Hastings Kamuzu Banda (15 February 1898 – 25 November 1997) was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country (then British Nyasaland) to speak against colonialism and advocate for independence. In 1963, he was formally appointed as Nyasaland’s Prime Minister, and led the country to independence as Malawi a year later.^[1] Two years later, he proclaimed Malawi a republic with himself as president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one party state under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970, the MCP made him the party’s President for Life. In 1971, he became President for Life of Malawi itself.

As a leader of the pro-Western bloc in Africa, he received support from the West during the Cold War. He generally supported women’s rights, improved the country’s infrastructure, and maintained a good educational system relative to other African countries. However, he presided over one of the most repressive regimes in Africa. He also faced scorn for maintaining full diplomatic relations with apartheid-era South Africa.

By 1993, he was facing international pressure and widespread protest. A referendum ended his one party state, and a special assembly stripped him of his title. Banda ran for president in the democratic elections which followed, but was defeated.

He died in South Africa in 1997. His legacy remains controversial, with some hailing him as a national and African hero, while others denounce him as a tyrant and one of the most corrupt leaders in Africa's entire history.

Early life[link]

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 at a time 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 as he was conceived after his mother had been given root herbs by a medicine man to cure infertility.^[2] His last name, 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 in various jobs 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)[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

United States[link]

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 one 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, Mrs. Corinna Saunders. He majored in history, graduating with a B. Phil. in 1931. During this time, he enjoyed financial support from a Mrs. Smith, whose husband, Douglas Smith, had made fortunes from patent medicines and Pepsodent toothpaste; and also from 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[link]

In order to practice medicine in territories of the British Empire, however, he was apparently required to get a second medical degree; he attended and graduated from the School of Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of the University of Edinburgh in 1941. His studies there were funded by stipends of 300 pounds per year from the government of Nyasaland (in order 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, however. He may still have been funded by Mrs. Smith). When 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 obtained the qualifications LRCP and LRCS (Edin) and LRFPS (Glas).^[2] He also became an elder of the Church of Scotland.^[2]

Between 1942 and 1945, he worked as a doctor in North Shields near Newcastle upon Tyne. He was a tenant of Mrs. Amy Walton at this time in Alma Place in North Shields and sent a Christmas card to her every year right up to her death in the late 1960s.^{[citation needed]} In 1948, he worked as a doctor in Renfrew. A resident, Bill Johnston, remembers the time when, as a lad, Dr. Banda came to his home to see his father, who had a nasty boil on the back of his neck. His father was a respected church elder in the town. Dr. Banda took a small bottle from his case, asked for some boiling water and poured some into the bottle. Emptying the water out, he quickly placed the open end on Bill’s father’s boil where of course it stuck as the steam condensed. With a cry of anguish, his father leapt to his feet and chased the doctor round and round the kitchen table with the bottle fastened to his neck. Bill was dumbfounded at hearing his father use language that he had never heard before.^{[citation needed]}

Banda originally worked at a mission for coloured seamen, before moving to a general practice in the London suburb of Harlesden. At this time, he lodged in a hotel, The Conway Court, in Paddington run by Mrs Janet Evans. Reportedly, he avoided returning to Nyasaland for fear that his new-found financial resources would be consumed by his extended family back home.

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[link]

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. He may have gone there partly because of a scandal involving his receptionist in Harlesden, Mrs. French, who became pregnant with his child. Banda was cited as co-respondent in the divorce of Major French and accused of adultery with Mrs. French. She followed Banda to West Africa, but he wanted nothing more to do with her or their child.^[2] (She died penniless in 1976.^{[citation needed]})

Call to return home[link]

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.^{[citation needed]} 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[link]

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.^[3] (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[link]

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.

It was Banda himself who chose the name "Malawi" for the former Nyasaland; he had seen it on an old French map as the name of a "Lake Maravi" in the land of the Bororos, and liked the sound and appearance of the word as "Malawi". On 6 July 1964, exactly six years after Banda's return to the country, Nyasaland became the independent Commonwealth of Malawi.

President of Malawi[link]

1964 cabinet crisis[link]

Barely a month after independence, Malawi suffered a cabinet crisis. He had already been accused of autocratic tendencies. Several of Banda's ministers presented him with proposals designed to limit his powers. Banda responded by dismissing four of the ministers. Other ministers resigned in sympathy.^[3] The dissidents fled the country.

New constitution and consolidation of power[link]

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.^[3] 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 and fly-whisk. He also spoke no Chichewa, and relied on a translator, John Msonthi.^[4] In June 1967, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Massachusetts with the encomium " ... pediatrician to his infant nation".

Within Malawi, views on him ranged from cult-like devotion to fear. While he portrayed himself as a caring headmaster to his people, his government was rigidly authoritarian, even by African standards of the time. Although the constitution guaranteed civil rights and liberties, they meant almost nothing in practice, and Malawi was essentially a police state. Mail was opened and often edited. Telephones were tapped, and calls were known to be cut off if anyone said a critical word about the government. Overt opposition was not tolerated. Banda actively encouraged the people to report those who criticized him, even if they were relatives. Opponents were often arrested, exiled (like Kanyama Chiume) or died suspiciously (like Dick Matenje or Dr. Attati Mpakati).

The Mwanza Four incident[link]

In 1983, three ministers – Dick Matenje, Twaibu Sangala, Aaron Gadama – and Member of Parliament David Chiwanga died mysteriously in what was labelled officially as a "traffic accident". Banda had invited an "internal debate on pending multiparty democracy" in Malawi. Unwittingly—-during a "cabinet meeting"--the three ministers had voiced support for the multiparty idea, effectively challenging Dr. Banda's claim to life presidency. Angered, Banda promptly "dissolved cabinet" and announced parliament would meet immediately. At the end of that sitting of parliament, everyone in the chambers was effectively stripped of their political status. The three men were then rounded up at the Zomba Parliament buildings for questioning. Chiwanga happened on them being tortured in a back room and had to be silenced too. The four men were later bundled in Matenje's Peugeot 604 and driven to Thambani in Mwanza District [west of Blantyre] where the "accident" was staged—allegedly the car had "overturned while the men had been attempting to escape into neighbouring Mozambique". Later, it was found out they had perished from tent pins hammered into their heads.^[5] Dr. Banda ordered that the caskets not be opened for a last viewing and a night burial.

Life in Banda's Malawi[link]

Party membership passcards[link]

All adult citizens were required to be members of the MCP. Party cards had to be carried at all times and presented at random police inspections. The cards were sold, often by Banda's Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP). In some cases, these youths even sold cards to unborn children.

Malawi Young Pioneers[link]

The Malawi Young Pioneers were the notorious paramilitary wing of the MCP that were used to intimidate and harass the public.^[6] The Pioneers bore arms, conducted espionage and intelligence operations, and were trusted bodyguards for Banda.^[6] They enforced the laws of Malawi and helped build a culture of fear.^[6]

Cult of personality[link]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Censorship[link]

All movies shown in theaters were first viewed by the Malawi Censorship Board and edited for content. Videotapes had to be sent to the Censorship Board to be viewed. Once edited, the movie was given a sticker stating that it was now suitable for viewing, and sent back to the owner. Items to be sold in bookstores were also edited. Pages, or parts of pages, were cut out of magazines like Newsweek and TIME. The press and radio were tightly controlled, and mainly served as outlets for government propaganda. Television was banned. Knowledge of pre-Banda history was discouraged, and many books on these subjects were burned. Banda also allegedly persecuted some of the northern tribes (particularly the Tumbuka), banning their language and books as well as teachers from certain tribes. Europeans who broke any of these rules were often "PI'ed" (declared Prohibited Immigrants and deported).

Dress code and conservatism[link]

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 honour 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 which contained depictions of kissing.

Even foreigners coming in to 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[link]

Nonetheles, 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 also motivated women to excel both 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[link]

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 various 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 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 various 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,^[7] 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[link]

It is believed that during his rule, Banda accumulated at least US$320 million in personal assets,^[8] 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[link]

Relations with African countries[link]

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.^[9] They threatened to expel Malawi from the Organization of African Unity until Banda left power.^[9] 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).^[9] 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".^[9] He became only partially rehabilitated in the eyes of other African leaders after the demise of the apartheid regime in South Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Relations with South Africa[link]

Banda was also the only African ruler to establish diplomatic ties with South Africa during apartheid as well as the Portuguese regime in Mozambique.^[3] After the cabinet crisis in 1964, Banda became increasingly isolated in African politics.^[3] On the other hand, his antipathy for Roy Welensky and the so called "stupid federation" was a smokescreen he used to reject the proposed Bangula Hydro-electric dam—proposed to be bigger than the Gezira Dam in Khartoum—that Welensky's Federation had sought and obtained funding for from the British government. Banda went on to blame everything including snails (likely to cause widespread Bilharzias) in order to abort the project. In turn, the British denied Banda the funding and budgetary support he needed to build his pet dream of a new Capital City at Lilongwe, in his home region. Hence he turned to South Africa — itself playing geo-political games in the region — which gave him a soft loan of 300 million rand. The quid pro quo was that Banda had to support South Africa's apartheid policies among fellow African leaders. Hence, on one occasion he paid a state visit to South Africa where he met his South African counterparts at Stellenbosch. Banda once noted that, " It is only contact like this [between South Africa and Malawi] that can reveal to your people that there are civilized people other than white..."^[10]

Relations with the South Africa during South Africa's transition to multiparty state and the subsequent ANC rule became a challenge for Malawi's future. A Malawian task force spearheaded by Malawian diplomatic envoys to South Africa including SP Kachipande, and representatives in Malawi, including former diplomat, Mr. Phiri, arranged for a meeting between the two governments which resulted in Nelson Mandela's first official visit to Malawi as president of the ANC in the early-nineties. He met with John Tembo and the President. The relations between the two governments continued to be cordial after it was revealed that Banda was secretly helping the ANC during the apartheid era. The Malawi government and South African government continued diplomatic relations.

Involvement in Mozambique[link]

Banda’s involvement in Mozambique dated back to Portuguese colonial days in Mozambique when Banda supported the Portuguese colonial government and guerrilla forces that worked for it.^[11] Following independence in Malawi, Banda strengthened his relationship with the Portuguese colonial government by appointing Jorge Jardim as Malawi’s Honorary Consul in Mozambique in September 1964.^[11] He also worked against Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO) forces in Malawi in continued support of the Portuguese colonial forces.^[11] The Organization of African Unity had designated Malawi as one of the Frontline States to help independence movements in Mozambique.^[11]

By the 1980s, Banda was able to destabilize neighboring Mozambique by supporting both the government and the guerrilla movement.^[11] He successfully gave the Malawi Army and Malawi Young Pioneers opposing missions in Mozambique from 1987 to 1992.^[11] He had the Malawi Army support the Mozambican government, controlled by FRELIMO after the country's independence in 1975, to defend Malawi’s interests in Mozambique. This was done formally through an agreement in 1984 with Samora Machel.^[11] Simultaneously, Banda used the MYP as couriers and active supporters of Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) which had been fighting against Machel's government since the 1980s.^[11] Malawi was used to channel foreign aid from South Africa's apartheid regime. Machel issued a dossier to Frontline States with evidence that Banda was still supporting the insurgents in spite of the 1984 agreement to stop.^[11] By September 1986, Machel, Robert Mugabe, and Kenneth Kaunda visited Banda in order to persuade him to stop supporting RENAMO.^[11] Machel's successor, Joachim Chissano, continued to complain of Malawi’s lack of willingness to stop supporting Renamo.^[11] Banda however was trying to keep Malawian interests in the Port of Nacala in Mozambique and did not want to rely on Tanzania and South Africa ports for its imports and exports due to the expense.^[11] Mozambique and Malawi came to an agreement to place troops from both countries in Nayuchi near the port.^[11] Incidents of Malawi Army members being killed over the course of four years angered the Army because MYP members were involved with the insurgents, essentially pitting the two against each other.^[11]

Political demise[link]

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.^[11] 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.^[12] In April 1992, Chakufwa Chihana, a labour unionist, openly called for a national referendum on the political future of Malawi.^[11] He was arrested before he finished his speech at Lilongwe International Airport.^[11] In May, labour riots in the city of Blantyre turned political with demands that Banda give up power.^[12]

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.^[11] The referendum was held on 14 June 1993,^[6] with voters choosing to dismantle the one-party state.^[11] After this, political parties besides the MCP were formed and preparation for the general elections began.^[11] 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.^[11] The transition was relatively peaceful in spite of a very rigid system of rule.^[6]

Opening ceremony for the Banda Mausoleum, 14 May 2006 – Lilongwe, Malawi

Operation Bwezani was a Malawi Army operation to disarm the Malawi Young Pioneers at the height of the political transition in December 1993.^[6] Bwezani means “give back,”.^[6] The MYP had a strong network of spies and supporters countrywide at all levels in society.^[11] They were Banda's personal security bodyguards and were all trained and indoctrinated in Kamuzuism and military training.^[11] The Malawi Army did not infiltrate this group prior to receiving encouragement by protests by the people.^[11]

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,^[3] 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.

Mwanza Trials[link]

In 1995, Banda was arrested and charged with the murder, ten years previously, of former cabinet colleagues. He was acquitted due to lack of evidence.^[13] Banda remained quite unrepentant in his opinion of Malawians, calling them "children in politics" and saying they would miss his iron-fisted rule (see Big Men, Little People by Alec Russell).

A statement of apology was issued on 4 January 1996 in the name of H. Kamuzu Banda to the people of his nation shortly after being acquitted in the Mwanza Trials.^[14] The statement was met with controversy, suspicion and disdain. It was also questioned whether Banda wrote the statement himself or if someone wrote it on his behalf.^[14] In it, he noted that:

Systems of government are dynamic and they are bound to change in accordance with the wishes of and aspirations of the people...During my term of office, I selflessly dedicated myself to the good cause of Mother Malawi in the fight against Poverty, Ignorance and Disease among many other issues; but if within the process, those who worked in my government or through false pretence in my name or indeed unknowingly by me, pain and suffering was caused to anybody in this country in the name of nationhood, I offer my sincere apologies. I also appeal for a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness amongst us all...Our beautiful country has been nicknamed `The Warm Heart of Africa' and we have been admired for our warmth and spirit of hardwork. This admiration calls not only for a need for us to look at our past and present and draw lessons from it, but there is even a greater need for us to look forward to the future in our endeavours to reconstruct and reconcile if we have to move forward at all.^[14]

Death[link]

Banda died in a hospital in South Africa in November 1997,^[8] reportedly aged 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.^[15]

Family[link]

Banda had no known heirs, but had a vast fortune at stake that is run by his family.^[8] He was also unmarried when he died. Cecilia Kadzamira was the official hostess or first lady of Malawi.^[8] She also essentially ruled the country together with her uncle, John Tembo, during Banda's last years. His affair and relationship with Merene French remains largely a mystery. He had rejected companionship and marriage and turned his back on the Englishwoman who bore his son.^[2] In 2010, Jumani Johansson claimed to be the son of the late president and is seeking DNA testing through the courts of Malawi.^[16] Jane Dzanjalimodzi is the grand niece is the former executrix of his estate.^[16]

Footnotes[link]

• The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair, by Martin Meredith, PublicAffairs, 2005
• Africa After Independence: Realities of Nationhood, by Godfrey Mwakikagile, Johannesburg, South Africa: Continental Press, 2006
• "Banda, Hastings Kamuzu". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004 ed.). 2004. 
• The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa, by Robert I. Rotberg, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965.
• Banda, by Philip Short, London: Routledge & Kegan 1974.
• Malawi, the Politics of Despair, by T. David Williams, Cornell University Press, 1978.
• Kamuzu's legacy: the democratization of Malawi, by Jan Kees van Donge, African Affairs, Vol 94, No 375, 1995.
• Dějiny Zimbabwe, Zambie a Malawi (in Czech, translation of title: History of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi), by Otakar Hulec and Jaroslav Olša, jr., Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2008.
• Shaw, Karl (2005) [2004] (in Czech). Power Mad! [Šílenství mocných]. Praha: Metafora. ISBN 80-7359-002-6. 

External links[link]

• Information on Banda's fortune
• Official Biography of Kamuzu Banda
• Kamuzu Banda: The Control Freak

Further reading[link]

• Andrew C. Ross Colonialism to cabinet crisis: a political history of Malawi,African Books Collective, 2009 ISBN 99908-87-75-6 gives extensive biographical detail on Hastings Banda

References[link]

v t e Presidents of Malawi Hastings Banda Bakili Muluzi Bingu wa Mutharika Joyce Banda

Coordinates: 50°51′N 0°34′E / 50.85°N 0.57°E / 50.85; 0.57

Hastings
Hastings
Hastings Castle, with the Pier and Town Centre in the background
Town Coat of arms
Hastings  Hastings shown within East Sussex
Area	29.72 km2 (11.47 sq mi)
Population	86,900 [1]
- Density	2,924 /km2 (7,570 /sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ8160109458
- London	53 mi (85 km)  NW
District	Hastings
Shire county	East Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HASTINGS ST LEONARDS-ON-SEA
Postcode district	TN34-35 TN36-37
Dialling code	01424
Police	Sussex
Fire	East Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Hastings and Rye
Website	Hastings Borough Council
List of places: UK • England • East Sussex

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located 24 mi (39 km) east of the county town of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900.^[1]

In historical terms, Hastings can claim fame through its connection with the Norman conquest of England; and also because it became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. Hastings was, for centuries, an important fishing port; although nowadays much reduced, it still has the largest beach-based fishing fleet in England. The town became a watering place in the 1760s, and then, with the coming of the railway, a seaside resort.

The attraction of Hastings as a tourist destination continues; although the number of hotels has decreased, it caters for wider tastes, being home to internationally-based cultural and sporting events, such as chess and running. It has set out to become "a modern European town" and seeks to attract commercial business in the many industrial sites round the borough.^[2]

History[link]

Early history[link]

The first mention of Hastings is found in the late 8th century in the form Hastingas. This is derived from the Old English tribal name Hæstingas, meaning "Hæsta's people", "the family/followers of Hæsta". Symeon of Durham records the victory of Offa in 771 over the Hestingorum gens, that is, "the people of the Hastings tribe", and the same tribe gave their name to Hastingleigh in Kent. The place name Hæstingaceaster is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1050,^[3][4] and may be an alternative name for Hastings. However, the absence of any archaeological remains of or documentary evidence for a Roman fort at Hastings suggest that Hæstingaceaster may refer to a different settlement, most likely that based on the Roman remains at Pevensey.^[5]

There is evidence of prehistoric settlements at the site of the town: flint arrowheads and Bronze Age artefacts have been found; Iron Age forts have been excavated on both the East and West Hills suggests an early move to the safety of the valley in between, so that the settlement was already a port when the Romans arrived in Britain for the first time in 55 BC. At this time they began to exploit the iron (Wealden rocks provide a plentiful supply of the ore), and so the port was useful to them. One of the many local sites where the iron was worked at Beauport Park, to the north of the town, which employed up to one thousand men and is considered to have been the third largest in the Roman Empire.^[6]

With the departure of the Romans the town suffered setbacks. The Beauport site had been abandoned; and natural and man-made attacks began. The Sussex coast has always suffered from occasional violent storms; with the additional hazard of longshore drift (the eastward movement of shingle along the coast) the coastline has been frequently changing. The original Roman port could now well be under the sea.^[7]

Bulverhythe was probably a harbour of Danish invaders, which suggests that -hythe or hithe means a port or small haven.^[8]

The Kingdom of Haestingas[link]

From the 6th century AD until 771, the area around modern-day Hastings, as the territory of the Haestingas tribe, considered itself to be a separate Kingdom from the surrounding Kingdoms of Suth Saxe ("South Saxons", i.e. Sussex) and Kent, and attempted to retain its separate cultural identity until the 11th century.^[9] The kingdom was probably a sub-kingdom, the object of a disputed overlordship by the two powerful neighbouring kingdoms: when King Wihtred of Kent settled a dispute with King Ine of Sussex & Wessex in 694, it is probable that he seceded the overlordship of Haestingas to Ine as part of the treaty.^[9][10]

In 771 King Offa of Mercia invaded Southern England, and over the next decade gradually seized control of Sussex and Kent. Symeon of Durham records a battle fought at an unidentified location near Hastings in 771, at which Offa defeated the Haestingas tribe, effectively ending its existence as a separate Kingdom. By 790, Offa controlled Hastings effectively enough to confirm grants of land in Hastings to the Abbey of St Denis, in Paris.^[11] However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1011 relates that Vikings over-ran "all Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Haestingas", indicating the town was still considered a separate 'county' or province to its neighbours 240 years after Offa's conquest.^[12]

A royal mint in Hastings was established in AD 928 during the reign of Athelstan.^[13]

Medieval Hastings[link]

The start of the Norman Conquest was the Battle of Hastings, fought on 14 October 1066; although the battle itself took place 8 mi (13 km) to the north at Senlac Hill, and William had landed on the coast between Hastings and Eastbourne at a site now known as Norman's Bay. It is thought that the Norman encampment was on the town’s outskirts, where there was open ground; a new town was already being built in the valley to the east. That "New Burgh" was founded in 1069, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as such. William defeated and killed Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon King of England, and destroyed his army; thus opening England to the Norman conquest.

William caused a castle to be built at Hastings probably using the earthworks of the existing Saxon castle.

Hastings was shown as a borough by the time of the Domesday Book (1086); it had also given its name to the Rape of Hastings, one of the six administrative divisions of Sussex. As a borough, Hastings had a corporation consisting of a "bailiff, jurats, and commonalty". By a Charter of Elizabeth I in 1589 the bailiff was replaced by a mayor.

Hastings and the sea[link]

The Harbour arm and fishing boats

Hastings town centre and the Memorial from an old postcard

Hastings town centre in 2005

By the end of the Saxon period, the port of Hastings had moved eastward near the present town centre in the Priory Stream valley, whose entrance was protected by the White Rock headland (since demolished). It was to be a short stay: Danish attacks and huge floods in 1011 and 1014 motivated the townspeople to relocate to the New Burgh.

In the Middle Ages Hastings became one of the Cinque Ports; Sandwich, Dover, and New Romney being the first, Hastings, and Hythe followed, all finally being joined by Rye and Winchelsea, at one point 42 towns were directly or indirectly affiliated to the group.

In the 13th century much of the town was washed away by the sea. During a naval campaign of 1339, and again in 1377, the town was raided and burnt by the French, and seems then to have gone into a decline. As a port, Hastings' days were finished.

Hastings had suffered over the years from the lack of a natural harbour, and there have been attempts to create a sheltered harbour. Attempts were made to build a stone harbour during the reign of Elizabeth I, but the foundations were destroyed by the sea in terrible storms. The last harbour project began in 1896, but this also failed when structural problems and rising costs exhausted all the available funds. Today a fractured seawall is all that remains of what might have become a magnificent harbour. In 1897 the foundation stone was laid of a large concrete structure, but there was insufficient money to complete the work and the "Harbour arm" remains uncompleted. It was partially blown up to discourage possible use by German invasion forces during World War II. The fishing boats are still stored on and launched from the beach.

Hastings was now a small fishing settlement, but it was soon discovered that the new taxes on luxury goods could be made profitable by smuggling, and the town was ideally located for that.^[14] Near the castle ruins, on the West Hill, are "St Clement's Caves", partly natural, but mainly excavated by hand by the smugglers from the soft sandstone. Their trade was to come to an end with the period following the Napoleonic Wars, for the town became one of the most fashionable resorts in Britain, brought about by the so-called properties of seawater. Once this came about the expansion of the town took place, to the west, since there was little space left in the valley.

The double decker promenade that runs between Warrior Square and Hastings Pier, was built in the 1930s by Sidney Little

It was at this time that the elegant Pelham Crescent and Wellington Square were built: other building followed. In the Crescent is the classical style church of St Mary in the Castle (its name recalling the old chapel in the castle above) now in use as an arts centre. The building of the crescent and the church necessitated further cutting away of the castle hill cliffs. Once that move away from the old town had begun, it led to the further expansion along the coast, eventually linking up with the new St Leonards.

Like many coastal towns, the population of Hastings grew significantly as a result of the construction of railway links and the fashionable growth of seaside holidays during the Victorian era. In 1801 its population was a mere 3,175; by 1831 it had reached over ten thousand; by 1891 it was almost sixty thousand, and the 2001 census reported over 85,000 inhabitants.

Between 1903 and 1919 Fred Judge FRPS photographed many of the towns events and disasters. These included storms, the first tram, visit of the Lord Mayor of London, Hastings Marathon Race and the pier fire of 1917. Many of these images were produced as picture postcards by the British Postcard manufacturer he founded now known as Judges Postcards.

In the 1930s the town underwent some rejuvenation. Seaside resorts were starting to go out of fashion: Hastings perhaps more than most. The town council set about a huge rebuilding project, among which the promenade was rebuilt; and an Olympic-size bathing pool was erected. The latter, regarded in its day as one of the best open-air swimming and diving complexes in Europe, later became a holiday camp before closing in 1986. It was demolished, but the area is still known by locals as "The Bathing Pool".^[15]

Government[link]

Borough of Hastings, shown within East Sussex

Hastings Town Hall

Hastings returned two Members of Parliament from the 14th century until 1885 since when it has returned one. Since 1983 it has been part of the parliamentary constituency of Hastings and Rye; the current MP, since 2010, is Amber Rudd of the Conservative Party. Prior to 1983, the town was in an eponymous seat of its own.

Hastings, it is thought, was a Saxon town before the arrival of the Normans: the Domesday Book refers to a new Borough: as a borough, Hastings had a corporation consisting of a "bailiff, jurats, and commonalty".^[7] Its importance was such that it also gave its name to one of the six Rapes or administrative districts of Sussex.

By a Charter of Elizabeth I in 1589 the bailiff was replaced by a mayor, by which time the town's importance was dwindling. In the Georgian era, patronage of such seaside places (such as nearby Brighton) gave it a new lease of life so that, when the time came with the reform of English local government in 1888, Hastings became a County Borough, responsible for all its local services, independent of the surrounding county, then Sussex (East); less than one hundred years later, in 1974, that status was abolished.

Hastings Borough Council is now in the second tier of local government, below East Sussex County Council. The Labour Party has an overall control of the council with 17 seats, whilst the Conservative Party holds 14 seats and the Liberal Democrat party has 1 seat. The Borough is divided into sixteen electoral wards; Ashdown, Baird, Braybrooke, Castle, Central St Leonards, Conquest, Gensing, Hollington, Maze Hill, Old Hastings, Ore, St Helens, Silverhill, Tressell, West St Leonards and Wishing Tree^[16]

Geography and climate[link]

The East Hill Cliff

Hastings is situated where the sandstone beds, at the heart of the Weald, known geologically as the Hastings Sands, meet the English Channel, forming tall cliffs to the east of the town. Hastings Old Town is in a sheltered valley between the East Hill and West Hill (on which the remains of the Castle stand). In Victorian times and later the town has spread westwards and northwards, and now forms a single urban centre with the more suburban area of St Leonards-on-Sea to the west. Roads from the Old Town valley lead towards the Victorian area of Clive Vale and the former village of Ore, from which "The Ridge", marking the effective boundary of Hastings, extends north-westwards towards Battle. Beyond Bulverhythe, the western end of Hastings is marked by low-lying land known as Glyne Gap, separating it from Bexhill-on-Sea.

The sandstone cliffs have been the subject of considerable erosion in relatively recent times: much of the Castle was lost to the sea before the present sea defences and promenade were built, and a number of cliff-top houses are in danger of disappearing around the nearby village of Fairlight.

The beach is mainly shingle, although wide areas of sand are uncovered at low tide. The town is generally built upon a series of low hills rising to 500 ft (150 m) above sea level at "The Ridge" before falling back in the river valley further to the north.

There are three Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the borough; Marline Valley Woods, Combe Haven and Hastings Cliffs To Pett Beach. Marline Valley Woods lies within the Ashdown ward of Hastings. It is an ancient woodland of pedunculate oak-hornbeam which is uncommon nationally. Sussex Wildlife Trust own part of the site.^[17] Combe Haven is another site of biological interest, with alluvial meadows, and the largest reed bed in the county, providing habitat for breeding birds. It is in the West St Leonards ward, stretching into the parish of Crowhurst.^[18] The final SSSI, Hastings Cliffs to Pett Beach, is within the Ore ward of Hastings, extending into the neighbouring Fairlight and Pett parishes. The site runs along the coast and is of both biological and geological interest. The cliffs hold many fossils and the site has many habitats, including ancient woodland and shingle beaches.^[19]

	Battle	Sedlescombe Westfield	Rye
	Bexhill-on-Sea		Fairlight
		Hastings    East
		English Channel

Climate[link]

As with the rest of the British Isles and Southern England, Hastings experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. In terms of the local climate, Hastings is on the eastern edge of what is, on average, the sunniest part of the UK, the stretch of coast from the Isle of Wight to the Hastings area. Hastings, tied with Eastbourne, recorded the highest duration of Sunshine of any month anywhere in the United Kingdom - 384 hours - in 1911.^[20] Temperature extremes since 1960 at Hastings have ranged from 33.2 °C (91.8 °F) in July 2006,^[21] down to −9.8 °C (14.4 °F) in January 1987.^[22]

Neighbourhoods and areas[link]

Some of the areas and suburbs of Hastings are Ore Valley, St Leonards, Silverhill, West St Leonards, and Hollington. Ore, Silverhill and Hollington were once villages that have since become part of the Hastings conurbation area during rapid growth.^[16] The original part St Leonards was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a hotel, an archery, assembly rooms and a church. Today's St Leonards has extended well beyond that original design, although the original town still exists within it.^[25]

Demography[link]

The population of the town in 2001 was 85,029, by 2009 the estimated population was 86,900. Hastings suffers at a disadvantage insofar as growth is concerned because of its restricted situation, lying as it does with the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the north. Redevelopment of the area is partly hampered by the split administration of the combined Hastings and Bexhill economic region between Hastings and Rother district councils. There is little space for further large-scale housing and employment growth within the designated boundaries of Hastings, and development on the outskirts is resisted by Rother council whose administrative area surrounds Hastings. Rother has a policy of urban expansion in the area immediately north of Bexhill, but this requires infrastructure improvements by central Governments which have been under discussion for decades.^[26] This situation has now become the subject of parliamentary consideration.^[27]

Ethnicity[link]

Ethnicity of as 2001^[1]

Economy[link]

Lacuna Place, where the SAGA offices are based

Entrance to Kings Walk, Priory Meadow Shopping Centre

Until the development of tourism, fishing was Hastings' major industry. The beach-launched fishing fleet, based at the Stade remains Europe's largest and has recently won accreditation for its sustainable methods. The fleet has been based on the same beach, below the cliffs at Hastings, for at least 400, possibly 600, years. Its longevity is attributed to the prolific fishing ground of Rye Bay nearby.^[28] Hastings fishing vessels are registered at Rye, and thus bear the letters "RX" (Rye,SusseX).

There are now various industrial estates that lie around the town, mostly on the outskirts, which include engineering, catering, motoring and construction; however, most of the jobs within the Borough are concentrated on health, public services, retail and education. 85% of the firms (in 2005) employed fewer than 10 people; as a consequence the unemployment rate was 3.3% (cf. East Sussex 1.7%). However, qualification levels are similar to the national average: 8.2% of the working-age population have no qualifications while 28% hold degree-level qualifications or higher, compared with 11% and 31% respectively across England.^{[citation needed]}

Shopping and retail[link]

Hastings main shopping centre is Priory Meadow Shopping Centre, which was built on the site of the old Central Recreation Ground which played host to some Sussex CCC first-class fixtures. The centre houses 56 stores and covers around 420,000 ft². Further retail areas in the town centre include Queens Road, Wellington Place and Robertson Street.