By Lost History Foundation
On this day, 20 March 1992, a three day conference on Prospects for Democracy in Malawi began at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka. At this historic gathering, Chakufwa Chihana delivered a powerful keynote address.
However, his bold stance came at a cost. Upon his return to Malawi on April 6, 1992, he was arrested at Kamuzu International Airport by the police on charges of sedition.
During interrogation by the police, Chihana recorded a statement explaining why he had remained steadfast in the struggle for democracy since the colonial era and why he ultimately took a stand against Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the government since the early 1960s.
Below are excerpts from his statement to the police. The excerpts offer a glimpse into the convictions that fueled his fight for political transformation in Malawi.
1. It was in the year 1960 when Dr Kamuzu Banda was released from Prison, that he told the steering committee of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) that he was going to appoint members of the committee with which he was going to work.
2. It was that time that I told the steering committee that we should not do like the colonial policies of appointing people instead of electing them. The only support I received was from Pemba Ndovi who was summarily dismissed from MCP by Dr Kamuzu Banda.
3. For me, this was a sad beginning which I thought Malawi would live to regret over the policy directions the MCP was taking. And I still believe that was the beginning of authoritarianism. While this was the situation in MCP, I still remained in the party and remained loyal.
4. My view was that when we got to Nkhotakota for the first MCP convention, leaders would be elected and policies of the party would be made clearly; channels of communication would be transparent and that the leadership would be accountable to the people and not people accountable to the leadership.
5. Unfortunately, at this convention there was a list of names that were to constitute the Executive Committee of MCP which was presented to the convention. The second list presented to the convention was the provincial committees, the old ones were dismissed and the new ones were appointed. This is what brought me to total disappointment because the MCP had departed from normal democratic values to undemocratic and authoritarian ways, in which the nominees so appointed were imposed on the will of the people.
6. And for me who had sacrificed a lot to get rid of the colonial government, I thought we were headed for dictatorship and consequently a split that would lead to bloodshed. I thought my struggle at my prime age with other Malawians was in vain. Then I withdrew as a member of MCP without malice at all.
7. In the year 1961, came nominations for the Member of Parliament. At that again, at Zomba Community Hall ground, a list of candidates for the Member of Parliament was read and this led to my continued disappointment. As a result, there were many problems all over the country since Members of Parliament were imposed on the people.
8. Violence was introduced by MCP from 1960s as a result there has been no constructive and open debate either inside the Executive Committee of MCP or any other forum. The situation was that if you acted against the MCP they would call you a traitor. And this culture of political violence has spilled over, even eroded the instruments of justice.
9. From the year 1962, when I was expelled from the party, I did not say anything against the party. Now in the same year, at ITG in Limbe, there was a strike because there was a demand for higher wages and for good conditions of service. The problem of a strike had angered MCP. As a result, a meeting of MCP was called. The meeting was chaired by Orton Chirwa since the Life President of MCP Dr Kamuzu Banda was not there. They called me at the meeting as Secretary General for the Trade Union and read to me the expulsion letter from MCP. That was beginning of the four corner stones.
10. However, I continued with my Trade Union until 1964 when someone asked me to leave Blantyre for my home in Rumphi for reasons of my safety. While on my way home, I was attacked in Nkhatabay by a gang of MCP members and I was later taken to Mzuzu for hospital treatment. After two weeks of treatment, I went home and the left the country to Kenya for further treatment in Nairobi. This is what made me have concerns about MCP and the government, but I did not have the forum.
11. Speaking about the conference in Lusaka, Zambia, I was invited to attend the conference which was based on the prospects for democracy. In this situation, I was asked to prepare the key note address for the conference which I did. The key note address was meant to be scholarly, but all the same, it contained what has been my worry since the 1960s about MCP and the government. This is the conference which was held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Lusaka.
12. Besides my keynote address I am in total agreement with the pastoral letter which was written by the Malawians bishops. This is why I mentioned it in my key note address. This whole conference was organized by the Southern African Institute of Policy Studies. Besides the members shown on the list of those who attended the conference, the majority of the people came up to attend the conference uninvited. Of course, one of such people was Dr. Harry Bwanausi and many other that I could not identify.
13. After the conference, I talked to the press in order to publicize the need to a constitutional change to multi-party democracy in Malawi. The keynote address and all the press statements were made in order to demand peaceful change to multiparty democracy.
14. On 6th April 1992, on arrival at Kamuzu International Airport, I had with me several copies of the statement that I wanted to distribute to many people at the Airport. This statement entitled Address by Chakufwa Chihana on the Return to Malawi on 6th April 1992 at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.
15. To say about the Draft Resolutions of the conference on the prospects for democracy in Malawi, I have to admit that the document was found with me at the time of my arrest, but I must say that this document was discarded by the members of the conference and it is not effective, as far as our meeting was concerned.
TO BE CONTINUED…#Lost History Foundation.
