Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966,when Malawi was a Dominion / Commonwealth realm). In 1966,the country became a republic and he became the first president as a result,ruling until his defeat in 1994.
Elson Bakili Muluzi is a Malawian politician who was President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Malawi's president. He also served in Banda's cabinet as minister without portfolio,before retiring in 1980.
The music of Malawi has historically been influenced by its triple cultural heritage of British,African,and American music. Malawians,known for their history as travelers and migrant workers,have contributed to the spread of their music across the African continent,blending it with various musical forms. A significant factor in this musical amalgamation was World War II,during which soldiers transported music to distant lands and brought it back,leading to the popularity of guitar and banjo duos as dance bands by the war's end. Both instruments were imported. Additionally,Malawians working in mines in South Africa and Mozambique influenced the fusion of music styles,giving rise to genres such as Kwela.
General elections were held in Malawi on 20 May 2004 to elect a President and the National Assembly. The election had originally been scheduled for 18 May but was postponed for two days in response to opposition complaints of irregularities in the voter roll. By 22 May no results had been announced,leading to protests from the opposition and threats of disorder. On 25 May the Malawi Electoral Commission finally announced the results of the election. Bingu wa Mutharika,the candidate of the ruling United Democratic Front,was declared the winner of the presidential poll,whilst the Malawi Congress Party had won most seats in the National Assembly vote. Voter turnout was around 62%.
Brown James Mpinganjira,popularly known as BJ is a Malawian Politician who used his 1986 detention to fight the injustices of the then one party state. He worked with others in prison and used their time to devise ways on how to change the direction of Malawi's political state.
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.
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo was 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 was 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.
Gwandaguluwe "Gwanda" Chakuamba Phiri was a Malawian politician who was the leader of the New Republican Party (NRP). He hailed from Nsanje,a district on the southern part of Malawi. Gwanda Chakuamba attended Zomba Catholic Secondary School,a 2 year metriculation at Sulosi College in Bulawayo Zimbabwe before proceeding to the US to study law though not much is known about whether he did a degree program or a short course.
Zimani David Kadzamira is a Malawian academic,civil servant and diplomat. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malawi until 2009.
Justin Chimera Malewezi was a Malawian politician and a Member of Parliament for Ntchisi North in the Central Region of Malawi. He was Vice-President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. Malewezi quit the United Democratic Front in 2004 and eventually represented the People's Progressive Movement in the 2004 general election,in which he garnered 2.5% of the total national vote.
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.
The Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP) were the paramilitary wing of the Malawi Congress Party. Their Commander-in-Chief was President Hastings Kamuzu Banda. They originally were supposed to function as a national youth service program with a development agenda. However,over time,they strayed away from this mission and became an intricate network of espionage and repression. The Young Pioneers organization was a major instrument of Dr Banda's one-party totalitarian dictatorship and domestic terrorism. Pioneers bore arms,conducted espionage and intelligence operations,and were Banda's most trusted bodyguards around Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Both the Malawi Army and Police resented the Pioneers for usurping their roles as security agents.
Nancy Gladys Tembo is a Malawian politician and serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Malawi Government since 2022. She is also a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Lilongwe City South West constituency in the National Assembly of the Republic of Malawi.
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.
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.
The Order of the Lion was,at one point,the highest state order,and the second highest honour bestowed by the government of Malawi.
Maximiano Mcwilliam Lunguzi was an Inspector General of Police in Malawi. He was removed from his post by President Bakili Muluzi and reassigned as a diplomat without an explanation in a move that was challenged by the court and ruled unconstitutional. He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder together with John Tembo,Cecilia Kadzamira but was acquitted.
