together the two Rhodesias and Nyasaland. He dismissed it as “the stupid federation”. In his characteristically flowery and ornamental Chichewa, John Msonthi would render this as “chitaganya chonunkha” — literally, a stinky federation. The fact that the Federation was

Reading Time: 3 minutesSeparating conjoined twins has always been one of the most formidable challenges in surgery. When twins are joined at the head and share vital blood vessels, the complexity becomes almost unimaginable, and any attempt to separate them can place both lives in grave jeopardy. The Binder twins of Germany, then West Germany, Patrick and Benjamin,

Reading Time: 3 minutesMy maternal uncle left for Southern Rhodesia in the 1950s, before I was born. He eventually found employment on a farm owned by a white settler. After some time, however, he returned to Nyasaland on holiday, and his stay gradually became indefinite. His employer, growing impatient at the prolonged absence of his trusted servant, drove

Reading Time: 3 minutesMy sister and her husband adopted three children of a deceased relative and welcomed them into their home in Lumbadzi about a decade ago. The eldest of the three, a nine-year-old boy called Bright, proved to be something of a complex character. For instance, he would sell the exercise books and pens my sister had

Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Olympic Games are now over. Our meagre participation as a nation produced equally meagre results. The sole exception was the netball team, which held its own among the best in the world and emerged with considerable dignity. Beyond that, we entered very few competitors in most of the events. I suspect this has less

Reading Time: 3 minutesTime and again, I have heard or read the sweeping claim that black Africa has contributed nothing of significance to world civilisation. For some non-Africans, this conviction appears so deeply entrenched that whenever historical evidence emerges pointing to African ingenuity or achievement, it is instinctively dismissed as fabrication or, if reluctantly acknowledged, attributed to some

Reading Time: 3 minutesIn 2014, a Belgian gentleman in his late fifties made a determined search for me in Blantyre. Unfortunately, his efforts proved fruitless because I was then based in Lilongwe, serving a three-year contract with the Government. Time and again, he called at the Polytechnic, where he had been assured he would find me. Eventually, a

Reading Time: 3 minutesA few years ago, I built a prototype electric bell based on the principle of electromagnetic induction. I wound a length of fine wire many times around two steel nails, turning them into simple electromagnets that would attract a metal strip, fixed at one end, whenever current from a battery was applied. As the strip

Reading Time: 3 minutesIn Malawi’s produce markets, an astonishing variety of fruit is sold throughout the year, although its availability is dictated entirely by the seasons. One season brings an abundance of mangoes, which remain plentiful for several months. During the same period, masuku (Uapaca kirkiana) also make their appearance. Earlier in the year, another cherished local delicacy—the