The Sunday News
A SOMBRE atmosphere pervaded the colossal dining hall. It was as if there was a coffin that was expected soon to make some appearance before the congregation. The school choir, conducted by a young lady clad in a light blue blouse and grey skirt belted out the tune I Surrender All to Jesus. Three ceiling fans churned the air to mitigate the sweltering heat from the blazing October sun.
Now and then bleating goats and croaking hens ruptured the apparent tranquility beyond the wall of rustic bricks. Indeed, there was a funerary atmosphere all around. The setting is Inyathi Mission of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) where last Sunday there was a memorial service for the late Ken Maltus Smith, a former head of the school who passed on in England where he lived in retirement.
The memorial service at Inyathi Mission preceded the one that was held in Norwich the following day. Inyathi Mission was established in 1859 when Dr Reverend Robert Moffat of the London Missionary Society (LMS) led a team of missionaries to found the first mission station in Matabeleland.
Several former Inyathi Mission students gathered to remember the man who played no mean part in shaping their future. Among them were the following: Moffat Ndlovu the former Bulawayo Town Clerk, Roger Muhlwa, Joshua Mpofu, Mrs Gina Madlela, Agrippa Madlela, Mrs Vivian Ncube, Brian Mzana Mthimkhulu, Bekithemba Lusinga, Obadiah Moyo and Zwelibanzi Mzilethi. Also present was Ms Marieke Clarke from Oxford who was a teacher at the school between 1963 and 1965 when she was deported by the Ian Smith regime for her anti-settler views.
The local community also came out in full force to remember the man who played a crucial role in improving the lot of the Inyathi community. Jeremiah Macelegwana Khabo, Josiah Dube, Enoch Bhebhe, Mr Maqeda, Elias Ncube and the local chief Mtshane Khumalo were present. The DH was packed to capacity with students who, though they did not see Ken Smith, had, however, learnt a lot about the man who was principal of Inyathi Mission before their own mothers and fathers were born. Reverend S Mhlanga delivered the day’s sermon.
By 11am the hall was jam packed. Dr Reverend S Mpofu the head of the United Theological College and chairperson of the UCCSA Education Board gave the opening prayer and later gave an account of what the special Sunday service was all about. What then followed were witness accounts from former students of Inyathi Mission who passed through the hands of Ken Maltus Smith. The first to do so was Roger Muhlwa who arrived at Inyathi Mission in 1968 to do Form 3 at the time when Smith was the Principal. After sitting the Cambridge School Certificate examination in 1969 he was appointed school clerk by Ken Smith who had the previous year appointed him deputy captain at the time when Millias Palayiwa was the school captain. The following account is drawn to a large extent from what Mr Muhlwa delivered during the memorial service.
Inyathi Mission School for boys started in 1921 and by the 1950s it had three distinct components. There was the Central Primary School offering standards 4, 5 and 6 where Mr Mdluli was the head; the Industrial School offering post Standard Six training in carpentry whose instructor was Planks Kgosidintsi (this component was later moved out of Inyathi), Leatherwork where Yilo Gumede was the instructor and Building which was taught by Mr Masola. The final component was the secondary school which opened in 1953 with Peter Sivalo Mahlangu as teacher. Mahlangu was among the very early African university graduates in Southern Rhodesia having graduated from Fort Hare in South Africa. At the time the students were doing a three year South African Junior Certificate course. Coming on stream then was the two-year Rhodesia Junior Certificate (RJC) to be followed by a further two years leading to the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate Examinations.
In the following year, that is 1954, Ken Smith arrived at Inyathi Mission with his wife to teach at the secondary school. His wife taught Mathematics. Those were the days, recalled Ken Smith in his reminiscences with Roger last year, when school boys used to go and harvest the maize crop on the school farm and also to douse the fires on the nearby Ndumba Hill. In the same year of 1954 in August Reverend Walden went on furlough to England pending his move to Dombodema Mission, another London Missionary Society (LMS) institution west of Plumtree Town.
The Reverend FF Shaw arrived at Inyathi Mission to become Principal. The 1950s were politically volatile. Questions were being posed as to whether Africans were to be granted independence or not. Garfield Todd the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia gave hope for African advancement through the Five Year Development Plan. There was a lot of hope for African education and political enfranchisement. Soon thereafter there was radicalisation of white political opinion. Prime Minister Edgar Whitehead proscribed the Joshua Nkomo-led Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC). On 16 February a State of emergency was declared and on 10 March 1959 one of the Inyathi students, Aleke Banda was taken by the police and deported to Nyasaland (now Malawi) where he came from. Inyathi Mission at the time attracted students from several countries such as Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and Nyasaland.
In 1957 the Inyathi Form 2 boys performed the Shakespearean play Macbeth. Walter Mthimkhulu and Noah Maseko were some of the students who took part in the play performed under the numerous amachithamuzi trees within the school grounds. In the same year the school, through the industrial students, started constructing dormitories for girls. In that year the Form 2 boys sat the Rhodesia Junior Certificate examinations for the first time. When the year came to a close it witnessed some changes to the programmes on offer at the school. Standards 4 and 5 were moved to the district schools. Standard 6 was only moved out at the end of 1961. Reverend John Shaw was appointed to a post in Salisbury (now Harare).
When Reverend Shaw moved to Salisbury Ken Smith was appointed to take his place at the turning point when, for the first time in the history of Inyathi Mission, both boys and girls were admitted to the school. In the year 1959 Inyathi Mission celebrated the centenary of its establishment. Robert Tredgold, a grandson of Dr Reverend Robert Moffat, presided over the preparations for the celebrations. A commemorative book titled The Story of Inyathi, 1859-1959 was published which gave an account of the history of Inyathi Mission and the various Christian denominations in Southern Rhodesia. In 1963 a commemorative library was constructed. Numerous historical artifacts such as Ndebele spears and shields were collected.
In 1960 Ken Smith went to England briefly and his post was taken, in an acting capacity, by Donald Gray. Meanwhile, the LMS built a new college at Moeding in Bechuanaland (Botswana). Ken Smith was appointed to take charge of the new institution in an acting capacity in 1966 the year Bechuanaland became an independent republic under the leadership of Sir Seretse Khama. In his absence Reverend Undy became the acting headmaster. There were a lot of sporting exchanges between Moeding College and Inyathi Mission with the netball and soccer teams from the former visiting the latter.
In 1968 the Principal of Moeding College resigned and Ken Smith was appointed in his place. In 1969 Ken Smith took up appointment at Moeding and that marked the end of his service at Inyathi Mission. Several former Inyathi students went to serve at Moeding College: Robson Silitchena, Douglas Dube, Enock Moyo and Siphiwo Bhebhe.
In his last years Ken Smith was actively involved in ongoing efforts to set up the University of Inyathi whose charter is already in place. May his very dear soul rest in eternal peace.
