MUYUNDA

Sixteen- to nineteen-year-old boys in the Form five class, from St. John’s Secondary School, a Christian boarding school for boys in Mongu, in Western province in Zambia, go out to enjoy an evening of ballroom dance at Holy Cross Secondary School, a Christian girl boarding school, located in the same town. The boys travel on a trailer pulled by a tractor, driven by BROTHER JAMES on a dusty road. The boys are nervous and excited as they have never danced with girls before. During the ballroom dance MUYUNDA, 19, strikes up friendship with a girl – NAMANGOLWA, 18. A few months later, NAMANGOLWA is pregnant and expelled from school; MUYUNDA is responsible.
MUYUNDA’s father, MANYANDO is a wealthy man who has many cattle. But suddenly all his cattle die from a contagious disease of cattle.
When she arrives at her village, NAMANGOLWA’S father, SIMASIKU gets very upset to see his daughter is pregnant. SIMASIKU summons MUYUNDA to his home to discuss the matter. MANYANDO tells his son MUYUNDA to deny that he is the one that got NAMANGOLWA pregnant. When MUYUNDA and MANYANDO arrive at NAMANGOLWA’S village, the whole village is angry at what MUYUNDA has done; spears, machetes and hot words are hurled at both sides. MUYUNDA is told to pay three cows, but his father does not have the cows. MUYUNDA decides to look for a job to earn the money to pay NAMANGOLWA’s father, and to marry NAMANGOLWA and look after the child.
MUYUNDA travels to LUSAKA, the capital city to look for work. There he lives with MUBUKA, his uncle, who is the young brother of MANYANDO. MUBUKA is a chief personnel officer at a parastatal company that forbids employing relatives. MUBUKA is an upright person; he strongly abhors corruption. He can easily give MUYUNDA a job, but his principles don’t allow him to. MUBUKA’S uncompromising attitude toward corruption earns him enemies at his company; TOM AMBOKILE, the CEO of the company, wants MUBUKA out of the way.
MUBUKA is married to DORA for three years now, but the couple does not have a child. The childless marriage makes DORA very sad and concerned. She yearns to have a child. She thinks MUBUKA is impotent and seduces MUYUNDA to sleep with her, hoping she can become pregnant and pass the child off as MUBUKA’S child. MUYUNDA resists her plans; she grows to hate him very much. Six months since coming to LUSAKA, MUYUNDA is still jobless. Every prospective employer and office that MUYUNDA visits to seek employment from, asks him questions that explore where he comes from, who his parents are, or what his tribe is. He can’t get a job because he is not from the right tribe, or known family or anything like that. Meanwhile, NAMANGOLWA writes a letter to him from the village, telling him that his son was not growing well due to poor nutrition and illnesses. MUYUNDA is disturbed. DORA has become combatant and does not want MUYUNDA to continue living in her home, if he won’t sleep with her. DORA promises to find MUYUNDA a job. MUYUNDA resists her.
Eventually, MUYUNDA is offered a job at an oil marketing company – MAMMOTH OIL COMPANY. In spite of the fact, DORA suspects that her husband has found MUYUNDA the job through his connections. DORA screams at MUBUKA and demands that he employs her young brother, who like MUYUNDA is looking for employment. At the same time, the company where MUBUKA is CPO sends him on study leave. A chance appears for DORA to be pregnant by MUYUNDA. But he resists to sleep with her. DORA evicts MUYUNDA from the house. MUYUNDA finds a home with two women in a bed-sitter in a poverty-stricken, crime-ridden dirty shanty town called MUTENGO.
SIKOTA is a former school mate of MUYUNDA. He is not pleased that DORA can chase MUYUNDA out of his uncle’s home, and force him out to live in a shanty compound. SIKOTA discovers that DORA frequents a hotel in town where she carries out an extra-marital affair with a man. SIKOTA hatches a plan to get a photo of DORA in the act, as evidence that MUYUNDA can give his uncle. DORA notices the face of the person that has taken pictures of her kissing AMBOKILE, her husband’s enemy and CEO of the company where MUBUKA works. DORA vows to retrieve the camera and film from MUYUNDA. DORA finds out where MUYUNDA lives, she hires thug – MIKE PHIRI (alias COBRA) to beat MUYUNDA and get the film from him.
HADDOCK – the General manager of MAMMOTH OIL COMPANY tells MUYUNDA that he has been selected to go to ENGLAND to attend training. The choice of MUYUNDA for the training annoys MOONGA, a veteran at the company who everyone thinks is part of the company’s furniture and deserved to be selected to go for the training, instead of MUYUNDA. MOONGA is angry, and very upset and vows to stop MUYUNDA from going to ENGLAND. MOONGA visits MUTENGO shanty compound where MUYUNDA lives and hires SCORPION to beat MUYUNDA very well. A telegram is received at MUYUNDA’S COMPANY telling MUYUNDA that his son has died in the village. MUYUNDA makes plans to travel to the village, to attend the funeral and bury the child. The company gives him a cheque to cash at the bank to get money to use on his journey to the village. MUYUNDA is surprised at how easy it is to get money from a bank usin a cheque. On the way walking to the village, passing through a flood plain, MUYUNDA is attacked by ritual murderers, but escapes after running hard.
In the village MUYUNDA tells his parents that he will be going to ENGLAND for training, to be sent by his employer. His parents ask him to be cautious with whom he shares the information. Before he returns to LUSAKA, MUYUNDA’s parents ask him to marry a woman they have chosen for him. They tell him that they want grandchildren now, and since NAMANGOLWA’s first child has died, her subsequent births will also die. MUYUNDA differs with his father and mother over the matter. His mother is upset, she falls suddenly ill and dies. Information that MUYUNDA will be going to ENGLAND reaches NAMANGOLWA’S father, who is very upset when he hears the news and decides to get his payment before he MUYUNDA disappears forever.
DORA is angry. After the time she agreed with COBRA for him to beat MUYUNDA, COBRA has not done so. DORA takes COBRA to her home, and seduces him to sleep with her. In the middle of the night, DORA who has been using psychotropic drugs is intoxicated and hallucinating. She sees MUYUNDA where COBRA is sleeping on her bed. She picks a kitchen knife and stabs him several times, killing him. She is arrested for the crime of murder of MIKE PHIRI.
SCORPION, the thug hired by MOONGA, lurks outside the toilet. As MUYUNDA comes out of the toilet, SCORPION hits him with an iron bar several times on the head. MUYUNDA screams for help. COBRA disappears. MOONGA is happy with the injuries SCORPION causes on MUYUNDA. But MUYUNDA heals quickly.
SIMASIKU and three men arrive at LONGWE’S BED SITTER where MUYUNDA lives in MUTENGO compound. The third man is a court clerk. MUYUNDA is shocked and asks SIMASIKU; is it necessary to take him to court? SIMASIKU says yes, he wants his money. In court, the court tells MUYUNDA that it is a provision under the tax clearance act, that before a person can obtain a tax clearance certificate to authorise him or her to leave the country, he or she should declare that they have not left any liabilities behind?
HADDOCK calls MUYUNDA to his office to explain to him his travelling arrangements for going to ENGLAND. MOONGA arranges with the office cleaner to trap MUYUNDA. A cheque in the waste paper basket catches the attention of MUYUNDA. HADDOCK leaves the room for a moment; MUYUNDA picks the cheque from the waste paper basket. MUYUNDA presents the check to a BANK TELLER who gives him money. Muyunda stuffs the money in an envelope. He s arrested inside the bank
DORA pays bribes to court judges. MUYUNDA experiences hardships inside police cells. In court MUYUNDA is sentenced to six months in jail. In another court room, DORA is acquitted of the murder of COBRA. But MUBUKA divorces DORA.
After six months, MUYUNDA walks away from prison and returns to live with LONGWE in MUTENGO COMPOUND. He can’t find work. He begins to do menial jobs such as off-loading from trucks. MUYUNDA is slowly depressed. He turns to drugs, and alcohol to survive. Finally, he is addicted to drugs and they make him enter a mental health hospital