Historical Dictionary of Malawi 0810812878

Citation preview

Historical Dictionary

of

MALAWI CYNTHIA

A.

CROSBY

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

J

fl

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2015

https://archive.org/details/historicaldictioOOcros

AFRICAN HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES Edited by Jon Woronoff 1.

2.

Cameroon, by Victor T. LeVine and Roger The Congo

(

Brazzaville ),

by Virginia Thompson and Richard

3.

Swaziland, by John

4.

The Gambia, by Harry A. Gailey. 1975

J.

Grotpeter. 1975

5.

Botswana, by Richard

6.

Somalia, by Margaret F. Castagno. 1975

P. Stevens.

1975

Dahomey by Samuel Decalo. 1975 Warren Weinstein. 1976

8.

Burundi, by

9.

Togo, by Samuel Decalo. 1976

10.

Nye. 1974

1974

Adloff.

7.

P.

Lesotho, by

Gordon Haliburton. 1977 James Imperato. 1977

11.

Mali, by Pascal

12.

Sierra Leone, by Cyril Patrick Foray. 1977

13.

Chad, by Samuel Decalo. 1977

14.

Upper

15.

Tanzania, by Laura S. Kurtz. 1978

16.

Guinea, by

17.

Sudan, by John Voll. 1978

18.

Rhodesia /Zimbabwe, by R. Kent Rasmussen. 1979

19.

Zambia, by John

20. Niger,

Volta,

by Daniel Miles McFarland. 1978

Thomas O’Toole.

J.

Grotpeter. 1979

by Samuel Decalo. 1979

21. Equatorial Guinea,

22.

1978

by

Max

Liniger-Goumaz. 1979

Guinea-Bissau, by Richard Lobban. 1979

23. Senegal,

by Lucie A. Colvin. 1980

24.

Morocco, by William Spencer. 1980

25.

Malawi, by Cynthia A. Crosby. 1980

26. Angola,

by Phyllis Martin. 1980

Historical Dictionary

of

MALAWI by

CYNTHIA

A.

CROSBY

African Historical Dictionaries, No.

25

The Scarecrow

Press, Inc.

Metuchen,

&

N.J.,

1980

London

Library of Congress Cataloging Crosby,

C

in

Publication Data

A

Historical dictionary of Malawi.

(African historical dictionaries no. Bibliography: p. 1. Malawi- -History --Dictionaries. ;

IL

25) I.

Title.

Series.

DT859. C76 ISBN 0-8108-1287-8

Copyright

©

968.

80-18

9V00321

1980 by Cynthia A.

Crosby

Manufactured in the United States of America

To

ANDY

and JULI

with love

CONTENTS Editor s Foreword (Jon Woronoff) 1

vii

Abbreviations and Acronyms

ix

Chronology

xi

INTRODUCTION

THE DICTIONARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

xix 1

119

EDITOR'S

FOREWORD

Malawi is one of Africa's more intriguing countries since it does not fit the usual patterns of developIndeed, one may wonder how a conservative rement. gime with a capitalist economy got lost in the middle of hard-line anti -colonialist (often radical and socialist) countries. One may also wonder how --with a small population, a restricted economic base, modest natural resources, and not even an access to the sea- -it manages to get by. Then, of course, one may wonder just where its Life President will lead it, and for how long. There are plenty of open questions regarding Malawi.

A relatively thin sliver of land inserted between Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique, Malawi looks vulnerable. This was never more obvious than when the borderline between independent and colonial Africa split wide open around it. It was not in a comfortable position then, squeezed between colonial and settler -dominated countries and their opponents in the front-line independent states. At one point, as Nyasaland, it had been swallowed up in the Central African Federation. Nowadays, on rather bad terms with some of its neighbors, it still looks precarious. At all times, one might wonder how viable it is. Nevertheless, Malawi has held on and gone its own way. .

.

.

Malawi's development is due largely to President Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Exerting strong control over policy, domestically and internationally, he has been "odd man out" in Africa. Among the earliest proponents of democracy, he was also among the first to impose a one -party state. Having obtained independence for his own country, he accepted invitations to cooperate with the Portuguese and South Africans, who were at vii

«

odds with the independent states surrounding Malawi, and He has remained in power and his with the O. A. U. The country is doing better economically than most. story of Banda is in many ways the story of Malawi, and an interesting one it is. This book was written by Cynthia A. Crosby, whose earliest research interest in Malawi was the construction of the railway system in the earlier Nyasaland Protectorate. Her present, and continuing, interest is the status of women in Malawi and Africa. Carefully reviewing the existing documentation, she has reorganized it in a simple and readily usable form. In compiling the Dictionary, Dr. Crosby has carefully balanced success against failure, strengths against weaknesses, and hopes against disappointments, to ease our understanding of Malawi.

Jon Woronoff Series Editor

vi 11

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ADMARC AID

ALC

AME BCA BCAC BSAC

CAR CIDA

Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation U. S. Agency for International Development African Lakes Company (Corporation) African Methodist Episcopal Church British Central Africa British Central Africa Company British South Africa Company Central African Railway Company

IDA

Canadian International Development Agency Colonial Office District Commissioner Foreign Office International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) International Development Association

IFC

International Finance Corporation (World

CO DC FO IBRD

(World Bank)

INDEBANK JAH

KAR LEGCO

MBC MCC MCP MDC MP NAC NRDP OAU PIM SHR

TANU

Bank) Investment and Development Bank Journal of African History King s African Rifles Legislative Council Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Malawi Correspondence College Malawi Congress Party Malawi Development Corporation Member of Parliament Nyasaland African Congress National Rural Development Progress Organization of African Unity Providence Industrial Mission Shire Highlands Railway Company Tanzanian African National Union T

ix

Abbreviations

UMCA YP ZIM

x Universities’ Mission to Central Africa

Malawi Young Pioneers Zambezi Industrial Mission (Booth)

CHRONOLOGY 100,000Early Stone Age 000 B. C.

50,

50, 0008000 B. C.

Middle Stone Age

80001700 B. C.

Later Stone Age (rock paintings)

A.D.

Iron Age (Nkope and

200-

Mwabulambo

pottery)

1000

1000-1400

Iron Age (Kapeni ware)

1400-1800S

Iron Age -Modern Age (Mawudzu and Nkudzi ware)

Maravi clans migrate from Shaba province Mala&i

12001450

to

late 15 th

Tumbuka peoples move

c.

to

northern Malawi

century

Ngonde peoples migrate from Tanzania 1530 1560

Portuguese settle Tete

Portuguese send Resident

to

Mwenemutapa’

Empire 1600s

Maravi Empire (Confederacy)

1616

Gaspar Boccaro (Portuguese) travels through Maravi Empire

at zenith

xi

*

Chronology

xii

1660

Manuel Barretto

late 17thearly 18th centuries

More migrations from Zambia and Tanzania

c.

1730

(Jesuit priest) records his observations of the Maravi Confederacy

Nkhamanga, Henga)

(Phoka,

Portuguese influence declines as Arab trade expands in east coast

Yao trade caravans c.

1750

The coming

of the

at

Kilwa

Balowoka

home

1820s

Ngoni leave South African trek northwards

1835

Maseko and Jere Ngoni enter Malawi

1840s

Swahili Arab Jumbe establishes slave trade center at Nkhotakota

c.

1848

Zwangendaba

c.

1850

Yao migrate

1857-91

1858-63

(of

to

Reign of Inkosi

land and

Jere Ngoni) dies

Malawi

M

T

Mbelwa

(Jere Ngoni)

David Livingstone makes his four journeys Zambezi Expedi-

to Malawi as part of the tion

1861

UMCA

mission

at

Magomero begins

but

fails shortly thereafter

1867

Maseko Ngoni return

to

Malawi from Tan-

zania (Songea)

1874-80 1875

Tonga -Tumbuka revolts against Ngoni rule Livingstonia mission station opens at Cape

Maclear

Chronology

XI 11

1876

Blantyre Mission established

1878

John and ^Frederick Moir begin management of the

1881 c.

1884

ALC

Construction of Stevenson Road begins

Arab Mlozi establishes trade center Karonga

at

1885

Berlin Act

1885

UMCA

1887-89

Swahili

1889

Dutch Reformed Church starts mission

re-established at Likoma Island

War at

Mvera 1890

1891

Johnston takes over administration sphere of influence north of Zambezi (including Malawi) H. of

H.

BSAC

British Protectorate declared over region

Malawi; H. H. Johnston becomes Commissioner of British Central Africa Proof

tectorate (1891-97)

1891

Anglo -Portuguese Treaty determines southern boundary of Malawi

1892

Joseph Booth forms the ZIM

1892

Commissioner Johnston establishes Protectorate bureaucracy (postal and medical services, financial units, courts)

1894

Blantyre Mission under Rev. seven African deacons

1895

BCA Chamber formed

of

Scott ordains

Agriculture and

Commerce

Chronology

xiv

1895

Last Jumbe deported

1898

Dr.

1899

John Chilembwe begins his mission station

H.

to

Zanzibar

Kamuzu Banda born near Kasungu

(PIM) 1902

FO permits railway construction to begin connecting Blantyre and Chiromo (SHR)

1904

FO relinquishes control of British Central Africa to the Colonial Office

1907

BCA Protectorate changes name to Nyasaland Protectorate; the Commissioner becomes Governor

1907

Executive and Legislative Councils established with an all European membership

1908

Blantyre -Nsanje rail line opens

1907-10

Sir Alfred Sharpe

1910-13

William Manning Governor

1912

Governor

First African Association formed (North

Nyasa Native Association) 1914-18

World War

1915

George Smith becomes Governor

1915

John Chilembwe Rising

1916

Report of Commission

a quarter million Malawians I: serve as porters or soldiers

(Jan.

23

-Feb.

of Inquiry

4)

on the

Chilembwe Rising 1923

1924

Devonshire

Hanock Phiri founds Malawi

Rev. in

Memo the

AME

church

Chronology

XV 1924

Charles Bowring becomes Governor

1929

Hilton -Young Report

1930

Passfield

1933

Mchape witchcraft movement sweeps Malawi

1935

Lower Zambezi Bridge opens. Malawi way connects Salima with Beira

1937

H. Kamuzu Banda receives M. D. from Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee

1939

Bledisloe

1939-45

World War II: Malawi soldiers distinguish themselves in Ethiopian and Burma cam-

Memo

rail-

Commission Report

paigns

1944

Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) organMumba as President

ized with Levi

1944-45 1946

African Provincial Councils formed Society of Malawi (Nyasaland Society)

founded 1949

First Malawians permitted on Legco; First Asians appointed to Legco

1952

Nyasaland Asian Convention begun

1953

Thyolo riots

1953-57

Dr.

1953-63

Federation of Nyasaland and Rhode sias

1955

NAC demands

Banda

Federation

lives in Kumasi,

Ghana

right to secede

from

the

Chronology 1958

xvi

Dr.

H.

Malawi 1958

1959

Kamuzu Banda returns home

to

(July)

League of Malawi Women and League Malawi Youth formed

NAC

of

non-violent campaign against Federa-

tion begins

1959

State of

Emergency declared;

Sunrise” (March

’’Operation

3)

1959

First Malawians on Executive Council

1959

Devlin Commission Report

1959

Malawi Congress Party created; Malawi

News issued 1960

Monckton Report published

1961

First General Elections in Malawi; wins overwhelmingly

1961

Sir Glyn Jones Governor

1962

Marlborough House conference formalizes self-government for Malawi; British government announces Nyasaland will withdraw from the Federation

1963

Organization of African Unity formed

1963

Dr.

MCP

Banda sworn in as Prime Minister; Legco renamed Legislative Assembly;

Executive Council replaced by Cabinet

1964

Reserve Bank

1964

Skinner Report on civil service (May)

1964

Malawi becomes independent (July 6)

of

Malawi established

of British rule

Chronology

xvii

1964

Cabinet Crisis (September); major govern-

ment reorganization 1965

Chipembere rebellion (February)

1966

First hydroelectric station opens at Nkula Falls

1966

Malawi declared a Republic; Dr. Banda be-

comes President; New Constitution adopted 1966

1970

Forfeiture Act permits seizure of property belonging to ’’subversives'’

Malawi changes

March

its fiscal

year

to April 1-

31

1971

Dr. Banda made Life President of Malawi; Cabinet members appointed by President are de facto MPs

1971

Malawi adopts decimal system

currency

of

and drops British pounds /shillings 1973

European representation

in

Parliament

ceases 1974

Party Constitution equates

ment

of

MCP

with Govern-

Malawi

1975

Masauko Henry Chipembere dies

1978

Asian businesses required nated urban areas

1978

General elections held (June)

to

in U. S.

be in desig-

INTRODUCTION

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE Malawi is located in southeast Central Africa. a landlocked nation bordered by Tanzania to the northeast, by Mozambique to the southeast and southHaving an west, and by Zambia to the northwest. elongated shape, Malawi has rather extreme dimensions: it is 560 miles in length and from 50 to 100 miles in width. Its total area is approximately 45, 750 square miles about the size of New York State --9, 425 of which is water. Lake Malawi, Africa’s third largest lake, dominates the country. The lake, which extends 355 miles, has its only outlet in the Shire River, which empties into the Zambezi River. It

is

—

The Great Rift Valley, a trough -like depression, appears in a north -south direction; in the north it is covered by Lake Malawi and in the south it is called the Shire River Valley. Rift faulting has transformed the plateaus and provided Malawi with a varied topography. West of Lake Malawi the rolling grassy plains rise to uplands of 3, 000 to 4, 000 feet and to the even higher plateaus of Dedza, Viphya and Nyika, which range from 5, 000 to 8, 000 feet. Both the upper and lower Shire Valley have invited cultivation with their fertile soils, but the rugged cataract section of the middle Shire has attracted a less dense population. Only in recent years have these Murchison Cataracts been harnessed by hydroelectric projects (Nkula Falls).

Malawi is south of the equator at 9 degrees to 17 degrees south latitude. Its tropical climate will vary according to the topography of the countryside, but three seasons are recognizable. From May to August the xix

xx

Introduction

southwest trade winds form a high pressure area over Southern Africa and produce weather with warm days July temperatures may range from 53 and cold nights. degrees to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. When winds blow from the east coast, cool light rain known as chiperone often covers the Shire Highlands in a heavy misE A low pressure system over the Kalahari and a wind shift to the east and northwest produce the hottest and driest months: September, October and November. Temperatures in the 80 degree Fahrenheit range are sustained until thunderstorms begin to cool the land in late November. By the end of December there is widespread rain, although the ’’main rains” usually do not occur until February and March. It is during the December -April season that cyclones from the Indian Ocean can strike inland, but they have done so infrequently. Between the end of March and late April the southeast trades return and dry season conditions resume with their cooler temperatures.

Lake Malawi and land elevation are the two major determinants affecting temperatures and rainfall in Malawi.

ALTITUDE AND TEMPERATURE Altitude

Place

(in feet)

Nsanje

190 1590

Mangochi Nkhotakota Mulanje

1640 2000 3140 3700 4125 4190 4200

Zomba Lilongwe

Mzuzu Chitipa

Ntcheu

Most

cember

(max. -min.

89° 86° 83° 82° 79° 80° 75° 79° 76°

-68° -65° -67° -60° -62° -56° -56° -61° -59°

)

F.

F. F.

F.

F. F. F. F.

F.

occurs in the wet season from DeAlthough the average annual rainfall

rainfall

to April.

Mean Temperatures

XXI

Introduction

for Malawi is slightly less than 50 inches, a range of 25 to 120 inches exists because of .elevation and location. Sheltered from .rain -bearing winds the Chitipa Plain (with 37 inches) and the lower Shire Valley (with A 33 inches) are among the lowest rainfall regions.

more

Thyolo Highlands (with Generally speakestates. tea rainfall in those areas bordering although the variable topography is responsible for producing a range from 50 to 120 inches.

reliable rainfall 55 inches), known for ing, the mean annual Lake Malawi is high,

area

is the

its

The vegetation pattern in Malawi is a diverse one The most that will vary according to soil and climate. common soils are the red -earth type found beneath the Brachystegia woodlands, the most widespread vegetation in Malawi. The red and yellow -red soils are among the most fertile in east -central Africa. They consist of sandy and clay loams, are highly cultivated, and respond well to the widely used fertilizers of today. The soils in the Southern region are generally more fertile than those found in the Northern reaches of Malawi where a lower content of phosphate and potassium exists. Areas both extensively cultivated and densely populated include the alluvial soil regions in the valleys of the South Rukuru and Bua rivers, and the black soils of the Chikwawa district called makanga.

The mixed savanna woodland covers the greater part of the Shire valley, along the southern lakeshore, and the Salima and Karonga lakeshore plains. Among the species in the woodland are acacia, baobab, pod mahogany, and palms. The Brachystegia woodland, with its low and sparse grass cover, occupies the plateaus up to an altitude of 6, 000 feet. At the Viphya Paper mill site in Chintheche, the Brachystegia are kept luxuriantly green by a rainfall in excess of 80 inches annually. The Comb return - Ac ac ia woodland is found most extensively in the Central Region where tobacco has been cultivated. Montane forests, reduced to relict patches by annual burning, have given way to rolling grassland. The Nyika plateau is the largest example of this type of vegetation, covering nearly a half -million acres. Short grasslands, associated with seasonally waterlogged basins

Introduction

xxii

and shallow river headwaters, are known as dambo vegeTypical swamp vegetation may be found adjacent to Lake Malawi and Lake Chilwa, as well as in the lower Often the reeds and Shire River (Elephant Marsh). grasses in these waterways become so dense that navigation by boat is difficult. tation.

POPULATION Early occupation of Malawi by Stone Age peoples factor of environment, that is, they chose sites that provided a favorable game and water supply. Most of the early Stone Age sites may be found along the lakeshore and in the river valleys. Later, Stone Age humans were more adaptable and more venturesome, often

was a

occupying the upland regions of Malawi. The artifacts of the later Stone Age, which presently is estimated to have begun 10, 00C years ago, consist of very specialized microliths and comparatively sophisticated rock paintings.

From the second to third century A. D. , Malawi extensively occupied by iron -working agriculturalists. These cultivators, who co-existed with the men and women of the later Stone Age, introduced the earliest potIn their pertery known to date, called Nkope ware. manent settlements at Nkope Bay, these people produced many bowls with decorated rims. Their diet, probably consisting of fish, turtle, wild game, cereal and vegetables, was cooked and served in these bowls. Archaeologists have discerned a later type of pottery, called Kapeni, which was produced sometime between the 10th and the 13th centuries A. D. The Kapeni pot makers The apparently had contact with the Nkope ware makers. Kapeni potters also were influential when the Maravi peoples migrated into the area: a pedestal based bowl has been found to be common to both Kapeni and Mawudzu potters. Mawudzu pottery (dated 15th -17th centuries A. D. ) was produced throughout the period of

was

Maravi dominance. Beginning, perhaps in the 13th century, the first of several related clans settled along Lake Malawi. They

XXV

Introduction

and became more closely associated with the foreign The sheer distances in administering the Emtraders. pire were another factor affecting the decentralization In time, the Karonga of the Karonga* s confederacy. lost control over political appointments within each

Maravi branch kingdom, and by the 1800 s many of the more powerful branch kingdoms acted quite independently of Karonga rule. T

About 500 years ago, as the last of the Maravi migrants were settling in, another series of clans enThe Tumbuka, an tered Malawi from the northwest. agricultural people, began inhabiting the region north of Other smaller groups who migrated the Dwangwa River. into

Among the Tumbuka language. political authority was decentralized,

Tumbukaland adopted

Tumbuka -speakers

unlike the Ngonde who migrated (c. late 15th century) from Tanzania and who had a tradition of a central chief. After The Ngonde were both farmers and cattle raisers. settling in the Mbande Hill area, north of the present day town of Karonga, the Ngonde chief (titled Kyungu)

engaged in ivory trade. This northern juncture, the site of earlier trade exchanges, became a center for the transfer of ivory in return for cloth and metal goods.

Towards the end of the 17th century and into the 18th century, the movement of peoples again altered the cultural mix of northern Malawi. Present archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that some Ngonde moved from Malawi to south of the Limpopo River where they intermarried with the Shona and where they

became known as

the Venda. The remaining Ngonde witnessed other groups and clans enter northern Malawi from Zambia and Tanzania. These early 18th-century immigrants mixed with Tumbuka -speakers, adopted their language and a few customs, but imposed themselves politically upon the residents. Among the immigrants were the Phoka and the Nkhamanga. As a result of this integration and cultural layering, linguistic differences are found between Tumbuka -speakers in RumphiChitipa districts and Nkhata Bay-Mzimba districts.

Later in the 18th century

still

another group was

Introduction

xxvi

attracted to the northern region; these were the Balowoka, or those who "crossed over" Lake Malawi from Tanzania. The leader of this small group of traders sought alliances of friendship that would permit him, Mlowoka, to expand the incipient ivory trade and to promote long distance trade. Aligning himself with local leaders and marrying into the most powerful clan (Luhanga), Mlowoka soon established economic control over the Henga-Nkhamanga-Phoka areas. He secured his economic position by placing his compatriots along this ivory trade route which extended from eastern Zambia to Lake Malawi. The oral traditiona of the Lambya,

Ngonde and Sukwa peoples suggest that Mlowoka’ s sphere remained economic and did not develop into political hegemony. However, at Mlowoka' s death, his son usurped the succession line from the Luhangas, and from this point (early 19th century) is dated the commencement of the Chikulamayembe line. The dynasty "rule" followed Luhanga administrative patterns and permitted the local judicial system to continue. The Chikulamayembes established no bureaucracy and no army in the area. In fact, Chikulamayembe s subsidiary chiefs remained quite independent. The dynasty was economT

ically powerful and exercised political leadership only in Nkhamanga.

Changes on the east coast of Africa directly affected the hinterland of Malawi. Whereas the Balowoka had dealt in ivory and not slaves, the latter became highly demanded as the 19th century progressed and the When they arrived Swahili traders penetrated inland. in Malawi the Swahilis successfully broke the trade monopoly established by the Balowokas. By encouraging internal rivalries, the Swahili also exploited the already decentralized Tumbuka societies. The economic control of the Chikulamayembes was eliminated as a consequence, and the dynasty functioned merely as the political leaders in Nkhamanga. When the Ngoni arrived in Malawi at mid -century, the Tumbuka peoples easily succumbed and In 1907 the Chikulamayembe dynasty ceased to exist. the British re-established the line.

Introduction

XXV11

Nineteenth Century Incursions

There was little security for Malawi inhabitants in the 19th century for they witnessed intrusions by the The Yao moved from Ngoni and Swahili Arabs. their nuclear area in northern Mozambique when they were attacked by the Makua-Lomwe (Lolo) peoples, their Further, a severe famine agneighbors to the east. gravated Yao life causing them to flee to southern Malawi. The course of this invasion needs to be reconstructed by historians, as does the question of whether armaments were a factor in Yao success. Yao,

The Yao were established long-distance traders, having bartered with the east coast since the early 1700s. At Mozambique and Kilwa, the Yao had traded with the Portuguese, Indians, Arabs and French. Ivory was the most desired item of exchange on the east coast, although slaves, iron goods and animal skins were also traded for beads, salt and calico. The nature of that trade heavily emphasized slaves by the 19th century. Within a decade of the Yao migrating to Malawi they were infamously known as slave traders (1860 s). The various Yao groups settled along the southern Lakeshore among the Nyanja and in the Shire Highlands. Through their association with the Swahili Arabs many, but not all, Yao embraced Islam. When European Christian missionaries arrived in Malawi, Yao chiefs permitted mission stations to be built. UMCA missionaries hoped to lure the Yao into legitimate commerce, but Commissioner H. H. Johnston (1890 s) was intent on "pacifying" the Yao and ending their slave raids. After five years of war, Johnston did in fact break up the Yao slave trade (1896). f

T

The Ngoni had preceded the Yao into Malawi by several decades. In the 1820’ s two groups of Ngoni fled the powerful Zulu king, Shaka, and migrated north, crossing the Zambezi River in the 1830’ s. One group, the Jere Ngoni, was led by Zwangendaba and his successor M’Mbelwa; the second group, the Maseko Ngoni, was headed by Mputa and later by Chikusi and Chidiaonga. Both the Jere and Maseko Ngoni were highly organized

xxviii

Introduction

politically and militarily,

and both plundered and captive peoples during their northern trek.

made

The Maseko Ngoni first entered the Dedza district Malawi in the 1830 s, and then proceeded south to the Shire valley and east of Lake Malawi to Songea, Tanof

T

zania. After Mputa’s death, his brother Chidiaonga returned to southern Malawi (1860’s) and settled on lands inhabited by the Chewa. The Ngoni adopted the Chewa language, while the Chewa imitated many Ngoni customs and Chewa men joined Ngoni military regiments. Chikusi, son of Mputa, succeeded as chief when his uncle Chidiaonga died. The Maseko were undecided over whether Chikusi or Chifisi (Chidiaonga’ s son) should reign. As a result, there became two lines of succession: today Chikusi’ s successor is Gomani III and Chifisi’ s descendant chieftain is Kachindamoto II.

Zwangendaba led his Jere Ngoni day Lilongwe district, inhabitants. to the north, area south of

into what is toraiding and terrifying the local

Upon his hearing rumors of cattle herds Zwangendaba directed his followers to an Lake Tanzania. After his death (c. 1848)

there was a dispute over succession; subsequently, some Ngoni moved north and others migrated east. But the main body traveled south and settled in Malawi’s Henga valley. In the 1850’ s M’Mbelwa was appointed inkosi (or paramount chief) of the Jere Ngoni. Under his rule (1857-1891) both Tonga and Tumbuka peoples were subjugated. The Chikulayembe was unable to resist the Some acsuperior military organization of the Ngoni. commodation did occur, however, as Tumbuka headmen With and Tumbuka religion were permitted to continue. further assimilation, the Tumbuka and Ngoni intermarried and the Ngoni, like so many other groups before Although them, also adopted the Tumbuka language. neither the Tonga nor the Tumbuka relished being integrated into the Ngoni state, their attempts at revolt Only the impo(1874-1880) were not very successful. sition of British rule restricted the activities of the Ngoni. With the establishment of the British Protectorate in 1891, the Ngoni were excepted from taxation and anBy 1904 the nexation provided they cease their raiding.

XXIX

Introduction

Ngoni agreed to accept British rule, in part because of the ameliorating effects of the Scottish missions on Today’s descendants of the sons of ZwangenNgoni life. daba hold chiefly offices in the name of Mabulabo,

Mperembe, Mtwalo and M’Mbelwa. The third group which moved into Malawi in the 19th century was the Swahili Arabs. Swahili slave traders arrived in northern Malawi just prior to the coming of the Ngoni. In the 1840’s the Jumbe Salim bin Abdallah brought an impressive number of guns and ammunition when he and his retinue made Nkhotakota an east -west slave trade center. Both the Chewa and Tonga sought alliances with these well-armed representatives of the Sultan of Zanzibar to fend off the Ngoni. When the European missionaries arrived in the 1870’ s they abhorred, but tolerated, the Jumbe ’s trade in slaves. The British took more direct action in 1894 when they deposed the last Jumbe and sent him to Zanzibar. Another Swahili Arab trader, called Mlozi, established himself at Karonga (c. 1884) and began buying local ivory and harassing the Ngonde people. When the African Lakes Company began its operation about the same time, a conflict with Mlozi resulted. It was further complicated by Ngonde appeals for protection from the ALC. An attempt to negotiate the Swahili war was made by Commissioner Johnston in 1889, but the terms of the treaty were largely ignored. Finally, in 1895 with four hundred troops as reinforcements, Johnston destroyed Mlozi’ s stockade.

FOREIGN POLICY General

Malawi’s foreign policy is labelled pro-Western, and is implemented by Life President Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda. Since independence when Dr. Banda took over control of external affairs, Malawi has had few contacts with nations other than those in Western Europe, the United States and several Asian states. Malawi is a member of the OAU, the Commonwealth of Nations, and

xxx

Introduction

the United Nations and its specialized agencies; it enAs a joys a respected status with the World Bank. been supportive of not OAU Banda has general rule, disdains embargoes or violence policies and specifically African problem. southern The tone as a solution to the Dr. Banda not personal rule of has ingratiated of this direct him with other black leaders of the African continent.

Three principles govern Malawi’s foreign policy according to Dr.

Banda: there will be no interference in the affairs of other nations; each individual situation will be judged on its own merits; and, any country willing to aid Malawi will be welcomed. * In fact, Banda

has maintained a strong anti -communist stance and foreign aid has been accepted only from ’’Western sources. ” Banda’s attitude toward communism has been described as having a 1950’ s John Foster Dulles tone to This anti -communist view is well -received in South it. * Africa but is less appealing rhetoric in the 1970’s when East -West ddtente seems the more practical opinion.

As head of state of a landlocked and poor nation, Dr. Banda has chosen to place Malawi's economic welfare above political considerations. At independence Banda elected not merely to establish a co-exist(1964) ence accord with white -ruled regimes in South Africa, Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), and the then Portuguese controlled Mozambique. Instead, Malawi’s President actively cultivated friendly relations with Lisbon and insisted that it was out of economic necessity that Malawi pursue this course of action. Respecting the military might of South Africa, and the limited chance that his or any other African state could defeat apartheid forcibly, Dr. Banda established diplomatic relations with South Africa (September 1967). Whereas another nation might have reasoned that a policy of neutrality was best when there are powerful neighbors, Banda’s considerations included the hope that he could make Malawi the ’’bridge” between black and white rule in Africa. In adopting a position of open dialogue with South Africa, Banda was not implying any support for apartheid, or the repressive

*From Carolyn McMaster’s Malawi --Foreign Policy and Development London: 1974, pp71-72. ,

Introduction

XXXI

South African rule, a situation he had experienced firstHe did expect to evoke political hand as a young man. changes which he could not perceive as occurring by brute force or economic sanctions.

Relations with

Economic

Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia ) and South Africa

ties with

Rhodesia were strongest dur-

ing the years of the Federation (1953-1963) when 39 percent of Malawi’s imports came from its neighbor to the west. By contrast, only 2 percent of 1977 imports en-

tered from Rhodesia.

When the Ian Smith regime announced its Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965, the British imposed both diplomatic and economic sanctions. The U. N. followed by making the sanctions mandatory for members. Malawi complied with most of the 1966 sanctions but not with an additional sanction list in 1968. While agreeing to reduce its economic ties with Rhodesia, Malawi maintained that if it cut off all trade, it would be Malawi, not Rhodesia, that would suffer. Furthermore, said the Banda government, the sanctions harmed the 95 percent black majority in Rhodesia, and encouraged additional hostility in the white -ruling minority. From Dr. Banda’s point of view, Malawi’s economy was too fragile not to maintain a ’’friendly relationship” with Rhodesia. When Malawi

established diplomatic relations with

the South African government,

it

was

loudly condemned,

but President Banda’s motives were both economic and political. He was convinced that violence was not the key to changing black and white relations, but rather that the establishment of a dialogue policy with South Africa could produce reforms. Banda was interested also in obtaining aid for the construction of a new capital at Lilongwe and for the completion of the Nacala railway line. Other economic motives included the need to expand its export market and to develop tourism in Malawi. Out of the accord with South Africa also came a migrant worker contract that permitted nearly 100, 000 Malawians to work in South Africa (1971). South African

xxxi 1

Introduction

investors were encouraged to enter the Malawi market, and several South Africans were given economic posts. Banda’s dialogue policy, coupled with his anti -communist opinions, were popular in South Africa, which extended an invitation for a state visit to Banda in 1971. During his five-day stay Dr. Banda visited both black and white leaders; shortly after this, the Pretoria government accepted its first black ambassador. The new envoy was from Malawi. Relations with the People’s Republic of China

Prior

to

Malawi’s independence the People’s Re-

public of China had obtained assurances from Dr. Banda that after July 1964 Malawi would extend diplomatic recognition, and would press for China’s admission to the U. N. In return for ending a two -China policy, Malawi was offered £6 million in aid from Peking. Banda made no decision, but his Minister for External Affairs, Kanyama Chiume, met with the Chinese Ambassador, Ho Ying, in Dar-es -Salaam (August 1964). At this meeting, Ying raised the amount of the aid offer to £18 million. In the next cabinet meeting the subject of the latest Chinese offer became an issue along with several internal grievances held by Banda’s cabinet minister and (See CABINET CRISIS in the a political crisis ensued. Dictionary. ) During early negotiations with disgruntled ministers, Banda indicated that he merely needed more As the crisis time to consider the Chinese question.

worsened, Banda implied that Ambassador Ying had proAlthough his voked his ministers into a conspiracy. suspicions of Chinese support for the former Cabinet ministers continued, Banda supported China’s admission to the U. N. during a December 1964 speech before the When Banda learned some weeks General Assembly. later that China had aided the ex-ministers, who had In 1965 since fled Malawi, he reversed his support. Malawi officially favored Taiwan in the U. N. and in 1966 Banda established diplomatic relations with the Taiwan government. In return, Malawi has received techMalawi connical assistance in agricultural schemes. tinues to recognize the Taiwan government, and this is unlikely to change during the Banda administration.

XXX111

Introduction

Relations with Portugal (Pre-1974)

The Anglo -Portuguese Treaty (1891) established the boundaries between Britain’s claim on British Central Africa and Portugal’s ’’province” of Mozambique. In 1922 Malawi’s rail system exited through its neighbor’s territory at Beira (Trans -Zambesia Railway). During the latter days of the Federation, as Malawi neared independence, there were many verbal attacks on the Portuguese regime, particularly when it became clear that fellow Mozambicans were not to enjoy freedom soon. This intense hostility against the Salazar government in the early 1960’s was ameliorated by an envoy of the Lisbon government, Jorge Jardim, who beIn gan meeting with Dr. Banda on a regular basis. 1962 Banda announced that although the Portuguese sys-

tem was

to

be abhorred, he considered a co-existence

policy possible, much like that tolerated between the By 1964 Banda British and Americans and the Soviets. had appointed Jardim as Malawi’s honorary consul at Beira. The Portuguese responded by permitting the construction of the Nacala railway (opened June 1970), and by negotiating a mutual trade pact. These activ-

between Banda and Portugal were condemned by several of Banda’s Cabinet ministers and were a factor in creating the Cabinet Crisis in 1964. ities

As cooperation between Zomba^and Lisbon grew, so did Portuguese investment in Malawi, particularly in the banking and petroleum fields. In 1967 the Malawi government sold its shares in the Trans- Zambesia Railway and its rights to the Zambezi Bridge to the Portuguese government for nearly £3. 4 million. Three years later the Portuguese provided a £2. 5 million loan to build a highway. The liberation forces in Mozambique, FRELIMO, were permitted a representative in Blantyre, but they were admonished not to use Malawi as a base of operations for raids into Mozambique. However, in 1972 the Malawi army could stop neither FRELIMO units nor pursuing Portuguese forces from trespassing on Malawi soil. Although relations with Lisbon were often strained at this

xxxiv

Introduction

time, Portugal did not press Banda. When the Portuguese government was overthrown in 1974, Malawi applauded the change and supported Mozambican independence.

Relations today with the independent

Mozambican

government are good and trade has increased. Relations with the United Kingdom and the United States

Malawi has the closest Western ties with its former colonial power, the United Kingdom. At independence, Dr. Banda retained many British civil servants in high government, and he did not replace the expatriates until fully qualified Malawians were prepared This slow Africanization policy to accept the posts. met with more British approval than Malawian, and it was a factor in the 1964 Cabinet Crisis.

Banda’s commitment to capitalism insured a continuance of British economic interests in Malawi, although other foreign interests have since entered the market. In 1977, 49 percent of Malawi’s exports went to the U. K. 13 percent to the U. S. 8 percent to the Netherlands and 6 percent reached South Africa. Onefifth of imports into Malawi came from the U. K. The strong U. K. -Malawi friendship has been sustained by generous foreign assistance grants. Budgetary deficits for several years after independence were covered by British grants -in -aid; and, British development loans regularly were provided for projects in agriculture, education, housing and forestry. ,

,

Relations with the United States have been cordial and suffered a slight setback only in the mid-1960s when Dr. Banda ejected the Peace Corps from Malawi.

The Malawi government was supportive

of the

American

a policy in line with Dr. Banda’s anti -communist leanings. Many Malawians have studied, Dr. and continue to study at American universities. Banda most recently visited the U. S. in April 1978 when he was honored at those universities (Indiana and MeLongtime Ameriharry) he had attended in the 1930’ s. can Ambassador to Malawi Robert Stevenson recently

involvement in Vietnam,

XXXV

Introduction

left his post, and Harold Horan, a twenty -year Foreign Service veteran, has replaced him.

The U. S. has made financial loans to Malawi, as well as expended a large amount of technical assistance in the form of building roads and educational facilApproximately $4 milities, and in training personnel. lion in aid was disbursed (1977) by the U. S. to Malawi. Most recently, Malawi has sought U. S. assistance in

agricultural research for its twenty -year National Rural

The U. S. supplied only 5 perDevelopment Program. cent of Malawi’s imports in 1977, compared with 36 percent provided by South Africa and 9 percent provided by Japan. Relations with Tanzania and Zambia Relations between Malawi and its neighbors Tanzania and Zambia became strained during the Cabinet Crisis. Both President Kenneth Kaunda and President Julius Nyerere offered political asylum to former members of Banda’s cabinet: Chokani, Bwanausi and Chibambo took refuge in Zambia; Chiume, Chirwa and Chisiza fled to Tanzania.

Although President Nyerere publicly noted his differences with Banda over Portugal, he also assured Malawi that his government would not permit refugees to plot against the Banda government. Despite this Dr. Banda made several highly emotional accusations about a Tanzanian invasion. The charges were false, but they did justify the increased security measures taken by Banda in Malawi. Relations with Tanzania did not improve in 1966 or in 1967 when another issue was added, the Lake boundary. It has been suggested that the Nyerere government feared Malawi might permit the Portuguese to operate in the northern part of Lake Malawi in an effort to pursue FRELIMO units, in which case, Tanzania needed to assert a claim over the lake. Speeches from Tanzania referred to a median line through Lake Malawi and remarks from Malawi denied Tanzania had any historical claim to the region. Relations were further exacerbated when Yatuta Chisiza

Introduction

xxxvi

attempted (October 1967) a coup with a small group of supporters. The Tanzanian government might have, but did not, restrain Chisiza from his mission. In mid1968 Dr. Banda made a rash statement implying that the lands east of the Lake belonged to Malawi, not Tanzania. The response from Tanzania was predictable and both nations engaged in a heated dialogue. Attempts to establish cordial relations were unsuccessful until after 1972 when a more friendly association was restored.

The ties between Zambia and Malawi are close ethnically and geographically. Politically, Dr. Banda was respected as the individual most responsible for leading the fight against the hated Federation. However, in 1964 relations deteriorated when Zambia accepted the ex-ministers from Banda’s cabinet. Conditions worsened when Dr. Banda laid claim to Zambian territory, and a war of words ensued. The attempt to verbally resurrect the Maravi Confederacy produced political strain, but did not prevent Malawi from economically assisting Zambian trade (tobacco, copper) when international sanctions closed Zambia’s traditional rail routes. Zambian use of Malawi Railways, particularly the Na-

cala line, was mutually advantageous. Relations between the two states grew steadily closer after 1971. Although President Kaunda has never endorsed Banda’s dialogue policy with South Africa, he would concede that Malawi has been an effective mediator in negotiations

with that white regime.

THE DICTIONARY Yao historian born in Mozamwho became an ordained UMCA priest in 1898 and who authored Chilaka cha Wayao (1919), a pio-

ABDALLAH, YOHANNA. bique

neering study of the homeland of the Yao.

ADMARC

(Agricultural Development and Marketing CorFormerly known as the Farmers Marketporation). ing Board until April 1971. The statutory corporation is owned by the government, and directed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Among its functions are the purchase (and processing where necessary) of crops produced by smallholder farmers; the improvement in agricultural production standards; the establishment of agroindustrial enterprises; and the marketing of the increased volume of exportable crops. posts a set of purchase prices for each commodity before the planting season. The main crops traded by are cassava, maize, rice, cotton, tobacco and groundnuts the last three grown primarily for export. maintains well over fifty storage depots for the various crops. Tobacco bought by and sold on the Limbe auction floors was valued at K91 million in 1977. Provision of select seed, fertilizer, pesticides, and farm imf

ADMARC

ADMARC

—

ADMARC

ADMARC

plements are other services

AFRICAN LAKES COMPANY

of

ADMARC.

(also A. L. Corporation and Livingstonia Central Africa Company). A Glasgow trading and transport business established in 1878 and managed by the brothers John and Fred Moir. Expectations of profit, reducing the effectiveness of the slave trade, and promoting the European influence were motives for forming the company. 1

African In 1890,

2 it

was absorbed by Cecil Rhodes'

British

South Africa Company.

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL (AME) CHURCH. The black separatist church which stressed the right of black

men

and

women

to control their

own

AME

mission was started in Malawi in 1924 by Hanock Phiri; a year later the church's first school began. Dr. Banda was a member of the AME Church from 1922-1932, and the Church partially funded his passage to the U. S. and his attendance at the Wilberforce Institute in lives.

The

first

Ohio.

AFRICANIZATION.

The phasing out of expatriate civil servants and the replacement by Malawians. Dr. Banda, unlike other African leaders, has resisted rapid Africanization. Africans, said Banda, would be promoted based on their merit not their black skin. Africanization also extended beyond public service into the commercial and industrial sector, where Asian retailers and European owned busiAmong the industries nanesses were affected. tionalized was the Malawi Railways, previously controlled by Lonrho. See also SKINNER REPORT.

AGRICULTURE.

About 90 percent of the economically resident population is employed in agriculture. It provides 46 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Expanding agricultural production has been a primary goal of the Malawi government development program and accounts for 13 percent of the 1977/78 development budget. Subsistence production, representing 70 percent of agricultural production in Malawi, provides both the largest and most stable element of crop production. Estate and small -holder cash crop production varies annually according to market demands and weather conditions. Estate production, however, Dating accounts for 60 percent of domestic exports. back to colonial days when expatriate farmers were given free -hold or lease -hold titles to land, estate crops have been important. Most estates (about

Agriculture

3

Agricultural Development Projects

1

1

TANZANIA

ZAMBIA

/"V.

MOZAMBIQUE

DW Dwangwa

sugar project

ST

Smallholder tea projects

FT

Flue-cured tobacco training project

OT

Oriental (Turkish) tobacco projects

IR

Irrigated rice projects

Ph

Phalombe

Plain cotton project

YY//A Integrated Rural Development Projects 1

Karonga project

2 Salima project 3 Lilongwe project

4 Lower Shire Valley project f

I

Viphya pulpwood project i

r

Source: Adapted from Harold Nelson, Area

Handbook

for Malawi, 1975.

Agriculture

4

400) survived after independence and the government has supported the expansion of this sector. Today only Malawi nationals are granted new leases. Tobacco (flue -cured and burley), tea and sugar are the major export crops which are grown largely on estates. Agricultural production has diversified in recent years. Maize, pulses (beans and peas), rice, and cassava are staple foodstuffs grown by smallholders for domestic consumption; whereas, groundcotton, and fire -cured tobacco are key cash crops grown by small -holders for both home use and export. Most Malawian farms are small, averaging about three acres (1. 2 ha. ); only 2 percent of all farms are 12 acres (4. 8 h. a. ) or larger. Sixty -three percent of all farmers cultivate 35 percent of the acreage on farms of 4 acres or less. Large holdings of 6 acres or more represent 19 percent of the farms and 42 percent of the total cultivated acreage. Regional distribution of crops is complicated and may only be described in oversimplified terms. In general, maize, pulses, and groundnuts, are grown throughout the country. Of the leading cash crops, tobacco, groundnuts, and pulses have their areas of maximum production in the Central region; rice in the North; and cotton and tea in the South. Projects for tea, tobacco and cotton have been started in the North, while cotton and rice projects have begun along the central shore of Lake Malawi, near Salima and Nkhotakota. The government’s agricultural development program has been both dynamic and prudent (see

nuts,

RURAL AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS). The largest projects are near Lilongwe, Chikwawa and Karonga and are financed in part by the World Bank Group. Other projects have concentrated on developing certain crops: cotton, rice, tea and flue -cured tobacco. These integrated rural projects have been successful in increasing productivity and their operations Malawi extend to about 10 percent of the populace. development strategy calls for a high concentration Agriof extension staff on these integrated schemes.

5

AID Programs

cultural extension services have been expanded sigexten1:1650 Until the expenditures, extension services were financed by the British government. General shortages in skilled nificantly since independence. The ratio of sion officers to farmers has increased from in the mid-60 s to 1:1000 in the mid-70 s. 1973 when the Malawi government took over T

T

extension service staff

still exist.

AID PROGRAMS. The U. S. Agency for International Development has never had a large assistance program in Malawi. It has provided $10 million in grants to develop Bunda Agricultural College near Lilongwe and Malawi Polytechnic at Blantyre. AID has also provided loans ($30 million) for the construction of several major roads: Balaka-Salima, Chikwawa-Bangula, and Lilongwe- Zambia border.

ANGLICAN CHURCH

see

MISSIONS

ANGLO- PORTUGUESE TREATY

This convention (1891). established the arbitrary southern border of Malawi in June 1891. The confluence of the Ruo and Shire rivers divided British and Portuguese colonial claims to the lands held by Makololo chiefs. In the years immediately preceding the treaty both colonial powers following the diplomacy of the times attempted to sign separate treaties with the chiefs. Each nation was on a fr civilizing mission” which in fact was a power struggle over the control of southern Malawi which nearly ended in war in 1890. When the Portuguese backed away from the crisis, it also relinquished its influence in the region. Within a year, the British had accorded Protectorate status to the area.

ARAB (SWAHILI) WAR.

The origins of this 1887-89 yet inconclusive. The significance, however, of this conflict lies in the events which followed, i. e. considerable British interest in the region was set astir, and the Salisbury government subsequently declared a protectorate over both Malawi and Zambia. Prior to the conflict, the

war are as

,

Armitage

6

African Lakes Company (q. v. ) and the Arabs in the Karonga area were partners in the ivory trade. When an Ngonde headman was killed by Arabs in an otherwise trivial incident, mediation resulted in Later when the Ngonde compensation to the Ngonde. attacked, the Arabs retaliated in what appeared as an Arab test for hegemony over the Ngonde. Despite the close commercial ties between the Arabs and the Company, it refused to allow the Their political coup subjugation of the Ngonde. threatened, the Arabs attacked the Company; however, both parties, weakened by sickness and lacking vital supplies, succumbed to a peace treaty in 1889. Thenceforth, Sir Harry Johnson, British Consul for Mozambique, was assigned the task of The Protectorate followed. mediating future disputes.

ARMITAGE, SIR ROBERT.

Governor who was respon-

sible for declaring a state of emergency (March 2, 1959), for proscribing Congress, and for arresting/

detaining over 200 Congress members during Operation Sunrise (q. v. ). Armitage earlier had refused to discuss the possibility that Nyasaland might secede from the Federation, and further rejected all constitutional proposals suggested by Congress members.

ARMY.

The Malawi Rifles has about 2,000 men including two light infantry battalions, each divided into

five rifle companies. The present forces have been trained according to British tradition, and the British remain a primary source of military aid. The origins of the army are also British. In 1896, the Central African Rifles (CAR) consisted of six companies and by 1899, two battalions had been authorized. These troops saw service in Somalia and Ghana as the British attempted to establish direct rule over less than cooperative colonials. When the King s African Rifles (KAR) was established in 1902, it incorporated the CAR companies. An estimated 200,000 Malatvians served as porters or soldiers in Forced participation in the I. War was despised and one attempt to resist the T

WW

7

Asians

/

wartime recruitment was the Chilembwe rebellion During WW II, in 1915 (see CHILEMBWE, JOHN). over 30,000 men distinguished themselves in campaigns in Burma and in the Somali -Ethiopia region. Troops also served in the Federation Army. Less than 3 percent of the national budget is spent on the military,

and an estimated 561,000

males (age 15-49) are considered fit for military At the opening of a new officers’ mess in service. Lilongwe in December 1975, Dr. Banda announced In Septemplans to add the 3rd and 4th Battalions. ber 1978 a new military college was opened in Salima:

Kamuzu

Military College.

Most of the 12,000 Asians in Malawi trace their origins to the Gujarat region of western India and Pakistan. Today they are professionals, small

ASIANS.

craftsmen and commercial middlemen. Beginning with a 1970 government order, Asians had to sell their stores in rural areas to Africans, and Asian traders were restricted since 1972 to towns and trading centers. The government decision to transfer commerce to Malawi hands (Africanization) has proceeded slowly. By March 1978, the rural shopkeepers and retailers were expected to withdraw from rural areas and operate in the urban centers of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Limbe, and Zomba. Viewed with suspicion by local Africans, some unscrupulous shopkeepers were deserving of their negative reputation. Politically, Asians lost franchise rights in traders,

the

mid-1950

r

s.

ASSOCIATIONS (AFRICAN VOLUNTARY). at stations of the Livingstonia Mission,

Established these early

pressure groups represented the Malawi effort to work with the colonial administration. The first was the North Nyasa Native Association (NNNA) which was formed in 1912 at Karonga by Simon Muhango. It was followed by others including Associations at Mombera, Chiradzulu (by Dr. Daniel Malekebu), Mulanje and Blantyre. As regional groups, they kept the colonial government informed of Malawian public opinion, and they kept their

Balaka

8

districts well-informed politically, explaining new Membership was elitist: most were legislation. teachers, ministers of religion or civil servants. By 1933, educated Malawians had organized 15 such Throughout the 1920 s and 1930 s, associations. the Associations attempted to reason with an administration deaf to words of reform. The Associations sought recognition from the T

government and wanted

it

T

to consider several issues

They sought better postal service, bridges and roads; they sought relief from high store prices; they needed village sanitation; they asked cooperation and protection of women from European attacks; they were concerned over the harmful effects of labor migration; and they persistently requested more educational faciliDuring the Bledisloe Commission hearings, ties. the Associations spoke frankly against any form of closer union or amalgamation with Rhodesia. The Associations generally shunned mass participation in their groups and clung to constitutional methods in an effort to effect political change. In the 1940 s, they played a significant part in the vital to the majority population.

r

nationalist movements. Levi Mumba who became the president of the Nyasaland African Congress (q. v. ), had earlier initiated (1929) the Zomba-based

Committee

of

Northern Province Associations.

-

B

-

BALAKA.

Located in Kasupe District, Balaka is the an administrative boma and a railway station on the Blantyre-Salima line. The Zomba- Lilongwe Road also crosses at Balaka. site of

BANDA, ALEKE.

Former Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, he was born in 1939 in the Nkhata Bay district. While in his teens, he was the Que Que branch secretary of the Nyasaland African Congress, arrestea and subsequently deported as a political agitator. Banda founded the Malawi News a nationalist newspaper of which he was editor until ,

Banda

9

/ He was a tireless worker for Dr. Hastings Banda's (no relation) campaign tp bury the Federation and Secretaryr General of the Malawi Congress Party. In 1966, he was appointed Minister of De1966.

velopment and Planning, and in the next two years respectively served as Minister of Economic Affairs Later in a 1972 cabinet and Minister of Finance. of the office of the duties reshuffle he took on A year later he Tourism. and Trade, Industry, for a breach of Banda President by dismissed was party discipline.

BANDA,

H.

KAMUZU,

was born

M. D.

Malawi's Life President

in a small village near

Kasungu

in 1898.

His mother, Akupinganyama, and his father, MphoFollowing Chewa nongo, were subsistent farmers. custom, the young Kamuzu ("little root") went to live with his maternal grandparents, and in 1905 he entered his first school at the urging of his uncle Hanock Phiri. Banda soon converted to Christianity and took the surname of Church of Scotland missionHe conary John Hastings as a Christian name. tinued his schooling at Chilanga Primary School where his uncle Phiri taught and where in 1914, Banda passed Standard Three. Two years later he and his uncle set out for South Africa, working in a Natal colliery for several months before reaching Johannesburg. It was here that Banda probably made friends with Clements Kadalie and learned of Garveyism. Banda also did not lose sight of his purpose for going to South Africa- -higher educationand he completed Standard Eight. He became a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church which agreed to underwrite his education in the U. S. Banda began his studies at the AME Church's Wilberforce Institute (Ohio) where he completed his diploma in only three years. Next he entered the University of Indiana pursuing an early interest in medicine. He remained there for two years before transferring to the University of Chicago where he showed some interest in history and politics. After he received a Bachelor's degree (1931), Banda entered Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennes-

Banda

10

In May 1937 Banda received his doctorate in see. medicine and decided to travel to Scotland where he might complete his medical qualifications before reThe return turning home as a medical missionary.

Malawi became a long term goal after Banda was refused positions, on racial grounds, by the Church of Scotland and the Colonial Office for the Nyasaland government. Instead, he established a practice in Liverpool (1941), but as a conscientious objector, he spent the remaining war years at several British to

hospitals.

After

WW

II,

Dr.

Banda established a prac-

tice in a London suburb and became more politically He became a member of the Labour Party active. and the Fabian Bureau. He enjoyed the exchange of

ideas with such African expatriates as Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta. Certainly at this juncture, Banda had the funds to return home, but he chose to stay in London. He generously supported the education of about forty needy African students while serving as doctor to several thousand patients. Banda was, however, very much in touch with Malawi. From the time that the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) was created, Banda encouraged, advised and supported it financially. He also financially supported a cooperative farm in Kasungu by purchasing land and equipment. This Kasungu agricultural scheme (1950) was to act as a model for similar African- run developments in Malawi. As the Federation movement advanced, he responded with a militancy not before exhibited in this conservative man. Banda campaigned against Federation through the Fabian Bureau and through sympathetic members of Parliament. The opposition of the NAC and by Dr. Banda against the Federation was unrelenting as both were vociferous in noting African objections to such plans. Despite this, the decision was made to form a closer union and in 1953, the Central African Federation became operative

FEDERATION). When the Federation became a reality, Banda felt betrayed by London. He also felt he had failed to stop the new government. When the Kasungu (see

11

Banda

farm project

failed, Banda- felt responsible for that At this point in his life, he chose to as well. Nkrumah invited him to leave London for Ghana. accept an administrative post in the Ghana government, but Banda chose a more reclusive life in There he lived with Kumasi, the Ashanti capital. Margaret French to whom he had turned when his Until 1957, Banda chose world went upside down. to live quietly, practice medicine, and ignore the During this same period, the NAC events at home. floundered badly before being revitalized by Chipem-

bere and Chiume (see

NYAS A LAND AFRICAN CON-

In 1956 both beGRESS; CHIPEMBERE; CHIUME). came members in LEGCO where they pressured the government for an end to discrimination and an end to the Federation. A new militancy existed in the NAC and in 1957, Dr. Banda was informed of those events. That same year, Thamar Dillon Banda (no relation) visited Dr. Banda in Kumasi and urged him to return home to head the NAC. Chipembere followed up by writing to Banda and emphasized the need for a charismatic type leader who was qualified for the task. The time seemed propitious to Banda: the Federation news grew more grim with talk of membership in the Commonwealth, and in Kumasi charges (later proven false and dropped) were made against Banda preventing his medical practice. The invitation to return home was welcomed and Banda left Ghana, and Margaret French, and returned to London where he met old friends, made speeches and prepared for his return in July

1958.

When Banda arrived in Blantyre he was prepared for a long struggle, or if his people did not want him, to return to London. But, several thousand Malawians greeted him at Chileka airport (July 6, 1958) and treated him like a savior of Malawi independence. In August, the NAC elected Banda as their President and he chose a cabient Chipembere (Treasurer), Chiume Chisiza (Secretary), and R. Chibambo (Women's League). Banda then began a campaign to educate the populace and strengthen the NAC. consisting

(Publicity),

of:

D.

Banda

12

months ; Banda visited nearly every against the "stupid Federation, lecturing district and thangata tribalism attacking Everywhere and of the virtues Unity, Loyalty, Obediof he spoke By the end of the year, Malaand Discipline. ence never united before and were growing were as wians impatient with an inflexible Protectorate government. Relations between the European settlers and the NAC worsened as the former considered the constitutional demand for African majorities in the Executive Council and LEGCO as absurd proposals. In January- February 1959, the NAC began a non-violent and non-cooperative campaign in which the detested agricultural regulations (malimidwe ) were ignored. Banda opposed the use of violence as a political weapon, but did not exclude the possibility if it ended the despised Federation. Fearful of the increased number of Congress meetings and speeches, the government reinforced its police staff with Southern Rhodesian troops, and on March 3, declared a State of Emergency (see OPERATION In the next two

.

SUNRISE; ARMITAGE). Banda was aroused from sleep in his Limbe home, taken to Chileka Airport in only his night clothes and flown to Gwelo prison in Southern

Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

In Gwelo,

Banda,

with Chipembere and the Chisiza brothers, planned

Malawi’s political and economic future.

During

thirteen months in detention, Banda also wrote his autobiography, which to date has not been published. In April 1960 Banda was flown home, but he did not stay long before embarking on short speaking engagements in the U. K. and the U. S. At home again, he concentrated on the Lancaster House conference in July- August. At this constitutional meeting Banda, Chirwa, Chiume and A. Banda represented the Malawi Congress Party (which became the successor party to the NAC during Banda’s period of jail); Blackwood represented the United Federal Party of European supporters; and, N. Kwenje, J. Chinyama and T. D. Banda represented a more moderate African stance. Dr. Banda took an immediate hard line and repeated the demand for African majorities, for self-government and an end

Banda

13

j both sides had having of Council Executive an and 28 elected members ministerial would have of whom all 10 members,

At conference end, to Federation. agreed to a dual roll franchise, a ,

LEGCO

The new constitution was presented by status. Banda as a vital document leading to independence. However, moderates like Kwenje were blamed for the failure to secure a universal franchise. Shortly after the Monckton Report indicated that secession from the Federation could be permitted, Banda attended the Federal Review conferAlso attending ence in London (December 1960). the conference and maintaining a hard line against the Federation was Joshua Nkomo and Kenneth Kaunda. The conference accomplished little, but when Banda returned home he announced that the Federation was dead. He spent the next months^ preparing for the August 1961 elections (see MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY). His campaign to enroll voters and ensure their support for the was immensely successful. His appearances and speeches were very popular and his control in and over the The election results was growing more complete. were nothing less than spectacular for Dr. Banda and his swept the lower roll seats (20) and obtained two higher roll seats. Governor Glyn

MCP

MCP

MCP

Jones appointed Dr. Banda, Minister of Natural Resources and Local Government. In this new capacity, Banda directed his energies to eliminating the abusive and detested thangata and malimidwe From this time (1961) to the present, Dr. Banda has concentrated on the agricultural development of Malawi with rewarding results. (See also AGRICULTURE; RURAL AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS; and specific crops such as TOBACCO). The interim period before the dissolution of the Federation in 1963 witnessed the gradual assumption of political power by Dr. Banda and his associates. Governor Jones had confidence in the ministers’ abilities and was impressed by their eagerness to get on with the problems of government. The final preparations for self-government were formalized at Marlborough House in November 1962; .

Banda

14

these negotiations resulted in the establishment of The only point which a cabinet and a legislature. remained non- negotiable was Banda s determination to secede from the Federation. Finally in DecemT

ber 1962, the right of Nyasaland to withdraw from the Federal Government was formally announced, although months before that it had been conceded by It would take one year to the British government. dismantle the Federation. In February 1963 Kamuzu Banda was formally made Prime Minister, a role he had held practically speaking for over a year. Several months later he and Governor Jones negotiated the last of the constitutional changes made at Marlborough House. Accordingly, elections were held in April of the following year in which fifty nominees were elected unopposed. Banda selected his independence cabinet shortly thereafter; chosen were: Chipembere (Education), Y. Chisiza (Home Affairs), Cameron (Works) and Msonthi (Transport). At independence (July 6, 1964) Chiume became Minister of Information and External Affairs, and Tembo became Minister of Finance. Dr. Banda assumed the portfolios of Trade, Natural Resources, Social Development and Health. In the decade and a half since independence, Dr. Banda has assumed even greater personal power and has enjoyed wide popularity. Ambitious economic projects and government reorganization also characterize his administration which has the paternalism of the 18th-century enlightened despot Frederick the Great of Prussia. Like the prince of two centuries ago, the Life President perceives himself as a servant of his people, exercising his power solely for their good. An economic mercantilist like Frederick, Banda departs from the analogy when it is applied to warfare. Whereas Frederick was a brilliant general who used military resources with peerless skill, Dr. Banda has engineered economic mirabilia with similar zest and industry. The Kasungu doctor has reversed decades of British neglect and indifference with the result that Malawi’s most recent loans have been oversubscribed by

MCP

Banda

15

foreign investors delighted with the political stability Malawian entrepreand positive economic climate.

neurs have been encouraged to engage in commerce formally run by ASIANS, and Banda has sought some Africanization of large scale industry, e. g. the railDr. Banda also has invested his own money ways. The in Malawi, namely in Press Holdings, Inc. Cinderella Protectorate, as Malawi was once dubbed, has emerged from the ashes, but critics of the Banda government challenge his authoritarian methods and question the necessity of diminished political freedom. The Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) was a catalyst for the reorganization of government and the further solidification of Banda s personal rule. In September 1964 Banda dismissed several Cabinet ministers and three others resigned out of sympathy (see CABINET CRISIS; CHIPEMBERE; MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY). Banda portrayed his former ministers as enemies of Malawi and ousted them from the MCP. At Banda's direction, Malawi became a one-party state by mid- 1965. In nearly every aspect of life in Malawi, the Party complements the State in political power. 'Malawi's system of government paralleled the scheme of rule in a precolonial (Chewa) chieftainship. The effect of the transition to republican status (Malawi became a Republic in 1966) had been to transform the Malawi Congress Party into a national tribe, to which every Malawian belong (ed). " (Philip Short, Banda London, 1974, p. 266). Public criticism of the government was eschewed and only private questions were tolerated by the Banda government. The ministerial crisis also precipitated a revitalization of local or traditional institutions, long overlooked during the colonial period. Partly as a result of his conservative personality and partly as a political gesture, Banda encouraged the return of traditional dancing and vinyau (male initiation rites), and the use of one national language (ChiChewa). Efforts by Banda to exert moral control over Malawi society have included regulations on drunkenness, tight trousers and short skirts. The tradif

f

.

.

.

.

Banda

16

system has also been expanded and Malawian jurisprudence has increasingly been preferred over British justice which Banda has perceived as too permissive, allowing too many criminals to escape because of clever lawyers or poorly Since independence the judipresented evidence. ciary has become less independent and more susceptible to political controls by Banda and the MCP. Extrajuridical measures, such as the Forfeiture Act (1966) permitting Banda to seize property of In 1971 "subversive" persons, have become law. presidential elections were not held and the Malawi parliament declared H. Kamuzu Banda the Life President. No longer would he face five-year referendums; the benevolent despotism would continue until the Presidents death or overthrow. tional (local) court

BANDA, THAMAR DILLON.

In 1957 he was President General of the Nyasaland African Congress. He

Banda (no Kumasi and attempted

visited Dr.

relation) in to convince

March 1957 in him to return to

A

year later, he was dismissed by the headed the Congress Liberation Party, which was in opposition to the Malawi Congress Party. When T. D. Banda's party lost in a 1961 election, the MCP of Dr. Banda remained the sole party to rule Malawi.

Malawi.

NAC.

BANDAWE.

In 1960 he

Site on the

west shore of Lake Malawi in

1881 of a Free Church of Scotland mission, and later a school. This was a successor to the first memorial mission, Livingstonia which the church had initially established in 1875 at Cape Maclear. ,

BANKING.

Malawi's banking system consists of a central bank and two commercial banks. The Reserve Bank of Malawi was established in 1964 to act as

The to the Malawi government. legal tender currency and maintains external reserves to safeguard the international value of the currency. The Reserve Bank acts as a depository in Malawi for the assets of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group. On a

banker and advisor

Bank also issues

Beni

17

quarterly basis, it publishes the Economic and Fi nancial Review indicating trends -in the economy.

The Commercial Bank

of

Malawi opened

in

April 1970 and its owners include local and foreign The other commercial bank is the shareholders. National Bank of Malawi, an amalgam of Barclay’s The Post Office Savings and Standard Bank Ltd. Bank has operated as a government-owned institution since 1964 and it has been a major channel for moThe bulk of its resources bilizing rural savings. The Investare invested in government securities. ment and Development Bank (INDEBANK), established in 1972, has local and foreign shareholders (British, Dutch, German), and provides medium- and longterm credit to borrowers who want to invest in the

economic development

of

Malawi.

BENI NGOMA.

The word "beni” is derived from the English word, band; ’’ngoma” refers to the team dances which imitate a military brass band. Of all the variations of Beni, the Mganda dance of Malawi is most important. Whereas Beni is still associated with the Yao peoples, Mganda remains popular with the Ngoni, Tumbuka, Tonga, Nyanja and Henga. The Mganda dance, resembling the parade of soldiers, is

performed only by men.

Originating in the 1890’s among Swahili Muslims imitating the Royal Navy regimen, these dance performances began in Malawi at the end of I. Resentful of their required role during the War (see ARMY), returning porters and soldiers introduced the military- style dances into their society. A mockery of British ceremony and discipline, the Mganda reproduced the military drill, the brass band sound and the officer hierarchy. Today the dance is still performed around the Lake Malawi

WW

area.

BIRTHRATE.

Official recorded births and deaths are incomplete, but probably the birthrate is 46 live births per 1,000 women. Infant mortality is 120 deaths per 1,000 live births, whereas overall mortality is about 25 per 1,000. Nearly half of the

«

Bismarck

18

babies born die before their fifth birthday. Women who bear children are accorded high social status and limiting family size is unintentional except in some urban areas. The Banda government opposes birth control, population planning and sex education, a policy not unpopular with the traditional Malawi desire for large families.

BISMARCK, JOSEPH.

He was one of the first African church deacons of the Blantyre Mission of the A colleague of Dr. David CleChurch of Scotland.

ment Scott, Bismarck made a living as a planter of tobacco and coffee. Originally from Mozambique, he made Malawi his home.

BLACKWOOD, MICHAEL.

Born in 1917 in Lancashire, he was graduated from Liverpool University in In 1954 he was elected to LEGCO, and in 1939. 1966 he was one of five chosen by Banda as an MP for Blantyre. He assumed leadership of the nominated non-African members of Parliament and was re-appointed in March 1971.

BLANTYRE.

Malawi's largest city had 228,520 people according to the 1977 census, an increase of 109 Blanpercent over its 1966 population of 109,461.

named

T

after Livingstone s Scottish birthplace, was chosen as the site of a Church of Scotland mission in 1876. Two years later, a Scottish firm, the African Lakes Company, began operations; soon other companies followed giving Blantyre an early commercial start. It was declared a town in 1894 and quickly had a Chamber of Commerce and a Town Council. The Shire Highlands Railway reached tyre,

Blantyre from Chiromo in 1908 amidst

much cheer-

ing by Europeans who needed the railway for their commercial enterprises. Blantyre elected its first African mayor in 1967. Its primary and secondary schools are among the finest and its industrial activity continues to grow, with over 200 licensed industries.

BLEDISLOE COMMISSION

(Viscount

Charles Bledisloe).

19

Bomas

/

The Commission published a report in 1939 which concluded that amalgamation of Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia -with Southern Rhodesia was not did not preclude a time For possible. the first time, however, the factor of African opFurther, it position to any closer union was noted. stated that African policies were different in the protectorates involved and each had a different constitutional status. The three territories were unequal in financial resources and economic development. In practical terms, the Colonial Office s responsibility for African interests was to be ignored in

possible at that time, but

it

when such arrangements might be

1

favor of a government dominated by white Rhodesians. Since the London government had failed to develop Malawi to any degree, such an arrangement assured the exploitation of Malawi labor power by amalgamation supporters like Godfrey Huggins and Roy Welensky. After II these protagonists convinced London that a Federation was the answer. See also FEDERATION.

WW

BOMAS.

Administrative stations established by the British to govern the Protectorate; usually it was the office of the District Commissioner (D. C. ). Initially the administrative headquarters in Blantyre had a thorn hedge surrounding it which was called a ”boma” (meaning stockade of thorns).

BOOTH, EMILY.

She was the daughter of Joseph Booth and author of This Africa Was Mine She accompanied her father to Malawi as a child of nine. John Chilembwe became her nurse as well as her father’s cook and interpreter. She married E. B. Langworthy. .

BOOTH, JOSEPH.

Born in England in 1851, he came Malawi in 1892 and was responsible for developing the Zambezi Industrial Mission (at Mitsidi) and the Nyasa Baptist Industrial Mission. Within a year, he had encouraged enough Malawians to plant coffee so that there were over 30,000 acres of land cultivated. Booth insisted that Africa was for to

Boundaries

20

the Africans and that they needed only the economic This pro-African and political chance to achieve. view made Booth an outstanding person in times when other European missionaries generally held opposing viewpoints. In 1897 he left for England and the U. S. taking

When he returned to Malawi he set up a new mission station south of Blantyre and called attention to the several grievThis ances Africans had about the Protectorate. petition suggested that the colonial administration revert back to Malawians in two decades and that higher education be provided to no less than 5 percent of the African populace. Commissioner Alfred Sharpe declared the proposals absurd and dangerous and threatened to deport Booth. Booth ignored government efforts to have him abstain from his "seditious remarks. " It was a religious disagreement which caused Booth to leave for South Africa in 1902. He was subsequently barred from returning Although he corresponded with to Malawi in 1907. Chilembwe, it is unlikely he knew of any plans for an uprising although the British suspected Booth. He died in England in 1932. Chilembwe with him.

in 1899,

BOUNDARIES.

In addition to its twenty-four district and three regional boundaries, Malawi shares political boundaries with Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. Its relatively unrestricted western border

with Zambia follows the irregular ridge line of plateaus and extends for about 500 miles. The Mozambique border is essentially that which the colonial government of Britain and Portugal agreed to in the late nineteenth century. Most of this eastern and southern border is sparsely settled with the exception of Nsanje and Chiromo. In 1954 a BritishPortuguese agreement led to a change in the demarcation of Lake Malawi from the eastern shore to a line running through the middle of the lake. However, the islands of Likoma and Chisamula, which lie east of this line, were retained by Malawi. The northeast border with Tanzania is one mostly of water, and one which was in dispute in the mid-

Bowring

21

j It 1960 s (see Foreign Policy in the Introduction). is a line which Britain and Germany set in the last century and which .was formalized in a League of Nations mandate after World War I. T

BOWRING, SIR CHARLES.

'

Governor of Nyasaland ProBowring was a friend to Liv-

tectorate 1924-1929. An advocate of ingstonia and to Rev. Hetherwick. European planter views, Bowring urged the estate owners to form the Convention of Associations which gave a political voice to the several farm groups organized in the Protectorate.

BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY. this company was the brainchild

Formed of

in 1889

diamond mine

multi-millionaire Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902). With a ruthless and fanatical zeal, Rhodes amassed his fortune and proceeded to use that awesome wealth as a power base in Central and South Africa. Rhodes applied for a charter for the British South Africa Company (BSAC) promising Her Majesty s Government that he could forestall a Portuguese presence in Malawi and could avoid quarrelsome ethnic problems while carrying on the responsibilities of government. In 1889, the British government granted BSAC a charter which gave Rhodes, and his administrator in Malawi Sir Henry Hamilton Johnston, financial and administrative control over most of Central Africa. At that time Prime Minister Lord Salisbury wanted 1

no further British involvement; therefore, from 1891 to 1895, Rhodes's Company provided $10,000 annually to administer the new Protectorate in British

Central Africa. Shortly after the BSAC was formed it acquired controlling stock of the African Lakes Company In order to make good promises to protect (q. v. ). the mission and provide law and order, Rhodes paid Johnston to administer the new region with a police force recruited from India. Johnston also had the use of ALC steamers providing there was no interference with ALC trade. In 1893 Rhodes's BSAC laid claim to one-fifth

22

Bwanali

Nearly all of today’s Northern Malawi’s land. Region (almost 3 million acres) was claimed as BSAC property until 1936 when it reverted to the The company continued Protectorate government. however to retain the mineral rights for the region of

until 1966.

BWANALI, EDWARD.

Appointed Minister of Trade, Born in 1946 Industry and Tourism in July 1977. in Blantyre District, he attended the Institute of He Public Administration in Mpemba, Blantyre. was District Commissioner for Mchinji and Kasupe and was appointed Minister of Health in 1975.

BWANAUSI, AUGUSTINE.

Born in 1930, he was educated at Makerere College, Uganda and thereafter became a schoolmaster teaching science. He went to Tanzania and became senior member of Nyerere’s

TANU.

When Banda returned

to Malawi, Bwanausi Bwanausi was an Executive Council member and the Minister of Development, Housing and Works before being dismissed by Dr. Banda in

joined him.

1964.

-

CABINET

CRISIS (1964).

C

-

Within two months of Malawi

obtaining its independence, differences between Dr. Banda and several cabinet ministers erupted into a serious and permanent break. There were important domestic and foreign issues separating the two. The ministers resented Banda’s approval of the Skinner Report and wished to see it discarded. They also wanted Banda to adopt a more rapid Africanization policy in the civil service. The institution of a monetary charge (three pence) for In hospital outpatients was loudly decried as well. foreign policy the co-existence policy Banda favored with Portugal was despised by those ministers who wished to support the Mozambique liberation movement and wanted to minimize the political contact with Portugal. Submerged beneath these frontal

Cabinet

23

issues was personal resentment of Banda s treatreferences by Banda ment of his ministers (e. g. about ”his boys” and impressions by him that he These trusted expatriates more than his cabinet). grievances were stifled in favor of a united front, Apparently, but Banda knew that differences existed. the ministers felt that compromise was possible with Banda, but unfortunately he was insensitive to Although the ministers remained their feelings. personally loyal to Banda, he concluded that loyalty and acceptance of his policies were one and the r

,

same. At an August 1964 cabinet meeting, several ministers challenged Banda’s indecision on an aid So offer from the People’s Republic of China. threatened was Banda by these unprecedented ’’attacks,” as he called them, that he wished to resign the Presidency. Governor Glyn Jones dissuaded him. The next day more amicable relations existed as Banda seemed willing to review points at issue: the Skinner Report, hospital charges, foreign policy. Soon Banda began believing rumors of a cabinet conspiracy and he told the ministers that he had no more time for their grievances. The angered ministers then wanted Banda to resign, but instead Banda dismissed three ministers at an emergency cabinet meeting, September 8. Augustine Bwanausi (Housing and Development), Orton Chirwa (Justice), Kanyama Chiume (External Affairs) and Rose Chibambo (Parliamentary Secretary) were accused of disloyalty and of conspiring with a foreign power (China). Three other cabinet ministers resigned out of sympathy to the dismissals: Willie Chokani (Labor), Yatuta Chisiza (Home Affairs), and upon his return from Canada, Henry Chipembere (Education).

Reconciliation seemed possible as both sides voiced hope of finding a solution to the Cabinet Crisis. Expecting to gain constituent support for their demand to be more involved in cabinet decisions, the ex-ministers returned to their districts. In their absence, Banda appointed new ministers to the Cabinet, but he kept four positions vacant stating

Cameron

24

he expected some former ministers to return. Some ministers, including Chipembere, made less than temperate speeches in the home district. Angered at this and fearful of a larger plot against him, Banda ousted the former ministers from the MCP (September 16). In spite of this move, the ministers reaffirmed their loyalty to Banda, but he decided not to make any concessions or to allow Governor Jones to mediate the crisis. By early October, five former ministers left Malawi for Tanzania and Zambia, and under new security regulations adopted by Banda, Chipembere was restricted to his Malindi home. When Banda toured the Central and Northern Regions he found support for his actions; only in the Southern Region were there minor disturbances in Zomba and a show of support for Chipembere. This localized support resulted in a rebellion in February 1965, which was quickly ended by Banda s security forces (see CHIPEMBERE; CHISIZA, Y. ). A less successful revolt occurred in 1967 and was led by Chisiza. This opposition was not only crushed but also Dr. Banda succeeded in the passage of a series of security measures that could prevent angther public schism. By the end of 1965, Parliamentary amendments had made treason punishable by death, permitted MP s not representing the MCP to be dismissed and non-MP s to be ministers of government, and allowed detention without trial of those persons violating the security of Malawi. The adoption of a new constitution in 1966 culminated efforts by Banda to solidify his personal rule. Banda was able to strengthen his position as head of state and as leader of the MCP much more quickly as a result of the 1964 crisis with the cabinet ministers. Another consequence has been the obvious loss of talented ministers and the unlikely possibility that cabinet ministers in the future will speak out against the President or his policies. r

T

f

CAMERON, COLIN.

A European lawyer who won election on the high roll in the August 1961 elections. (See BANDA; MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY. ) As a result,

Censorship

25

Cameron was appointed Minister of Works and Cameron was a firm supporter of Transport.

Dr.

Banda from the time of Banda's return to Malawi until August 1964 when he resigned his Ministry of Works position. Dr. Banda was planning to reintroduce a 1960 preventive detention act which Cameron could not condone. The resignation of Cameron just prior to the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) may have been timed to avoid a schism which Cameron anticipated would occur.

CENSORSHIP.

Ostensibly, reporters and writers are permitted to produce materials without interference, but in fact Dr. Banda does not believe that the domestic press should criticize the country or his Publications have been banned and persons policies. have been detained when material on Malawi was In 1973 the Ministry of Inforcritically presented. mation was abolished and its functions were assumed by the Office of the President and the Ministry of Trade and Tourism. In June 1978 the first international press conference in nearly a decade was held by Dr. Banda. Representatives of the press included Reuters, the BBC, the London Times and the UPI. Dismayed at the coverage these journalists gave during the general elections in June, Dr. Banda declared that as a result of their erroneous reports no foreign journalists were permitted henceforth in Malawi. See also ELECTIONS. ,

CHAKUAMBA

PHIRI,

GWANDA.

who was appointed Minister

The trusted party man

Youth and Culture in and Minister for the Southern Region in Born in Nsanje district in 1935, Chakuamba 1979. was educated at Zomba and in Rhodesia. He worked as secretary for the Nsanje branch of Nyasaland African Congress in the late 1950 s and was elected to LEGCO in 1961. Dr. Banda appointed him Minister of Community and Social Development in the first independence cabinet. In subsequent cabinet reshuffles, he was moved to Local Government, Education, Information and Tourism, Agriculture, and Southern of

July 1977,

T

Region.

Chibambo

26

CHIBAMBO, MACKINLEY.

The son of a Presbyterian minister, Chibambo was born in 1917 and has been In 1940, he one of Dr. Banda s loyal statesmen. entered the civil service as a clerk in the DC s ofAn outspoken critic of the Federfice at Lilongwe. ation, Chibambo served 15 months in prison, and when released was restricted in his movements In the 1959 nationalist state of emer(1954-59). gency, he was sent to prison in Southern Rhodesia, The next not to be released until September 1960. year he was elected North Region Chairman for the MCP, and in 1963 served as Parliamentary SecreAt intary to the Ministry of Works and Housing. dependence, Chibambo was made Minister for the Northern Region, and later, Minister of Works, Development, Housing, and Health. T

f

CHIBAMBO, ROSE.

Member

of 1958 Congress commitBanda to organize the Women s League. Chibambo was also Parliamentary Secretary post until the September 1964 revolt of the Cabinet when Dr. Banda suspended her, and others, from the MCP. In October 1967, Chibambo took refuge in Zambia as did Cabinet members Bwanausi

tee appointed by Dr.

1

and Chokani.

CHIDZANJA NKHOMA, RICHARD.

Appointed Minister

Large in July 1977, Chidzanja Nkhoma was born A selfat Mtimuni in Lilongwe district in 1921. educated former bus inspector, he vigorously campaigned against the Federation and was subsequently caught up in the prison roundup in 1959. He was released in 1960 and was appointed provincial chairman in the Central Region of the MCP. In 1964 he entered Banda s cabinet as Minister for Home Affairs and for the Central Region. Nkhoma has held diplomatic posts in Bonn and Nairobi in the at

f

f

1960 s. Since rejoining the Cabinet in 1969, he has been Minister of Natural Resources, of Agriculture, of Transport and Communications, and of Labor. He also was Deputy Executive Chairman for the MDC. Nkhoma died in April 1978. late

Chikwawa

27

/ This site in southern Malawi is where the An imKaronga dynasty of Chewa rulers, resided. Chikwawa River, Shire the portant river port on was most recently the site of a cotton development project and an irrigated rice project and fish farm The sponsored by the U. N. Development Program. in here station government British established a 1892 and the African Lakes Company (q. v. ) had a trading store at Chikwawa, the furthest point of Above this site are navigation on the Shire River. the Murchison Cataracts which make river navigation impossible until north of Matope.

CHIKWAWA.

CHILEMBWE,

IDA.

This extraordinary

woman who was

John Chilembwe was probably of Sena She was a teacher at the main day parentage. school at Chiradzulu where she taught weekly classes in sewing and European-style deportment to women and girls. She was assisted during the early days With Bible in hand, of the PIM by Emma DeLany. she often visited women in nearby villages where she tried to encourage them to learn to take less of a slave and more of an equal place next to their husbands. Early marriage among the young women was regretted by Chilembwe as she felt they were merely children themselves when they got pregnant, and that they never got to enjoy their youth. Nor, she thought, did this early marriage lead to happy lives. Women needed to be taught and then they could be the equal helpmates to their spouses. Despite her exemplary behavior, deep religious feelings and her efforts to help her sisters, Ida Chilembwe

married

to

obtained little or no help or consideration from neighboring European women, some of whom themselves were ministers’ wives. She knew incredible hardship and bore a double burden of isolation from both European and African societies. She died in 1918 during the flu epidemic.

CHILEMBWE, JOHN.

Malawi’s greatest early nationalist leader was born around 1870 of Yao parentage in Chiradzulu District. Chilembwe received some of his primary schooling in Blantyre. In 1892 he met

Chilembwe

28

English missionary Joseph Booth

(q. v.

)

at his Mit-

Chilembwe became a servant in the Booth household and acted as nurse- companion to Chilembwe was strongly inthe Booth children. sidi Mission.

fluenced by Booth and his teachings, particularly Booth s egalitarian belief of Africa for Africans. Booth took Chilembwe (1897) to the U. S. where the National Baptist Convention underwrote his education at Virginia Theological College, a black seminary T

During Chilembwe’s two Lynchburg, Virginia. years in the theology department he learned much He also about the experiences of American blacks. traveled in several U. S. states before returning as an ordained minister to Malawi in 1900. Chilembwe purchased about ninety acres of land near Mbombwe (Chiradzulu district) and built a mission patterned after an earlier concept by Booth. He called it the Providence Industrial Mission (PIM). Soon several black American Baptist missionaries came to Malawi to help Chilembwe s mission: Landon Cheek and Emma DeLany. During their fiveyear stay the PIM grew steadily with followers from The mission beChiradzulu and Mulanje districts. gan some experimental planting of cotton, tea and in

1

coffee.

Chilembwe also established a series

of

mission schools: Namkundi, Matili, Ndunde, Tumbwe, Malika, Sangano, and the main school at Chiradzulu. The British standard elementary subjects were offered at Chilembwe s schools. The PIM also offered practical agricultural courses and, at the urging of Chilembwe, women were taught European-style deportment and dress. Chilembwe was convinced that if his community experienced European type success they would develop more selfrespect. He preached hard work and clean habits to his followers whom he urged to be sober, industrious and respectable. In 1913 he and his followers comT

pleted construction of the PIM church, a beautiful large brick structure. See also CHILEMBWE, IDA. Prior to the 1915 uprising Chilembwe had elected to work within the framework of the colonial government, a position which the Associations (q. v. ) and the Nyasaland African Congress (q. v. ) also

Chilembwe

29

WW

I. would pursue for several decades after Chilembwe always sought to improve conditions for his African community and he well understood its Although there was compliance on the burdens. part of Malawians, Chilembwe realized that there was resentment against the colonial government’s imposition of power over traditional authorities, against the increased hut tax rates, and against the continued abuses of the Thangata system (q. v. ). Additionally, the Protectorate had experienced drought, and with subsequent crop shortages many Malawians starved during the famine of 1912-13.

Chilembwe was not only aware of these conditions, he faced personal frustration and suffering with his poor health (chronic asthma and growing blindness), heavy debts, and the death of his daughter Emma. Although all these factors were cumulative, the immediate event causing the revolution was World

War

I.

The 1915 Rising

(Jan.

When Chilembwe verbalized

23-Feb.

4,

1915)

.

his complaints against

government in the Nyasaland Times (November 1914), he also reminded the British of the loyalty shown by Malawians since the commencement of their rule. In peacetime, he continued, the government had directed all its attention to the Europeans, but now in war, Africans had been recruited for a cause which was not theirs. Chilembwe became disthe

tressed at the intense recruitment demands for carriers (tenga-tenga ) in his PIM area. By December Chilembwe and his followers became more militant in their meetings, and by the next month, they had agreed to ’’strike a blow and die. ” Associated with these fatal expectations was Chilembwe ’s willingness to become a martyr for his people. To this end he conspired with Filipo Chinyama (q. v. ) in Ntcheu district and he hoped for support from Mulanje district and perhaps from the Germans in East Africa (Tanzania). None of these subplots materialized, however.

Chilembwe chose to begin his revolt Saturday evening January 23, apparently because he knew many Europeans were partying at the Blantyre Sports

Chilobwe

30

He sent some of his followers to Blantyre Club. where they attempted unsuccessfully to burglarize Another the ALC store and take its ammunition. contingent was sent to the Bruce estates, infamous The chief target on for harsh working conditions. the estates was its unusually cruel manager, William Livingstone, who had burned down African tenant J. prayer houses, whipped and moved those tenants frequently and without reason, and who paid them Livingstone was killed extraordinarily low wages. and beheaded, and two other European planters

were speared

Following Chilembwe s strict orders his army of two hundred harmed no women and seized no property. They did, however, spend much time praying and talking during the most active days of the uprising (January 23-26, 1915). Chilembwe was able to elude government forces until February 2, but his followers were rounded up earlier, and if they were not killed, they were jailed or went into exile. TT Chilembwe s was the first Central African resistance to European control which looked to the future. the prospect for which Chilembwe began to fight was one of founding a nation rather than of restoring the fortunes of the tribes " (George Shepperson, Independent African, Edinburgh, 1958, p. 409). Although most of his co-conspirators were educated, propertied African entrepreneurs, Chilembwe enjoyed support from areas beyond the P1M, including among the Ngoni. Few traditional authorities lent him support despite a common complaint against war recruitment for the King s African Rifles. The Watchtower group was also non- supportive. Nevertheless, Chilembwe exhibited a unity against European rule and European abuses which the government had to acknowledge. Swept away was the European complacency that all was well with their African wards. A Commission of Inquiry (1916) investigated the uprising and recommended reforms, but the government did not implement any. to death.

T

T

.

.

;

T

CHILOBWE MURDERS.

Beginning in November 1968, and continuing for many months thereafter, a grisly series of murders took place in this Blantyre suburb.

31

Chintheche

These unsolved murders were accompanied by widely accepted rumors about the South African government, including one that the killings were to provide blood in payment for S. A. loans, and another that concerned selling Malawians as slaves In 1969 several men were arto South Africa. rested, but insufficient evidence acquitted them of Early in 1970, another man, perhaps all charges. a member of a gang, confessed to some of the murThe event caused considerable apprehension ders. in the Banda government which blamed the expelled (1964) Cabinet ministers for trying to disrupt the More significantly progress Malawi was making. the event was a challenge to the deliberately active Popolicy Malawi was pursuing with South Africa. litically the Chilobwe incidents had to be treated seriously by Banda because the rumors tied to the murders were accorded such high credibility and were indicative of an inordinate fear of South Africa.

CHINTHECHE.

The Viphya Pulp and Paper (Vipcor) mill will be located in this Northern Region site. As a result of the Vipcor project, a new town will be developed.

CHINULA, CHARLES. A Livingstonia Mission convert who was ordained pastor by Dr. Laws in 1925, and who seceded and formed his own church (Church of Freedom) in 1934. His Sazu Home Mission which he enlarged in 1935 included several independent churches whose members were former Livingstonians. Chinula was active in the Mombera (Mzimba) Native Association and later the Nyasaland African Congress.

CHINYAMA, FILIPO.

A Chilembwe

supporter, Chinyama African Baptist Church at Dzunje. He set up his own school in Ntcheu and acquired many Ngoni followers who acted in rebellion in January 1915. These supporters were not, however, well coordinated in their timing with Chilembwe and consequently were quickly rounded up by the District Commission. Chinyama, as leader of the Ntcheu rising, was shot for his participation.

was

affiliated with the

Chipembere

32

CHIPEMBERE, MASAUKO (HENRY).

One of Malawi's foremost nationalists (1930-1975), Chipembere was responsible for revitalizing the NAC, for encouraging Dr. Banda to return home, and for relentlessly A Yao from pursuing freedom for his homeland. Mango chi (Fort Johnston) and a graduate of Fort Hare College in South Africa, Chipembere was He probably Banda's most militant lieutenant. spent four years in prison in his fight against the Federation. Upon his release in 1963, Banda made him Minister of Local Government and at independence, he became Minister of Education. In 1965 he left Malawi after an unsuccessful rebellion against the

Banda Government. In the mid-1950's,

became

active in the

NAC.

Chipembere At

its

(see

CHIUME)

1955 general

meeting at Lilongwe, the NAC demanded the right secede from the Federation, and urged the resignation of the Federal Assembly representatives, Wellington Chirwa and Clement Kumbikano. Both Chipembere and Chiume were behind this more mili-

to

NAC as well as responsible for reorganizing and increasing the membership in Congress. In 1957 Chipembere wrote to Banda, living in Ghana, urging him to return home, to become the leader of the Congress, and to provide a savior hero figure for the nationalist movement. From the time Chipembere entered LEGCO in 1956, he, with the other four African members, began a vigorous parliamentary campaign (1956-59) that criticized the Federation with a severity not witnessed before. The new militancy in the NAC and the outspokenness tant stand of the

of its

members

in

LEGCO were

positive factors in

Banda's decision to return to Malawi in July 1958. Banda had demanded and received from Chipembere guarantees that upon his return he would be President of the NAC and he could direct the movement as he thought best. In August 1958 Banda chose Chipembere to be NAC Treasurer, Chiume as Publicity-Secretary, Chisiza as Secretary-general, and Chibambo (Rose) as leader of the women's branch of NAC. Over the next several months, the Congress harassed the government with speeches

Chipembere

33

and assemblies and occasional outbreaks of violence. Security forces had their hands full, Southern Rhodesian troops were called, and finally on March 3, 1959, the government declared a State of Emergency. See also OPERATION SUNRISE. Chipembere was jailed from March 1959 to September 1960, when upon his release, Banda at a large rally in Nkhotakota reinstated Chipembere as Treasurer of Congress (renamed the Malawi ConA short three months later, the govgress Party). ernment found Chipembere guilty of sedition and Alsentenced him to three years in Zomba prison. though promised by Banda that he would pressure Governor Glyn Jones for an early release from prison, Chipembere received no such help, perhaps because Banda found it calmer and easier to rule Early in 1963, Chipemwithout his young cohort. bere was released from prison and was greeted Banda gave with enthusiasm and much excitement. him the post of Minister of Local Government, and almost immediately sent him and Chiume to the At independence (July 1964) U. S. for a visit. Chipembere was appointed Minister of Education. From August to September 1964, ministerial dissent erupted into the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) in which Banda dismissed (on September 7) Bwanausi, When Chipembere Chibambo, Chirwa and Chiume. arrived home from Canada (September 8) he learned of the difficulties for the past two weeks. Like Chisiza and Chokani, who had resigned in sympathy, so too did Chipembere, but he remained conciliatory in his speeches in parliament and he endeavored to have Glyn Jones mediate the rift. Reconciliation hopes were dashed in the next week as Banda replaced the vacated posts in the cabinet and the exministers took a firmer stance, especially when Chipembere attacked Banda s slow Africanization policy. Although Chipembere and the other ministers had declared their loyalty to Banda, he called them irresponsible and refused to negotiate. Chipembere had been restricted to his Malindi home by police. Banda had banned public meetings and reT

stricted the

f,

conspirators. "

Chiromo

34

February 1965, Chipembere led about 200 to Mangochi where they seized rifles and proceeded to Liwonde where government reinforcements forced a retreat to Malindi. Chipembere fled to the U. S. where he studied for a master s degree at UCLA. Encouraged by old friends to return to Africa, Chipembere returned to live in Tanzania from 1966 to 1969. In addition to his teaching duties at Kivukoni College, Chipembere worked with Malawian refugees and exiled leaders. After Edwardo Mondlane was assassinated, ChipemIn

armed men from Malindi

f

bere, having experienced several attempts on his own life, again left East Africa for the west coast of America. He and his family settled in Los Angeles and he taught at Cal State while also pursuing his PhD at UCLA. His death (September 1975) cut short that last ambition just as events had denied his creative leadership in Malawi.

CHIROMO.

This town was the official port of entry, and in 1892 it became an important government station. In 1902 the Foreign Office agreed to build a railway from Blantyre to Chiromo: this became the Shire Highlands Railway. The rail bridge at Chiromo was recently (June 1977) converted to auto traffic, thus ending the ferry service across the Shire River.

CHIRWA, ORTON.

Born in 1919, he was Malawi's first barrister and founder of the Malawi Congress Party. Involved in the 1964 cabinet revolt, he fled to Tanzania. Educated in Zambia, South Africa and Malawi, Chirwa obtained a B. A. and began teaching at the Domasi Teachers College. In 1958 he qualified A year later in Malawi as a barrister in London. he organized the Congress Party. He campaigned for independence and an end to political detention. When Dr. Banda was released in April 1960, Chirwa handed over to him the presidential reins of the new party. During the next several years Chirwa was a key aide to Banda serving him during the negotiations for self-government. He was also Minister of Justice and Attorney- General and was responsible for 1

Chirwa

35

establishing the nation’s local court system. Chirwa over Banda’s slow Africanization policy of government positions. Dr. Banda reacted by accusing Chirwa of collusion with the Chinese in Tanzania. Chirwa was dismissed in September split with his chief

1964.

CHIRWA, ROBSON.

Although he has been Minister for Transport and Communications, and more recently (1979) Minister for the Northern Region, Chirwa has spent most of his career (born 1931) in education; as a school inspector and Education Attache in London, and as district education officer for Lilongwe. He entered Parliament in 1971 and in 1972 was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Transport and Communications.

CHIRWA, WELLINGTON MANOAH.

He was

elected,

with Clement Kumbikano, as the NAC representative to the Federation’s Assembly in 1953. At that time, he was the NAC’s most influential member. The Fort Hare graduate viewed the hated Federation with moderation, anticipating its breakup by working within the system. Four years later, the opinions of Chipembere, Chiume and a memo from Dr. Banda persuaded NAC members to call for the resignations of Chirwa and Kumbikano. Chirwa was expelled from the Congress in 1957; later he left

Malawi.

CHISIZA,

DUNDUZU.

Born

in 1930,

this intellectual

returned from Southern Rhodesia to Malawi in 1956 and worked closely with Chiume and Chipembere to strengthen the NAC. In 1960, Banda appointed him Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. A fine theoretician, Chisiza was perceptive of the problems facing his nation and produced a plan of economic development for Malawi. An auto accident tragically took his life in September 1962.

CHISIZA, YATUTA. Born in 1926, he was the older brother of Dunduzu. Prior to his return to Malawi, he was a senior police officer in Tanzania. As one

36

Chitalo

Banda’s chief lieutenants, he held the post of He broke with Banda Minister of Home Affairs. during the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) of September 1964. Disenchanted further by Banda’s pro-South African stance, he and a small band of supporters attempted It was an abortive a coup d’etat in October 1967. effort as Chisiza was shot by security forces near Blantyre. of

CHITALO, EDDA.

She was born in 1932 and attended

the Teachers Training College in Blantyre. After qualifying in 1951 she taught at Blantyre Girls’ School. Chitalo has been appointed to represent

Malawi a

abroad and became Parliament for Blantyre in June 1971.

at several conferences

member

of

CHITIPA.

Located in the northern most section of Malawi, Chitipa was known as Fort Hill during the British rule. It was built in 1896 to guard the road to Tanzania. During I, it was an important military base, strategic in its nearness to Tanzania, known then as German East Africa. Chitipa also the of mining recruitment office for has been site a South Africa. Currently, the Young Pioneers have a training base at Chitipa.

WW

CHIUME, M. W. KANYAMA. Chiume was one

Born

in 1929 at Usisya,

of the early nationalists

who worked

for Malawi’s independence. In 1938 he left with his uncle for Tanzania where he was schooled in Dar es Salaam. In 1946 he qualified to enter secondary

school at Tabora, and in 1949 entered Uganda’s

Makerere College with a science concentration. 1951 he was admitted to the medical school, but

In

changed within a year to education classes which he more to his political liking. While at Makerere, Chiume also found time to return home where in 1950, he was made secretary of the NAC conference at Nkata Bay. He began teaching at Dodoma, Tanzania in 1954, but resigned to return to Malawi where he actively worked for the NAC. Upon the return of Dr. Banda, Chiume was made publicity secretary and he was engaged in many Pan-African found

37

Chiwanda

X

conferences as well as personal tours for Banda He was a LEGCO .member in 1956 and Malawi. along with Chipembere, Chinyawa and Kwenji. Chiume parted company with Banda in 1964 as a result of the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) and sought refuge He is the author of Kwacha an autoin Zambia. ,

biography.

CHIWANDA, ALBERT.

Born in March 1933 at Mulanje, he was educated at the Henry Henderson Institute. A carpenter who became interested in politics, he was made chairman of the MCP branch at Mapanga Four years later, he was appointed Minisin 1960. ter of Labor and was MP for Mwanza.

A popular traditional dance usually performed In the decades immediately preceding inby women. dependence the Chiwoda was a vehicle for expressing nationalistic songs and for raising political consciousness. In recent years its songs of praise have been supportive of the Banda government. As an older traditional dance it has been modified by Western dance and by a man’s dance that is imitative of a

CHIWODA.

military band.

CHOKANI, WILLIE.

Born in 1930, educated at Blantyre, he received a B. A. in Delhi, India. Detained in the 1959 Emergency, he has been an active campaigner for the MCP and Banda. He was Minister of Labor until the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) of 1964 when he supported Chipembere. He took refuge in Zambia.

COMMUNICATION SERVICES.

The communications network has expanded considerably since independence. Telecommunications services include telephone, telex and telegraph. Most investments in equipment, plant and buildings are in the major urban centers and are funded by British and Danish government loans. Virtually all districts in Malawi now have telephone facilities. Most rural exchanges are manually operated, but replacement by automatic exchanges is continuing. International service improved greatly in 1976 with the introduction of direct satellite

38

Cotton

That same circuits to Britain ancj South Africa. year in Blantyre, a telecommunications training school began operation under the sponsorship of the

UN

Stus International Telecommunications Union. dents from Malawi, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland attended courses. Malawi's postal service handled 60 million Post offices are located pieces of mail in 1976. No door to door throughout the three Regions. delivery is available, but post office boxes are used. The Philatelic Bureau expected sales of K95,000 T

in 1977.

COTTON.

Cotton is extensively, but not exclusively cultivated by the farmers in the rural agricultural development projects in Karonga, Lower Shire, and central lakeshore. Production of medium staple cotton is aimed at supplying the domestic textile industry in Blantyre, not the export market where it represents less than 2 percent of total exports. Cotton exports in 1977 were valued at K3. 1 million.

CURRENCY.

In 1971 Malawi adopted a modern decimal system and dropped the use of pounds /shillings. The main unit of currency is now the Kwacha, which is divided into 100 tambala. Newly issued have been

four notes:

50t,

decimal coins:

Kl. 00, K2. 00 and K10, and five Equivalents 10 and 20t. 1, 2, 5,

rates of exchange are August 1979).

to U. S. (as of

D

-

DELANY, EMMA

1

Kwacha

=

$1.23

-

B. Born in Florida in 1871, she was educated in Georgia where she prepared for a missionary career. Sponsored by the National Baptist Convention, DeLany came to Malawi in 1902 and began work at Chilembwe s Providence Industrial Mission. The preceding year, two other American black missionaries had come to PIM: Thomas Brench and Landon Cheek. DeLany, with help from Ida Chilembwe, developed programs including sewing T

Deleza

39

She was popular with the PIM classes for women. congregation and when she left in 1905 one of her devotees, Daniel Malekebu, followed her back to DeLany, with Cheek, helped Chilembwe America. effectively organize his Mission.

He was a nominated MP from Chiradzulu in 1971 and appointed to Banda s cabinet In 1973 he took over the as Minister of Labor. vacated post of Aleke Banda, Minister of Transport and Communications. He holds a master s degree in Agriculture and as an agricultural officer he has been responsible for crop development.

DELEZA, WADSON.

T

T

DEPARTMENT OF

ANTIQUITIES. This branch of the Ministry of Local Government was created in 1967. The department is responsible for the preservation of local monuments, for researching local history and for establishing site museums. It is particularly active in publishing the results of archaelogical excavations, especially those of late Stone Age and Iron Age sites.

DEVLIN COMMISSION. this

Chaired by Sir Patrick Devlin, commission was appointed to examine the inci-

dents following the declaration of a State of Emergency in March 1959. In its report, made public in July 1959, the colonial government was discredited for its autocratic behavior against NAC members, some of whom had pursued violent policies. Although the Commissioners stated they had no evidence of a plot to massacre whites, apparently there was informal talk among a few Congress members to murder some European officials if Dr. Banda was killed. No formal plan existed and Banda was not aware of any such plot. The Devlin Report was particularly embarrassing for the government as it detailed instances of illegal force and unnecessary brutality. After interviewing Banda the commissioners not only absolved him of any responsibility for the violence, but declared him an outstanding and dedicated leader of his people.

Devpol

40

DEVPOL.

This government economic plan is the framework for national development and is officially titled the "Statement of Development Policies, 1971-1980. " It has been implemented through the technique of three-year rolling programs: at the expiration of each fiscal year, the entire program is reviewed

and revised according to the success of last year. For instance, FY-78 is scrutinized and the goals for FY-79 and FY-80 are set based on 1977-78 achievements.

MALAWI

GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 1977/78-1979/80 Summary for Three Years by Department

Thousand

(Kwacha

1977/78

DEPARTMENT

Community A Social Deve lopment Education Finance, Commerce A Industry Government Buildings Hea th Hous ng MisceUaneous Services Agricul ture i

sheri es

Forestry and Game Surveys and Lands Veterinary Services New Cap ta Posts & Telecommunications i

Power T ransportat on Water Supplies & Sanitation Works Organization i

Grand Total

SOURCE:

Malawi

50

50

6,391

5,171

3,150 2,246

6,344 2,960 2,766 2,520

250 3,270 2,245 1,690 1,354 12,657 537 3,394 93

,886

3,040 2,733 14,953 552 2,968

i

F

115

5,935

1

1

Total Program by Years 1978/79 1979/80

,897 12,590 507 1

3, 154

100

105

3,541

2,706

2,656 4,198 10,476 50,256 6,411

1,234

4,412 14,822

58,912 5,490

204

1

15,420

126,860

3

Years

215 17,497

9,744 8,476 6,897 7,250 5,984 40,200 1,596

15,000 51,857 3,099

9,516 298 8,082 4,700 10,043 40,298 161,025 15,000

120

324

104,865

347,145

1

1

,835 810 ,433

Government Economic Report 1977, Fconomic Planning Division.

Diet

41

DEVPOL has significant social objectives asEmphasis has sociated with its economic plans. been placed on raising living standards and productivity in rural areas, promoting regional development especially in the northern and central areas, achieving an 8 percent annual growth of the domestic product by expanding output of small-holders, estates, agriculture and industry, and increasing local participation in the economy. Total development expenditure increased 39.9 percent per annum from 1972/73 (MK26. 7 Expenditure million) to 1975/76 (MK70 million). was most rapid in transport and communications, agriculture, forestry and government buildings. Social and welfare services increased only moderately, often because foreign donors showed willingness to finance more agricultural or industrial than social projects. Development prospects are dependent on the expansion of agricultural production, the success of such projects as the Viphya pulp mill, the development of skilled personnel, and the ability to generate adequate levels of savings and investment. Most Malatvian diets are based on the subsistence crops that they grow. A warm maize porridge (nsima), served usually with a spicy relish, is common at a village meal which rarely includes any meat. In urban centers the traditional diet may be supplemented with eggs, milk, bread and meat. Beer, often made from finger millet, is popular in both rural and urban areas. The necessity of balanced diets and good nutrition is being promoted in government educational programs, especially the radio broadcasts of the MBC.

DIET.

DOMINGO, CHARLES.

Originally from Mozambique, Domingo was a houseboy in the home of Dr. Robert Laws. He became one of Livingstonia s most promT

ising students and later served as an assistant at Overtoun Institute and as an elder in the congregation. By 1910, he had broken with Laws and was associated with Joseph Booth. Domingo was instru-

Dwangwa

42

mental in organizing the African Seventh-Day BapMalawi, acquiring several thousand adherIt was from many of these independents by 1912. ent but unpretentious mud churches that John

tists in

Chilembwe found his followers in 1915. Domingo Malawi version of the African Sabbath Recorder while Booth remained its chief editor in edited the

the Cape.

DWANGWA.

The Dwangwa River was the northern limit Maravi Confederation. The river delta was the site of an irrigated rice project begun in 1972 of the

and, in 1979, the Dwangwa Sugar Mill is slated to open. The river drains from the Lilongwe plain and Rift Valley scarp into Lake Malawi.

-

E

-

ECONOMY see AGRICULTURE; BANKING; DEVPOL; EXTERNAL TRADE; and MANUFACTURING EDUCATION.

The primary demand placed on the educational system is the provision of skilled personnel necessary for continued economic development. The formal system of education consists of three cycles: eight years of primary education (to age 14) leading to a Primary School Leaver Certificate; four years of secondary education (to age 18) leading to the Malawi School Certificate; and two to five years of higher education leading to various types of degrees and diplomas.

Complementing the formal school system are vocational training and non-formal education programs. For instance, five technical schools offer vocational training for carpenters, welders, mechanics and bricklayers. The Malawi Correspondence College (MCC) was established in 1965 essentially to absorb those primary school graduates who could not find openings in the secondary schools. By the end of 1976, MCC had 92 centers and night secondary schools. In conjunction with the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, MCC has provided radio programs

43 to

Education

Since 1965 enprimary and secondary Schools. MCC increased from 1100 to 39, 123

rollment in students.

Primary schools are co-ed, but actually only primary school-age children are The 61 secondary schools in Malaaccommodated. 35 percent of the

wi are restricted in size so only 17 percent of all

primary school certificate holders gain entrance to Most primary pupils seek but secondary school. five years of education (as school fees double after this), and only 40 percent of entering primary pupils

Unfortunately, such ever complete eight years. practical subjects as agriculture and crafts are not introduced until the sixth year when 60 percent have left school. Other primary school problems include poor building construction, general lack of furnishIn 1976 one-third of ings and teaching materials. the primary school teachers were designated as unqualified.

Malawi inherited a poor educational system colonial power which invested little in its Protectorate. Missionaries had built a few schools and secondary schools were almost non-existent. Since 1964, the expansion of the educational system has been impressive. Whereas 7 percent of the 1977/78 budget expenditures was designated for edu-

from

its

cation, fiscal projections for March 1980 included over K20 million for the improvement of education. British development funds continue to support the expansion of secondary schools and of teacher training colleges. Bunda College of Agriculture has U. S. A. I. D. funds continuing in 1977/78 for houses, student hostels, and lecturers-support staff. Higher education needs were assessed in 1963 by the American Council on Education. Recommendations resulted in the establishment of the University of Malawi and its five constituent institutions: Chancellor College, Soche Hill College, Polytechnic, Bunda College of Agriculture, and the Institute of Public Administration. By 1974 the Institute and Soche Hill were absorbed into Chancellor College and its new Zomba campus. Polytechnic opened in Blantyre in 1965 and Bunda College opened in

44

Elections

Lilongwe in 1967; both were constructed largely by

AID

funds.

ELECTIONS.

There have been only two General Elec-

tions for Parliament since August 1961 when the won its stunning victory. The first occurred in 1966 when the Party ran an unopposed slate of

MCP

candidates. These parliamentary officials were up for re-election in 1971, but Dr. Banda called off the elections and chose 60 MP's nominated at conferences. The most recent election was held in June 1978, when registered Malawi voters did go to their polls to cast ballots for Members of Parlia-

MCP

ment. Thirty-three candidates were returned unopposed based on earlier nominations. Write-in ballots were disallowed with only designated candidates accepted for balloting. Registered voters were required to show age and residence certificates. Seven constituencies were left vacant in this 1978 election as 80 MP's were sworn in. On the other hand, Party elections are regularly held. The most recent occurred in August 1978 when district and regional party committee members were chosen. Election conferences were convened in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Ntchisi, Nkhata Bay, Mchinji, Karonga and Chitipa. Urged to choose hardworking loyal delegates who would promote the MCP, the conferees elected their committee people for a term of three years.

ELECTRICITY.

The generation and supply

of electricity

is the responsibility of a public statutory body,

the Electric Supply Commission of Malawi (ESCOM). In the mid-1970 s, its generating system was about 60 percent hydroelectric generated and 40 percent thermal, with small steam stations and some diesel generators. Demand for electricity has been increasing at a rate of 10 percent per year. DEVPOL (q. v. ) has outlined plans to use the thermal units as standby and to increase to 70 percent hydroelectric generation. Eleven percent of the 1977 /78 developT

ment budget is

will be expended on power; all of this funded with external sources, including the African

Elmslie

45

Development Bank and West Germany. The first hydroelectric power station was opened in 1966 at Nkula Falls on the Shire River Further downwith a capacity of 24 million watts. stream at Tedzani Falls another station was opened In 1977, stage two in 1973 with a 20MW capacity. of Tedzani was completed; this provides an addiNkula B, an addition to the 1966 intional 20MW. stallation, was begun the same year, and will have a total capacity of 100MW when completed in 1980. A 66 kV transmission line from Nkula to A second heavier Lilongwe has operated since 1972. line was necessary by 1977, and an extension to Chintheche is planned to supply some power to the Viphya Pulp complex and surrounding northern cenMost of the paper factory s electric requireters. ments (80 percent) will be met by burning waste T

distillates

from

the cellulose.

ELMSLIE, WALTER.

A

Livingstonia medical missionary Elmslie was born in 1856 and came to Malawi in 1885. Elmslie translated parts of the Bible and produced a grammar for Tumbuka audiences. In 1901, he published Among the Wild Ngoni a personal history of the Livingstonia Mission in the last two decades of the 19th century. After serving for nearly four decades, second in command to Dr. Laws, Elmslie returned to Scotland where he died in 1936.

serving at Ekwendeni,

,

A phrase used to denote religious African nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Racism and cultural administrative differences led black ministers to establish their own churches; this separatist move absorbed much of the African disaffection with European rule. This term for black nationalism also has been applied to the

ETHIOPIANISM.

Chilembwe Rising.

ETHNIC GROUPS.

About 50 percent of Malawi’s population are Chewa and Nyanja peoples, the descendents of those Africans whom early 16th-century Portuguese travelers called Maravi.

Originating in the

46

Ethnic

15th century from Shaba province in Zaire they split up in the 18th century. The Chewa are numerically greater and live in the Central region along with some Ngoni peoples. The Nyanja ( tTpeople of the lake”) live in the Southern region, especially along Lakes Malawi and Chilwa and in Blantyre and Zomba Districts. They coexist with Ngoni, Yao, Lomwe and Sena. Both groups are matrilineal and share the same language- -Chichewa. Some 20 percent of the population are Lomwe peoples who live in the southeast portion of Malawi, Their especially in Thyolo and Chiradzulu districts. language is Chilomwe and their social organization (matrilineal) is similar enough to Yao and Nyanja Also in the south live to encourage intermarriage. the Sena who began settling into Malawi in the 20th

They century, particularly after the World Wars. inheritance patrilineal system of marriage and have a and are active in commerce and politics. The Yao originated from the northeastern part of

Mozambique and migrated

half of the 19th century.

Malawi in the last For two hundred years to

prior to that, they were the trading allies of the Arabs participating in the east coast ivory and slave trade. Many Yaos adopted Islam because of their Arab contacts, and Yao and Arab often intermarried. Yao live mostly in Mangochi and Ntcheu districts. Unlike the other ethnic groups inhabiting Malawi, the Ngoni have patrilineal lines related to the peoples in South Africa. The Ngoni, in the 1830 s, had raided, plundered and incorporated captives into their social structure as they moved north into central Africa. With the advent of the British administration in the 1890 s, the Ngoni lost their chieftainships over others they had conquered. The Ngoni peoples are found in Mzimba district and throughout the Central region. In the northern reaches of Malawi live the The patriNgonde, Tonga and Tumbuka peoples. lineal Ngonde occupy Karonga and Chitipa districts. Their kin are separated by the 19th-century EuropeanThe drawn border between Malawi and Tanzania. Karonga project involves the resettlement of the T

f

Executive

47

Ngonde.

The Tonga are

Tumbuka.

In the

linguistically related to the 1850’s, the Tonga were subjugated

by the Ngoni raiders, but subsequently Scottish misThe Tonga welcomed sionaries extricated them. subsistent cultiare fishers, They Western skills. in mines. work vators and migrant laborers who and North the Dwangwa The Tumbuka live between influenced by much very They were Rukuru rivers. customs; their many of the Ngoni conquerors, copying only recently has their ethnic consciousness been restored.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL EXILES.

LEGCO

see

to 3,000 Malawians are presently Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, including many who could resume important political Among the roles in a post-Banda government. mostly male exiles are Atati Mpakata, who is the leader of the Socialist League of Malawi (LESOMA) in Mozambique; George Michongwe, who is teaching at the University of Dar es Salaam; and Shadrach Khonje, who is active in anti-Banda organizations in

About 2,000

in exile in

Zambia.

EXTERNAL TRADE.

Malawi’s major supplier (36 percent) for imported goods is South Africa (as of In 1978 the value of those goods exceeded 1979). The closure of the Mozambique$100 million. Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) border reduced the Zimbabwean and increased the South African share of the Malawi

market. South Africa exports machinery, iron and steel, and imports Malawian tea, tobacco and groundnuts. Although the U. K. was recently eliminated by South Africa as Malawi’s chief source of imports, the major destination for Malawi’s exports (49 percent) is still the U. K. (See also Foreign Policy in the Introduction; individual export crops, e. g. tobacco, tea, sugar. ) -

FEDERATION.

From

F

-

1953 to 1963,

Malawi was a

48

Federation reluctant

member

of

an association which included

Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) and Zimbabwe Although the governmental machinery for Federation was not established until the 1950 s, the movement to create such an association originated decades earlier. Early Plans During I the British South Africa Company had suggested an amalgamation, but European settlers were not then enthusiastic. However, white settlers did begin to feel their way of life was threatened when the Colonial Office declared its policy of trusteeship and paramountcy of African interests: Devonshire Paper (1923) and Passfield Memo (1930). In 1935 the governmental heads of the three territories met to consider possible union in matters of trade and customs, education and defense. The following year a second meeting continued the At this point the British governagitation for union. ment assigned the Bledisloe Commission with the task of determining the feasibility of closer cooperation in all three territories. When the Bledisloe Report was published in 1939, amalgamation was not immediately recommended, rather it was considered During its three-month a possibility for the future. tour the Commissioners had heard nothing but oppoLeaders sition to any association from Malawians. of native associations (see ASSOCIATIONS), village chiefs, and even Scottish missionaries unanimously rejected schemes of amalgamation. Upon returning to England the commissioners also received a memo from Dr. Banda indicating his opposition. II stifled Post II. The outbreak of amalgamation talk as priorities were placed on the war effort. A council formed in 1941 allowed the three territorial administrations to consult each other on non-political matters, but as its functions were expanded in 1944, the advocates of amalgamation exploited the council. When the post-war Labour party opposed an amalgamation of the Rhodesias, Stewart Gore-Browne, a LEGCO member and settler in Zambia, suggested a federation among the three territories that ostensibly would preserve African rights. Other white settlers supported the concept (Southern Rhodesia). T

.

WW

WW

WW

Federation

49

At including Roy Welensky and Godfrey Huggins. the latter's initiation a small group of settlers met in February 1949 at Victoria Falls, where they agreed to try to create a Central African Federation.

Welensky openly admitted

that he expected

the plan would rid Northern Rhodesia of the Colonial office. As for the Southern Rhodesia delegates, their expectations were linked to Zambia s copper, and the Nyasaland settlers hoped for an improved A memo detailing opposition to economic situation. this federation plan was soon written by Dr. Banda The and Harry Nkumbula of Zambia (May 1949). Banda -Nkumbula memo warned that Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia could expect to be dominated by 1

Southern Rhodesia with its detested segregationist policies and its antipathy toward the African populace.

The partnership concept advanced by federa-

tion supporters was just a facade and therefore the plan must be rejected, concluded Banda. Africans

relaxed momentarily when Colonial-Secretary Creech Jones (Labour) indicated that there would be no move toward federation at that time and no abrogation of responsibilities.

Establishment of a Federation In late 1950 and early 1951, events changed in favor of the profederationists. James Griffiths, who succeeded Creech Jones as Colonial-Secretary, agreed to re.

investigate the federation issue. When Griffiths toured the Protectorate, he became aware of the intense opposition by Africans to any closer association. Responding to this resistance Griffiths insisted that Africans be represented, for the first time, at a federation conference in September, 1951. Malawi delegates --Edward Gondwe, Clement Kumbikano and Chief Mwase- -refused to consider federation. The conference ended abruptly to provide time for the British general elections to be held. The Conservatives were returned to power and immediately the new Colonial-Secretary, Oliver Lyttelton, announced that his government favored federation and that Africans would have to accept it. Both in Malawi and in England, the British government was reminded of its earlier promises not to transfer its obligations

Federation

50

In Malawi ordinary people, to the African populace. village chiefs, Scottish missionaries and the NAC registered their opposition, and reminded the British government of promises made earlier. In England, Dr. Banda in a series of speeches pleaded against Dubbed as agitators by any move toward federation. the advocates of federation, Africans and their supporters were ignored and further concessions were made to the followers of Huggins and Welensky. Dr. Banda suggested the NAC begin a campaign of civil disobedience, but some Congress members found the move too radical and a split in the NAC ensued. Federation forces advanced at this critical time when Congress lacked unity. When the Nyasaland LEGCO voted on federation in April 1953, its African members, Ernest A. Muwamba and K. Ellerton Mposa, walked out in protest. Further petitions and non- cooperation did not alter the course of events, and the Central African Federation offi-

cially

commenced on August

From

1,

1953.

Federation to Independence The operation of the Federation held few surprises for the African population which had so vehemently opposed .

The new federal government spent more money on whites than Africans. The impact of taxation weighed significantly upon Africans as cheap cigarettes and clothes of the type purchased more by Africans than whites were taxed more heavily. Most of the Federation capital available for investment was used in Southern Rhodesia, e. g. on Kariba Dam. Disparities existed in hospital services (eight beds per thousand for Europeans, one bed per thousand for Malawians) and in educational The facilities. Politically no partnership existed. color bar was discriminatory and attempts by Afriits

creation.

cans to reach administrative levels in the civil service had dismal results: only nine candidates in all of the Federation in as many years. Representation in the Federal Assembly was a near sham. Out of a total of 35 seats, Africans were permitted only six seats, two representatives from each territory. (Malawi s Assembly representatives were Wellington Chirwa and Clement Kumbikano). When the federal 1

51

Federation

constitution was revised Africans obtained 12 of the 59 Assembly seats.

Events leading to independence took an abrupt turn after the overwhelming victory achieved by the Malawi Congress Party in the August 1961 elections. The MCP had won all of the lower roll and one The quarter of the upper roll seats in LEGCO. Governor, Glyn Jones, soon granted ten seats on the In November 1961, Executive Council to the MCP.

Welensky was informed that Nyasaland would be permitted to secede from the Federation, and in December, the British Government formally announced that Nyasaland was to be allowed to withIn the two-year apprenticeship (1961-1963), draw. Banda and his ministers made reforms and indusBanda as Minister triously planned for the future. for Natural Resources was in a position to negate the abusive and abhorred agricultural practices conducted by the Protectorate government, and Dunduzu Chisiza, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, outlined a five-year economic development scheme. Not only did the new African ministers wish to govern, but Governor Glyn Jones encouraged their initiative and allowed them decisions which of-

were in the Governors province. In February 1963, Banda was sworn in as Prime Minister, Chirwa as Minister of Justice, Chipembere as Minister of Local Government, and Bwanausi as Minister of Housing. The Federation was dissolved quietly at the end of that year and the following July was set for independence. In April 1964, general elections allowing the enlargement of LEGCO were held in which all fifty MCP candidates won on the general roll and three Europeans were elected on a special roll. The following month Banda made known the ministers he had selected for the Independence Cabinet: Yatuta Chisiza (Home Affairs, Local Government), Msonthi (Transport), Bwanausi fically

(Housing), Chipembere (Education), Chiume (External Affairs), and Tembo (Finance). In addition to Prime Minister, Banda kept the following portfolios for himself: Health, Natural Resources, Social Development, Trade and Industry. On July 6, 1964,

Fishing

52

Malawi became free of colonial later was declared a Republic.

rule,

and two years

FISHING. Malawi is able to supply all its domestic requirements of fresh water fish and is now exporting Although fish are exported in increasing quantities. to neighboring Zambia, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and Mozambique, most are consumed locally. The four main fishing waters are Lakes Chilwa, Malawi and Malombe, and the River Shire. Commercially five varieties are important: catfish, chambo, usipa, chisawasawa, and utaka; however, over 225 different fish species exist in Lake Malawi alone. More than 20,000 people are directly involved in fishing; many of these people have been trained at Mpwepwe Fisheries Training School in Mangochi, a project largely financed by the U. K. Other projects include taxonomy research, the fresh water prawn hatchery at Domasi and fish farming extension services. The governments Fisheries Department has introduced trawling techniques at Lake Malawi and has established fishing centers supplied with refrigeration and processing machinery. Fisheries expenditures for 1977/78 are estimated at K634, 297, of which K501,084 would be financed from external resources including the U. K. Japan, South Africa the U. N. and West Germany. ,

,

A tricolor of black, green and red. A red rising sun is superimposed over a black horizontal stripe; the sun represents the dawn of freedom and A stripe of the black depicts the people of Africa. green represents the evergreen nature of Malawi and the red stripe the blood of martyrs of African

FLAG.

freedom.

FOREIGN

Since independence in 1964, Malawi has of a substantial amount of aid, Not economparticularly from the United Kingdom. ically viable at the breakup of the Federation, the new nation needed external support to maintain the Later in the decade, government on a daily basis. British direct grants supported not only the budget

AID.

been the recipient

53 deficits,

but also the

Forestry

new rural development pro-

grams.

Malawi has. gained an enviable reputation foreign investors because it has maintained political stability and has supported fiscally conserIt has used loans successfully and vative policies. honestly, a trait which has appealed to many bankers. As British aid has changed from grants to soft loans, additional aid has been advanced by the World Bank. Aid, in general, has had exceptionally beneficial results in Malawi and has not inhibited its efforts to help itself. Almost all of its donors have provided the aid on easy terms with the exception of South Africa. Aid has originated from noncommunist nations only and includes the U. K. U. S. Canada, Japan, West Germany, Denmark, Israel, Nationalist China, South Africa, and the World Bank group. American aid has been used for roads, education and community development. South African loans (on hard terms) financed the Nagala railway extension and are financing the new capital at Lilongwe. Canada also has aided railway development and the renovation of existing lines. China has sponsored rice growing projects whereas the fisheries industries has benefited from Danish,

among

,

Israeli,

and Japanese

,

aid.

Military aid primarily has come from the British in the form of material as well as financial aid. The Royal Engineers have also assisted in roadbuilding in Mangochi District, an area the Banda

government has considered troublesome because

of

FRELIMO

guerrillas and local dissidents. Additional equipment has also been acquired from Australia, Belgium and South Africa.

FORESTRY.

The Forestry Department manages over

1.9 million acres (769,000 hectares) of forest reserves and protected hill slopes. Although Malawi has considerable forestry potential, it has a reforestation program designed eventually to make the nation entirely self-sufficient in the construction grades of timber. To this end 22,640 acres (9,162 hectares) of new plantations were established in 1976.

Fraser

54

The major forestry project is the Viphya Pulp and Paper mill which has an expected annual capacity of 150, 000 tons of bleached kraft pulp. Once in operation, Malawi will export all pulp from Located in the Northern Region, the Viphya Viphya. project is then expected to increase foreign exchange earnings and to improve employment and income opTo meet the requirements of the pulp portunities. mill, 15,000 acres of pine will be planted annually. Although pulpwood is confined to the Viphya Plateau, timber production is concentrated at Chongoni, Zomba, Mulanje, Dzalanyama, and Blantyre. Forestry Department expenditures for 1977/78 are estimated at K2, 280, 500, the bulk of which is financed by a U. K. development grant.

FRASER, DONALD.

Born in 1870, he came to Malawi joining senior colleague Elmslie at the Livingstonia mission at Ekwendeni. Later, with his wife Agnes Robson, he was stationed at Loudon. With Fraser s arrival came a more sympathetic attitude. He attempted to reform the more puritanical church restrictions on dancing, polygamy and beerdrinking; instead, he emphasized the writing of Ngoni hymns and the similarity of existing Ngoni and Tumbuka religious beliefs with Christianity. Among the books he authored are Winning a Primi in 1897,

1

tive People (1914), African Idylls (1923), Autobiog raphy of an African (1925), and The New Africa He left Malawi in 1925 and died in 1933. (1927).

FRENCH, MARGARET.

A

British

woman, married

at

the time she met Hastings Banda, who was his companion, lover and friend from about 1953-58 when When Banda quit his they lived together in Ghana. medical practice in Kumasi to return to Malawi, French left for England.

-

G

-

Born in 1934 near Kasungu, Gadama was graduated from St. John’s Bosco Teacher’s Col-

GADAMA, AARON.

Gloss op

55

He taught school in the Central relege in 1959. A recipient of a diploma of gion for five years. education in Edinburgh, and a modern mathematics certificate from Nairobi, Gadama was then appointed In 1971 he headmaster at Kasungu primary school. became an MP for Kasungu, and was quickly promoted by Dr. Banda to Minister of Community DeGadama has also been Minister without velopment. Portfolio, and currently has the post of Central Regional Minister.

GLOSSOP, REV. ARTHUR

G.

As

the High Anglican

Archdeacon in the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), Glossop was the sole cleric represented on the Commission of Inquiry on the Chilembwe Rising. In the Report of the Commissioners (1916) Glossop’s bias against small independent missions was apparent; he believed Africans needed disnot the kind of individualism seen in ChiAs a priest Glossop had his followers. served at Nkotakota and at Likoma Island. cipline,

lembwe and

GORE-BROWNE, STEWART

GOVERNMENT.

see

FEDERATION

Malawi became independent

of British

after 73 years of Protectorate status, on July 6, 1964. Two years later Malawi became a Republic. Malawi is divided administratively into three regions, each of which is supervised by a rule,

Cabinet Minister: Northern Region- -Robson Chirwa; Central Region- -Aaron Gadama; and Southern RegionGwanda Chakuamba (as of January 1979). Local government is carried out in twenty-four districts. In addition to the district councils there are city and town councils, all of which are supervised by the Minister of Local Government (David Kaunda in January 1979). Banda established councils to act as vehicles for development at the local level. However, the national government is able to exert control over the local councils by its budget approval and the allocation of national monies for regional needs.

Groundnuts

GROUNDNUTS. commonly

56

Grown throughout

the country,

but

more

groundnuts (peanuts) are purchased from small-holders and marketed Malawi is the largest exporter of the by ADMARC. large hard-shelled confectionery grade, accounting for over 50 percent of the world sales of this type. The groundnuts are machine graded in an ADMARC factory in Liwonde and sold directly to overseas During the 1977/78 marketing season, processors. ADMARC increased the guaranteed minimum producer prices in an effort to induce cash crop growers to produce more high-grade groundnuts. Exports in 1977 were valued at K10. 4 million. in the Central Region,

-

HEALTH.

H

-

Health services are provided at government and mission facilities, and until recently, emphasis was on curative rather than preventive services. A long term (1973-1988) plan for the development of health services was worked out on the basis of World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, and called for the expansion of health facilities in areas of agricultural projects, the replacement and renovation of existing antiquated hospitals, and the establishment of a network of basic health units from In which to conduct preventive health services. 1977 a new 250-bed general hospital was opened in Lilongwe as well as a new Medical Auxiliary Training School which will greatly relieve staff shortages of clinical officers and pharmacy and laboratory assistants. Although doctors continue to be trained outside Malawi, several government and mission schools train nurses, mid-wives, medical/health In 1976 there assistants, and health inspectors. were over fifty hospitals, providing 9,000 beds, and 348 dispensaries and health posts, an increase of 245 dispensaries since independence. The disease pattern found in Malawi is common to many African countries which have limited health facilities. Pneumonia, malaria, gastroenteritis, anemia, and tuberculosis are the leading

57

Hetherwick

causes of death in Malawi, where average life exOne-third of all pantancy at birth is 40 years. fifth birthday. their children born do not survive disposal is unwaste poor: Sanitation conditions are contaminated. often are supplies satisfactory and water principles teach to program The Ministry of Health s frequently hygiene is good and of sound nutrition hampered by widespread illiteracy (78 percent) and 1

the practice of many of alternating between tradiAdtional practices and modern medical services. ditional constraints include population growth (2. 6 Health expercent annually) and budgetary limits. penditures account for only 2 percent of the entire

1977/78 budget.

HETHERWICK, DR. ALEXANDER.

In 1899, he succeeded Rev. David C. Scott (q. v. ) as head of the He held a most Presbyterian mission at Blantyre. prestigious and influential role in the Protectorate and acted as the missionary representative in LEGCO (1907-13) where he presumably supported the African point of view. Hetherwick was a supporter of British rule and he perceived the Mission’s role as that of a conscience for the administration. His views of Africans, often printed in the Mission publication, Life and Work, were expectedly paternalistic: the European was there to govern and to teach.

HILTON YOUNG COMMISSION.

Chaired by Sir Edward Hilton Young, the Commission toured Zambia and Malawi and listened to a variety of petitioners in their investigation. The commissioners sought to determine whether a closer union in East Africa was possible or whether a closer association might be sought between the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. In their Report (1929) the members of the Commission stated that any closer association should be one which could benefit Africans, not merely the settler element. The settlers had no feeling of responsibility toward the African. It was up to the British government, therefore, to protect their African wards. Lastly, the Commission reported that while

Hynde

58

there might be economic advantages to linking the Protectorates, the British government should not make any plans tying the Central African territories Settlers rejected together, especially at that time. the African paramountcy concept and in the 1930 s, began efforts to try to amalgamate the territories f

(see

HYNDE,

FEDERATION).

came to Malawi as a missionary assigned to Domasi, but soon engaged in agriculture, planting tea and tobacco. As general manager of the Blantyre and East Africa Company (1901-1918), Hynde vigorously encouraged the cultivation of tobacco. He was editor of the Central African Planter renamed the Nyasaland Times in 1907, and often expressed his pro-European planter views in this medium. Politically active Hynde also served on the Blantyre R.

Church

S.

He

originally

of Scotland

,

Town

Council.

-

I

-

INDEPENDENT AFRICAN CHURCHES.

The

first inde-

pendent church, the Providence Industrial Mission (PIM) was founded by John Chilembwe in 1900. Influenced by Joseph Booth who took him to the U. S. and by the American Negro Baptists in Virginia, John Chilembwe adopted some of the functions of the black independent churches in the U. S. The preachers, Chilembwe observed, were active politicians whose churches were converted into political organizations sustained by religious enthusiasm. Returning to Malawi, Chilembwe created an impressive industrial mission which sought the betterment of Africans economically as well as intellectually. The PIM was African controlled and gave expression to such African grievances as low wages, long hours and general mistreatment. After the Chilembwe Rising in 1915, the church was discontinued until 1926 when Dr. Malekebu re-instituted the mission. On the eve of the First World War the independent churches consisted of Chilembwe s PIM, ,

,

1

59

Independent

Kamwana's Watch Tower, Charles Domingo's Seventh Day Baptists, and Filipo Chinyama's Ntcheu mission. For those Africans unhappy with the older established European missions, these independent churches provided opportunities for leadership, respectability and social advancement; they also were a means through which economic, political, and social grievances As an alternative path, these incould be aired. dependent churches often drew converts from those who were refused entrance into one of the Presbyterian churches without long probation, or who were unable to afford the school fees which were levied on members. To these less privileged members of the African community, there was an appeal provided See also entries under by Domingo and Kamwana. individual founders. During the era between the Wars, a new group of independent churches emerged, particularly beThe Last Church of God was tween 1925 and 1935. formed in 1925 by a Livingstonia separatist- -Jordon Msumwa— a Tonga from the Karonga area who wanted to improve the African condition and still permit polygamy. The establishment of the African National Church (ANC) occurred (1928) when several Livingstonia graduates had been ejected for polygamy: Levi Mumba, Isaac Mkondowe, Paddy Nyasula. In 1935 three Livingstonia ministers (Yaphet Mkandawire, Yesaya Zerenji, Charles Chinula), who had seceded only a year or two before, joined forces to form the Black People's Church in Africa (Mpingo wa Afipa wa Africa). Ironically, perhaps, the Livingstonia Mission had taught and encouraged its students to be of an independent mind and conscience, thus, the break was not unrealistic. There is evidence too, that the revival of independent churches was related to the ineffectiveness of the European missions in dealing with such moral problems as evil, witchcraft, and divisiveness amongst people. The new church leaders were activist, engaging in the work of local Associations (q. v. ), and encouraging the development of African schools. In the latter field of education, it was Daniel Malekebu's PIM which enjoyed the greatest success in the inter-war period. Most often those individuals who sought an

Iron Age

60

independent path were acting out of a sincere love When dissent occurred for the Christian church. over differences in traditions and customs reconDifciliation was sought, but not always achieved. ferences were sometimes concerned with which day was the Sabbath, which method should be used for Baptism, and how long a period of preparatory training was necessary for admission into a church. Generally, they were fundamentalist in their interpretation of the Bible. Most desired more control over their own lives and beliefs and a lessening of European authority.

IRON AGE

see

PRE-HISTORY

ISLAM.

Present estimates indicate that 12 percent of the population profess to be Moslem, as compared with 35 percent who acknowledge Christianity as their religion. Coastal Arabs brought their Islamic religion with them when they arrived in the 19th century. As trader-merchants they were not active proselytizers; the most numerous conversions occurred after Commissioner H. H. Johnston ended the slave trade in the 1890 s. In addition to the Swahili Arab traders, two Moslem teachers were most responsible for instructing and encouraging f

Shaykh Abdallah Mkwanda and Shaykh Most conversions were among the Yao and lakeside Chewa. Conversion to Islam required observance of Ramadan feast, acceptance of circumcision and the imitation of some rituals and prayers. Islam offered an advance in social status beyond traditional faith; and, it provided an alternative for those Africans seeking some status vis-a-vis the European. Those converts who became teachers (waalimu ) often settled in villages where they earned money tutoring students. Soon Muslim villages had Koranic schools, but instruction was often very superficial because of poorly prepared teachers. Islam was viewed by Christian missionaries as a threat. Missionary tracts often wrote about Islamic aggression which could unite Africans into converts:

Sabiti Ngaunje.

Jehovah

61

T

s

Witnesses

Their concern that Islam would encourhostilities. age uprisings turned into near hysteria at the outset I when the .colonial government was already of apprehensive over German attempts to turn Muslim However, as followers against their British rulers. the Germans lost the East African campaign the The number of Muslim Muslim scare subsided. schools and mosques was nevertheless limited by the Protectorate government as a result of a belief that Muslims had encouraged the Chilembwe rising.

WW

-

J

-

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES.

This fundamentalist religious allegiance to a political any sect, which rejects party or a government, was considered subversive during colonial rule and in post-independent Malawi As the has been banned and subjected to violence. MCP prepared for independence in 1964 the Witnesses refused to register as voters and tried to dissuade In Mulanje district, others from joining the MCP. violence broke out between the Witnesses and the youthful Leaguers (see YOUTH). In 1967 the WitThey nesses were again subject to harassment. still refused to join the Party, they continued to proselytize those who were not interested, and they attempted to dissuade people from paying taxes. When the Witnesses opposed Party efforts to register voters and renew Party membership cards, the Malawi government retaliated by allowing Leaguers to assault Witnesses. The sect was banned in October 1967, and violence followed, with charges of arson, rape and assault levied against Leaguers. Until 1973, membership in the sect was tolerated despite the Witnesses' irritating, sometimes obnoxious, interference with others' religious freedom. This and their continued opposition to the Malawi Congress Party resulted in a wave of persecutions from which nearly 20,000 Witnesses fled to Zambia and Mozambique. Unfavorable world publicity and the fact that Zambia found them equally undesirable led to their repatriation. In 1975, about 2,000 were

Johnson

62

arrested and jailed for belonging to a banned organiBy early 1977, all but a few of these Witzation. nesses had been released, resettled and were expected by the government to keep a low profile.

JOHNSON, WILLIAM

P.

UMCA

Archdeacon

of

Nyasa

My

African Reminiscences 1875-1895 He came first to Malawi in 1880 but illness (1924). set the mission back. He returned six years later with a lake vessel, the Charles Janson which was to be his floating mission station for the UMCA.

and author of

,

He was stationed at Likoma with colleague Chauncy Maples who was appointed Bishop of Likoma in A tragic drowning accident took Maples’s 1895. life before he could take on his new post, but UMCA success along the Lake justified Johnson’s faith, as well as investment, in a steamer operation in behalf of the Mission. In 1901, Johnson added another steamer called the Chauncy Maples after his friend.

JOHNSTON, SIR HENRY ’’HARRY” HAMILTON.

Born

in

South London in 1858, Johnston was singularly responsible for creating the administrative machinery of the Protectorate established in 1891. Johnston left a lasting impression during his six years as Commissioner. He was a most capable public administrator and he had both a good interest and a knowledge of botany, zoology, history, geography and

Bantu linguistics. Before assuming his appointment as Consul to Mozambique in 1889, Johnston met Cecil Rhodes who was immediately impressed by the young Johnston. Rhodes hired Johnston to represent the Char-

Company (see BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY) in Central Africa. On his way to Blantyre,

tered

Johnston met and hired Alfred Sharpe as his ViceConsul. Together with another assistant, John Nicoll, they entered into several treaties with MakoWhen the Foreign Office desiglolo and Yao chiefs. nated the area of Malawi as a British Protectorate (1891) Johnston had gathered a staff devoted to the By 1892 there task of developing an administration. were established courts of justice and several de-

63

Johnston

partments including the police, medical and postal Johnservices, and engineering and financial units. ston first divided the country into four districts but reorganized it into 12 administrative By the next year, Johnston had an armed units. His Commandant force consisting of 370 regulars. was Major C. A. Edwards who was assisted by Captain William Manning, later Governor in 1910-13. Using his army during a series of several small wars, (1891-95) Johnston extended British rule and established a network of Bomas. During his 1894 administrative leave Johnston succeeded in securing the financial take-over of the In 1889 Protectorate by the British Treasury. Rhodes paid Johnston £2,000 to begin an expedition into Central Africa and two years later Rhodes and his British South Africa Company (BSAC) agreed to pay £10,000 annually to Johnston to maintain a police force. To assist in that maintenance Johnston was allowed the use of the lake steamers belonging to the African Lakes Company (ALC), a company in which Rhodes s BSAC owned a controlling interest. Later (1893) Rhodes increased his subsidy to £17,500 annually in exchange for BSAC absorption of all Crown rights in land in Malawi. This financial hold of the BSAC finally ended with an agreement with the Foreign Office (1895) wherein the Treasury assumed full financial control over the area. Working out a land policy for the Protectorate and raising local revenue were two matters of concern for the Johnston Administration. In 1892-93 Johnston, assisted by Sharpe and Bertram Sclater (lieutenant, Royal Engineers) reviewed every land and mineral claim for authenticity and proper compensation. Funds to finance the new administration included those internally raised such as postal fees, import duties, license fees, stamp duties and hut taxes. The latter tax, of three shillings per year, was first imposed in the southern region, but by 1896 included all districts of Malawi where British rule obtained. Johnston was not always popular with the in 1893 he

f

64

Jones

European missionaries, planters and merchants who Traders had preceded the British administration. and planters, unaccustomed to any government regulations for years, objected to paying taxes and With the exception of to the enforcement of laws. Dr. Robert Laws for whom he had great respect, Missions, too, Johnston disliked most missionaries. had enjoyed exercising ’governmental” powers for several years, but now British rule had made them Johnston subordinate to Commissioner Johnston. A prolific writer and fine left Malawi in 1896. naturalist he illustrated his encyclopedic British Previously, durCentral Africa published in 1897. ing his 1894 leave in England, he had produced a Blue Book detailing the first three years of his administration. Towards the end of his life, he pubT

lished his autobiography,

The Story

of

My

Life

(1923).

ARTHUR CREECH. Founder of the Fabian Bureau, Jones was the Labour Party’s Colonial Secretary in the post-WW II era. In 1948, he met with his friend Banda, who was practicing medicine in England, and with a deputation of the NAC. As a result of that meeting, construction funds were made available for the Dedza Secondary School and Domasi Teacher’s College. Meanwhile, Secretary Jones assured Malawians that they would not be transferred into any association or federation. Those promises were not sustained by his successor

JONES,

in office,

James

Griffiths (1950).

JONES, SIR GLYN.

Sir Jones was appointed Governor Jones and Banda became friends particularly after the Governor released MCP members detained in prison following the declared State in April 1961.

Emergency in March 1959 (see OPERATION SUNRISE). Jones gave Banda and his ministers considerable leeway during the 1961-1963 interim before of

self-government (see FEDERATION). During the September 1904 Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ), Banda consulted with Jones who encouraged the Prime Minister not to resign, but to try and solve the rift.

Jumbe

65

/

After Chipembere asked Jones to mediate the disBanda refused and the break was irreversible. Governor Jones was also responsible for demanding (1965) more humane treatment for those political prisoners detained by Banda as a sequence of the Cabinet Crisis. pute,

JUMBE. Arabs.

The term refers to the leader of the Swahili The first Jumbe, Salim bin Abdallah, esT

tablished his slave trade center in the 1840 s at Nkhotakota. He and successive Jumbes were often able to establish cordial relations with area chiefs (of the Chewa, Ngoni, Tonga and Yao), with Scottish missionaries and later with British government officials.

Nkhotakota was conveniently located for the caravan trade. The Jumbe and his retinue were well armed and had large quantities of bolts of cloth which they traded for slaves and ivory destined for the East Coast. Until Commissioner Johnston s time, no one had more strength to oppose the Jumbe s political-economic power. During their half-century of rule in Malawi, the Jumbes brought in coastal trade goods, introduced Islamic culture in the area, and cultivated rice and coconuts for the first time

Jumbe

to conduct his lucrative east-west

T

T

in the region.

-

K

-

KADAUE, CLEMENTS.

Born at Nkhota Bay, and educated at Livingstonia, he was a young man during the Kamwana (q. v. ) movement. He left Malawi in 1915 and arrived in Cape Town the next year. He became the organizer (1919) of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, the first African trade union in the Republic of South Africa. He began the newspaper The Workers Herald in 1923. A political firebrand in the 1920’ s and 1930’s, he criticized white rule in Africa. Author of My Life and the I. C. U. Kadalie died in 1951. T

,

Kadzamila

66

KADZAMILA, CECILIA.

Born in Dedza District, she secretary to Banda and acts as the nation’s ’’First Lady. ” A secondary school graduate, she is a cousin to John Tembo (q. v. ). is the private

KAMWANA, ELLIOTT.

He was a pupil of Joseph Booth and founder of an independent church, the Watch Kamwana had met Booth and joined Watch Tower. Tower while in South Africa and when he returned By to Malawi (1906), he began a branch church. had baptized Kamwana over the charismatic 1909, De10,000 followers, mostly among the Tongo. ported from 1909 to 1914, he returned to South Africa.

wave

Ethiopianism to affect influenced thousands in the Livingstonia area. Despite the fact that Watch Tower was illegal, Kamwana’ s churches continued, often secretly. With the coming of I, Kamwana was preaching the arrival of Armageddon and continued giving anti-British sermons. He preached that in the Second Advent Christ would abolish the onerous hut taxes and end colonial rule. He was in political detention during the Chilembwe Revolt in 1915, was deported to Mauritius shortly thereafter, but was allowed to return in 1937. In this first

Malawi, the

of

Kamwana movement

WW

KAMWENDO, JOHN. the

Mayor

Born

he became He was also Press Holdings

in April 1936,

of the city of Blantyre.

Group General Manager Group of Companies.

of the

KAMWENDO, MIKE.

Managing editor of the Blantyre Newspapers Ltd. which incorporates the Daily Times and the Malawi News Educated in the U. S. Kamwendo returned to Malawi in 1972 to work as a producer for the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. .

,

1976 he joined the Blantyre newspapers; a year he was made editor of Malatvi News Kamwendo succeeded to his present post in January In

later,

.

1979.

KARONGA.

The home area

of the

Ngonde people,

67

Kasungu

Karonga became a site for' a mission station, a branch store by the ALC and one terminus of the Stevenson Road which was connected to Lake Tanzania. The first native association was begun at Karonga: The North Nyasa Native Association Located in the far (1912; see ASSOCIATIONS). north, Karonga is the site of a rural development project which seeks to improve yields of rice, maize, cotton and groundnuts.

KASUNGU.

Located about 80 miles west of Nkhotakota Northern Region, Kasungu is the home of Malawi’s President Banda and of Rev. Hanock Phiri who founded AME Church in Malawi. Kasungu is the center of an important tobacco- growing area. Located west of the town is the Kasungu National Park, the largest game reserve in Malawi. in the

In the 19th century the site of Kasungu was on the main ivory-slave trade route from Lake Malawi to Zambia. It was visited by Livingstone in 1863, and in 1890 Vice-Consul Sharpe negotiated a treaty with the Chewa Chief, Mwase, headquartered at Kasungu. By 1895 the British administration forces had defeated Mwase and ended the slave trade

in the area.

KATENGA, BRIDGER.

Appointed in May 1972 as Permanent Secretary for Community Development and Social Welfare. He was born in 1926, and attended the Hofmeyr School of Social Welfare in Johannesburg. Katenga subsequently worked as a welfare officer and probation officer. Upon independence in 1964 Katenga was made Malawi’s ambassador to Ethiopia. In 1966, Banda appointed him to the United Nations. After serving in London in 197172, he returned to Malawi to the Social Welfare Post.

KHONJE, NELSON. of March 1977,

Speaker of National Assembly as he was born in 1923 in Mwanza District. He studied at local schools, but completed his Education diploma in Scotland. He was headmaster at Ntcheu and Ntchisi Day Secondary Schools.

68

Kufa

Khonje joined the

ment

MCP

in 1959

and entered Parlia-

in 1971.

KUFA, JOHN GRAY.

s second in command, Kufa was a Blantyre mission convert and one of the After he scored Scottish Church s first deacons.

Chilembwe

T

T

high in the surgical exams he assumed the position of chief medical assistant in the Blantyre Mission dispensary. Kufa was also a small estate owner at Nsoni where he raised cattle and planted tobacco and cotton. His long-time friendship with John Chilembwe led to Kufa s participation in the 1915 For his role in the uprising, Kufa was Rebellion. captured, tried and executed in February 1915. T

KWACHA.

A

slogan introduced in the 1950’ s literally

meaning ’’dawn” but politically implying ’’freedom” from the Federation and complete independence. (See also

CURRENCY.

)

-

L

-

LABOR UNIONS.

The trade union movement was a postWorld War H development in Malawi. The first central union, the Nyasaland Trades Union Congress, was formed in 1956, but its affiliation with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) caused the creation of a dissenting organization: the National Council of Labor. The TUC and the Council merged and then dissolved in 1961. Beginning in 1962 unions lost influence and many union leaders took government or Malawi Congress Party jobs. The activities of Malawi’s principal labor union- -Trades Union Congress of Malawi- -are integrated within the MCP which settles labor disputes.

Chairman

LAKE MALAWI LANGUAGES.

see

of the

TUC

FISHING;

is J.

D.

Liabunya.

TOURISM

English and ChiChewa are the official languages of Malawi. English is the legacy of a British protectorate status and is used by business

Laws

69

Since 1968 the languages of the and government. were officially referred to as Nyanja and Chewa declared Malawi's national it and w&s ChiChewa ChiChewa also replaced ChiTumbuka on language. media broadcasts (MBC) at the same time (see

ETHNIC GROUPS). LAWS, ROBERT DR.

Born

in 1951,

medical missionary spent over

this Livingstonian

years in Malawi

fifty

(1875-1927) exercising considerable influence on the Laws authored several politics of the Protectorate. Nyanja school primers and Bible translations, published a mission magazine, Aurora and wrote his memoirs in Reminiscences of Livingstonia (1934). Laws encouraged the Moir brothers' ALC stores (Mandala) in an effort to promote legitimate traffic to compete with the slave trade. His views were valued by such early Protectorate governors as Sir Alfred Sharpe, who respected the missionary's knowledge. In 1912 Laws became a member of LEGCO. It was Laws who requested an inquiry into the origins of the Chilembwe rising in 1915, in part because Livingstonia and other missions were under attack for educating Africans presumably to protest Euro,

pean

rule.

Laws had founded the Overtoun Khondowe. It was anticipated that the center would effect economic change by training teachers, clergy and government clerks, as well as apprentices in technical skills. Laws's belief that training in European skills was a prerequisite to African development drew opposition including that from Donald Fraser who feared the destruction of village life. Fraser also objected to the education In 1894 Dr.

Institute at

of a few preferring a mass education approach. By the 1920's, others were questioning the relation of a fine industrial training to the village way of life. Despite the strict rules affecting their lives at

Overtoun,

many Malawian apprentices were gradu-

ated and were employed by Europeans in Malawi, as well as in nearby Tanzania and Zambia. Al-

though Laws's Overtoun has been criticized as an object to promote the colonial (not African) economy,

70

League

was responsible for producing in the Northern region many articulate and politically adept

the Institute

graduates who became leaders in local Associations Laws was supportive of these regional (q. v. ). groups believing that an outlet for political expresLaws and his wife, Margaret sion was necessary. Gray, left Malawi in 1927 and he died seven years later.

LEAGUE OF MALAWI WOMEN.

This wing of the Malawi Congress Party was initiated by Dr. Banda and At the same organized by Rose Chibambo in 1958. time, Banda organized the Youth League (see YOUTH). Both groups have been zealous in their support of the President and both act as a political The vanguard to the Malawi Congress Party. Women’s League has been encouraged to maintain the strength of the MCP by urging people to renew their party membership cards. There are appeals to League members to attend Party meetings, enroll in homecraft and literacy classes, and to practice traditional dances in their local areas. Dr. Banda has been particularly pleased by the growing response and number of women participating in traditional dances. Referred to as his Mbumba (female members of family), these women buy special League uniforms and perform at every official appearance made by the President. The women also often compose patriotic songs to accompany their dance performances in honor of the President. Senior Party Mbumba especially those single and widowed women, have been rewarded for their loyalty and diligence by the President who has had modern homes constructed for them. Built at his own expense, these homes are intended for League use only. The League has branches in every town and district, and has chairwomen appointed to oversee the many social activities and charitable functions engaged in by the membership (see WOMEN). ,

LEGCO.

In

created.

1907 the Legislative Council (LEGCO) was The addition of this consultative body did

not inhibit the

power

of the

Governor who

initiated

LEGCO

71

/

LEGCO legislation and appointed the members. included the Governor, the three ex-officio

members members

of the Executive Council (GovernmentSecretary, Attorney General, Treasurer), and three (six in 1911) non- government members nominated by The unofficial members consisted of the Governor. It European planters, traders and missionaries. was the missionary member of LEGCO who acted as a representative, not of African persons, but of Many missionaries accepted African interests. their role with sincerity and spoke out against Thangata, hut taxes, labor migration and the sale of Until 1949 no Africans (or Asians) African land. had direct representation on LEGCO although the Associations and the NAC had made such a request. Africans had been granted provincial councils in 1944-45; from these councils, whose members usually were traditional authorities, twenty were chosen to form a Protectorate Council (1946). The Protectorate Council was permitted (1949) to submit the names of five Africans to the Governor who chose two (three in 1953) to become LEGCO members. In 1949 E. A. Muwamba and K. E. Mposa were the African representatives and P. Dayaram was the Asian representative. Europeans had appointed their first females to LEGCO just prior to that: Mary Tunstall Sharpe (daughter-in-law of Governor Sharpe) in 1946 and Marjorie Barron in 1947. During the years of Federation (1953-63) Europeans on LEGCO gained the right of direct election, thus eliminating the nominating process by the Governor. In the 1955 Constitution a common roll for Europeans and Asians and a separate roll for Africans was created. LEGCO unofficial membership was increased at the same time to include five Africans and six Europeans. By 1960 there were seven African members in LEGCO, of whom three were elected and four nominated by the Protectorate Council. In the 1961 elections, the Malawi Congress Party won all 20 lower-roll seats and two of eight upper-roll seats in LEGCO. Two years later, LEGCO was renamed the Legislative Assembly and reconstituted to include 53 members,

72

Lilongwe

50 elected from a general roll and three from a special roll.

This elite group of four, Executive Council in 1907, consisted of the Governor, the Attorney General, the Treasurer, and the GovernmentAppointed at the same time as LEGCO, Secretary. the Executive Council did not include any European unofficials until 1939 and the first Africans were C. M. Chinkondenji and E. not added until 1959: The Executive Council ended with the M. Mtawali. dissolution of the Federation as it was replaced (February 1963) by a Cabinet headed by a Prime Minister. .

formed

LILONGWE.

This central region city became Malawi’s

capital in 1975. It had a population of 19,425 in 1966, but by 1977 its population had soared to

102,924.

Lilongwe became the site of a boma in 1902, after a request made by Chief Njewa. Located in an area called Bwaila, the new boma took the name of the nearby river Lilongwe. In 1904 it became the district headquarters; in 1910 the area was separated into Dedza district and Lilongwe district. During this first decade of the 20th century, Lilongwe boasted about 130 people, an ALC store, a post office, the boma, and a White Father’s mission at nearby Likuni. Even at this early date, Lilongwe was the junction of the major north-south and eastwest roads. Although local tabacco (labu) had been grown Lilongwe district, its commercial growth was encouraged after I and resulted in the Imperial Tobacco Company opening a factory in 1930. In 1964 Banda announced that his Gwelo Plan No. 2 was to begin; i. e. a lakeshore road was to be built, the University of Malawi created, and the in

WW

,

capital moved from Zomba to Lilongwe. When the British government refused to fund the new capital plan, the Malawi government turned to the South African government for the loans. In 1968 the Capital City Development Corporation was established to carry out the work of the new capital.

Limbe

73

/ Located nearly five miles east of Blantyre, LIMBE. Limbe was established as a township in 1909 as a Limbe result of the development of the railway. also became the headquarters site of the Imperial Tobacco Company which often used the rail system. Connecting Limbe with Blantyre is Kamuzu Highway along which have been built many diversified manufacturing plants.

LITERATURE.

Besides the rich tradition of oral clan histories and accounts of the Maravi migration, Samuel Malawi has a modern literary tradition. Ntara’s (b. 1905) Man of Africa a biography of a Later in 1949 village, was published in 1934. ,

Headman

s Enterprise was published in Chichewa Aubrey Kachingwe and translated into English. He has (b. 1926) authored No Easy Task in 1966. had a varied career in broadcasting in London, Accra, and at home. E. W. Chafulumira (b. 1930) published three short narratives Kazitape (1950), Kantini (1954) and Mfumu Watsopano (1962). The autobiography of Legson Kayira, I Will Try (1965), was followed by the novels Looming Shadow (1967), Jingala (1969) and Civil Servant David Rubadiri, born of the Malawian par(1971). ents in Tanzania in 1930, is best known for his No Bride Price (1967), which followed in 1971 with a poetry anthology. In the 1970 s, Malawi University writers began publishing their literary anthologies, and in 1977, nine plays written for the National Theatre of Malatvi were published. T

T

LIVINGSTONE, DR. DAVID.

Born in Blantyre, ScotLivingstone (1818-1873) earned his fame as a missionary-explorer in Central and Eastern Africa. After he published Missionary Travels and Re searches in South Africa in 1857, he commenced his Zambezi Expedition, 1858-1863. This brought Livingstone up the Shire River and into southern and central Malawi. With Livingstone’s retinue in the 1850’s were several Makololo from the upper Zambezi area who subsequently stayed in the Lower Shire region and established themselves as chiefs there. In 1859, he made three journeys, one to land,

Longwe

74

Chikwawa and another to Lake Chilwa, during which he observed firsthand the ravages of the slave trade. His third trip brought him to the shores of In 1861, Livingstone made another Lake Malawi. That Lake trip visiting Nkhotakota and Bandawe. same year he also helped the UMCA settle in at During Livingstone s their Magomero mission site. final Malawi journey in 1863, he and his party went along the Lakeshore and west to Kasungu. The travel pattern set by Livingstone would be followed by succeeding European travelers: from the Zambezi River, north and up the Shire to the Murchison Cataracts, overland to Matope and a return to the Only the rail Shire until reaching Lake Malawi. system which was built in the 20th century changed T

this earlier pattern. In 1866 Livingstone returned to

Malawi travfrom Tanzania along the east coast of Lake Malawi, turning south to Lake Malombe and then west into the Dedza highlands. On this as on eareling

he fought tirelessly against the slave however, show considerable tolerance and often had friendly relations with the Arab slave traders. His interest in preaching and healing influenced those who followed him, often resulting in the establishment of hospitals and the training of medical assistants. The number of Scottish missionaries (see MISSIONS) who entered Malawi to dedicate themselves to ending the slave trade and promoting Christianity is living testimony to the inspiration of the missionary doctor from Blantyre. lier journeys,

trade.

He

did,

MP for Nkhata Bay South and a party since 1959. After primary school, she worked as a medical attendant. She

LONGWE, JANET. member of the

was elected District Chairman Malawi Women from 1961-68.

of the

League

of

LUNGU, MORDECAI MALANI. the MCP, Lungu was first

A founding member of appointed to the cabinet in 1969, as Minister of Education. Lungu is a native of Mzimba district in the Northern Region (born 1930), and is a graduate of Domasi Teacher s f

Maize

75

/ was was

He took up

politics full-time in 1965, and In July 1977 he an effective committeeman. appointed Regional Minister for the North.

College.

,

-

M

-

MAIZE.

As the main staple in Malawi, maize is primarily grown as a subsistence crop and exported Farmers only after domestic needs have been met.

have been encouraged to increase production and a record high was set in 1972 with nearly 74,000 tons. Unfavorable weather conditions ruined ADMARC projections in the years immediately following, but reWhite cent production is again on the increase. maize is particularly preferred by Scotch distillers.

MAKHUMULA NKHOMA, PEARSON. Minister for Nkhoma has and Health. and educated

Appointed Regional

1977, Makhumula also been Minister of Local Government the South in July,

He was born in Zomba district (1933) Henry Henderson Institute and Zomba Catholic School. He is also a graduate of Domasi Teachers College and has a diploma in education from Bristol University. The teacher-educaat the

tion officer taught in the South, served in the United Nations (cultural attach^) and entered the National

Assembly as an MP for Zomba, (1971). Banda appointed him to his first cabinet post in 1972. Etymologically meaning n Fire Flames,” the term has been associated in history with the southwestern lake region. Malawi or Maravi has also an ethnic designation referring to peoples who inhabited an area north of the Zambezi River and south of Lake Malawi. One hypothesis holds that the Phiri clan was called Maravi or ”people of the fire flames. ” It appears that Chewa speakers have used the term Malatvi to indicate Phiri clan members. Although the term has been associated with peoples as well as places, today it refers to the independent nation in south- central Africa.

MALAWI.

76

Malawi

MALAWI BROADCASTING CORPORATION

(MBC). Alin the MBC began broadcasting 1958, radio though Since that did not begin to function until 1964. received considerbody has autonomous time, this West Germany and the U. S. both aid; able foreign and transmitters. equipment have provided studio

From an

broadcast coverage area of BlantyreLimbe, the has extended its services to the In its programming, MBC airs whole of Malawi. College courses, instrucCorrespondence Malawi tional programs on agriculture, and informative school programs which supplement the curriculum. Broadcasts have also included the plays and poetry Listeners may also hear broadof local writers. casts from other countries including the BBC and The MBC has no plans to exVoice of America. pand into television. initial

MBC

MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY

Background DurNAC was banned and its leadership jailed. In September of that year the released Congress members were permitted by the Protectorate government to organize the Malawi Congress Party. Its acting President was Orton Chirwa and the Secretary Aleke Banda. Dr. Banda, who still remained at Gwelo prison, was kept informed of Congress activities. Membership in the MCP grew quickly and an aggressive broadside, the Malawi News propagated the Party s position. The ing the 1959 State of

(MCP).

Emergency

:

the

1

,

MCP

refused to negotiate with British officials until Dr. Banda was released from prison. When Banda left Gwelo in April, 1960, he found that the administrative skills of the Chirwa-Banda team had provided him with a very effective political machine. Dr. Banda then began an intense campaign condemning the Federation and asking fellow Malawians to cast their votes only for Congress Party candidates. A vote for the MCP was a vote against the Federation. Some opponents were subject to intimidation although Dr. Banda did not condone the violence. A constitutional conference held in July 1960 agreed to a new constitution and designated elections for the next year. In the months of preparation for those elec-

Malawi

77 tions,

Dr.

Banda worked closely with local

MCP

members choosing

In the the candidates carefully. had promised voters election campaign,^ the advancement in the civil service, modernization of agriculture, better education and a neutral foreign When the August 1961 election results were policy. had won every (20) lower roll completed, the seat and one quarter of the upper roll for a total Dr. Banda assumed the of 23 seats in LEGCO.

MCP

MCP

Governor Ministry post for Natural Resources. Glyn Jones soon granted seven out of ten of the Executive Councils seats to the MCP. The most serious Recent Developments break in the unity of the Malawi Congress Party has been the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) of September As a direct result of the challenge in power 1964. presented in that event, a MCP convention of October 1965 adopted a constitution which made Malawi Furthermore, the new constitua one-party state. tion, effective in 1966, established Malawi as a Republic with a President who was the head of the government and army. The national assembly, which in theory was the seat of authority, could be called into session or dissolved at the President’s will. As a practical consequence, the power lay with the President and the ruling party. Candidates in the 1966 election ran unopposed, and in 1971, the election was aborted by Banda and all nominated candidates were considered elected. The President’s control over the MCP has permitted him to exert immense influence over the MP’s. Disagreements with the President have resulted in a loss of Party membership; and by law, no one may retain a Parliamentary seat who is not a member of the MCP. A 1973 victim of this law was Aleke Banda who had been a loyal supporter of the President for many :

years.

Since the

MCP

only Party permitted in effectively controlled by the Life President, most Malalvian citizens think of the government and the Party as synonymous. In the 1974 Party Constitution it was stated that the was the government of Malawi; subsequently, Party

Malawi and because

it

is the is

MCP

Malekebu

78

were given priority over equally -ranked Party control is held by Dr. government officials. Banda and his executive committee, assisted by regional and district committees, and at the base of the political pyramid, area and local committees. Whereas the district committees met monthly, the area and local committees meet biweekly and weekly, officials

respectively.

Often at the regional level, the govofficials are one and

ernment ministers and party the same.

In recent years, the Malawi Congress Party has acquired a holding company, Press Holdings, Ltd. President Banda is an important shareholder in Press Holdings, which has investments in tobacco estates, an oil company and the Commercial Bank of Malawi.

MALEKEBU,

DANIEL SHARPE.

Born about 1890 he became the first Malawian graduate of Chilembwe s mission to study abroad in the U. S. (1905). In 1917, he qualified for M. D. at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Then he studied Theology so he could return home (in 1926) as a medical missionary. He was responsible for reorganizing and administering the Providence mission for over 30 years, particularly emphasizing training nurses and teachers. Malekebu was a key figure in the Chiradzulu Native Association in the 1930 s. He brought to the government’s attention serious cases of injustice and generally worked to promote a better quality of life for those to whom he ministered. DR.

in Chiradzulu district,

T

T

MANGOCHI.

Located at the south end of Lake Malawi, Mangochi was the main slave trade center in that

part of Malawi. Originally designed in 1891 as a military port, it was called Fort Johnston; six years later it moved to its present site and was designated as a boma. In 1965 the town was the scene of an attack by pro-Chipembere forces at-

tempting to overthrow the Banda government.

MANUFACTURING.

The manufacturing sector

in

Malawi

79

Matawere

small but output has* expanded substantially Manufacturing accounts for about 12 Under percent of the total. Gross Domestic Product. colonial rule industries processed agricultural commodities --cotton, tea, tobacco, sugar--for local conThis industrial pattern did not sumption or export. change until the 1970 s when the production of import substitution consumer goods was introduced into cigarettes, household utensils, soap, the economy soft drinks, textiles. This industrial policy has continued, as well as those directed toward expanding food processing industries and establishing smallis still

since 1964.

T

—

scale rural industries. Incentives promoting industrial development include protected markets, generous depreciation allowances on capital expenditure, custom duty exemptions, low-cost industrial sites, and the most popular liberal provisions for the repatriation of profits and capital. Industrial activities have been most recently affected by external influences: worldwide inflation and the closure of the Rhodesian/Mozambique border has resulted in higher costs for raw materials, equipment and spare parts. The government has recognized that regional

development must be balanced and has promoted new industries in Lilongwe and Liwonde. Over 200 licensed industries currently operate in Malawi. Malawians wishing to take over Asian businesses have access to government training in basic management skills because Asian traders (see ASIANS) must move to designated urban centers by March 1978. The government has further tried to stimulate industrialization by the creation of the Malawi Development Corporation (MDC) and the Investment and Development Bank of Malawi (INDEBANK). In 1977

MDC has invested more than K14. 6 million in a variety of manufacturing enterprises. MATAWERE, GRAZIANO.

Promoted in 1972 to majorMatawere is the first Malawian army commander. He joined the King's African Rifles in 1947, and at the time of independence, Matawere was a lieutenant. In 1969 he was appointed deputy general,

80

Matenj e

army commander;

subsequently, he was promoted to

commander.

MATENJE, DICK.

Educator turned politician, Matenj e was born near Blantyre (1929) and was schooled at Henry Henderson Institute, Blantyre Secondary, and Domasi Teachers College. He began teaching in 1951. Matenj e holds a diploma in educational administration from University of Perth, and a B. A. In 1971 he became degree from Ottawa University. MP for Blantyre, and the next year was promoted to Minister of Education, and Minister of Finance. In 1973 he held the additional portfolio of Trade, Industry and Tourism.

A Member of Blantyre Native Association, he became Vice President of the NyasaHe resisted land African Congress (NAC) in 1944. Banda’s efforts to streamline the administrative and In 1948 he was refinancial ends of the Congress. lieved of his position for alleged mismanagement of He later left to live in Southern Congress funds.

MATINGA, CHARLES.

Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). *

M’BONA CULT.

This territorial cult has its chief shrines at Thyolo (near Blantyre) and at Khulubvi M’Bona is concerned with the larger (near Nsanje). good of the community, including prevention of For centuries the droughts, epidemics and floods. M’Bona cult has been associated with the Mang’anja people now in the Lower Shire valley. In the 14th century the Mang’anja peoples intruded upon the Kafula inhabitants seizing their Shortly thereafter the Phiri clan imposed shrine. The shifts of power within the Phiri its seniority. hierarchy gave way in the 16th century to paramountcy Each political takeover of the area by the Lundu. included the appropriation of the cult and all its Christian missionaries in the 19th myths and ritual. century viewed the cult negatively although both shared common points of a creative and powerful God, specialized priests and prophetic traditions.

81

Mchape

MCHAPE.

This witchcraft-eradication movement swept through Malawi in 1933. It began in the Mulanje district. Mass-cleansing ceremonies were conducted in villages for the purpose of eradicating or purging the area of all evil. Those villagers declared to be witches were given a medicine to cleanse them of their sins. The movement was apparently fed, in part, by the various Christian churches’ failure to vanquish evil (see MISSIONS). Newly initiated Christians believed that their new religion would end the rivalries and differences extant in their society.

MCHINJI. in

In 1897 it was the site of Fort Manning, more recent days the fertile lands in Mchinji

but

have been cultivated in estates by Dr. Banda and several of his ministers. Groundnuts, tobacco and maize are grown in the District. Mchinji is near the Zambia boundary and is the Malawi railhead for a rail line extending from Lilongwe to Mchinji.

MIGRANT LABOR.

Since colonial days many Malawians have sought work outside their national borders,

particularly in South Africa, Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), and Zambia. With the introduction of taxation in 1892, it was increasingly important to earn enough money to pay taxes as well as purchase European goods. Even before migrant laborers began leaving Malawi for neighboring territories, they had moved about internally seeking money with which

meet European requirements. Three quarters of migrant workers were men, 10 percent were women, and the remainder were juveniles, usually to

all

boys.

The first labor group was recruited by the in 1886. These Tonga porters were so well received that planters soon began to employ thousands

ALC

on their estates. No labor regulations existed pertaining to hours, wages or conditions until the Johnston administration. At that time (1895) the workers were to be employed no more than 12 months at a time, and were to receive travel money to return home. In addition, laborers were to be housed and fed, and their medical needs taken care of by the

Migrant employer.

82

There were immediate problems and

certainly the planters were most vociferous about the strict government regulations which aggravated In fact, European the alleged labor shortage. planters were seeking laborers at the planting season when the Africans preferred to cultivate their own land. It was also a fact that Europeans paid very minimal wages to their African employees. When a Labor Bureau was established in 1901 to recruit and distribute workers there were even more abuses, particularly when recruiting agents obtained the cooperation of the European government collector who would hand over African tax defaulters to them. The treatment which these farm workers and porters received was shockingly poor even at that time, and it did not improve in the early 20th century when the railway company began to recruit

workers to build its line. News of the railway’s maltreatment of its workers reached the Colonial Office after Governor Sharpe personally wrote about abuses he had observed. Attempts to stop organized labor recruitment by the South African Chamber of Mines were led by missionaries, especially Dr. Hetherwick of the Blantyre Mission. With the men absent, village life was disrupted and the women left at home had to do their own work and that of the men. For many deserted families it was an incredible hardship. There was additional strain in villages of Catholic conversion since the Missions refused to recognize divorce, even though traditional law permitted it in cases of desertion [Linden, Catholics, Peasants and Chewa Resistance p. 172]. Mission opposition to labor migration proved futile as workers continued to leave on their own to do mine or farm work or domestic labor. By 1914 there were about 40,000 Malawians working in mines in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The numbers of workers were in excess of 100,000 by the 1930 s with as many as one-third never returning home. It was at this time that the Protectorate government acknowledged the vast emigration and its effect on the remaining families. An effort was made in a series of agree,

T

83

Mining

ments with neighboring countries to repatriate laborers after two years and to prpvide more suitable camp and travel arrangements. In more recent decades, Malawi workers were still being recruited by Wenela for South Africa and by Mthandizi for Zimbabwe: in 1970, The Malawi over 90,000 and 2,000 respectively. government forbade further recruitment after 1974 when a Wenela airplane crashed and killed 75 Until homeward-bound Malawian mine workers. mid- 1977, the number of laborers was few, as low However, the Banda governas 200 in early 1977. ment responded to numerous requests by Wenela to resume recruitment and by mid-1977 about 20,000 trained workers were permitted to leave, much fewer than the 130,000 who were working in South Presently only Africa at the time of the crash. 2,000 per month may be recruited and these are limited to one-year contracts. In all probability migrant labor employment will never reach old levels again.

MINING.

The major mineral production has been the quarrying of tons of marble for the manufacture of cement. Of the twenty minerals confirmed as present in Malawi none has been exploited commercially to any extent. The most valuable find is the bauxite deposits in the Mulanje, but surveys by Lonrho Ltd. indicate that smelting those limited reserves would be very costly. Some commercial concerns continue to investigate deposits of monazite in Kasupe District and vermiculite near Mpatamanga Gorge. Some gems, including garnet, aquamarine and ruby are exported to overseas dealers.

MISSIONS.

It would be difficult to overestimate the influence of missionaries, especially the Scottish, who entered Malawi in the late 19th century. They preceded the establishment of the British Protectorate in Malawi and as expected, supported the advent of British rule. Three societies, responding to David Livingstone’s pleas for Christianity and Commerce, had sent delegations by 1875: the Universities

84

Missions

(UMCA), the Free Church and the Established (Livingstonia), of Scotland Three other Protes(Blantyre). Scotland of Church 1889-1892: the between begun tant missions were Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), the Zambezi IndusRoman trial and Nyasa Baptist Industrial Missions. permanent missions establish did not until Catholics Montfort Marist The Fathe early 20th century. thers arrived in 1901 and the White Fathers reestablished in 1902 what they had failed in thirteen years before. Mission

to Central Africa

UMCA: This Magomero

Anglican mission initially was by Bishop Charles F. set up death, William Tozer asMacKenzie, but upon his control. By 1864 the mission was sumed mission failing and was transferred to Zanzibar where it remained until 1885 when Likoma Island was chosen At the urging of as the new UMCA headquarters. William P. Johnson, the mission acquired a steamer to service the missions situated along the Lake. By the end of the century the mission had a string of schools along the Lake, and in 1899 had formed St. By 1911 the Likoma Cathedral MichaePs College. had been finished. Blantyre Begun in 1876, this mission of the Established Church of Scotland faltered until it came into the capable hands of Rev. Dr. David C. Scott, assisted by Rev. Alexander Hetherwick. Scott preferred working with African evangelists and three of his African colleagues became deacons: Joseph Bismarck, Rondau Kaferanjila and Donald Malota. Scott found little support for his "radical" views among European settlers. In 1898 he was forced to resign his post for health reasons and Hetherwick, his second in command, assumed leadership. In 1909 the Blantyre Mission opened the Henry Henderson Institute which became an important education facility. In 1924 the Blantyre and Livingstonia Presbyteries agreed to form the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), a move originally suggested by Laws and later revived by Hetherwick. Two years later the DRC Presbytery joined. With the forming of the CCAP African ministers were appointed to variat

:

in 1861

Mlanga

85

/ ous committees and in 1933*, Rev. Harry Matecheta became the first African Moderator of the Blantyre Presbytery. Nkhoma Mission This was the Dutch Reform Church s head station, although not its first It was established in 1896 by which was at Mvera. The first boarding school for girls W. H. Murray. (1895) was begun by Martha Murray and the mission’s agricultural program was initiated by Albert The intention of the boarding Van der Westhuysen. Christian wives for the male provide school was to on agriculture and the emphasis leaders, church intended to discourage and village industries was limit The did not its work to DRC migrant labor. the central region of Malawi, but also spread into nearby Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Roman Catholic Missions By 1904 the White Fathers had three permanent stations (at Kachebere, Likuni and Mua) and the Montforts had two missions Early French Catholic (at Nguludi and Nzama). leaders included Bishops Louis Auneau, Joseph DuIt was not until 1937pont and Mathurin Guillem^. 38 that the first Malawi priests were ordained: Cornelio Chitsulo, Alfred Finye and Andrea Makoyo. In contrast to the Scottish Protestants the R. C. missions seemed more authoritarian and allowed less individual freedom. There was no movement among African priests to break away and form independent churches such as happened at Livingstonia. Women were used more successfully, since as celibate nuns they worked full-time with Malawi women and children, not just occasionally as the limited time of wives of Protestant missionaries allowed. Although the R. C. missions were noticeably less able to recruit African males to the celibate priesthood, the convent life offered by the Sisterhood had its appeal to Malawi women. Female recruits enjoyed status, good educations and more independence than what was allowed in a maledominated secular society. :

T

:

MLANGA, HARVEY.

Born in Blantyre in 1928, Mlanga attended Henry Henderson Institute and Blantyre

86

Mlanga

In the mid-1950 s he went to Salisbury where he joined the African Newspapers He Group and became editor of African Weekly. transferred to Blantyre in the 1960 s when he also worked for the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. In 1972 he joined the Blantyre newspapers and the Mlanga following year he rose to managing editor. T

Secondary School.

T

died in February 1979.

MLANGA, JEAN.

She was born in 1927 near Blantyre and educated in the schools there, including Women s A teacher and politician, Teacher Training College. Mlanga has chaired the League of Malawi Women, As parand has served Blantyre West as an MP. liamentary secretary to the President (1971), she advised on social issues and handled certain youth problems. 1

MONCKTON REPORT

The findings of a commis(1960). sion which toured the Federation investigating conditions in 1960. Chaired by Sir Walter Monckton, the twenty-six commissioners (including five Africans) began their work. They were immediately boycotted by the African nationalist parties which assumed the white majority Commission would turn in a Report favorable to the Federation. In fact, the opposite occurred. The Report noted the longstanding, widespread opposition to the Federation and added that the constitution could not work without some measure of good will. In its present form, the Federawas so disliked, said the Monckton commissioners, that they recommended that the British government retain control over the future of the Federation, including the possible secession of any of its territories. This final point sounded the death knell for the Federation and expectedly the Report was attacked by Roy Welensky (see WELENSKY), a white Rhodesian who had long favored Federation. tion

MSONTHI, JOHN. Born in 1928 in Nkhotakota district, he attended Zomba Secondary School and furthered his higher education in Bombay. He served over a year in

jail

as a result of Operation Sunrise and

87

Mtika

/

ran a school for detainees at Zomba Central Prison. In 1962 he was appointed Minister of Transport.

Born in 1931 in Mzimba DisMtika joined the Malawi Civil Service in 1964 Two years later she as a development officer. went to the U. S. where she obtained a Community Development diploma from the University of MisMtika was nominated to Parliament in June souri. In 1972 she was appointed 1971 from Mzimba. Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare.

MTIKA, EFFIE FUYIWE. trict,

MULANJE.

One of the more densely populated districts Malawi, it is an area known for its tea plantations. These tea estates are found on the southern Fertile soils between side of Mulanje Mountain. Mulanje and the Shire Highlands support a large agrarian population. Just north of Mulanje was the site of Fort Lister which overlooked the old slave caravan route between Mulanje Mountain and Lake in

Chilwa.

MUNYENYEMBE, RODWELL.

Born 1936

at

Lukomo

he studied at Domasi Teacher Training College and qualified as a teacher in 1960. He has held several ministerial positions including that of Information and Broadcasting, Community Development and Social Welfare. In 1974 he was appointed Minister of Education as well as Deputy Regional Chairman of the MCP for the North. Village in Chitipa District,

MURRAY, ANDREW

C. Born in 1826, he was the pioneer missionary from the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa. He came to Malawi in 1888 and was joined the next year by Rev. T. C. Vlok; together they established a mission near Chief Chiwere s village, west of present day Salima. The Mvera ("obey") mission station grew as Murray was much influenced in his methods by the Livingstonia Mission and the example set by Dr. Walter A. Elmsie. T

Murray retired

in 1900.

Murray

88

MURRAY, WILLIAM

Born in South Africa in 1866 H. he succeeded his cousin, Andrew C. Murray, in He had attended Theologmission work in Malawi. ical Seminary in South Africa and had taken a course In 1894 he journeyed to in medicine at Edinburgh. Malawi, traveling with Albert van der Westhuysen,

a missionary-farmer who would start the DRC s Rev. Murray agricultural work program at Mvera. was assigned to Livlezi mission station, south of In agreement with the Livingstonia Mission, Mvera. the DRC was responsible for Livlezi and Cape Maclear in the central area and Livingstonia was to In 1896 confine its work to Northern Malawi. Nkhoma mission was founded and as additional missionaries arrived more stations and schools opened. They In 1900 Murray married Elizabeth Duckitt. had two children both of whom became missionaryIn 1925, Murray was doctors in Central Africa. appointed to LEGCO: in 1937 he resigned after 43 T

years of mission work.

MUSSA GAMA, ELIAS AMIN. for

Zomba

(1970),

A

leading

Mussa was born

Muslim and

MP

in 1926 at Chin-

damba. Educated in Malawi and South Africa, he set up a tailoring business in 1954. He was active in the Nyasaland African Congress in the 1950 s and imprisoned for a year as a political detainee. In 1961 Mussa was elected district chairman of MCP at Zomba and two years later became Zomba s first African town clerk. In 1970 he entered the National Assembly. f

T

MWASE, GEORGE SIMEON.

Born about 1880 near Chintheche, Mwase was educated at the Free Church of Scotland school at Bandawe. In 1905 the Protectorate government hired him as a postal clerk at Chiromo. He resigned a year later and moved to Zambia where he worked for the government until 1920. Upon returning to Malawi, he was employed as a tax clerk before becoming a store manager and politician. He organized the Central Province Native Association (see ASSOCIATIONS) in 1927. During 1931 and 1932, he wrote an account of the

Mzuzu

89

Chilembwe Rising and life in Malawi called A Dia logue of Nyasaland Record of Past Events, Environ ments and the Present Outlook within the Protector ate This typescript was recovered in the Malawi archives in 1962 by Professor Robert Rotberg and subsequently published as Strike a Blow and Die Mwase played an active role in the Nyasa(1967). land African Congress serving on the executive committee. Later he became alienated from his Con.

gress friends and in the late 1950 s came out in favor of the Federation. Mwase died in 1962. T

MZUZU.

is the major town in the Northern Region near the Viphya Pulp and Paper Project. Founded in 1949 Mzuzu grew from a population of 8,490 in 1966 to 16,119 by 1977. Mzuzu was the site of a tung tree (used in paint /varnish) industry begun during II. It is served by an airfield and has a hospital.

and

It

is

WW

-

N

-

NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

(NRDP).

Under

this ambitious twenty-year project the entire nation is expected to benefit from the introduction of more intensified rural services. Evolving from

discussions between the Ministry of Agriculture and World Bank the program has the following aims: 1) to increase the general level of small-holder production of cash crops for export as well as for the growing urban centers; 2) to provide the pesticide, fertilizer and improved seed to enable smallholder production increases; 3) to preserve the natural resources by reforestation, by conserving key watershed areas, and by encouraging high standards of crop husbandry and soil conservation. The Malatvi government intends to increase the efficiency of its transportation system and expand its extension services. Marketing and credit will also be improved as ADMARC bush markets and informal village markets are encouraged. Women, in particular, are active in the latter but the

Newspapers

90

there is presently no attempt to involve women in the agricultural education process, despite the volume of work undertaken by them on the farms.

Whereas men

will have access to the improved technology information and training, the women will be taught how to cook with some of the new crops

(see

WOMEN).

The NRDP calls for Malawi to be divided into eight Management Units (MU) which will administer an equal number of Agricultural DevelopEach ADD will be subdiment Divisions (ADD). vided into five Development Areas, creating a total areas and covering the whole of Malawi. expected that about 25,000 farm families in is each Development Area will be served by the NRDP. Present headquarters of rural development projects, such as at Karonga, Salima, Lilongwe and Ngabu will be converted into the new Management Units (MU). In 1979 three projects began in the Northern Region: Karonga- Chi tipa Rural Development Program (RDP), Mzimba-Rukuru RDP, and HengaKasitu RDP. The latter program provides over 56,000 Malawians with better credit facilities, new health centers, and improved roads and bridges. As personnel and money become available each of the forty development areas will be phased into the overall program. Presently, British and European Development Fund (EDF) monies are involved, but other nations may become investors as the NRDP progresses. The World Bank loans are on a soft basis in line with Malatvi s U. N. designation as one of twenty-five poorest countries in the world. of forty

It

T

NEWSPAPERS.

The Daily Times published Monday through Friday, is the successor to the Nyasaland Times and Central African Planter Its ownership has been in foreign hands, namely British interests. On Saturdays, the MCP publication, the Malawi ,

.

News is printed. Founded in 1959, the News is the official organ of the Party and it most often covers news cf the Party, of development projects, and of the President’s activities. The other published weekly is the Government Gazette which ,

Njilima

91

records government appointments, laws and regulaThe Government Printer in Zomba also protions. duces government publications and textbooks. Less frequently published periodicals include monthly the This Is Malawi and a new quarterly (July 1978), Malawi International which is a glossy magazine covering economic trends, tourism, wildCirculation for life, and development projects. both periodicals is primarily outside of Malawi. Mission publications include the Presbyterian Kuunika issued in Chichewa and the Catholic Moni and The African published in English and Chichewa. Textbooks have been also published by the Hetherwick Press (Presbyterian) and the Montfort Press ,

,

,

(Catholic).

Other periodicals include school magazines and publications dealing with agriculture and religion. With an illiteracy rate of over 75 percent (combined male-female) the written word takes a back seat to word of mouth communication relied upon by most of the population.

NJILIMA, DUNCAN. A businessman and planter in Chiradzulu who was a supporter of John Chilembwe. Njilima failed to act when he and his battalion were to provide support in Blantyre at the Mandala GenRegardless of the reason he shirked to Chilembwe, he paid the price with his execution. His two sons, Fred and Matthew, were given an education in America where they had been taken by Landon Cheek (see DELANY, EMMA). Frederick later became active in the South Province Association (see ASSOCIATIONS). eral Store.

his

commitment

NKHATA BAY.

This Northern Region fishing port on Lake Malawi was once visited by Livingstone; to the south lies Chintheche and Bandawe. In 1958 Nkhata Bay was the site of the annual NAC meeting at which Dr. Banda was chosen President. During the State of Emergency in 1959, it was the scene of considerable violence as over twenty persons were killed in one day.

92

Nkhotakota

NKHOTAKOTA.

This town on the west shore of Lake Malawi was a principal Swahili Arab trading center. Both ivory and slaves were traded here; in the 1870 s nearly 10,000 slaves passed through NkhotaThe Jumbe of Nkhotakota enjoyed kota annually. immense political and economic power. In recent years, this central lakeshore town has become one T

of the heaviest rice

producing areas in Malatvi.

NQUMAYO, ALBERT MUWALO.

Born June 23, 1927, Ntcheu district, he attended Gowa school. In 1947 he qualified and practiced as a medical assistant. He was detained during the In 1962 he was appointed 1959 state of emergency. chairman of Ntcheu District Council and a member of the central committee of the MCP. In September 1964 Banda appointed him Minister of Information. From 1964-67, he was a member of Parliament. In 1966 he was appointed Minister of State in the Presidents Office where he remained for a decade (May 1976). In February 1977 he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. in Baleni village,

NSANJE.

Located in the southern most part of Malawi, Nsanje was called Port Herald during colonial days. It became the administrative headquarters of the Lower Shire district in 1891. In 1904 the Shire Highlands Railway was extended from Chiromo to Nsanje and then to the Zambezi by 1915. It was a natural and an early meeting place for those using the Shire- Zambezi rivers. Nsanje is also the site of the M bona cult of the Mang anja. T

T

NTHOLO, ALICE.

She was born in December 1945 in In 1968 she completed domestic science courses in Dowa and at Tuchila Farm Institute in Mulanje. In 1972 she was a Homecraft Supervisor in the Lilongwe Municipal Council. Ntholo was nominated from Kasungu to Parliament in August 1974.

Kasungu District.

NYASALAND AFRICAN CONGRESS various Associations

(q. v.

)

(NAC). In 1944 the joined together to form

Nyasaland

93

/ which fifteen years later became the During the years Malawi Congress Party (q. v. ). 1944 to 1959, the NAC changed from a narrow-based

the

NAC

organization to a mass movement in pursuit of naUntil the mid-fifties when its tional independence. leadership was challenged the members of the ConWhen the NAC gress followed moderate policies. committed itself to a more militant position, it also succeeded in convincing Dr. Banda to return

home

in 1958.

The person most responsible for Origins the Congress was James Sangala, of the formation career was a teacher, a business clerk, who in his An early and finally a government civil servant. nationalist, Sangala knew the necessity of united action. He received encouragement from European settler W. H. Timcke and support from the memAfter bers of the Blantyre Native Association. posting (October 1943) a meeting announcement in local newspapers, Sangala and his associates conThey agreed to make vened in Blantyre (1944). several demands on the government: the right to hold seats in LEGCO and not be represented by the missionaries; the right to form labor unions; the right to have access to the best educational facilities and responsible civil service positions. As a result of these demands, Sangala found himself under government surveillance, but several months later his new umbrella organization represented twenty associations. The young Congress had a discouraging first year with the deaths of its treasurer Isa Lawrence and its president Levi Mumba; further, the government had not acknowledged any of the resolutions passed by Congress. Although the Congress received both funds and advice from Dr. Banda, who was practicing medicine in England, it remained a victim of its own internal weakness. Organization: Organizationally, the NAC was weak. The central leadership had no effective hold on the autonomous branches. Full-time officers of the Congress were not paid. The executive council met only infrequently which resulted in a distinct lack of communication. The NAC s income was :

T

94

Nyasaland

raised locally and was not centralized which meant the several branches retained financial autonomy as A scandal in the Congress (1948) pointed out well.

Charles Matinga embezzled Congress funds to cover personal debts. The already weak leadership exhibited in the NAC its financial inefficiencies:

was allegedly also corrupt. When Dr. Banda attempted to reform the Congress financially and the

organizationally, pleas.

Problems

:

NAC

leadership ignored his

The issues faced by Congress

in

the 1940 s and 1950’s were serious, but the tactics The most abemployed were largely unsuccessful. sorbing problems were the land situation, the colonial imposition of new farming methods, and the revival of the federation concept. In the first instance population pressure in the Shire Highlands had increased, reaching a denTreatsity of nearly 200 people per square mile. ment of African tenants on European estates also had grown intolerable; in some instances the cutting of timber or building of huts had been prohibited Ill-feeling by the white owners (see THANGATA). between Africans and Europeans was spotlighted in Thyolo District (1953) when a petty larceny incident on a Luchenza estate mushroomed into a rumored murder and resulted in week-long disorders. Shortly thereafter, the government initiated a program to repurchase land from European owners. At the same time, the government was imposing unpopular agricultural policies on the rural farmer. Inefficient cultivation and a rising population had led the government to seek an end to soil erosion. For most African farmers forsaking a traditional procedure for an uncertain experiment was not a worthwhile risk. Sometimes what British agrarian experts demanded made more work for the African farmers, e. g. beginning the embankments for contouring before the first rains had softened the soil, which often had to be worked with hand tools. The government was convinced that only coercion would succeed so fines and imprisonment soon followed. African resentment of the Europeans T

Nyasaland

95

/ grew and African fears for their land deepened. The third issue which resulted in massive Africans were disaffection was that of federation. convinced that any closer association with Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) would result in a loss of land. of Malawi’s men had seen for themselves the amount of land alienation while working in Zimbabwe. These observations by migrant workers intensified African concern over the possible loss of more land. The NAC response to these grievances was ineffectual. Like the Associations which preceded the formation of the Congress, the leadership insisted that patient prodding of the government would yield results. Since the NAC chose to operate within a colonial frame of reference, two weaknesses persisted: one, the NAC failed to develop a popular following, and two, the inefficient internal structure continued with a leadership which did not see the need to change or grow. Although Africans were articulate in their opposition to the Federation as well as to the land situation, the NAC was unable to transform those thoughts into action. In the mid-1950 s, the Congress gave up its verbal campaign against Federation and announced hopes to utilize appropriate constitutional procedures. Congress members- -ministers, teachers and civil servants --rejected further the need to transform the organization into a mass movement. A decided change in attitude began to evolve in the mid-1950 s particularly with the influence of

Many

f

f

Kanyama Chiume, Henry Chipembere, and Dunduzu Chisiza. The trio, members of LEGCO, was the motivating force behind the NAC’s eventual commitment

to national independence and to the development popularly-based political organization. The Congress was seriously divided as differences of opinion separated moderates and radicals. The year 1957 was critical to the NAC. At its annual convention, it voted to invite Dr. Banda to return to Malawi and to work for self-government and the end of the despised Federation. In July 1958, Banda returned and assumed the presidency of the NAC. By 1959 the NAC was disciplined, centralized of a

Nyau

96

That same and was indeed a national movement. year the NAC adopted a new name, the Malawi Congress Party (q. v. ).

NYAU SOCIETY.

A

cult of

men who keep

their identi-

ties hidden during dance performances by wearing The principal ocmasks of animals or ancestors. casions for dancing Nyau are death rites and female

As secret societies they have resisted over the centuries any intrusion by an alien institution, in particular by the Christian missionaries who found the male behavior both noisy and obscene. To its followers, the Nyau cult has religious and social significance and it reflects and supports trainitiation.

ditional society. Unlike the territorial cult M'bona (q. v. ), the Nyau cult interests have been at the village level and have not played any nationalist role. Censored versions of Nyau dances have been featured at Independence Day (July 6) celebrations.

-

O

-

OPERATION SUNRISE.

In the early morning hours of Governor Robert Armitage decreed a state of emergency existed in Malawi, allegedly because the NAC had entered upon a course of vio-

March

3,

1959,

lence and had plotted the

murder

of all whites.

Troops were ordered to round up Congress members, particularly Banda, Chipembere, the Chisiza brothers and about 200 other supporters. The government sent them to Gwelo prison in Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia). During the first month of the Emergency, the NAC was banned and property destroyed, nearly 50 Africans and no Europeans were killed, and about 1500 persons were placed in detention near Blantyre. In an official inquiry of this event (see DEVLIN COMMISSION) it was shown that both the police and KAR had exceeded their authority and had deliberately attacked and mistreated many Congress

members.

ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY

(OAU).

This

Phaiya

97

organization of independent African states was Malawi has not‘ been an active in 1963. When participant in the OAU for several reasons. Malawi became independent in 1964, it was unique in black Africa because it bordered white-ruled Malawi’s President Banda for reasons of nations. economic necessity did not sever relations with southern Africa, a position decried by the OAU. OAU strategies have often met with disapIn 1966 the OAU resolved to proval by Dr. Banda. break diplomatic relations with Britain over the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of white Rhodesia. Malawi also abstained in the OAU and U. N. resolutions requesting Britain to use force on the Ian Smith regime. Banda has viewed OAU boycotts and political pressures on white- ruled states as a waste of time, and he has denied the effectiveness of OAU policies which have given aid to anti- Portuguese liberation movements. Dr. Banda has felt that the OAU has not promoted African unity and that its policies have generally threatened Malawi’s national

formed

stance.

-

P

-

PHAIYA, TADEUS THOMAS.

Born at Kapeni village Mulanje district in 1946, he attended Mulanje primary schools and Blantyre Secondary School. Phaiya obtained a diploma in Business from Blantyre Polytechnic. Prior to being nominated to Parliament in 1973, he worked with the Reserve Bank and the Malawi Development Corporation. Banda appointed him Minister of Local Government in

in 1977.

HANOCK. Born in 1884, Phiri was educated at the Overtoun Institute. Dr. Laws baptized him a Christian during his study years at Livingstonia. He was in his mid-twenties when he became H. Kamuzu Banda’s teacher. They both enjoyed the study of history, particularly that of Chewa traditions. In 1917, the two traveled to South Africa

PHIRI, REV.

98

Political

where Phiri sought the higher education unavailable After he was ordained a minister of the in Malawi. African Methodist Episcopal Church Phiri returned to Malawi (1924) to begin an AME Church mission near Kasungu.

Soon Phiri had established a net-

work of schools subsidized partly by South African Church funds.

POLITICAL BOUNDARIES see BOUNDARIES; GOVERNMENT; Foreign Policy in the Introduction.

POLITICAL PARTIES.

The Malawi Congress Party

is

After the only authorized political party in Malawi. convention adopted the the Cabinet Crisis the one-party status (1965). See Malawi Congress Party; Federation.

MCP

POPULATION.

According to the latest population cenconducted from September to October, 1977, Malawi has 5,571,567 persons. About 92 percent of the population reside in rural areas. On a land area of 36,324 square miles, the average population density in 1977 was 153. 38 persons per square mile. By comparison with other African nations, this is high. The growth rate per year since the last census in 1966 was placed at 2. 9 percent; then the population was 4,039,583. Changes in the main urban areas reflect the governments transfer of the capital from Zomba to Lilongwe. In 1966 only 19,425 people resided in Lilongwe, but by 1977 a total of 102,924 persons had moved there. The decline in Zomba was predictable, dropping from 19,666 to 15,705 persons. Blantyre, in the Southern region, is Malawi’s chief commercial and industrial center; its population expanded from 109,461 to 228,520. The chief town in the Northern region is Mzuzu; its population rose from 8,490 to 16,119. Since Mzuzu is located near the Viphya Pulp project, this town can be expected to expand at an increasing rate in the near future. The 1977 census indicated that there were 2,891,734 females and 2,679,833 males, with the females exceeding the number of males in all three sus,

99

Pottery

However, more men than women reside In Lilongwe there are 56, 144 urban areas. males and 46,780 females; in Blantyre, 125,623 males and 102,897 females; in Mzuzu, 8,592 males Only in Zomba, which noted a and 7,527 females. regions.

in

20 percent overall loss in population since 1966, did the female population exceed the male, 7,908 to 7,797.

Overall regional growth rates were above 30 percent for the Northern and Southern Regions, and the Central Region had risen 50 percent since Some districts in the three regions grew 1966. Mwanza and Blantyre districts inspectacularly: creased at a rate of over 70 percent and the Central districts of Kasungu and Mchinji rose 95 perPopulation dencent and 86 percent respectively. sities were also greatest in the Southern and Central Regions: 154. 7 and 229. 36 persons per square mile.

POTTERY

see

PRE-HISTORY

PRE- HISTORY.

The early Stone Age peoples inhabiting Malawi were hunter-gatherers who lived along the

lakeshore and in the river valleys. More environmentally adaptable, the later Stone Age humans moved throughout the country, evidently preferring the uplands. Artifacts, such as scrapers, lunates, trapezes and back blades, of these humans are found in nearly all of Malawi. In addition to these microliths, some bored stones and polished axes have also been recovered. The men and women of this Age who occupied rock shelters and caves were also artists who left geometric and schematic style rock paintings. Based on the latest archaeological research, done most seriously and systematically in the last thirty years, the Iron Age began in Malawi about 200 A. D. Migrants, perhaps Bantu -speaking, who had knowledge of iron-working, pottery and agriculture probably entered the country from an area to the west and settled rapidly by the lakeshore. Although the intruders were culturally superior to the later Stone Age residents, the two apparently coexisted in the region.

100

Press In southern

Malawi the pottery style un-

Their precovered has been named Nkope ware. Bay allowed them Nkope sumably quiet life near of decoratively numbers large time to produce rimmed bowls. A related pottery style, called Mwabulambo, is commonly uncovered in northern Mwabulambo pots were wide rimmed and Malawi. Sometime in the 10th to 14th centuries, undecorated. Called Kapeni another type of pottery appeared. ware, it is thinner than Nkope and contains grooves and incisions unlike the earlier pottery. The migration of the Maravi peoples in the to 15th 16th centuries can be substantiated by oral tradition as well as by the recovery of Mawudzu The pottery is noticeably pots made by the Maravi. thinner and more decorative with chevrons, crosshatching or herringbones. This ware was produced throughout the period of the Maravi empire into the late 18th century when new invaders effected additional cultural change. Succeeding in this southern lake region were the Bisa (Wisa) peoples known for their Nkudzi pottery. They interacted with the

Nyanza inhabitants, but their cultural influence was followed by that of the Ngoni and Yao immigrants. Thereafter pottery may be termed modern and no longer Iron Age. Continued archaeological research will complete present gaps as additional artifacts are dated and collated.

PRESS GROUP OF COMPANIES.

When

Dr.

Banda es-

company during

his residence in Britain, it was his hope to financially help the mismanaged NAC fight against the Federation, and to illustrate the importance of agriculture to Malawi.

tablished the

This agrarian-oriented company grew after Banda returned to Malawi and it has since expanded its interests. Now, as a holding company, it wholly owns 11 companies and has 17 subsidiaries.

-

RAILWAYS

see

R

-

TRANSPORTATION

Religion

101

Traditional African religion, Christianity Both Proare all practiced in Malawi. Islam and introduced missionaries 'Catholic Roman and testant their faiths during the latter half of the 19th century Coastal slave traders introduced (see MISSIONS). their Muslim faith to the area at about the same The traditional time (see ISLAM; SLAVE TRADE). religious beliefs held by Malawians often may be mixed with either Christian or Muslim tenets.

RELIGION.

ROADS

see

TRANSPORTATION

RUMPHI.

Located in Northern Malawi, Rumphi was the Just headquarters of the Jere Ngoni in the 1850 s. five miles south is the junction road to Livingstonia, and west of the town is Phopo Hill, an early Iron Age site. Rumphi has been an active labor district where many of its men have sought mining jobs in South Africa or Zimbabwe. Both coffee and eleusine are grown in the area. During the 1959 Emergency T

(see OPERATION SUNRISE), Rumphi district was the scene of serious opposition which took British forces a month to quell.

RURAL AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS.

These integrated rural schemes vary according to size and scope. Lilongwe The largest of the projects, its crops include maize, tobacco, and groundnuts. During the fifteen-year plan (1968-1983), maize yields are to increase tenfold and production of tobacco and groundnuts to double. Also developing is a 161,000-acre cattle ranch in the Dzalanyama Forest Reserve. The project expects to reorganize plot boundaries, build access roads and drainage ditches, and provide credit for seed and fertilizer. Proceeding in several phases the project will ultimately serve 100,000 families, or nearly a halfmillion persons in the central plateau area. :

Salima

Supported by aid from West Gerlakeshore project has concentrated on the cash cropping of cotton and rice and affects about 40,000 families.

many,

:

this central

102

Sadyalunda

Similar to Lilongwe in its Lower Shire integrated approach, this valley project has had its greatest impact in the vicinity of Ngabu and During phase I, over 5,000 of the imChikwawa. Phase II proved farmers were cotton growers. expanded from its cotton concentration to include Improved agricultural practices maize and rice. (ridging), early plantings, better seed and fertilizer were all targets in this 26,000 family project. Begun in 1973 and financed by Karonga I. D. A. it will affect less than 15,000 farm families. This northern development plan expects to improve cotton, maize and groundnut yields, as well as resettle farmers in an area which will be put into Attention and service is also rice production. given to cattle owners, aiding them with marketing facilities and with controls over livestock diseases. Additional rural projects have included an irrigated rice project near Chikwawa, Hara, and Wovwe and in the Dwangwa River delta, and cotton projects in the southern region (Phalombe Plain) :

:

,

and Chikwawa (completed 1973). The schemes in general promote using fertilizers, improving living standards of small-holders, encouraging soil conservation, pest control and drainage, and raising yields of crops.

-

S

-

SADYALUNDA, FERN NAJERE.

Born in 1944 in Lilongwe District, she trained as a teacher at Kapeni College, Blantyre, and subsequently obtained a Cambridge School Certificate. Sadyalunda was nominated to Parliament in 1974 from Lilongwe. She was the first female cabinet minister (Community Development and Social Welfare) in October 1975, but subsequently was not retained by Banda.

SALIMA. Located on the southwest lakeshore Salima became the northern railhead (1935) for the Malawi rail system. In 1974 an extension was begun to connect Salima with the new capital at Lilongwe.

Sangala

103 r

The Salima Lakeshore Development project located here is an important agricultural scheme concentrating on rice and cotton and is sponsored by the

West German Government.

SANGALA, JAMES.

The founder of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC), Sangala had been active in Associations (q. v. ) and felt a unified front was neAt the first NAC meeting in October 1944 cessary. at Blantyre, Levi Mumba was elected its first Two months later the Protectorate govPresident. ernment accorded the NAC recognition as the repreBoth in sentative of various African Associations. 1948 and 1953, when financial difficulties and political suspicions racked the Congress, Sangala as In 1954 President kept the organization together. the Congress came under the influence of Chiume and Chipembere.

SCOTT, REV. DR. DAVID

He arrived in Malawi in C. Fa1881 to head the Scottish mission at Blantyre. voring programs that strengthened African culture and working closely with African colleagues, Scott earned the ire of the resident Europeans for trainScott ing Africans for positions of responsibility. laid the groundwork for the African church by encouraging his deacons to take charge of mission work in other countries. Acting as the architect Scott built a cathedral like church in Blantyre by 1892. His concern for the peoples with whom he lived was also apparent in his published Dictionary of the Mang anja Language Author also of Life and Work in British Central Africa Scott remains the most unusual and outstanding of the European missionaries. T

.

,

SHARPE, SIR ALFRED.

Born in Lancaster, England Sharpe was trained as a soliciter. He is perhaps best known as the first Governor of Nyasaland Protectorate. He was Commissioner and Consul-General from 1897 to 1907 and Governor from in 1853,

1907 to 1910. While Sharpe was hunting in eastern Africa

104

Sharrer

1880 s, he met Harry Johnston who immediFrom ately signed on Sharpe as his Vice Consul. 1889 to 1890, Sharpe, along with Johnson, negotiated treaties with Malawi chiefs; these agreements stated that the chiefs should not cede any territory to anIn other foreign power without British approval. 1891 the Foreign Office declared Malawi a Protecin the

T

torate. It was Sharpe more than anyone who influenced Commissioner Johnston during the early days of es-

Sharpe’s tablishing the Protectorate government. legal knowledge proved invaluable in framing the judicial and fiscal measures necessary for the new Sharpe was an able replacement administration. when Johnston went on leave and he was the logical successor to Johnston in 1897. During his tenure of office, Alfred Sharpe faced problems of tax, land and labor. His attempt to give Africans tax rebates for growing cotton failed when European planters provided only their leftover seeds. Although Sharpe realized that continued alienation of land to Europeans had to be restricted, he also wished to encourage settlers with moderate means. The result was that Africans were frequently being moved about to accommodate the Europeans. A large subsidy grant to the Shire Highlands Railway, which was good cotton land, also put increased pressure on nearby land already heavily populated. While objecting to forced labor of Africans for European planters Sharpe made continued concessions to the settlers who generally ignored government regulations and paid excessively low wages to labor recruits. Malawi laborers enjoyed higher salaries and a better market working in the mines in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South Africa. The colonial government was unable to control the exodus of workers whose members increased in subsequent years.

SHARRER, EUGENE.

An influential planter-trader who had established a trading company in Malawi in the late 1880’s. Sharrer had also purchased a sizable amount of land around Zomba. In 1895 he interested

105

Shire

other Britishers in initiating the Shire Highlands Railway Company (SHR) on which he served as a Sharrer’s Zambezi Traffic ComBoard member. pany and his nearly 373,000 acres of land were acquired (1902) by a holding company, the British Managerially the Central Africa Company (BCAC). the SHR operations: the split the companies same, Chito Blantyre from line proposed on its worked romo, and the BCAC handled its land and trade Sharrer remained active for many years interests. in planter politics and in the construction of a railway system for the Protectorate.

The Shire plateau in southern Malawi was known to European settlers as the Highlands, with The extenaltitudes reaching 2,000 to 4,000 feet. sion south of the huge rift occupied by Lake Malawi

SHIRE.

which is extensively covered with floodplains and swamps, the largest of which The Shire River drains from is Elephant Marsh. Lake Malawi and is additionally fed by tributaries in the southern region. As the river tumbles over the escarpment, the current increases and rapids and cataracts abound. Nkula Falls hydroelectric site may be found along this portion of the Shire River. South of the national border, the river slows substantially before it empties into the Zambezi River and ultimately into the Indian Ocean. Development projects aimed at improving the lives of 63,000 families in the Lower Shire have concentrated on cotton, rice, maize and fish culture. is the Shire valley

A report of a commission appointed examine the civil service. T. M. Skinner was chairman of the commission which made its report in May 1964. Among the recommendations was the increase in salaries of lower-grade civil servants; the upper grades were to be cut and the middle grades were to stay the same. A fund was to be started. Very few of the suggestions were explained

SKINNER REPORT. to

to the African civil servant with the result that deductions in salaries (for the pension fund) were not understood and were highly resented. When Banda

106

Slave

supported the Skinner Report, several of his ministers disagreed stating that their constituents were much alarmed. When Banda additionally announced that he could not hasten Africanization of the civil service unless the candidates were qualified, the Skinner Report took on another dimension and was an important factor in the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ) in

September 1964.

SLAVE TRADE.

After 1850 Malawi became a major source of slaves; prior to that slave trade met only Those engaged in slave trade were local demands. The Yao the Swahili Arabs and the Islamized Yao. who had migrated from northeastern Mozambique into the Shire and southern Lake regions traded goods with local Maravi inhabitants until demands from coastal Arabs for slaves led the Yao to engage in the slave trade. The main slave trading area in the south was at Mangochi, the territory of Yao chief Mponda. In the central and northern regions of Malawi, slave trade was handled by Swahili Arabs; Nkhotakota was a major trading center which handled as many as 10,000 slaves annually in the late 19th century. The Arab leader, or Jumbe, in this central region maintained both economic and political control until 1895 when he was exiled by the British to Zanzibar.

Europeans learned of the slave trade as a result of David Livingstone s visits to Malawi. Livingstone observed the trade during journeys made in 1854-56 and 1858-59 through south and central Malawi as well as along the west shore of Lake 1

Malawi. When he returned to England he encouraged the establishment of legitimate commerce to drive out the slave traders. Missions, Livingstone argued, would spread Christianity and could also benefit from the legitimate commerce. Three missions (UMCA, Livingstonia, Blantyre) responded immediately to Livingstone s appeals and soon found themselves embroiled in slave disputes, particularly when escaped slaves sought refuge at misT

sion stations.

When

the British Foreign Office formally

Society

107

announced the formation of the Protectorate in 1891, Commissioner H. H. Johnston was instructed to stop After persuasion and diplomacy the slave trade. failed, Johnston used troops imported from India to In southern Malawi the Yao abolish the trade. chiefs either ceased trading or fled the Protectorate. By the end of 1895, the Arab slave trader in the Karonga area, Mlozi, was executed, and the last Jumbe at Nkhotakota, Mwene Heri, was deposed The slave trade was at an and sent to Zanzibar. end in Malawi.

SOCIETY OF MALAWI

This organi(Nyasaland Society). zation, formed in 1946, is concerned with the hisIt produces a publication, Journal tory of Malawi. covering a wide range of subjects in tT literary, historical and scientific matters. " In 1966 it was in,

strumental in encouraging the formation of the naMuseum of Malatvi, and it maintains a reference library for its members and visitors.

tional

STONE AGE

see

PRE-HISTORY

SUGAR. Sugar production began on an estate in Lower Shire in the 1960 s and most recently

the

is expanding production on the west side of Lake Malawi. In 1977 the Dwangwa Sugar Corporation began developing from IFC funds a 13,000-acre sugar estate in the river delta. A sugar mill constructed by May 1979 was expected to produce over 40,000 tons of sugar annually. Malawi is guaranteed a market (20,000 tons) in the European Economic Community, negotiated by the Lom6 Convention (1975) and can often market half that amount in the world market. Malawi exports sugar to the U. S. under a quota agreement. T

-

TAXES.

T

-

The basic criterion for taxability in Malawi work be done, or services be rendered, within Malatvi. The exceptions to this include that the

is

Tea

108

salaries from foreign governments or international There are three varieties of tax: organizations.

minimum, graduated and income tax. The first is paid by all males 18 years or older, but exemption from the K3. 50 is granted to those liable to other tax forms. The graduated tax is collected by employers from their employees who earn less than K900 annually. It may be collected weekly or monthly. Taxation on income may take into account marital status, insurance premiums and educational deductions. The rate of taxation for the first K1,000 of chargeable income is set at 10 percent, and this increases to 30 percent at K3,000 and 40 percent on the excess over K11,000. The earliest tax was imposed in 1892 (hut by Commissioner Johnston and it led many to seek wage employment outside the For boundaries of Malawi (see MIGRANT LABOR). many decadus the hut tax rolls were the only estimates of the African population kept by the Protectorate government. Since independence, tax administration and collection have become more efficient. Excise taxes have increased threefold in the last decade and a sales tax on manufactured consumer goods has maximized government revenues. tax)

workers

TEA. Introduced by Europeans, tea has been grown in Malawi (particularly in Mulanje and Thyolo) for nearly ninety years. Most tea acreage is on private estates in the Shire Highlands, although some 6 percent is grown by small -holders. A good blending tea is produced and exported, albeit susceptible to world price fluctuations. Tea accounts for 20 percent of domestic exports and is second only to tobacco. Tea exports were valued at K41. 7 million in

1977.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

(Voluntary). Currently, non-profit organizations provide socioeconomic development assistance to the people of Malawi. Most of these groups have a religious base and provide such agricultural, educational or public health services as operating a Bible college

twenty U.

S.

Tembo

109 f

and school for the blind; maintaining boarding school and homecraft /literacy centers; operating a 100-bed Assistance may also inhospital and many clinics. clude shipments of donated medicines and hospital supplies and agricultural personnel who help smallholders increase production.

TEMBO, JOHN.

Born

at

Dedza

in 1932,

Tembo was

He educated in Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe. began teaching at Dedza Secondary School in 1959 He was and entered politics two years later. Malawi’s first Minister of Finance and he remained loyal to Dr. Banda during the Cabinet Crisis (q. v. ). In 1969 Banda assigned him to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Tembo was made Governor of the He is a senior Reserve Bank of Malawi in 1971. member of the National Executive Committee of the MCP and serves as chairman of Vipcor (see FORESTRY).

THANGATA.

An abusive compulsory

labor system that even before I. It was a major factor in the Chilembwe Prior to the imposition of British rule, Rising. the term thangata (Chichewa for ’’help”) referred to a system of services exchanged between chiefs and their dependents. In the colonial setting the African squatter living on a European estate was not required to pay rent as in most tenant arrangements, but rather was compelled to work a prescribed amount of time for the European landlord. The period of time required by the Europeans always increased and typically the Africans labored at least one month as a ’’rent” and another month for hut taxes. Nor were Africans permitted the privilege of working elsewhere. Thangata soon was described by African laborers as work that was done without real benefit. Instead, the benefits went to the landlord and to an administration which rarely provided the African with any services in exchange for his taxes. When two -thirds of Malawi’s male population became involved in I, either voluntarily or

was

in use throughout the Protectorate

WW

WW

Thyolo

110

The compulsorily, the thangata was again applied. as soldiers (askaris) and carriers They were frequently mistreated and (tenga-tenga). their experiences generally produced a resentment against colonialism expressed in the post-war era in the rise in popularity of dance and Nyau (q. v. ) societies, in ’’native associations” and in Islam.

men were used

THYOLO.

Tea cultivation began here in 1908 and a tea research station is today engaged in experimentation. Encouraged by a Kenya small-holder tea program, Malawi initiated its project in 1966; in Thyolo over 221 acres of tea were cultivated, with an additional Thyolo is located in the 735 expected by 1978. Southern Region.

TOBACCO.

As the major export crop of Malawi, tobacco accounted for 53 percent of the export receipts in 1977. The burley and flue-cured Virginia varieties are grown on estates whereas oriental (Turkish) fire-cured and sun /air-cured varieties are grown by small-holders. In the 1970’s production has expanded (especially of the flue-cured) as small-scale farmers have increased their holdings and as market conditions have favored Malawi, i. e. sanctions against Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Malawi is the second largest dark fire-cured tobacco producer in the world after the U. S. Tobacco is grown mainly in the Central Region (Lilongwe, Kasungu, Mchinji). Two tobacco auction floors operate, one in Limbe and another in Lilongwe. Limbe handles all fire and sun-cured tobacco belonging to ADMARC and all flue- cured tobacco from growers in the Southern region. The Lilongwe floors, which opened in April 1979, process all burley, flue and suncured tobacco from the Northern and Central regions.

Among the attractions drawing visitors to Malawi are Lake Malawi and the national parks: Nyika (Northern region), Kasungu (Central region) and Lengwe (Southern region). A fourth park was recently developed north of Liwonde. Roaming the parks are the kudu, elephant, eland, zebra, lion,

TOURISM.

Ill

Transportation

Two hundred species buffalo, leopard and antelopfe. of fish live in Lake Malawi, some of which are not A variety of wetland birds (tropifound elsewhere. cal and temperate species) and reptiles are also found along the lakeshore. Other popular tourist sites are the mountain The areas of Mulanje, Zomba, Dedza and Viphya. Malawi Development Corporation has invested heav-

modernizing and expanding facilities Lilongwe and Blantyre are cities which have comfortable accommodations, but modernized rest houses also are located throughout the country. The government expects to open its own hotel catering school and thus eliminate the need to send personnel abroad for training. ily in hotels, for tourists.

TRANSPORTATION.

Nearly 40 percent of the 1977/78 budget contains expenditures under the transportation heading. As a result of the high priority given transportation, the government expects to integrate the three regions with reliable all-weather roads; to encourage agricultural development by improving access to rural areas; and to continue to provide efficient access to the sea for exports and imports. Air, rail and lake transportation are government owned and operated. Roads At independence only 242 miles of bituminized roads existed in all of Malawi; by 1976 nearly 1,000 miles were completed as a part of the national road network. Major road projects undertaken have been the 534-mile Lakeshore road from Mangochi to Karonga, and the 168-mile ZombaLilongwe highway (see AID PROGRAMS). Over 5,000 miles of road are classified as gravel or earth, and many of these are maintained by the local populace in self-help projects. Licensed vehicles (cars, cycles, trucks) exceeded 29,000 in 1976 and the number increases yearly. Air Service Air Malawi has a fleet of eight craft, including one VC- 10. Scheduled services were operating to London, Nairobi, Seychelles, Mauritius, Lusaka, Beira and Johannesburg. Freight service into Chileka Airport, near Blantyre, was in operation :

:

112

Transportation

by British, East African, South African and Zambian A new international airport at Lilongwe Airways. progress. A cargo and passenger serLake Service vice operated on Lake Malawi by the Lake Service, There is a rail/ a subsidiary of Malawi Railways. lake interchange station at Chipoka from which there are steamer services to other ports on the Lake. Until 1964 the railway was Railway System the core of the Malawi transport system and roads were used primarily as feeders to bring goods to the railheads. Conceived in the 1890 s, the railway The Blantyre-Nsanje (Port was slowly extended. Herald) section was built between 1902 and 1908; the line was extended south to Chindio in 1915. Seven years later the Trans- Zambesia railway linked Beira with Murraga, opposite Chindio on the banks of the Zambezi River. Until 1935 all goods and The passengers were ferried across the river. construction of the Lower Zambezi Bridge commenced in 1931 and the first train crossed in JanuA northern extension from Blantyre to ary 1935. Salima was also completed by the mid-thirties. The railway system acted as a development agency during the years of the Protectorate, determining crop patterns and integrating the Malawi laborers into the European settlers’ economic schemes. Two years after independence the Malawi Railways were nationalized. In 1970 an eastern link (63 miles) was added connecting Nkaya (north of Blantyre) to the Mozambique border at Nayuci and thence to the Indian Ocean port of Nagala. With a loan from the Canadian government (CIDA), Malawi began construction in 1974 of 70 miles of new track from Salima to Lilongwe. Completed in 1978 this Malawi- Canada project was officially opened in February 1979. An additional K29 million has been provided by Canada to connect Lilongwe with Mchinji on the Zambian border. This 72-mile line will be completed by 1981. Malawi Railways, Ltd. currently operates on 352 miles of track which will soon be extended to 497 miles when the Lilongwe additions are completed. is in

:

:

f

Wildlife

113

/ -

WILDLIFE

W

-

TOURISM

see

WELENSKY, ROY.

He was a leader of the Northern A Rhodesia (Zambia) European settler community. long-time supporter of a plan for closer union, Welensky presided over the Federation as Prime Minister. His anti-African attitude made him one of Dr. Banda’s bitterest political opponents from the time Banda met him in London (1945), until the Welensky was Federation was dissolved in 1963. Minister of Transport in the Federal government before he succeeded Godfrey Huggins as Prime Minister.

WOMEN.

In politics, the Women’s League plays the In role of auxiliary to the Malawi Congress Party. 1958 Dr. Banda appointed Rose Chibambo to organize the League in an effort to build the Party into a well-organized nationally based mass movement. It has informed women of their duties and opportunities as citizens and has provided a base of support for President Banda. Political involvement for women is linked to literacy, and in Malawi 88 percent of

women

are illiterate (compared with 66 percent Although largely uneducated, women do not lack social roles which provide them with a respected status. They do, however, remain its

among men).

legal

minors

tents,

they

their lives. As legal incompenot plead their own cases, but neither are they economically or legally responsible for damages arising from disputes. This legal incompetence also extends to religious and ritual matters; lacking access to this knowledge, women are unable to participate in the political decision-making in their society. all

may

There is a sizable gap between government praise and acknowledgment of female farmers, and the inclusion and absorption of their talents into society. Not unlike the rest of the continent, women in Malawi are a neglected human resource in African development. Pre-vocational, vocational and tech-

Women

114

nical training programs are promoted essentially Since it would be an unpopular policy to for men. appoint women as agricultural officers when unemGovernployment exists for men, it is discouraged. ment publications do acknowledge the leading role that Malawi women play in agriculture, including those whom the government has honored as achiWith regularity kumbi or progressive farmers. government officials publicly honor the achikumbi in an effort to counter traditional reluctance to increase yields, a successful situation that might otherwise be ascribed to witchcraft. It is seldom realized that Malawi women do more garden work than do men; the great majority of crop and field work is in the hands of women. ,

On an average, women spend as many hours on farm work as on their domestic responsibilities, such as meal preparation and child care. their

This time coald vary, however, according to the crop. With the exception of the fishermen in the Lake Chilwa area, men in general seem to have more leisure time. Men certainly have more leisure time vis -5.- vis women in polygamous areas than in monogamous regions. It is usually noted that women work largely on subsistence crops and only work with cash crops at harvest time. In fact, nearly 40 percent of the tobacco nursery and planting work is done by women, and the fairly skilled technique of cotton spraying is more frequently being undertaken by women. Yet, women are still excluded from opportunities to "learn about all agricultural processes including modern techniques for the production of cash crops” (Clark, B. The Work Done by Rural Women in Malawi pp2-3, 1972). In the village markets more vendors are women than men. At these markets women sell foodstuffs, clothes, pottery, fruits and vegetables. Village women are usually regarded as the owners of all the subsistence crops they cultivate. As long as they tend to all those work obligations, they are perceived as having economic value, are highly respected, and enjoy little interference. This status may be in jeopardy as commercial agricultural ,

,

Women

115

As agricultural development projects transform society, it is likely that men will broaden their economic activities and consequently The network of sociotheir political influence. economic contacts for women will diminish unless they too are included in the developmental plans. Female participation in the educational system is considerably below that of the male. In primary grade one 43 percent of the students are girls; by the fourth grade only 35 percent are girls, and by the eighth grade only 27 percent are female. Continuing into the secondary forms, less than onethird (30 percent) of the students are female. Total female enrollment figures for 1975-76 were 641,709 in primary schools, 14,489 in secondary schools and 1,148 in higher education, although 1,400 are At Chancellor College, ofprojected for 1977-78. fering degrees in education, law and public administration, there were 88 women enrolled in 1976 out of a 599 student total. Bunda College, offering three-year diplomas in agriculture, enrolled 226 in 1976-77 which included only 19 women. Polytechnic, offering three-year diplomas in business studies, engineering, public health, enrolled 325 students in 1976-77, of which 32 were women. Since 1971, the leaders at the Police Training School (Limbe) have accepted women for training as constables. After a six-month training course, female graduates have been posted in the major towns. Opportunities during the colonial era for young girls and women also have been limited by the churches. It has been noted that at the Overtoun Institution of Livingstonia only a small percentprojects expand.

age of those examined were female: 22 percent in 1898, 14 percent in 1900, and 5 percent in 1935. From 1903 to 1917, academic subjects were dropped for girls and instead the emphasized skills taught were for a subordinate or domestic role: dusting, sweeping, cooking, laundry, sewing and nursing. Of the women teachers recruited by the mission, Malawi women were rarely among them; in 1939 only 12 women were employed out of a total of 1, 334 teachers. As a result of Rev. Fraser s influence, T

World Wars

116

women were

able to act as congregational advisors, but as late as 1935 they were not admitted to full membership and they never were invited to participate at Presft Rather than encouraging the genuine emancipabytery. tion of women, then, Livingstonia opened up new areas

where men were supreme” (McCracken,

Politics J. 254, 1977). Although there were public comments made about the lack of training facilities for women, there was no interest in effecting a change which would correct this lack of opportunity. Opportunities for Malawi women were not much greater in the Catholic sphere with the exception of the formation of a religious order in the

and Christianity in Malawi,

,

p.

Two women- -Elizabeth Nyambala and Martha s. Phiri--were permitted to begin the Little Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary which was patterned after the Daughters of Wisdom order. Novices were initially taught only to read, write and sew, but in the 1930’s they were given an education allowing them to 1920

T

become teachers.

WORLD WARS

see

ARMY -

Y

-

YOUTH.

Malawi youth play an exceptionally active role The League of Malawi Youth was begun in 1958 and today its members assist village and district chairmen of the Malawi Congress Party. The boys and girls in the League have been used to encourage anyone who has not purchased a Party membership card to do so. Leaguers are most often found involved in political in their nation’s development.

and traditional events. In 1973 the Ministry of Youth and Culture was charged with the training of youth. During the Annual Youth Week, both youth and adults complete various self-help development projects such as building a teacher’s house, or constructing school rooms, bus shelters and bridges. The Young Pioneers (YP) movement evolved out of the Youth League and its structure has followed Ghanaian and Israeli models. Founded in

Zomba

117

/ 1963 the movement was made an integral part of Malawi security forces by legislative edict in 1965. Police may not arrest a Pioneer without his or her Although the district commander's consultation. Pioneers accept both men and women, it clearly discourages the latter: in 1974/75 there were 2,063 men and only 198 women in training at twenty Members undergo a tenbases in the country. month training in leadership, agricultural developSessions ment, citizenship, and self-help skills. may include physical education, close order drill, agricultural and community development techniques, Some the role of the MCP, health, and carpentry. of the Pioneer graduates return to their villages where they help effect agricultural change, but most join agricultural settlement schemes or teach in MYP bases also are used to teach trade schools. self-supporting skills and courses in agriculture, political and physical education to those students who, after final exams, are not selected for secondary Coursework also stresses the Party’s corschool. nerstones: Unity, Loyalty, Obedience and Discipline. An Enterprises division of the YP was established in 1971 for the purpose of bringing revenue to the organization. These commercial activities, called Spearhead Enterprises, are varied: a cattle ranch in Ntcheu, a dairy at Mapanga, a poultry unit at Nasawa, a garment factory in Blantyre, and 14 farms growing tobacco, maize, coffee, cotton, and vegetables throughout the country. Spearhead has nearly 60 vehicles in its Transport division and has three Cessna aircraft, all piloted by trained Pioneers. The Pioneers have a paramilitary role for a select number of graduates of the basic course. Those chosen to become YP leaders receive an additional three years of military training and this elite corps acts as Dr. Banda’s bodyguard. At the President’s urging, a fledgling military air unit also was developed from these advanced YP trainees.

-

ZOMBA.

The

site of

Z

-

Zomba was chosen

for headquarters

Zomba

118

It provided him by British Consul Hawes in 1886. a vantage point wherein he kept under surveillance

from the Lake. Commissioner Johnston kept Zomba his headquarters perhaps because it avoided the Europeans, including missionIn any case, aries, who settled in at Blantyre. Zomba developed into the administrative center and capital of Nyasaland Protectorate. the slave trade south

Zomba remained Malawi

until 1975

national capital. quently declined

the seat of government for when Lilongwe succeeded as the

Zomba

T

s population

has subse-

from 19,666 (1966) to 15,705 (1977). The new main campus for the University of Malawi was constructed here (1967), and Zomba is also the site of the National

Archives of Malawi.