Mutende Cultural Ensemble

Mutende Cultural Ensemble is a Zambian cultural music group formed in 1978 towards the end of the Zamrock era.

History and origin

The group was started in Buchi Township in Kitwe, Copperbelt and was initially called Mutende Theatre. By then, the group was just performing drama and poetry with its original members being Albert Sokoloni Kapwaya, Albert Nobbie Katebe, Tom Zulu, Tulani Nyathi, Boniface Simwanza, Charles Phiri and Maxwell.

As a group of innovative youths, they decided to form a drama group that became known as Mutende Theatre, which was based at the Buchi Community Hall under the Kitwe City Council.

During its earlier days, the group was also involved in football, boxing and karate.

Mutende participated in different drama festivals both at district, provincial and national levels, winning numerous coveted awards. The group also introduced a variety of cultural dances. A lot of artistes later passed through Mutende’s singing, dancing, drumming, and acting initiatives, before the group decided to venture into the music industry full time. This led to the change of name from 'Mutende Theatre to Mutende Cultural Ensemble,

But before the group was rebranded, some of the members were recruited into the mandatory Zambia National Service (ZNS) camp based in Kafue. Most these members later went to form a drama and cultural dance troupe while the likes of Charles remained with the outfit in Kitwe where he recruited other new members to Mutende Ensemble.

Main references

• Mutende Cultural Ensemble lives on, Zambia Daily Mail, 7 July 2017