“How long ago was the first time you were the Guest on our programme?” I asked our Guest, Tiko Siliwea, (above) at the top of the latest edition of our weekly radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, airing at 20.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. “About six years’ ago” replied our Guest. These days Tiko is one very busy lady! Apart from being the mother of 5 children ranging in ages from 15 to 3 years old and the wife to her pastor husband Ken Siliwea, she herself is a pastor at the Lion of Judah Church in Livingstone. As if this was not enough, her third album of gospel music is about to be released on CD following on from the success of her first two CD’s. The new album is called ‘Sinilesewa’ (It’s My Time) and we played the hauntingly beautiful lead single ‘Kumisanga’ (‘to find you’) on the show. Tiko told listeners that she had written almost all the tracks on the album herself, and that the CD was due for release during the week ahead.

Tiko said that since her last appearance on our show she had obtained a degree in theology from North Western Theological School in USA and had become a pastor at Lion of Judah Church. The church operates from the premises of a former timber company Zambezi Saw Mills, located near the Railway Museum in Livingstone. Congregations vary in size from 250/300 people every Sunday and Tiko is mostly involved with the music and singing at church but also preaches from time to time – of course she has duties in counseling and other responsibilities of the ‘pastor’s wife’ too! She does also have a business specializing in wedding planning and gives singing lessons as well! Busy lady, as I said!

The music on the show was standard. We opened with our new theme TINA from Fuse ODG. We featured smash hits from Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, and Philip George. We played Kiesza’s No Enemies back to back with Tiko’s track and also featured titles from Alicia Keys and Kachanana ft Joey B. Our oldie of the week was ‘One Way Or Another’ the 1D version and not the original Blondie record. The prize we give of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was Ellie Goulding’s ‘Love Me Like You Do’ the first track released from the soundtrack of the much anticipated movie ’50 Shades Of Grey’.

Tiko told us that she had been brought up on the Copperbelt mostly by her dad, and had attended Fatima Girls Secondary School. She had originally come to Livingstone for a job with a now defunct company, before meeting Ken, then a manager with Indeco Estates and the rest is history, as they say! They had been married for 16 years. Jay gasped at that information! Gospel is her favourite music (naturally) and her favourite artist CC Wynans. Tiko loves swimming and tennis and her most loved tennis star is Serena Williams. She was proud of having sung at the Ngoma Awards ceremony in the past, and in 2013 for the closing ceremony of the United Nations World Tourism Organization general meeting held in Livingstone.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, this thoughtful, talented, hard working lady said she would like to be teaching in her own school of music and to be promoting Zambian music and musicians. We wished her well.