Grandeur on the border: Kachebere Major Seminary

Sitting at the foot of Kalulu hills on the Malawi – Zambia border district of Mchinji is Kachebere Major Seminary, a Roman Catholic philosophical training college.

The Catholic White Fathers established a mission at Kachebere in 1903 which developed into an institution for pastoral education in Central Africa. Kachebere Major Seminary opened its doors on October 10, 1939, and will be celebrating its 80th birthday later this year.

Kachebere Major Seminary chapel

Looking out onto the gardens and road leading up to the seminary gates from the Lilongwe – Chipata road.

Kachebere Seminary sits at the foot of Kalulu Hill. Previously the hill was part of Zambia before a border re-demarcation.

The seminary’s alumni include Zambia’s late Cardinal Medardo Mazombwe, ex-Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, late Archbishop Mutare, Malawi’s late Archbishop James Chiona, late Bishop Patrick Kalilombe of Missionaries of Africa, late Bishop Felix Mkhori, Archbishop Tarcizio Ziyaye, Archbishop Thomas Luke Msusa, Bishop Peter Musikuwa, Late Bishop Joseph Mukasa Zuza, Bishop Dr. Mtumbuka and Bishop Montfort Sitima.

The seminary looks out onto Mchinji Forest Reserve in the distance. The seminary is located some 26 kilometres from Chipata and 117 kilometres from Lilongwe.

The large clock on the main entrance facade is controlled by this old glass-housed mechanism.

The campus is a treasure trove of old gadgets.

Before a border re-demarcation exercise, the college sat in both Malawi and Zambia.

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