Bolero, Rumphi

Bolero hosts the annual Gonapamuhanya festival to celebrate the arrival of the first Tumbuka king, Gonapamuhanya, from Tanzania in 1780. The festival is a celebration of the Tumbuka culture.^[1]

The Kamanga dialect of Tumbuka is spoken around Bolero and Hewe.^[2][3] The Kamanga dialect is closely tied to the former Nkhamanga Kingdom and is considered one of the oldest Tumbuka dialects.^[4][5] It survives in Bolero but is heavily influenced by the standard form of Tumbuka.^[6][2]

In 2014 the American Ambassador to Malawi, Virginia E. Palmer, released $6,000 from the Ambassador's Special Self-Help Fund to fund a new library for the secondary school in Bolero.^[7]

In 2022 the new Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe Joseph Bongololo Gondwe was installed by the President Lazurus in 2022 in Bolero. The 60 year old was installed at Bolero Community Ground where tight security was required as a rival's supporters were protesting. The protests included damaging cars and removing electricity lines.^[8]

The highlight of the 2025 festival was to the unveiling of a tombstone to Chikulamayembe I who founded the dynasty.^[9] The festival, however, was the site of fighting between supporters of Gondwe and those who thought that Mtima Gondwe, the son of the previous king, was the rightful chief. One group argued that they supported the rightful heir to be King. Tear gas was used to control the crowd.^[1]

Bolero is part of the Rumphi Central Constituency and in 2025 its member of parliament became Dr. Matthews Mtumbeka.^[10] Bolero has a rural hospital, eight bore holes, a primary school^[11] and two secondary schools. Minister of Education Madalitso Wirima visited the largest secondary school in July 2025 to see the exams taking place. Aaron Kaunda, the headteacher, noted the shortage of houses for the teachers and that there were only 200 desks for 500 pupils.^[12] The second secondary school is Jalira Girls Secondary, which opened in 2024. As of then, it had about 100 pupils and offered additional subjects including design, music and art.^[13] It was the eighth secondary school for girls nationally. Wirima said more were being built. Jalira was opened by the First Lady Monica Chakwera.^[14]

The road from Rumphi to Bolero was considered to be only crossable by four-wheel-drive vehicles in 1979 due to the black soil in the Nkhamanga Valley.^[15] A road was constructed in 2020 but it was substantially damaged due to rain in 2022.^[16]