Readith (Mwila) Muliyunda
Zambia
Readith Mwila Muliyunda was a journalist, mentor and author. She has previously worked for the Times of Zambia and Radio Phoenix. Known as Readith during her time as a Scholar, she later preferred Mwila. She studied journalism at college and was attached to the Zambian News Agency. She gained prominence writing a series of articles on harsh working conditions at a cloth manufacturing company where workers had been dying of lung cancer. Later, she obtained a Graduate Diploma from McGill University in Montreal, and a Certificate in Negotiation Skills.
Mwila was a joyous, energetic young woman, above all passionate about Africa, and one who had undertaken a profound spiritual journey which she chronicled in her 2013 book “The Encounter-A real Life Story: Inspirational, Motivational & Mystical.”
After leaving Sauvé House, she published a Montreal newspaper, African Affairs, devoted to disseminating news from black communities locally and around the world. She later founded African Link, a magazine devoted to the African Diaspora. Mwila was a member of the Board of Directors of Order of Kush, an international honor society devoted exclusively to African scholarship, and she headed Order of Kush Montreal. Her contributions to the community brought her to the attention of the municipal authorities and in 2005, she was one of ten laureates honoured by the Mayor and the City of Montreal. In 2008, Mwila joined a team of journalists who founded Afriquecanada.tv, a Montreal-based online television service. Among her many features the following year was a probing interview with former Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Paul Martin, whom she had first met at a talk he gave at Sauvé House.
Mwila was an accomplished journalist who worked with a wide range of media including ZNBC, MUVI TV, Radio Phoenix, Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail and The Post Newspapers, Hot FM Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She was also an author, inspirational mentor, singer and songwriter. Her joyful music is featured in the CD/DVD musical album “Celebrate Mama Africa – A song for humanity.” About the album, she said: “This is a dedication to Africa and all of humanity. It’s a celebration of Africa that despite the challenges, Africa’s victory is inevitable. She shall overcome and emerge even stronger. But it’s also a dedication to all of humanity. The song applies to each and every one of us regardless of background because we all do possess a little Africa in us. Africa is symbolic to that part of us that sometimes suffers and feels neglected, ignored, belittled and misunderstood”. Prior to the album’s release, Mwila gave her very first live performance in Montreal This is how we will all remember the lovely, luminous, Mwila Readith Muliyunda. May she rest in peace.
Mwila was featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio’s Daybreak show, McGill University’s CKUT and in Montreal’s community newspapers as a commentator on the international media’s coverage of Africa. Her Scholar project was a documentary series Africa From Afar about Africa’s distorted image. In a long interview with the McGill Reporter in February 2004 (Africa explained) Readith says “I am trying to make a documentary that would add and contribute to the efforts of demystifying Africa for the world, so the world can look at the continent with an open mind. The documentary looks at Western stereotypes of Africa and how the media portrayal of the continent has shaped people’s negative perceptions and images of Africa, exacerbating Africa’s problems instead of providing a forum in which to come up with long-lasting solutions.”