Thread by @RangaMberi

Thread on Dr Kamuzu Banda, apartheid and African nationalism.
Here, arriving at Waterkloof in SA, 1971. He disagreed with other African leaders on isolating apartheid SA.

While touring SA, Kamuzu spoke to Malawian migrants working in the mines there. Told them he defied other African leaders on relations with South Africa.
(Amused at the applause mid-statement - before he got to his point)

While other newly independent countries went for nationalisation, Kamuzu went his own way on economic policy. Kept white money in place, even asked SA for money to build the new capital, Lilongwe

Under Kamuzu, Malawi was a tourist haven for white South Africans, white Rhodies.

Kamuzu Banda explaining his refusal to isolate apartheid South Africa

Dr Kamuzu Banda and Orton Chirwa, one of the founding leaders of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), were once jailed here in “Southern Rhodesia” for pushing against British rule. Kamuzu was held at Gwelo (Gweru) Prison and Orton was at Khami Prison

Orton Chirwa was Malawi's first black barrister. He and other young leaders (including journo Aleke Banda) in 1958 took the fateful decision to invite Kamuzu Banda, then in Ghana, to return to Malawi to lead MCP. They figured Banda, then aged around 60, would add some gravitas

At independence in 1964, Orton Chirwa became Attorney General, but fell out with Banda. He fled to Tanzania. In 1981, while visiting Zambia, he was arrested by Kamuzu’s forces and taken back to Malawi. They were tried (no lawyers). Orton and his wife, Vera, were jailed for life

Orton and Vera were held separately for 11 years. They werw allowed just one last meeting, a month before his death. It was reported that, at his death, he had become virtually deaf and blind

Vera Chirwa became Malawi’s first female lawyer in 1966. She formed the Nyasaland African Women League to support the MCP’s fight for independence. Under Banda, she spent over 11 years in jail.

Pardoned in 1993, Vera Chirwa campaigned for police and prison reforms.

When Orton Chirwa had invited Kamuzu to take over the MCP, he said: “Dr Banda is taking over a colossal organization, well disciplined and determined. There are about 300,000 paid up members. We have a Land Rover, a large staff and a bank balance of over 2,000 pounds”.

John Lwanda: “It was ironic that the man who founded the party and then voluntarily handed over the leadership to Dr Banda, and the man who would have reunited with Banda in the cause of national unity, was in the end the man who suffered the most at his ex colleague’s hand.”

Earlier this month, Lazarus Chakwera, new Malawi President, said of Chirwa: “Orton was and remains the founding father of Malawi nation because it is him who formed the MCP and invited Kamuzu Banda from England to come and lead this country. He was selfless and a true hero”

End/

“...trash about economics and social this and that...”
Kamuzu had no time to waste.