Chris Mukkuli

Chris Mukkuli
Born	(1964-08-21) August 21, 1964 Pemba, Zambia
Occupation	Writer, filmmaker
Known for	Nkumbula documentary

Chris Mukkuli (born 21 August 1964) is a Zambian writer, film and documentary maker. In 2016 he made a documentary Nkumbula: Liberating a Nation celebrating the life of Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula and his contribution to the liberation struggle.

Early life

Mukkuli was born 21 August 1964 at Nabuzoka Village 11 kilometres west of Pemba in Southern Province, Zambia. He is the third born child of Elizabeth Muleya and Andrew Chaambwa. His parents had two sons (Muntanga, the first born and himself) and two daughters (Macleanor, his immedaite elder sister and Mildah, his younger sister). His parents divorced when he was five or six and he stayed with his father. Andrew loved the brew and he was rarely home, going wherever someone had brewed the local beer known in Tonga as Gaankata, often spending nights at the drinking places and leaving the little boy to fend for himself for days at times.

At age 7 in 1971 his mother's cousin got him to go live with her in Chikonga Village, about seven kilometres north of Chikuni Mission. His aunt lived in a polygamous marriage as the second wife of four.

Education

The same year he started school at Charles Lwaanga Primary School. Every morning he ran to and from school and spent his weekends herding his uncle's cattle. As a boy growing up in the village, TVs were unheard of and the family had one radio set which was in the control of his uncle. Most of the time they entertainment came in the form of twaano (folktales) and tulabiko (riddles) sitting by a crackling fire in the night. He was fascinated by the fairy tales and became the toast of his school where he developed a reputation as one of he best story tellers. This early exposure to storytelling was seminal and was to later shape his career choice as am independent filmmaker.

In 1979 he qualified to St. Mark's Secondary School in Mapanza, Choma District where he did his high school from Form 1 up to Form 5. He graduated from St. Mark's in 1983 and spent the next two year trying to get admission to college.

In 1985 he was accepted to Evelyn Hone College, a higher learning institution that was the brainchild of the man who liberated Zambia from colonial rule Mr. Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula when he became the country's first Minster of Education at independence in 1964. At Evelyn Hone, Mukkuli studied for a diploma in marketing and was then taken on by the institution as a trainee lecturer when he graduated three years later.

Career

He taught for a year before resigning to join the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) as marketing executive selling airtime. In 1990 he left ZNBC and went back to lecturing at the Zambia Institute of Management (ZAMIM) where he was marketing course director for three years before joining Population Services International (PSI) an American non-profit organisation as Condoms Marketing Manager. He worked for PSI (later renamed Zambia Social Marketing Project until 2001 when he left holding the position of Corporate Marketing Manager.

It was during his tenure at PSI that Mukkuli started writing for film. He wrote a number of film and television series, most famous of which were The Lawyer, a successful feature film produced and directed by Dominic Chisembele and Konstable TV series, both produced by Muvi TV.

He then joined the Zambia Communications Programmes (ZCCP) as Executive Director in charge of the organisation's operations. He resigned from ZCCP in 2006 to pursue his passion in film and has been an independent film maker since.

See also

• Zambian writers
• Zambian filmmakers