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.
Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the prime minister and later president of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. In 1966, the country became a republic and he became president. His rule has been characterized as a "highly repressive autocracy."
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo is a Malawian politician who served for years as President of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Tembo comes from the Dedza District in central Malawi, and he is a teacher by profession. Beginning in the 1960s he was an important politician in Malawi, and he was a key figure in the regime of Hastings Banda (1964–1994). He has been variously described as "physically slight, ascetic, fastidious" and "cunning". He was replaced as President of the MCP in August 2013.
Attati Mpakati was a Malawian dissident and - following the death of Yatuta Chisiza - leader of the Socialist League of Malawi (LESOMA) from 1975 until his death. He was killed by a letter bomb while in exile in Zimbabwe. It is widely suspected that the parcel was sent by agents of President Hastings Banda of Malawi.
Yatuta Chisiza was a Malawi minister of home affairs who led a brief guerrilla incursion into the country in October 1967.
Kanyama Chiume, born Murray William Kanyama Chiume, was a leading nationalist in the struggle for Malawi's independence in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also one of the leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress and served as the Minister of Education and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the 1960s before fleeing the country after the 1964 Cabinet Crisis.
Rodwell Thomas Changara Munyenyembe was a Malawian politician who served twice as Speaker of the National Assembly, from 1994 to 1999 and again from 2004 until his death. He also twice served as a cabinet minister, in the governments of Hastings Banda and Bakili Muluzi. He worked as a teacher prior to entering politics.
Dunduzu Kaluli Chisiza (8 August 1930 – 2 September 1962), also known as Gladstone Chisiza, was an African nationalist who was active in the independence movements in Rhodesia and Nyasaland, respectively present-day Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Henry Masauko Blasius Chipembere was a Malawian nationalist politician who played a significant role in bringing independence from colonial rule to his native country, formerly known as Nyasaland. From an early age Chipembere was a strong believer in natural justice and, on his return in 1954 from university in South Africa, he joined his country's independence struggle as a nationalist strategist and spokesman. In 1957, considering that the independence movement need such a strong leader similar to Kwame Nkrumah, and considering himself too young for this task, he joined with other young nationalists in inviting Hastings Kamuzu Banda to return to Nyasaland as the movement's leader.
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.
Mahoma Mwaungulu was a Pan African politician. He was one of the major leaders in the German-African community before and after the reunification of Germany.
Rose Lomathinda Chibambo was a prominent politician in the British Protectorate of Nyasaland in the years leading up to independence as the state of Malawi in 1964, and immediately after.
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.
Nicholas Dausi is a Malawian politician. He served the Hastings Banda government in "several capacities" as a collaborator of Banda. Dausi was "accused of withholding information on atrocities committed during the dictatorship", after he himself publicly stated that he had evidence which could help in successfully convicting those who were accused of committing various atrocities during Dr. Banda's rule; but was freed on bail. He has also served as publicist and Vice President of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). He was Deputy Minister for Presidential Affairs in 2010.
The 2012 Malawian constitutional crisis occurred from April 5, 2012 - April 7, 2012 after senior members of the Democratic Progressive Party-led cabinet failed to notify the public of the death of the sitting president, Bingu wa Mutharika on April 5. Instead, cabinet ministers held a series of meetings in Lilongwe, Malawi without vice-president Joyce Banda with the aim of undermining the constitution and Banda's succession to Presidency. News confirming his death had, however, quickly spread across the country through word of mouth, cellphone text messages, Malawian bloggers, Twitter, Facebook, and on listservs by the end of the day on April 5, 2012. Therefore, the failure to announce his death resulted in speculation over the real health of the president and over whether the succession procedures would be followed as outlined in the constitution. According to the constitution, the vice-president takes over but there had been no official word on a successor or communication with the vice-president. Amidst growing speculation, the Cabinet announced that the president's brother, Peter Mutharika, the foreign minister, was the new President of the party on April 6. The Cabinet only announced his death two days after his death, after which Banda became Malawi's first female President.
The cabinet crisis of 1964 in Malawi occurred in August and September 1964 shortly after independence when, after an unresolved confrontation between the Prime Minister, Hastings Banda and the cabinet ministers present on 26 August 1964, three ministers and a parliamentary secretary were dismissed on 7 September. These dismissals were followed by the resignations of three more cabinet ministers and another parliamentary secretary, in sympathy with those dismissed. Initially, this only left the President and one other minister in post, although one of those who had resigned rescinded his resignation within a few hours. The reasons that the ex-ministers put forward for the confrontation and subsequent resignations were the autocratic attitude of Banda, who failed to consult other ministers and kept power in his own hands, his insistence on maintaining diplomatic relations with South Africa and Portugal and a number of domestic austerity measures. It is unclear whether the former ministers intended to remove Banda entirely, to reduce his role to that of a non-executive figurehead or simply to force him to recognise collective cabinet responsibility. Banda seized the initiative, firstly, by dismissing some of the dissidents rather than negotiating, and secondly, by holding a debate on a motion of confidence on 8 and 9 September 1964. As the result of the debate was an overwhelming vote of confidence, Banda declined to reinstate any of the ministers or offer them any other posts, despite the urging of the Governor-General to compromise. After some unrest, and clashes between supporters of the ex-ministers and of Banda, most of the former left Malawi in October with their families and leading supporters, for Zambia or Tanzania. One ex-minister, Henry Chipembere went into hiding inside Malawi and, in February 1965 led a small, unsuccessful armed uprising. After its failure, he was able to arrange for his transfer to the USA. Another ex-minister, Yatuta Chisiza, organised an even smaller incursion from Mozambique in 1967, in which he was killed. Several of the former ministers died in exile or, in the case of Orton Chirwa in a Malawian jail, but some survived to return to Malawi after Banda was deposed and to return to public life.
Augustine Bwanausi was born in Malawi, then called Nyasaland, in 1930 and trained as a science teacher, but was also politically active in the Nyasaland African Congress, campaigning for the end of colonial rule. In March 1959, a State of Emergency was declared, and Bwanausi was arrested as a leading Congress member and detained until 1960. On his release, he joined the Malawi Congress Party and in 1961 was elected to the Legislative Council, becoming Minister of Internal Affairs and Development in the same year. In 1963, he became Minister of Works. In 1964, there was a confrontation between Banda and most of his ministers, which led to the sacking of Bwanausi and two of his cabinet colleagues in September 1964. Three other cabinet ministers resigned in sympathy, and although Banda was willingness to re-instate Bwanausi and one or two other ministers, their insistence on all be reinstated ended any hope of a reconciliation. In October 1964, Bwanausi left Malawi for Zambia, where he resumed teaching, and was active in Malawian exile politics until his death in a car accident in 1973.
Willie Chokani, who was born in Malawi, then called Nyasaland, in 1930, and had a variety of careers; as a teacher, a politician and a diplomat. He has also spent time in prison and was exiled from Malawi for almost 30 years after a confrontation with Hastings Banda, the first Prime Minister of the independent Malawi, in 1964. Chokani received a secondary education, which enabled him to attend university in Delhi and obtain teaching qualifications. He returned to Nyasaland in 1957 to become the first African headmaster in the protectorate, and was also politically active in the Nyasaland African Congress, campaigning for the end of colonial rule. In March 1959, a State of emergency was declared, and Chokani was arrested as a leading Congress member and detained until 1960. On his release, he joined the Malawi Congress Party and in 1961 was elected to the Legislative Council, becoming Minister of Labour in 1962. In 1964, there was a confrontation between Banda and most of his ministers, which led to the sacking of three cabinet members in September 1964. Chokani and two other cabinet ministers resigned in sympathy, and although Banda was willingness to re-instate Chokani and one or two other ministers, their insistence on all be reinstated ended any hope of a reconciliation. Chokani left Malawi for Zambia, where he resumed teaching, and was active in Malawian exile politics. He returned to Malawi in 1993, and in 1994 became Malawi's ambassador to the USA, later holding other diplomatic posts until his retirement. .
Albert Andrew Muwalo Gandale Nqumayo was a prominent politician in Malawi from the 1960s until he was sacked in 1976 and was executed in 1977. He entered politics in the mid 1950s through involvement in a hospital worker's trade union and membership of the Nyasaland African Congress, where his activities led to his detention without trial during the 1959 State of Emergency in Nyasaland. After his release, he joined the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), and became locally prominent in Ntcheu District as district MCP chairman and from 1962 as Member of Parliament for Ntcheu South. In 1963, he became Administrative Secretary of the MCP, and he was a prominent supporter of the then-Prime Minister, Hastings Banda during the Cabinet Crisis of 1964. Muwalo was rewarded for his loyalty with the cabinet post of Minister of Information in 1964, and in 1966 he became Minister of State in the President's Office. His close contact with Banda, both as minister in Banda's office and in the MCP gave him great power and, during the first half of the 1970s he and his relative, the Head of the Police Special Branch Focus Gwede, were heavily involved in the political repression of actual or suspected opponents of the Banda regime. In 1976 he and Gwede were arrested: the reasons for their arrests were unclear, but may have resulted from a power struggle among those around the ageing president or simply because he became too powerful and may have been seen by Banda as a threat. In 1977, the two were tried before a Traditional Court and after a trial whose fairness was in serious doubt, were both sentenced to death. Gwede was reprieved, but Muwalo was hanged on 3 September 1977.
