1. THE CHEWA PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE

A thread.......

ChiChewa is recognised as an official language in terms of the constitution of Zimbabwe. ChiChewa is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe & Mozambique. (Adventist ladies singing in ChiChewa - Malawi)

2. The first generation of people of Malawian/Zambian origin came to Rhodesia between the1930s & 1950s to work in mines and farms. Some of the Chewa people also came from Zambia. The ChiChewa dialect spoken in Zambia is known as ChiNyanja. (An old ChiNyanja hit! ).

3. Not all Malawian descendants in Zimbabwe are Chewa nor are all ChiChewa speakers Malawians. Thus, many Malawian migrants do not belong to the Chewa ethnic genealogy, but they speak the general ChiChewa language.Some are Manganja, Yao, Nguru/Lomwe, Angoni or Tumbuka.

4. Some Chewa people in Zimbabwe still practice a spiritual cultural practice known as Gule Wamkulu/ Nyau dances (izitandari/zvigure). The Gule Wamkulu institution has an aim of transforming their members into an exalted status of adulthood as well as entertaining the audience.

5. Many Malawians/Zambians are now integrated into the Zimbabwean social fabric through intermarriages & acculturation that has happened over the decades. ChiChewa was taught in Rhodesia up to Standard 6 but this stopped after independence.

6.ChiChewa speakers are found in mines like Alaska, Trojan, Wankie, Shamva, Madziba, Mazoe, Acturus, Antelope & Mangura mines.They are also found in Triangle & Hippo Valley sugar plantations.Former Zambian president Rupiah Banda was born & raised in the Gwanda mining town.

7. In Harare, they are concentrated in Mufakose, Mabvuku & Tafara. In Bulawayo, they are concentrated in Sizinda, Matshobana, Makhokhoba, Njube, Tshabalala & Luveve. Some of these townships like Sizinda are railway workers' communities.

8. ChiChewa music is played in Zimbabwe by artists like Nicholas Zakaria, Alick Macheso, Daiton Somanje etc. People of Malawian/Zambian descent have dominated football circles in Zimbabwe in top clubs like Highlanders / Dynamos for decades.

9. At some point during the colonial era between 1953 & 1963 Zimbabwe, Zambia & Malawi were a federation of countries known as the the Federation of Rhodesia & Nyasaland. The official languages of the federation were English, Ndebele, Shona, Chewa & Bemba.

10. ChiChewa programmes & news are broadcast on National FM. A ChiChewa community radio station is earmarked for Shamva because of the dominant ChiChewa community in the area.

11. SOURCES
- Migrant Chewa Identities and their Construction through Gule Wamkulu/Nyau Dances in Zimbabwe : Anusa Daimon
- The Politics of Language & Nation Building in Zimbabwe : Finex Ndhlovu
- Malawian Zimbabwean : Pedzisai Mashiri
- http://www.radiovop.com/minister-mutsvangwa-unveils-community-radio-stations/