Related Research Articles
The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. In colonial times, the territory was ruled by the British, under whose control it was known first as British Central Africa and later Nyasaland. It became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The country achieved full independence, as Malawi, in 1964. After independence, Malawi was ruled as a one-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994.
Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. There is a cabinet of Malawi that is appointed by the President of Malawi. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the prime minister and later president of Malawi from 1964 to 1994.
The Alliance for Democracy is a political party in Malawi that marked its history as laying the foundation for multi-party rule in Malawi. It began as an underground political movement during the Kamuzu Banda era and later evolved to a political party during the multi-party era under the leadership of trade union activist, Chakufwa Chihana. AFORD has a stronghold in the northern region. The president is Godfrey Shawa.
The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a political party in Malawi. It was formed as a successor party to the banned Nyasaland African Congress when the country, then known as Nyasaland, was under British rule. The MCP, under Hastings Banda, presided over Malawian independence in 1964, and from 1966 to 1993 was the only legal party in the country. It has continued to be a major force in the country since losing power.
Louis Joseph Chimango was a long-time cabinet minister in Late Hastings Kamuzu Banda's cabinet from 1978 to 1994. He had trained as a lawyer and later on as a barrister from Grays Inn in London. He later taught at the law school at Chancellor College in Zomba, a constituent of the University of Malawi, from 1970, before being nominated for politics in 1978. He left the law school when he was the dean of the Faculty of Law. During Late Kamuzu Banda's time he held a number of cabinet portfolios including those of Minister of Finance, Health, Local Government, and Education, among others. After Late Kamuzu's defeat in the 1993 referendum he maintained his seat in Parliament and was later elected Speaker of the National Assembly of Malawi from June 2005-June 2009. A member of the Malawi Congress Party, he represented the Lilongwe Mpenu Nkhoma constituency, a seat which he lost during the 1999 Late Bingu wa Mutharika's regime. He was also a member of the Pan-African Parliament.
Chakufwa Chihana was a Malawian human rights activist, pro-democracy advocate, trade unionist and later, politician. He held the post of Second Vice President in Malawi, under President Bakili Muluzi. He is often called the 'father of Malawian democracy'. He served as leader of Malawi's first underground political movement, which urged President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who had ruled for three decades, to call for a referendum on political pluralism. He was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1992.
Malawian-South African relations refers to the bilateral relationship between Malawi and South Africa. South Africa's first formal relationship with an independent African country was established with Malawi, beginning in 1967.
Orton Chirwa was a lawyer and political leader in colonial Nyasaland and after independence became Malawi's Minister of Justice and Attorney General. After a dispute with Malawi's autocratic President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, he and his wife Vera were exiled. After being kidnapped abroad they were tried in Malawi on charges of treason and sentenced to death. Amnesty International named the couple prisoners of conscience. After spending nearly eleven years on death row in Malawi, Orton Chirwa died in prison on 20 October 1992.
Jim Jumani Johansson was a Malawian-Swedish man and allegedly the illegitimate son of the late Malawian President Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1898–1997). He changed his name to Jim Jumani Immanuel Masauko Kamuzu Banda. Johansson says that it was after Banda died in 1997 that 'some government officials' told him about who his father really was. Officially, Banda died childless and unmarried. His claim and resemblance to the former dictator opened up many unanswered questions about the legacy of Banda. Johansson became a celebrity overnight in Malawi owing to his uncanny resemblance to the former president and his measures to seek legal means of proving his identity. Malawians were divided on whether he was the true heir but the public demanded a right to know as well. Focus Gwede, the head of Banda's Special Branch of Secret Police Services, came out in support of Johansson, claiming in 2010 that Banda had fathered three children.
Harry Thomson, also known as "Clean Harry", was a Malawian politician. He was born in Zomba, the capital of Nyasaland. He was a founding member of the United Democratic Front party (UDF) and a Minister of Trade and Industry.
Ken Diston Lipenga is a Malawian politician, journalist, and writer. He was the Member of Parliament for Phalombe East from 1997 to 2014. He has served in various ministerial positions.
Vera Mlangazua Chirwa is a Malawian born lawyer and human and civil rights activist. She was Malawi's first female lawyer and a founding member of the Malawi Congress Party and the Nyasaland African Women's League. She fought for multiparty democratic rule in Malawi and was charged with treason, tried and sentenced to death by President Kamuzu Banda. She spent 12 years on death row. She was married to lawyer Orton Chirwa, Malawian Minister of Justice and Attorney General, who later died in prison.
Sam Mpasu was a Malawian politician, author, and former diplomat. He served as Minister of Commerce, Secretary General of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1999, and speaker of the Malawi National Assembly.
The Malawian Defence Force is the state military organisation responsible for defending Malawi. It originated from elements of the British King's African Rifles, colonial units formed before independence in 1964.
Focus Martin Gwede was head of the special branch of the Malawi Police Force. He was from Ntcheu Malawi. He was one of the most feared policemen during the Kamuzu Banda era. With Gwede as the head of Special Branch and Albert Muwalo as a Minister of State they made the most feared duo in Malawi.
According to 2012 statistics about 85% of Malawi's 11 million people are Christian, with over half of the population Protestant and another 20% Roman Catholic. Of the Protestant churches the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian is one of the largest Christian groups, but here are also smaller numbers of Anglicans, Baptists, evangelicals, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and African independent churches.
Dick Matenje was a former Malawian politician and cabinet minister. He was the secretary-general of the Malawi Congress Party. He was one of the 'Mwanza Four' who mysteriously died during the Kamuzu Banda regime.
Twaibumohamedi John Twaibu Sangala was a Malawian cabinet Minister and one of the Mwanza four. He was from Dedza district Traditional Authority Tambala. The function was organised by the then ruling party UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT (UDF) under the leadership of Bakili Muluzi, the first democratically elected president in Malawi He was the Minister of Health for Malawi. He died in a mysterious death on 18th May 1983 together with two other cabinet ministers Aaron Gadama and Dick Matenje– and Member of Parliament David Chiwanga. Their deaths were ruled as a 'traffic accident' by the Kamuzu Banda regime.
Aaron Eliot Gadama was a former Malawian cabinet Minister and one of the 'Mwanza Four'. He was born in Kasungu District and is thought to be a relative of President Kamuzu Banda.
References
- ↑ Posner, Daniel N. (1995). "Malawi's New Dawn". Journal of Democracy. 6 (1): 131–145. doi:10.1353/jod.1995.0017. S2CID 154030545.
- ↑ Carver, Richard (1990). Where Silence Rules: The Suppression of Dissent in Malawi. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 978-0-929692-73-9.
- ↑ "MALAWI NEWS ONLINE #34". The Africa Center. 1997-09-19. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ↑ "Director of Public Prosecution v Banda (Kamuzu) and Others (MSCA Criminal Appeal No. 21 of 1995)". Malawi Legal Information Institute. 1997-07-30. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ↑ "In The Malawi Supreme Court Of Appeal". Malawi Sustainable Development Network Programme. 2004-10-27. Retrieved 2019-10-18.