While MCP and many supporters celebrate the tin pot dictator Hasting Kamuzu Banda, we felt many of us who are full of nostalgia about those days should be reminded how cruel the little man was. We have reproduced the article that appeared in the New York Times on June of 1983 after the senseless murders of Gadama and Matenje. If we are going to celebrate lets also honour those that suffered at the hands of the MCP.
June 5, 1983 — Two Cabinet ministers have fled from Malawi to Zimbabwe and four people were killed trying to leave the country in a power struggle over who is to succeed the aging President for Life, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, exile sources said today.
The exiles, in Lusaka, Zambia, said in a telephone interview that at least 10 political leaders had been killed at Dr. Banda’s orders and that nearly 60 army officers were missing or presumed dead after apparently backing the ruling Malawi Congress Party’s secretary, Dick Matenje, in the power struggle.
They said it was not immediately possible to verify the identity of the Cabinet ministers who fled Malawi, the former East African British protectorate of Nyasaland, which gained independence in 1964.
Mr. Matenje, Central Region Minister Aaron Gadama, former Health Minister John Sangala and a former legislator, David Chiwanga, were shot to death by policemen at Port Nacala as they attempted to cross into Mozambique, which is between Malawi and Zimbabwe, the sources reported. They did not say when this occurred. A Car Accident, Malawi Says
In a statement issued in Lusaka last week, the Malawian High Commission said the men had died in a car accident. Mr. Gadama had support from the Chewa tribe in the central region of landlocked Malawi and backed Mr. Matenje to succeed Dr. Banda against the President’s own choice, John Tembo, Governor of the Central Bank.
The power struggle erupted after reports of a Cabinet meeting at which President Banda, who has ruled as virtual dictator since independence, told ministers he had been ordered by his doctors to rest for a year after the elections scheduled for June 29.
Dr. Banda’s age is uncertain, but official biographies say he was born between 1902 and 1906. He is a surgeon who was trained in Scotland and the United States.
The President angered neighboring Africans in 1967 when Malawi officially recognized South Africa. Four years later, he become the nation’s President for Life and the first African head of state to visit South Africa.
Malawi has, however, refused to recognize so-called homelands designated by South Africa. ‘Obedience and Discipline’
The exile sources said that since nominating Mr. Tembo as successor, Dr. Banda has reaffirmed his own position. He told election candidates that he was Malawi’s ”only legitimate leader” and that the qualities he valued most were ”obedience and discipline.”
”The situation is, to say the least, confused,” a Western diplomat remarked. Under his rule, Dr. Banda has not permitted political opposition. In March 1979, Dr. Banda said a letter bomb had been sent on his instructions to the exiled leader of the Socialist League of Malawi, Dr. Attati Mpakati.
The following year, two Cabinet members were dropped for what was termed a breach of party discipline. In January 1982, Dr. Banda reshuffled his Cabinet and reduced the number of ministers.
The Malawi exile reports follow the assassination in Harare on March 24 of Dr. Mpakati. Two Malawians living in Harare have been charged with his murder. The Malawian Government denied involvement in the killing but exiles charge that Dr. Banda ordered it.
Source: Newyork Times
