. Bishop Bupe

By GETHSEMANE MWIZABI –
REDEEMED Methodist Church Bishop Paul Bupe has redone the National Anthem bymaking it livelier for the purpose of Zambia’s jubilee year.
He believes a little bit of African beat would spice up the National Anthem and awaken the spirit of celebration in an African soul.
Probably the people who have been singing this song have not done it well thus causing other to go to sleep before they reach the final stanza.
To make it worse there are very few people who can sing the entire stanza in the local languages.
Mostly people just sing the first English Stanza and a chorus. But he has done it in such a way that one wants to go on and sing more.
It comes out like a natural song with song and dance added to it.
His idea is an attempt to preserve our history.
Yes, Jubilee is a time of celebration therefore, a live national Anthem would aid in the process.
The national Anthem must affirm who we are and cause us to celebrate our past successes and remember those who lost their lives in the fight for our Independence.
It must also make us look to the future with confidence knowing that the God who has brought us this far will also see us through our future life challenges.
He stresses the national anthem should not be boring therefore a new touch to it can revive the song and revive the soul.
“Whenever I heard people singing the national anthem, I felt there was something missing. The message is fantastic and the rhythm but still there was something missing,” said Dr Bupe.
How it all started. One day it dawned to him that the song was not striking the African celebratory cords so that it can reverberate with the song.
True, Africans are spontaneous and participatory when it comes to music. There are no spectators among us or audience and performers.
Everybody is involved in the celebration.
Even if Zambians are required to stand still while singing the national Anthem yet they at least shake the head or stamp the foot is response to the song.
The song must excite in an African feelings of freedom and victory.
At the end of the last verse, he has included a song Alleluia Hossana, which is commonly, sang in churches celebrating.