SHE may not be the face you see on screen every time you tune in to watch Zambia’s most popular telenovela, Mpali, but without her words and pen, there would be no story or Nguzu to follow on Zambezi Magic.
Most times, the world claps for the actors. Sometimes, the producer gets a nod. But more often than not, the writers behind the scenes go unnoticed.
Whether this is the case for 38 year old Tisa Phiri, a teacher by profession and the head writer for Mpali is really up for debate. What’s certain, however, is that her journey is a script worthy of its own series.
Kalemba took time to speak with Tisa who shared her journey with us on how she manages to balance life as a teacher, mother, wife and writer of Zambia’s most watched telenovela.
Born on March 3, 1987, in Kabwe, Tisa grew up the only girl in a family of three and life just didn’t spare her grief. She lost her father in 1999 and her mother in 2005, just as she was writing her final Grade 12 exams.
But like a character she might later create, she didn’t crumble. And everyday, from Kabwe’s Katondo area to Chimanimani Compound, she walked 20 kilometers daily to attend Raphael Kombe Girls Secondary School.
Tisa trained at Nkrumah College of Education, now Nkrumah University, earning a diploma in secondary school teaching in business studies, and later obtained a degree in financial accounting.
In 2011, she became a government teacher, starting out in Chingola at Chikola Secondary School and now teaches at Kasamba Secondary School in Lusaka’s Matero township.
She shared how she started writing and finally got the privilege of being the writer of Mpali.
“I started my writing journey in 2014 to 2015. I was inspired by Facebook stories people used to post on Liseli page. In 2017, I decided to create my own page, Ntano stories which is still running. I started posting my stories there and in 2018, I got professional to start writing for the movie industry because every time I posted a story people used to tell me that u would write a film because of how I would describe.”
“So from there, I moved from office to office to look for producers in Lusaka. One of the people then told me to go and see Frank Sibbuku, the producer and creator of Mpali, who was willing to take me onto his screen. He then told me that he wanted to produce a film about a man with six wives and I said I would write that. In short, he had the concept and created the story but I’m the one who put everything on paper,” she told Kalemba.
This female giant creative writer then decided to write the first few episodes and Zambezi Magic loved it and asked for 96 more.
She said soon after writing more episodes, she was promoted as head writer.
In this role, she leads a team of 10 writers, her job is to shape the storylines, pitch new arcs and hold the narrative vision steady.
“I didn’t go to school for writing. I just use my passion to write. Growing up, whenever I was sad, I would write. If I couldn’t pray, I would write my prayer. Back then, I never realised it was talent until later on in life,” she told Kalemba.
Despite being a mother of four and a full time teacher, she writes deep into the night when the house falls silent, so she revealed..
“The journey has been challenging, I’m a teacher and married and I’m a mother of four. I write my stuff in the night when everyone is sleeping because I also have to be a family woman,” she said.
Tisa’s writing credits now include Mungoma, and most recently, her own original film The Special Patient set to premiere in cinema on August 30 this year.
The film, developed with her friend and fellow writer Clementina Mulungushi, the writer of Zuba and now Mpali, tells the story of a nurse who cares for a mentally ill patient, only to uncover shocking truths about his past.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, July 29, 2025
