Hastings (Kamuzu) Banda - Early life, Life abroad (1925 - 58), Return to his homeland, Dictator of Malawi

Malawi statesman, prime minister (1963–6) and first president (1966–94), born in Kasungu, WC Malawi. He studied medicine in the USA and in Britain. His opposition to the Central African Federation caused him to give up his successful London practice (1955) and return via Ghana to Nyasaland (1958). Leader of the Malawi African Congress, he was jailed in 1959, became minister of national resources (1961), then prime minister and president of the Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) Republic (1966). Made life president in 1971, he established a strong, one-party control of Malawi, but following growing opposition he was defeated in a referendum for multi-party democracy in 1993, and was defeated in the 1994 elections.

Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1896? – November 25, 1997) was the longtime dictator of Malawi, from 1964 to 1994.

Early life

Banda was born near Kasungu in Malawi (then Nyasaland). His date of birth is unknown, and as it took place at a time when there was no birth registration, it is impossible to state a precise year. 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 in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) and then, in 1917 and again on foot, to Johannesburg in South Africa.

Life abroad (1925 - 58)

Banda studied in the high school section of Wilberforce Institute (now Central State University) in Wilberforce, Ohio and graduated in 1928.

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. He 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. Banda (no relation) pleaded with him to return to Nyasaland to take up leadership of their cause, and in June 1958 he did eventually return home after an absence of about 42 years.

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. He was received enthusiastically wherever he spoke, and belligerence among the Malawians became increasingly common. On March 3rd, 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.

The mood in Britain, meanwhile, had long been moving toward relinquishing the colonies. Banda was released from prison in April 1960 and was almost immediately invited to London for talks aimed at bringing about independence. 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. 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.

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".

Dictator of Malawi

Barely a month after independence, Malawi suffered a cabinet crisis. Several of Banda's ministers presented him with proposals designed to limit his powers. Banda responded by dismissing four of the ministers, and two others resigned in sympathy. Banda became the first President of Malawi on July 6, 1966. 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 "great lion" in Chicheŵa.

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. Within Malawi, views on him ranged from a cult-like devotion to fear. Banda (and his acolytes in later years as he became senile) was known to have run a repressive police state where no dissent was tolerated.

Banda's government was rigidly authoritarian, even by African standards of the time. 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. All movies shown in theaters were first viewed by the Malawi Censorship Board and edited for content.

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. Banda argued that the dress code was not instilled to oppress women but to encourage honour and respect for them. Banda also allegedly persecuted some of the northern tribes (particularly the Tumbuka), banning their language and books as well as teachers from certain tribes.

All adult citizens were required to be members of the MCP. The cards were sold, often by Banda's Malawi Youth Pioneers.

Even foreigners were subjected to Banda's dress code. In the 1980s, prospective visitors to the country were met with the following requirement for obtaining visas:

Nonetheless, 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.

Banda did much for the country's infrastructure. This included the establishment of major roads, airports, hospitals and schools in Malawi.

During Banda's rule, it is believed that he accumulated at least US$320 million in personal assets. He was also the only African ruler to establish diplomatic ties with South Africa during apartheid and only became partially rehabilitated in the eyes of other African leaders after the demise of the apartheid regime in South Africa (many southern African nations traded with South Africa, on which they were economically dependent, but Malawi was the only African nation that recognized South Africa and exchanged embassies with it).

Defeated by Democracy, 1994

Banda's one-party state was dismantled by a 1993 referendum.

After some questions about his health, Banda ran in Malawi's first truly democratic election in 1994. Banda died in a hospital in South Africa in 1997, reportedly aged 101. The party he established, the Malawi Congress Party, continued after his death and remains a major force in Malawi politics.