Operation Sunrise (Nyasaland)

Operation Sunrise was the name given to a police and military action conducted by the authorities in the Central African country of Nyasaland (now known as Malawi) on March 3, 1959 to detain and intern 350 individuals who were considered a potential threat to law and order. The operation has been described in some detail in the so-called Devlin Commission Report (Colonial Office Report of the Nyasaland Commission of Enquiry, HMSO, London, 1959) from which most of the facts herein are taken.

Context of, and run-up to, the Operation

There had been unrest in Nyasaland sporadically for many years, most recently in 1953 when, against the wishes of the populace, Nyasaland had been thrust into a Federation with Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe, respectively). On July 6, 1958, Hastings Banda, a long-term expatriate who had campaigned against Federation while living in England in the 1930s - 1950s, returned to Nyasaland at the invitation of a group of young political activists to lead a movement towards independence. To this end, Banda, together with some of these lieutenants, toured the country rousing support. From September 1958 onward there were civil disturbances and rising tension between the African and European populations (as well as between pro-reform Africans and those more content with the status quo). Recollections of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya were still fresh in the colonial mind, and recent riots in the Belgian Congo only added to the general unease. The authorities were increasingly fearful of a violent popular uprising, a feeling bolstered by reports alleging a plot hatched by extremists at a meeting in late January to murder the European and Asian population.

Preparations for a state of emergency were made in February 1959, including requests for police reinforcements from other British colonies in the region. The plans for Operation Sunrise, the first stage in the overall stabilization scenario, were prepared by the Nyasaland Operations Committee on February 27, 1959. Special Branch had been keeping lists of potential detainees since at least 1954, and the latest revision, made in November 1958, contained 617 names.

A state of emergency was declared at midnight on March 2/3, 1959. In a broadcast at 7am on March 3 the governor, Sir Robert Armitage, explained his decision as follows:

" I have taken this step because of the action of the leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress. It has day by day become increasingly apparent that they are bent on pursuing a course of violence, intimidation and disregard of lawful authority . . . . Under emergency powers the principal organisers of the campaign of violence and unlawful demonstrations are being arrested and will be detained "

The Operation

Operation Sunrise was the first step taken under the declaration of emergency and was so named because its mission was to detain, at or just before dawn, 350 people who had been identified by special branch police as "hard core" or militant members of the native population. A quota of police and military personnel was designated for each province and district in the Protectorate. Each of the 350 individual pick-up operations was to be made by a separate team consisting of about six men (which was taken by the Devlin commission to mean that they were prepared for violence). The teams were also directed, circumstances permitting, to search the detainee's house for documents.

Because of the potential for violence after the arrests, the authorities decided that most of the detainees should be imprisoned outside of Nyasaland. Hence, the detainees were taken immediately to temporary prisons erected at Chileka Airport in the south and Lilongwe Airport in the Central Province, in preparation for airlifting to Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia where they were to be interned in Khami Prison. In the Northern Province, there were ultimately 75 detainees, who were taken from Nkhata Bay on Lake Nyasa in the motor vessel m.v. Mpasa to Chipoka (although, because of unanticipated events, the vessel didn't arrive there until March 6), whence they went by rail to Salima and by road to Lilongwe Airport (with the exception of 12 who were sent on by rail to Limbe).

The procedure for the detention of Banda was more elaborate. The force consisted of six groups: A Police Mobile Force (PMF) platoon, a supporting platoon from the King's African Rifles, a diversion group under a police inspector, a "snatch party" of six men also under a police inspector, an escort group of three special constables (civilian volunteers), and a search group of two Special Branch (internal security) personnel. Banda's house was situated off the road between Limbe and Blantyre. At 4:35am, led by the diversion party, the Land Rovers coasted down hill towards the house with their lights extinguished. The diversion group arrived via the back roadway and rushed the servants' quarters at the back of the house in order to divert attention away from the main house. Having arrested the occupants they tear-gassed the interior to make sure there was nobody still hiding within. The PMF assault group, meanwhile, stormed the main house. There were about 60 men sleeping in the surrounding yard – it had been anticipated for some time that Banda might be arrested – who immediately fled, leaving behind an armory of two bows and arrows, four catapults (slingshots, in American parlance), one spear, twelve batons and knobkerries, three axes and some iron bars. Although the Banda supporters had apparently planned to beat a drum to alert the general populace – who would relay the news with more drums – in the event of his arrest, the drum was never beaten. The assault group tried to force the front door with an axe, to no effect. As it happened, the door was not locked. Banda's bodyguard, Yatuta Chisiza, who had been lying on a sofa in the front room, led the group to Banda's bedroom. Banda, in his pyjamas, was allowed to put on a dressing gown (housecoat) and taken to a waiting Land Rover. He was also permitted to take a suit of clothes (but not, by some oversight, underwear). He was driven immediately to Chileka Airport, barely avoiding a potentially fatal collision with an oncoming Saracen armored vehicle on the narrow road, and shortly afterwards flown to Gwelo (now Gweru) in Southern Rhodesia with one of his lieutenants, Henry Chipembere who had been detained by chance on the Chileka Airport road.

The numbers detained in Operation Sunrise were 22 by 6am, 60 by 10am, 90 by 1:30pm, and 120 by 5pm. By 9pm the following day, March 4, 130 had been arrested and 44 more detained on "28-day orders" (limited-duration detention/review). By March 5, 263 had been arrested, some having given themselves up voluntarily, with a further 87 on the list remaining at large. Some of the detainees were released immediately. All but a few high-level remaining were first detained at Khami. Banda, Chipembere, F.W.K. (Kaphombe) Nyasulu, and Dunduzu Chisiza were interned at Gwelo (later to be joined by Dunduzu's brother, Yatuta, who was initially sent to Khami). Generally the action was peaceful, with five injuries in cases where resistance was allegedly offered, but no fatalities. However, in two incidents involving demonstrations by crowds against the arrests 21 people were killed and 29 injured.

References

• Colonial Office Report of the Nyasaland Commission of Enquiry, HMSO, London, 1959
• Baker, Colin, State of Emergency: Crisis in Central Africa, Nyasaland 1959 - 1960, I.B. Tauris, London, 1997