Hastings Banda

Hastings Kamuzu Banda
File:Kamuzu.jpg
1st President of Malawi
In office 6 July 1966 – 24 May 1994
Preceded by	Himself as Prime Minister
Succeeded by	Bakili Muluzi
Prime Minister of Malawi
In office 6 July 1964 – 6 July 1966
Governor‑General	Sir Glyn Smallwood Jones
Preceded by	Post created
Succeeded by	Himself as President
Personal details
Born	1896? Near Kasungu, Malawi
Died	South Africa
Political party	Malawi Congress Party

Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1896? – 25 November 1997) was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country (then British Nyasaland) to speak against colonialism and advocated for independence. In 1963, he was formally appointed as Nyasaland’s Prime Minister, and led the country to independence as Malawi a year later. Two years later, he declared Malawi a republic with himself as president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one party state under the Malawi Congress Party. In 1970, the MCP declared him the party’s President for Life. In 1971, he became President for Life of Malawi itself.

As a leader of the pro-Western bloc in Africa, he received support from the West during the Cold War. He generally supported women’s rights, improved the country’s infrastructure, and maintained a good educational system relative to other African countries. However, he presided over one of the most repressive regimes in Africa. He also faced scorn for maintaining full diplomatic relations with apartheid-era South Africa.

By 1993, facing international pressure and widespread protest, a referendum ended his one party state, and a special assembly stripped him of his title. Banda ran for president in the democratic elections which followed, but was defeated. He died in South Africa in 1997. His legacy as ruler of Malawi remains controversial with some hailing him as a national and African hero while others denounce him as a tyrant.

Early life

Kamuzu Banda was born near Kasungu in Malawi (then British Central Africa) to Mphonongo Banda and Akupingamnyama Phiri. His date of birth is unknown, and as it took place at a time when there was no birth registration. While it is impossible to state a precise year, his biographer, Philip Short, gives February 1898 as the most likely date. His official birthday is stated as 14 May 1906 and this date is documented in some biographical guides.

Name

The name was Kamuzu means "a little root" and was given to him since he was conceived after his mother had been given root herbs by the medicine man to cure infertility. His last name, Banda means "a small hut". He named himself Hastings after John Hastings, a Scottish missionary working near his village whom he admired. The prefixes Doctor were earned through his education. He took the Christian name of Hastings after being baptised into the Church of Scotland.

Education

Around 1915-16, he left home and went with Hanock Msokera Phiri, an uncle who had been a teacher at the nearby Livingstonia mission school, on foot to Hartley, Southern Rhodesia (now Chegutu, Zimbabwe). In 1917 Banda left on foot, to Johannesburg in South Africa. He worked in various jobs at the Witwatersrand Deep Mine on the Transvaal Reef for several years. During this time, he met Bishop W. T. Vernon of the African Methodist Church (AME), who offered to pay his tuition fee at a Methodist school in the United States if he could make his own passage . In 1925, he left for New York.He was then educated in the United States in 1937, and then in Edinburgh and Glasgow, collecting the initials LRCP and LRCS (Edin) and LRFPS (Glas).. And he also became an elder of the Church of Scotland .

Life abroad (1925–1958)

Not much is know about Bandas ealier days. Legend has it that he walked to South Africa as a young man.

United States

Banda studied in the high school section of Wilberforce Institute, an African American AME college now known as Central State University, in Wilberforce, Ohio, and graduated in 1928. With his financial support now ended, Banda earned some money on speaking engagements arranged by the Ghanaian educationalist, Kweyir Aggrey, whom he had met in South Africa. Speaking at a Kiwanis club meeting, he met one Dr Herald, with whose help he enrolled as a premedical student at Indiana University, where he lodged with Mrs W.N. Culmer. At Bloomington, he wrote several essays about his native Chewa tribe for the folklorist Stith Thompson, who introduced him to Edward Sapir, an anthropologist at the University of Chicago, to which, after four semesters, he transferred. During his period here, he collaborated with the anthropologist and linguist, Mark Hanna Watkins, acting as an informant on Chewa culture. In Chicago, he lodged with an African-American, Mrs Corinna Saunders. He majored in history, graduating with a B Phil in 1931. During this time, he enjoyed financial support from a Mrs. Smith, whose husband, Douglas Smith, had made fortunes in patent medicines and in Pepsodent toothpaste; and also from a member of the Eastman Kodak board. He then, still with financial support from these and other benefactors (including Dr. Walter B. Stephenson of the Delta Electric Company), studied medicine at Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1937.

Move to United Kingdom

In order to practice medicine in territories of the British Empire, however, he was apparently required to get a second medical degree; he attended and graduated from the School of Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of the University of Edinburgh in 1941. His studies there were funded by stipends of 300 pounds per year from the government of Nyasaland (in order to facilitate his return there as a doctor) and from the Scottish Presbyterian Kirk; neither of these benefactors being aware of the other. (There are conflicting accounts of this, however. He may still have been funded by Mrs Smith). When he enrolled for courses in tropical diseases in Liverpool, the Nyasaland government terminated his stipend. He was forced to leave Liverpool when he refused on conscientious grounds to be conscripted as an Army doctor. Between 1942 and 1945 he worked as a doctor in North Shields near Newcastle on Tyne. He was a tenant of Mrs Amy Walton at this time in Alma Place in North Shields and sent a Christmas card to her every year right up to her death in the late 1960s. In 1948 he worked as a doctor in Renfrew. A resident, Bill Johnston remembers the time when, as a lad, Dr. Banda came to his home to see his father who had a nasty boil on the back of his neck. His father was a respected church elder in the town. Dr. Banda took a small bottle from his case, asked for some boiling water and poured some into the bottle. Emptying the water out, he quickly placed the open end on Bill’s father’s boil where of course it stuck as the steam condensed. With a cry of anguish his father leapt to his feet and chased the doctor round and round the kitchen table with the bottle fastened to his neck. Bill was dumbfounded at hearing his father use language that he had never heard before! Banda originally worked at a mission for coloured seamen before moving to a general practice in the London suburb of Harlesden. At this time he lodged in a hotel in Paddington run by Mrs Janet Evans. Reportedly, he avoided returning to Nyasaland for fear that his newfound financial resources would be consumed by his extended family back home.

Pan African Congress - Manchester

In 1946, at the behest of Chief Mwase of Kasungu, whom he had met in England in 1939, and other politically active Malawians, he represented the Nyasaland African Congress at the fifth Pan African Congress in Manchester. From this time he took an increasingly active interest in his native land, advising the Congress and providing it some financial support. With help from sympathetic British, he also lobbied in London on their behalf.

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and Move to Ghana

Band was actively opposed to the efforts of Sir Roy Welensky, premier of Southern Rhodesia, to form a federation between Southern and Northern Rhodesia with Nyasaland, a move which he feared would result in further deprivation of rights for the Nyasaland blacks. The (as he famously called it) "stupid" Federation was formed in 1953. It was rumored with some excitement that he would return to Nyasaland in 1951, but in the event he moved instead to the Gold Coast in West Africa. He may have gone there partly because of a scandal involving his receptionist in Harlesden, a Mrs French: Banda was cited as co-respondent in the divorce of Major French and accused of adultery with Mrs French, who went with him to West Africa. (Mrs. French died penniless in 1976). Several influential Congress leaders, including Henry Chipembere, Kanyama Chiume, Dunduzu Chisiza and T.D.T. Banda (no relation) pleaded with him to return to Nyasaland to take up leadership of their cause, and on 6 July 1958 he did eventually return home after an absence of about 42 years. In August, at Nkata Bay, he was acclaimed as the leader of the Congress.

Return to his homeland

He soon began touring the country, speaking against the Central African Federation (also known as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland), and urging its citizens to become members of the party. (Allegedly, he was so out of practice in his native Chichewa that he needed an interpreter, a role which was apparently performed by John Msonthi and later by John Tembo, who remained close to him for most of his career). He was received enthusiastically wherever he spoke, and resistance to imperialism among the Malawians became increasingly common. By February 1959, the situation had become serious enough that Rhodesian troops were flown in to help keep order and a state of emergency was declared. On March 3, Banda, along with hundreds of other Africans, was arrested in the course of "Operation Sunrise". He was imprisoned in Gwelo (now Gweru) in Southern Rhodesia, and leadership of the Malawi Congress Party (the Nyasaland African Congress under a new name) was temporarily assumed by Orton Chirwa, who was released from prison in August 1959.

Bandas Release from Prision

Hastings Banda and Peter Youens in London in 1964

The mood in Britain, meanwhile, had long been moving toward relinquishing the colonies due to pressure from the colonies. Banda was released from prison in April 1960 and was almost immediately invited to London for talks aimed at bringing about independence. Elections were held in August 1961. While Banda was technically nominated as Minister of Land, Natural Resources and Local Government, he became de facto Prime Minister of Nyasaland—a title granted to him formally on February 1, 1963. He and his fellow MCP ministers quickly expanded secondary education, reformed the so-called Native Courts, ended certain colonial agricultural tariffs and made other reforms. In December 1962, R. A. Butler, British Secretary of State for African Affairs, essentially agreed to end the Federation. On July 6, 1964—exactly six years after his return to the country—Nyasaland became the independent Commonwealth of Malawi.

Name Change from Nyasaland to Malawi

It was Banda himself who chose the name "Malawi" for the former Nyasaland; he had seen it on an old French map as the name of a "Lake Maravi" in the land of the Bororos, and liked the sound and appearance of the word as "Malawi".

President of Malawi

Malawi Cabinet Crisis 1965

Barely a month after independence, Malawi suffered a cabinet crisis. Several of Banda's ministers presented him with proposals designed to limit his powers. He had already been accused of autocratic tendencies. Banda responded by dismissing four of the ministers. Other ministers resigned in sympathy. The dissidents fled the country.

Malawi Consitution & Consolidtion of Power

Malawi adopted a new constitution on July 6, 1966, in which the country was declared a republic. Banda was elected the country's first president for a five-year term; he was the only candidate. The new document granted Banda wide executive and legislative powers, and also formally made the MCP the only legal party. However, the country had been a de facto one-party state since independence. In 1970, a congress of the MCP declared Banda its president for life. In 1971, the legislature declared Banda President for Life of Malawi as well. His official title was His Excellency the Life President of the Republic of Malaŵi, Ngwazi Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda. The title Ngwazi means "chief of chiefs" (more literally, "great lion", or, some would say, "conqueror") in Chicheŵa.

The Mwanza Four Incident

In 1983 three ministers and one member of the parliament—namely Dick Matenje, Twaibu Sangala, Aaron Gadama and Member of Parliament David Chiwanga—died mysteriously in an accident labelled officially as a "traffic accident". The Machievellian circumstances around this political murder are that Banda invited an "internal debate on multiparty democracy" in Malawi and unwittingly—in a "cabinet meeting"--the three Ministers voiced support for the idea. Angered Banda promptly "dissolved parliament", stripped the men of their political statuses and had them rounded up at Zomba Parliament buildings for questioning. The poor Chiwanga MP was an innocent victim who happened on the other three being tortured in a back room and had to be silenced. The four men were later bundled in Matenje's Peugeot 604 and driven to Thambani in Mwanza District [West of Blantyre] where a "road accident" was staged—purportedly attempting to escape into neighbouring Mozambique. Only later it was found out they had perished from tent pins hammered in their heads.

Banda's Legacy

Banda was mostly viewed externally as being a benign, albeit eccentric, leader, an image fostered by his English-style three-piece suits, matching handkerchiefs and fly-whisk. In June 1967 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Massachusetts with the encomium " . . . pediatrician to his infant nation".

Within Malawi, views on him ranged from a cult-like devotion to fear. While he portrayed himself as a caring headmaster to his people, his government was rigidly authoritarian even by African standards of the time. Although the constitution guaranteed civil rights and liberties, they meant almost nothing in practice, and Malawi was essentially a police state. Mail was opened and often edited. Telephones were tapped. Needless to say, overt opposition was not tolerated. Banda actively encouraged the people to report those who criticized him, even if they were relatives. Telephone conversations were known to be cut off if anyone said a critical word about the government. Opponents were often arrested, exiled (like Kanyama Chiume) or died suspiciously (like Dick Matenje or Dr. Attati Mpakati).

Party Membership Passcards

All adult citizens were required to be members of the MCP. Party cards had to be carried at all times, and had to be presented in random police inspections. The cards were sold, often by Banda's Malawi Young Pioneers. In some cases, these youths even sold cards to unborn children.

Malawi Young Pioneers

The Malawi Young Pioneers were the notorious paramilitary wing of the MCP that were used to intimidate and harass the public. The Pioneers bore arms, conducted espionage and intelligence operations, and were trusted bodyguards for Banda. They enforced the laws of Malawi and helped build a culture of fear.

Cult of personality

Banda was the subject of a very pervasive cult of personality. Every business building was required to have an official picture of Banda hanging on the wall, and no poster, clock or picture could be higher than his picture. Before every movie, a video of Banda waving to the people was shown while the anthem played. When Banda visited a city, a contingent of women were expected to greet him at the airport and dance for him. A special cloth, bearing the president’s picture, was the required attire for these performances. Churches had to be government sanctioned.

Censorship

All movies shown in theaters were first viewed by the Malawi Censorship Board and edited for content. Videotapes had to be sent to the Censorship Board to be viewed by censors. Once edited, the movie was given a sticker stating that it was now suitable for viewing, and sent back to the owner. Items to be sold in bookstores were also edited. Pages, or parts of pages, were cut out of magazines like Newsweek and Time. The press and radio were tightly controlled, and mainly served as outlets for government propaganda. Television was banned. Pre-Banda history was discouraged, and many books on these subjects were burned. Banda also allegedly persecuted some of the northern tribes (particularly the Tumbuka), banning their language and books as well as teachers from certain tribes. Europeans who broke any of these rules were often "PI'ed" (declared Prohibited Immigrants and deported).

Dress Code & Conservatism

His government supervised the people's lives very closely. Early in his rule, Banda instituted a dress code which was rooted in his socially conservative predilections. For example, women were not allowed to bare their thighs or to wear trousers. Banda argued that the dress code was not instilled to oppress women but to encourage honour and respect for them. For men, long hair and beards were banned as a sign of dissent. Men could be seized and forced to have a haircut on the discretion of border officials or police. Kissing in public was not allowed, nor were movies which contained depictions of kissing.

Even foreigners coming in to Malawi were subjected to Banda's dress code. In the 1970s, prospective visitors to the country were met with the following requirement for obtaining visas:

Female passengers will not be permitted to enter the country if wearing short dresses or trouser-suits, except in transit or at Lake Holiday resorts or National parks. Skirts and dresses must cover the knees to conform with Government regulations. The entry of 'hippies' and men with long hair and flared trousers is forbidden.

Women's Issues

Nonetheles, Banda was very supportive of women's rights compared to other African rulers during his reign. He founded Chitukuko Cha Amai m'Malawi (CCAM) to address the concerns, needs, rights and opportunities for women in Malawi. This institution also motivated women to excel both in education and government and encouraged them to play more active roles in their community, church and family. The foundation's National Advisor was Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira, the official hostess for the former president.

Infrastructure

Banda did much for the country's infrastructure. This included the establishment of major roads, airports, hospitals and schools in Malawi. He founded Kamuzu Academy, a school modeled on Eton, at which Malawian children were taught Latin and Ancient Greek by expatriate classics teachers, and disciplined if they were caught speaking Chichewa. Banda spent almost whole country's budget on education on this project.

Wealth and Estate

During Banda's rule, it is believed that he accumulated at least US$320 million in personal assets, believed to be invested in everything from agriculture to mining interests in South Africa. The most controversial part of this is the suspicion that his two grandchildren, who currently reside in the US and South Africa, are the heirs to the Banda fortune. One of the grandchildren graduated from law school and left for the US, while the other remains in South Africa. They may now learn about the existence of these anonymous grandchildren, but most importantly; 'who and where are Banda's children?', most Malawians would like to know. Equally important is the identity and the whereabouts of their mother.

Banda's Foreign Policy

Banda and relations with South Africa

Banda was also the only African ruler to establish diplomatic ties with South Africa during apartheid as well as the opprresive Portuguese regime in Mozumbique. Since the cabinet crisis in 1964 Banda became increasingly isolated in African politics. Having stood up in Addis Ababa to give an inaugural speech that in effect denied Egyptian fighter planes Malawian airspace on a planned program to bomb South Africa that had just jailed all its black leaders including Nelson Mandela. No other African leaders would thereafter consort with him. On the other hand his antipathy for Roy Welensky and the so called "stupid federation" was a smokescreen he used to reject the proposed Bangula Hydro-electric dam—proposed to be bigger than the Gezira Dam in Khartoum—that Welensky's Federation had sought and obtained funding from the British Government. Banda went on to blame everything including the innocuous snail [likely to cause widespread Bilharzias] in order to abort the project. In turn the British denied Banda the funding and budgetary support he needed to build his pet dream of a new Capital City at Lilongwe, in his home region. Hence he turned to South Africa—itself playing its geo-political games in the region—who gave him a soft loan of 300 million rand. The quid pro quo was that Banda had to support South Africa's apartheid policies among fellow African leaders. Hence, on one occasion he paid a state visit to South Africa where he met his South African counterparts at Stellenbosch.

Diplomatic Relations with South Africa

While many southern African nations traded with South Africa out of economic necessity, Malawi was the only African nation that recognized South Africa and established diplomatic relations with it. He became only partially rehabilitated in the eyes of other African leaders after the demise of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Malawis involvement in Mozambique

Banda’s involvement in Mozambique dates to Portuguese colonial days in Mozambique when Banda supported the Portuguese colonial government and guerrilla forces that worked for the colonialist. Following independence in Malawi, Banda strengthened his relationship with the Portuguese colonial government in Mozambique by appointing Jorge Jardim as Malawi’s Honorary Consul in Mozambique in September 1964. He also worked against Frelimo forces in Malawi in continued support of the Portuguese colonial forces. The Organization of African Unity had designated Malawi as one of the Frontline States to help independence movements in Mozambique.

By the 1980's Banda was able to destabilize neighboring Mozambique by supporting both the existing government and the guerrilla movement. In doing so, he successfully placed the Malawi Army and Malawi Young Pioneers in opposing missions in Mozambique from 1987 to 1992. He used the Malawi Army to support the Mozambican government soldiers of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambican (Frelimo) to defend Malawi’s interests in Mozambique.This was done formally through an agreement in 1984 with Samora Machel.Simutenesouly, Banda used the Malawi Young Pioneers as couriers and active supporters of Mozambican National Resistance(Renamo)which had been fighting against Samora Machel's Frelimo government of Mozambique since the 1980s. Malawi was used to channel foreign aid from South Africa's apartheid regime. Machel issued a dossier to Frontline States in showing evidence that Banda was still supporting the insurgents in spite of the 1984 agreement to stop. By September 1986, Machel, Robert Mugabe, and Kenneth Kaunda visited Banda in order to persuade him to stop supporting Renamo. His successor, Joachim Chissano continued to complain of Malawi’s lack of willingness to stop supporting Renamo. Banda however was trying to keep Malawian interests in the Nacala ports in Mozambique and did not want to rely on Tanzania and South Africa ports for its imports and exports due to the expense. Mozambique and Malawi came to an agreement to place troops from both countries in Nayuchi near the port. Incidents of Malawi Army members being killed over the course of four years were reported which angered the army because MYP members were involved with the insurgents and were essentially being pitted against eachother.

Political Demise

Political transition toward democracy in Malawi began in the early 1990s when international aid donors demanded that Banda implement reforms aimed at making his government transparent and accountable to the people and international community as a condition for aid. The British government and the Queen also stopped their financial support. This meant opening up the country to democratic multiparty politics. In March 1992, Catholic Bishops in Malawi issued a Lenten Pastoral Letter that criticized Banda and his government. Students of the University of Malawi at Chancellor College and the Polytechnic joined in through protests and demonstrations to support the Bishops forcing authorities to close the campuses. In April, 1992, Chakufwa Chihana, a labour unionist, openly called for a national referendum on the political future of Malawi. He was arrested before he finished his speech at Lilongwe International Airport. In May, labour riots in the city of Blantyre turned political with demands that Banda give up power. This mounting pressure from within and from the international community forced Banda to concede to a referendum to decide the future of Malawi’s politics in October 1992. The referendum was held on 14 June 1993. Voters opted for change to democracy from one party dictatorship. Banda's one-party state was dismantled by the 1993 referendum. After this, political parties formed besides the MCP and preparation for the general elections began. Soon afterward, Banda worked with the newly forming parties and the church, and stepped down without protest when a special assembly stripped him of his title of President for Life, along with most of his powers. The transition was relativelty peaceful inspite or a very rigid system of rule.

Opening ceremony for the Banda Mausoleum, May 14, 2006 - Lilongwe, Malawi

Operation Bwezani

Operation Bwezani, was a Malawi Army operation to disarm the Malawi Young Pioneers(MYP), paramilitary wing of the MCP. This was carried across at the height of the political transition in December 1993. Bwezani means “give back,”.It was s significant event because the MYP had a strong network of spies and supporters countrywide at all levels in society. They were Banda's personal security bodyguards and were all trained indoctrinated in Kamuzuism politically, and military training. The Malawi Army however, did not infiltrate this group against Banda prior to receiving political consent via protests from the people.

After some questions about his health, Banda ran in Malawi's first truly democratic election in 1994 for President. He was roundly defeated by Bakili Muluzi, a Yao from the Southern Region of the country whose two terms in office were not without serious controversy.

Mwanza Trials

In 1995 Banda is arrested and is charged with the murder, ten years previously, of former cabinet colleagues. He is acquitted due to lack of evidence. Banda remained quite unrepentant on his opinion about Malawians, calling them "children in politics" and would miss his iron-fisted rule (see Alec Russell: "Big Men, Little People").

Death

Banda died in a hospital in South Africa in November 1997, reportedly aged 101. The party he led since taking over from Orton Chirwa in 1960, the Malawi Congress Party, continued after his death and remains a major force in Malawian politics.

Family

Banda is Survived by no known heirs but has a vast fortune at stake that is run by his family. He was also unmarried when he died.Cecilia Kadzamira was the official hostess or first lady of Malawi. She also essentially ruled the country together with her uncle, John Tembo during Bandas last years. His affair and relationship with Merene French remains largely a mystery. Jane Dzanjalimodzi is grand niece is the former executor of his estate. In 2010,Jumani Johansson claims to be the son of the late President and is seeking DNA testing through the courts of Malawi.

Footnotes

• The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair, by Martin Meredith, PublicAffairs, 2005
• Africa After Independence: Realities of Nationhood, by Godfrey Mwakikagile, Johannesburg, South Africa: Continental Press, 2006
• "Banda, Hastings Kamuzu". (2004 ed.). 2004. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |ency= ignored (help)
• The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa, by Robert I. Rotberg, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965.
• Banda, by Philip Short, London: Routledge & Kegan 1974.
• Malawi, the Politics of Despair, by T. David Williams, Cornell University Press, 1978.
• Kamuzu's legacy: the democratization of Malawi, by Jan Kees van Donge, African Affairs, Vol 94, No 375, 1995.
• Shaw, Karl (2005) [2004]. Power Mad! (in Czech). Praha: Metafora. ISBN 80-7359-002-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

External links

• Information on Banda's fortune
• Official Biography of Kamuzu Banda
• Kamuzu Banda: The Control Freak

References

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