Abstract

This thesis is an examination of the cultural resilience of the Ngoni under Inkosi Mpherembe in the north-western part of Mzimba District or Northern Ngoniland from late pre-colonial times to the recent post-independence period, in the face of challenges posed by Western Christianity and the Colonial as well as Post-Colonial States. It argues that unlike other Northern Ngoni groups or chiefdoms which underwent considerable deculturation under the impact of Western influence and the manipulations of the post-independent state in Malawi, the Ngoni of Mpherembe were and have been able to retain and in some respects even reinforce basic elements of their Ngoni-ness. These include Singoni (the language) which is still spoken only in that part of Malawi; the institution of Sangweni (Men’s Corner within a village community) as a venue for socialising young males; the Umthimba or Lobola system of marriage; strong etiquette relations between different generations and sexes; and many more. It explains the factors and agents accounting for the resilience in question in several ways. One of these being that the Ngoni under Mpherembe remained a peregrinating and cohesive community for much longer during the late 19th century than the other Northern Ngoni groups. To this factor was added their relative geographical isolation, following settlement in their present homeland, from the main centres of Missionary Christianity and Colonial State activity in Northern Ngoniland. Following Christian missionary intrusion, Mpherembe’s area was further lucky, culturally, to have been blessed with Ngoni evangelists like Peter Zimema Thole who were Singoni enthusiasts, fully committed to preaching and singing in the Ngoni language. And, in recent post-independence times, the Ngoni of Mpherembe were able to benefit from and capitalise on the cultural policies of Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda, the first head of state. The Ngoni generally and those of Mpherembe in particular profited from the fact that Dr. Banda was keen to promote the Ngoni war dance, Ingoma, and the praise-singing that went with it, for the political uses to which they could be put. Thus, with different motives in mind, the Banda regime and the Ngoni of Mpherembe converged toward the promotion of Ngoni cultural consciousness in the 1970s and 1980s.

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School	: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issued Date	: 2011

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