Born in Zambia, a landlocked Country in South Central Africa, he is the second of four siblings. Munyonzwe Hamalengwa - in Tonga, his mother's tongue, translates into English as 'Sweet Trouble' spent his childhood in the agrarian town of Monze, that lies 2.5 hrs from Lusaka the Capital.

His matchless individuality is informed by wealthy experiences brought about from the early days when he played with his friends, on red sandy yards of Monze, creating ingenuous toys as well as providing care to his younger siblings while his mother and father planted the nearby farm-land to provide the family with nutritious basic staples.

The teenage stubborn years that followed, full of teen rivalry and rebellion were replaced by years of youthful idealism at the University of Zambia in Lusaka. In 1976 Munyonzwe was detained with other student leaders in solitary confinement following demonstrations against the Zambian government's handling of issues related to Angola's Independence 1 and issues of freedom of speech and expression. Six months later he was released and threatened with banishment to the countryside. He then fled to neighboring Tanzania and from there came to Canada in 1977.