June 2, 2013

June 2, 2013

Today we visited the mausoleum of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda.  We had the privilege of viewing the museum with a tour guide as well as Dr. Vokhiwa’s sister who designed the landscape for the mausoleum.  After learning about this man at the mausoleum and later talking about Dr. Vokhiwa’s life under the rule of President Banda, I wanted to know more

            He was a controversial president who was also loved by the people.  He worked his way up from being a smart boy to president of his country.  He studied and worked abroad, led Malawi to independence, and created Malawi out of Nyasaland.  He also had whims like forbidding women to wear pants, ordering that his picture be present in offices but never lower than a clock, and threw his opponents in the Shire river to be eaten by crocodiles.

This is part of his speech he gave when he returned to his country to help with the resistance.

Banda always carried a fly-wisk as a symbol of authority and was know as the lion of Africa.  This is a picture of a pot at his mausoleum. 

Below is a brief synopsis of his life taken from Wikipedia.

Early life

Kamuzu Banda was born near Kasungu in Malawi (then British Central Africa) to Mphonongo Banda and Akupingamnyama Phiri. His date of birth is unknown, as it took place when there was no birth registration. A biographer, Philip Short, gives February 1898 as the most likely date. His official birthday was 14 May 1906, and this date is documented in some biographical accounts.

The name Kamuzu means "a little root" and was given to him because he was conceived after his mother had been given root herbs by a medicine man to cure infertility.[2] His surname, Banda means "a small hut". He took the Christian name of Hastings after being baptised into the Church of Scotland, naming himself after John Hastings, a Scottish missionary working near his village whom he admired. The prefix doctor was earned through his education.[2]

Around 1915–16, Banda left home on foot with Hanock Msokera Phiri, an uncle who had been a teacher at the nearby Livingstonia mission school, for Hartley, Southern Rhodesia (now Chegutu, Zimbabwe). In 1917, he left on foot for Johannesburg in South Africa. He worked at the Witwatersrand Deep Mine on the Transvaal Reef for several years. During this time, he met Bishop W. T. Vernon of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), who offered to pay his tuition fee at a Methodist school in the United States if he could pay his own passage.[2] In 1925, he left for New York.

Life abroad (1925–1958)

United States

Banda studied in the high school section of Wilberforce Institute, an African American AME college now known as Central State University, in Wilberforce, Ohio, and graduated in 1928. With his financial support now ended, Banda earned some money on speaking engagements arranged by the Ghanaian educationalist Kweyir Aggrey, whom he had met in South Africa.

Speaking at a Kiwanis club meeting, he met Dr. Herald, with whose help he enrolled as a premedical student at Indiana University, where he lodged with Mrs. W.N. Culmer. At Bloomington, he wrote several essays about his native Chewa tribe for the folklorist Stith Thompson, who introduced him to Edward Sapir, an anthropologist at the University of Chicago, to which, after four semesters, he transferred.

During his period there, he collaborated with the anthropologist and linguist Mark Hanna Watkins, providing information on Chewa culture. In Chicago, he lodged with an African-American, Corinna Saunders. He majored in history, graduating with a B. Phil. in 1931. During this time, he enjoyed financial support from Mrs. Smith, whose husband, Douglas Smith, had made fortunes from patent medicines and Pepsodent toothpaste and as a member of the Eastman Kodak board. He then, still with financial support from these and other benefactors (including Dr. Walter B. Stephenson of the Delta Electric Company), studied medicine at Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1937.

United Kingdom

To practice medicine in territories of the British Empire, however, he was required to get a second medical degree; he attended the University of Edinburgh. His studies were funded by stipends of 300 pounds per year from the government of Nyasaland (to facilitate his return there as a doctor) and from the Scottish Presbyterian Kirk; neither of these benefactors was aware of the other. (There are conflicting accounts of this.) He enrolled for courses in tropical diseases in Liverpool, the Nyasaland government terminated his stipend. He was forced to leave Liverpool when he refused on conscientious grounds to be conscripted as an Army doctor. He also became an elder of the Church of Scotland.

Between 1941 and 1945, he worked as a doctor in London. 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. With help from sympathetic British, he also lobbied in London on their behalf.

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and move to Ghana

Banda was actively opposed to the efforts of Sir Roy Welensky, a politician in Northern 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. The (as he famously called it) "stupid" federation was formed in 1953.

It was rumored with some excitement that he would return to Nyasaland in 1951, but he moved instead to the Gold Coast in West Africa. 

Call to return home

Several influential Congress leaders, including Henry Chipembere, Kanyama Chiume, Dunduzu Chisiza and T.D.T. Banda (no relation) pleaded with him to return to Nyasaland to take up leadership of their cause. A delegation sent to London met with Dr. Banda at the Port of Liverpool where he was making arrangements to return to Ghana. He agreed to return, but asked for some time to sort out a few private matters, probably seeking to clear his political name after the Mrs. French debacle. The delegation returned without him and proceeded to make arrangements for his imminent return. After two false starts, including a fracas between the police and African crowds threatening to storm a BOAC airplane rumored to be carrying Dr. Banda at Chileka Airport, Banda finally made a showing on 6 July 1958 after an absence of about 42 years. In August, at Nkata Bay, he was acclaimed as the leader of the Congress.

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. (Allegedly, he was so out of practice in his native Chichewa that he needed an interpreter, a role which was apparently performed by John Msonthi and later by John Tembo, who remained close to him for most of his career). He was received enthusiastically wherever he spoke, and resistance to imperialism among the Malawians became increasingly common. By February 1959, the situation had become serious enough that Rhodesian troops were flown in to help keep order, and a state of emergency was declared. On 3 March, 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.

Release from prison and path to independence

The mood in Britain, meanwhile, had long been moving toward decolonization due to pressure from its colonies. Banda was released from prison in April 1960 and was almost immediately invited to London for talks aimed at bringing about independence. Elections were held in August 1961. 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 1 February 1963. He and his fellow MCP ministers quickly expanded secondary education, reformed the so-called Native Courts, ended certain colonial agricultural tariffs and made other reforms. In December 1962, R. A. Butler, British Secretary of State for African Affairs, essentially agreed to end the Federation.

 On 6 July 1964, exactly six years after Banda's return to the country, Nyasaland became the independent Commonwealth of Malawi.

President of Malawi

New constitution and consolidation of power

Malawi adopted a new constitution on 6 July 1966, in which the country was declared a republic. Banda was elected the country's first president for a five-year term; he was the only candidate. The new document granted Banda wide executive and legislative powers, and also formally made the MCP the only legal party. However, the country had already been a de facto one-party state since independence. 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 "chief of chiefs" (more literally, "great lion", or, some would say, "conqueror") in Chicheŵa.

Banda was mostly viewed externally as a benign, albeit eccentric, leader, an image fostered by his English-style three-piece suits, matching handkerchiefs, walking stick and fly-whisk. He also spoke no Chichewa, and relied on a translator, John Msonthi.  In June 1967, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Massachusetts with the encomium " ... pediatrician to his infant nation".

Life in Banda's Malawi

Cult of personality

Banda was the subject of a very pervasive cult of personality. Every business building was required to have an official picture of him hanging on the wall, and no poster, clock or picture could be higher than his portrait. 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. A special cloth, bearing the president’s picture, was the required attire for these performances. Churches had to be government sanctioned.

Dress code and conservatism

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. For example, women were not allowed to bare their thighs or to wear trousers. Banda argued that the dress code was not instilled to oppress women but to encourage honor and respect for them. For men, long hair and beards were banned as a sign of dissent. Men could be seized and forced to have a haircut at the discretion of border officials or police. Kissing in public was not allowed, nor were movies that contained depictions of kissing.

Even foreigners coming into Malawi were subject to Banda's dress code. In the 1970s, prospective visitors to the country were informed of the following requirement for obtaining visas:

Female passengers will not be permitted to enter the country if wearing short dresses or trouser-suits, except in transit or at Lake Holiday resorts or National parks. Skirts and dresses must cover the knees to conform with Government regulations. The entry of 'hippies' and men with long hair and flared trousers is forbidden.

Women's issues

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. This institution motivated women to excel in education and government and encouraged them to play more active roles in their community, church and family. The foundation's National Advisor was Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira, the official hostess for the former president.

Infrastructure

In 1964, after serving as a government minister in the colonial administration, Banda adopted a macroeconomic policy aimed at accelerating economic development for the betterment of Malawians. He settled on the Rostow model of "catch up" economics, wherein Malawi would vigorously pursue import substitution industrialization (ISI). This entailed both a quest for "self-sufficiency" for Malawi — becoming less reliant on its former colonial master — and growth of an industrial base that could ensure Malawi was capable of producing its own goods and services. Such capacity would then be used to catch up and even overtake the West. An infrastructure development program was initiated under the Development Policies (DEVPOLs) documents that Malawi adopted from 1964 onwards. The country's infrastructure benefited through massive road construction programs. With the decision to shift the capital city from Zomba to Lilongwe (against vociferous objections from the British preference for the economically healthy and well-developed Blantyre), a new road was built linking Blantyre and Zomba to Lilongwe. The Capital City Development Corporation (CCDC) in Lilongwe was itself a beehive of infrastructure development, supported by planning and funds from apartheid-era South Africa. The British refused to finance the move to Lilongwe. The CCDC became the sole development agent for Lilongwe; putting up roads, the government seat at Capital Hill, etc. Other infrastructure entities were added, such as Malawi Hotels Limited, which undertook massive projects such as the Mount Soche, Capital Hotel and Mzuzu Hotel. On the industrial side, Malawi Development Corporation (MDC) was tasked with setting up industries and other businesses. Meanwhile, Dr. Banda's own Press Corporation Limited and MYP's Spearhead Corporation embarked on business initiatives that lead to an economic boom during the mid- to late 1970s.

However, by 1979/80, the bubble had burst due to the global economic crisis set in motion by the Yom Kippur War between Israel and the Arabs in 1973. Rising oil prices and falling global commodity prices combined to wreak havoc on a fragile and landlocked Malawian economy based on an insular and indefensible ISI macroeconomic strategy. Increasingly, the economy was rearranged into a political tool to serve the consumption needs of the emerging Malawian middle-class and thus render it less prone to revolution.

Banda personally founded Kamuzu Academy, a school modelled on Eton, at which Malawian children were taught Latin and Ancient Greek by expatriate classics teachers, and disciplined if they were caught speaking Chichewa. Many of the school’s alumni have assumed leadership roles in medicine, academia and business in Malawi and abroad. The school remains one of Dr Banda's most lasting legacies. It is claimed, probably incorrectly and unfairly, that Dr Banda spent almost all the country's education budget on this project,[8] while increasingly ignoring the needs and welfare of the greater majority [80%] of Malawians toiling in the rural areas. The National Rural Development Program and Rural Growth Centers were tentative and belated policies aimed at diverting rural populations from moving to the few urban areas which Dr. Banda's ISI macroeconomic policies had created and were now being battered by the arrival of more and more rural people seeking better opportunities.

Eventually, with the collapse of the Cold War, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund arrived, imposing a series of Structural Adjustment Programs from 1987.

Wealth

It is believed that during his rule, Banda accumulated at least US$320 million in personal assets, thought to be invested in everything from agriculture to mining interests in South Africa. The most controversial part of this is the suspicion that his two grandchildren, who currently reside in the US and South Africa, are the heirs to the Banda fortune. One of the grandchildren graduated from law school and left for the US, while the other remains in South Africa.

Foreign policy

Relations with African countries

While many southern African nations traded with apartheid-era South Africa out of economic necessity, Malawi was the only African nation that recognized South Africa and established diplomatic relations with it, including a trade treaty which angered other African leaders. They threatened to expel Malawi from the Organization of African Unity until Banda left power. Banda responded by accusing other African countries of hypocrisy, saying in a public speech to his parliament "There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats" (Julius Caesar). He told them to concentrate on convincing the South African government that apartheid was unnecessary. Furthermore, he added that "[African leaders] practice disunity, not unity, while posing as the liberators of Africa. While they play in the orchestra of Pan Africanism, their own Romes are burning". He became only partially rehabilitated in the eyes of other African leaders after the demise of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Political demise

The transition toward democracy in Malawi began in the early 1990s when international aid donors demanded that Banda implement reforms aimed at making his government transparent and accountable to the people and the international community as a condition for aid. The British government also stopped their financial support. This opened up the country to democratic multiparty politics. In March 1992, Catholic bishops in Malawi issued a Lenten pastoral letter that criticized Banda and his government. Students of the University of Malawi at Chancellor College and the Polytechnic joined protests and demonstrations to support the bishops, forcing authorities to close the campuses. In April 1992, Chakufwa Chihana, a labour unionist, openly called for a national referendum on the political future of Malawi. He was arrested before he finished his speech at Lilongwe International Airport. In May, labor riots in the city of Blantyre turned political with demands that Banda give up power.

By October 1992, this mounting pressure from within and from the international community forced Banda to concede to hold a referendum on whether to maintain the one-party state. The referendum was held on 14 June 1993, resulting in an overwhelming vote (64 percent) in favor of multiparty democracy. After this, political parties besides the MCP were formed and preparation for the general elections began. Banda worked with the newly forming parties and the church, and made no protest when a special assembly stripped him of his title of President for Life, along with most of his powers. The transition from a rigid authoritarian regime to democracy was fairly peaceful.

After some questions about his health, Banda ran in Malawi's first truly democratic presidential election in 1994. He was roundly defeated by Bakili Muluzi, a Yao from the southern region of the country, whose two terms in office were not without serious controversy.

The party Banda led since taking over from Orton Chirwa in 1960, the Malawi Congress Party, remains a major force in Malawian politics.

Death

Banda died in a hospital in South Africa on 15 November 1997, reportedly age 101. Although buried with pomp, in the decade after his death, there were calls for a more substantial memorial for the country's first president. Construction of a mausoleum with provision for a library and a dancing arena was begun in 2005.