Historical Dictionary of Malawi Part 8

ETHNIC GROUPS. About 50 percent of Malawi's population are ChewaMang'anja peoples, the descendants of those Africans whom early 16th-century Portuguese travelers called Maravi. The Chewa are numerically greater and live in the central region along with some Ngoni peoples. The Mang'anja or Nyanja (people of the lake) live in the southern region, especially along Lakes Malawi and Chilwa and in Blantyre, Zomba, and Chikwawa districts. They live side by side with Ngoni, Yao, Lomwe, and Sena. Both groups are matrilineal and share the same language, chiChewa/ciMang'anja.

Some 20 percent of Malawi's population are Lomwe and they live in the southeast portion of Malawi, especially in Mulanje, Thyolo, Phalombe, and Chiradzulu districts. Their language is ciLomwe, and their matrilineal-based social organization is similar to that of the Yao and ChewaMang'anja. Also in the south, particularly in Nsanje district in the Lower s.h.i.+re, live the Sena, many of whom trace their origins to Mozambique. They have a patrilineal system of marriage and inheritance and are active in commerce and politics.

The Yao originated from the northeastern part of Mozambique and migrated to Malawi in the last half of the 19th century. For 250 years prior to that, they were the trading allies of the Swahili-Arabs, partic.i.p.ating in the East Coast ivory and slave trade. Many Yao adopted Islam because of their contact with the Swahili-Arabs, and the two often intermarried. The Yao live mostly in Mangochi, Balaka, Machinga, Zomba, Mulanje Phalombe, and Chiradzulu districts.

Unlike most other ethnic groups inhabiting Malawi, the Ngoni are patrilineal and were part of the mfecane (the "crus.h.i.+ng" or the "scattering") of the 19th century. The descendants of the followers of Zw.a.n.gendaba will be found mainly in Mzimba district and in Mchinji (belonging to the Mpezeni section); those a.s.sociated with Ngwane and Mputa Maseko live in Ntcheu and Dedza, and today their paramount ruler is Gomani V, whose headquarters are at Lizulu in Ntcheu district. There are also pockets of the Ngoni in Dowa, Salima, and Thyolo districts.

In the northern reaches of Malawi live numerous ethnic groups of varying sizes. The Tumbuka-speaking peoples, many of whom are of diverse origins, are in the majority and are found in all five districts of the region and in northern Kasungu. Other peoples of the region are the Tonga who inhabit most of Nkhata Bay district, the Ngonde in a large section of Karonga district, and the NyihaLambya and SukwaNdali in Chitipa district. CiTonga, the language of the Tonga, is linguistically related to the ciTumbuka.

EVANS, ENOCH. From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, Enoch Evans, an accomplished acoustic guitar player, was one of the most popular singersong writers in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. His recorded songs, mainly commentaries on contemporary events, were regularly played on the Central African Broadcasting Services and, later, the Federal Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) radio, at social gatherings, including beer halls and in private houses. One of his more popular compositions, Imfa yilibe chisoni (death has no pity), refers to the unpleasant way in which the colonial government treated Inkosi Zintonga Philip, Gomani II of Ntcheu. Another of his popular songs was "Akapsule," the home wreckers, which was a comment on family and community life. See also MUSIC AND DANCE.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (EXCO). This elite group of four, formed in 1907, consisted of the governor, the attorney general, the treasurer, and the government secretary. Appointed at the same time as the Legislative Council (LEGCO), until 1939, the Executive Council did not include any European unofficial members of the legislative body; and the first Africans were not added until 1959: C. M. c.h.i.n.kondenji and Ernest M. Mtawali. The EXCO ended with the dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland as it was replaced in February 1963 by a cabinet headed by a prime minister.

EXILES. Although during the late colonial period nationalists presented people such Dr. Hastings K. Banda as having lived in self-imposed exile, this phenomenon is mainly a postcolonial one. A handful of the politicians who had supported Federal inst.i.tutions left to live in exile because they felt insecure in a decolonized Nyasaland. Among such politicians were Wellington Manoah Chirwa who went to Great Britain and Ernest Mtawali and Clement k.u.mbikano both of whom immigrated to Southern Rhodesia. However, following the Cabinet Crisis of 1964, many people who supported or were deemed to support the rebelling cabinet ministers feared political persecution and fled, mostly to Zambia and Tanzania, where they sought refuge. Some sought employment in their new locations and many continued with opposition politics in the hope of returning to Malawi. During his brief stay in Tanzania, Henry Chipembere started a new political party, the Pan-African Democratic Party, which many exiles in that country and in Zambia joined. Later, Kanyama Chiume also started his own party, the Congress for the Second Republic. However, one of the most active exile political organizations was the Socialist League of Malawi (LESOMA), which from 1975 was headed by Dr. Attati Mpakati. LESOMA even claimed to have formed a military wing of guerrillas that had the ability to launch an attack on Malawi given the right circ.u.mstances. When Mpakati was a.s.sa.s.sinated in 1983, Grey Kamunyambeni took over the leaders.h.i.+p of LESOMA.

Orton Chirwa headed the Malawi Freedom Movement (MAFREMO), but, after his kidnapping and imprisonment in Malawi, Edward Yapwantha became the new leader. Yapwantha studied law at the University of Zambia and at McGill University, Canada, before a.s.suming MAFREMO leaders.h.i.+p in 1983. In 1988, the sale of MAFREMO T-s.h.i.+rts in Malawi met with strong opposition from the government and with an investigation of the distribution source of the Yapwantha-imprinted s.h.i.+rt. Yapwantha was asked to leave Zimbabwe in December 1989 and was presumed to have left for Uganda.

In mid-1991, the exiled parties formed an alliance in Lusaka called the United Front for Multi-Party Democracy (UFMD). It consisted of MAFREMO, LESOMA, and Malawi Democratic Union (MDU), the latter headed by Adamson Akogo Kanyaya. The umbrella organization called for the immediate resignation of Banda, amnesty for exiled Malawians, respect for human rights, the lifting of the state of emergency, and a ban on political parties. It campaigned mainly through newspapers and information sheets, some of which were circulated in Malawi clandestinely. During the move toward multiparty democracy in 199293, the advocates for change argued for the return home of all the exiles so that they could take part in the transformation process.

The freedom of a.s.sociation and expression that accompanied the democratization of Malawi in 1994 marked the end of a 30-year tradition of Malawian exiles abroad. Since 1994, Malawians travel outside the country as they like and do not have to seek government permission. Some of the former exiles remained in their host countries after the political reforms, and in some cases, have been joined by thousands of economic exiles in search of a better life. See also MIGRANT LABOR; REFUGEES.

F.

FACHI, PETER. After graduating in law at the University of Malawi, this son of a prominent Lower s.h.i.+re businessman went into private practice. A leading member of the Law Society of Malawi, he became interested in, among other things, human rights, and, when calls for political reform started in the early 1990s, Fachi emerged as one of its leading advocates. He was one of the founders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and, in 1994, was elected to Parliament and appointed minister of land. In 1996, he became attorney general and minister of justice, positions he retained until President Bakili Muluzi's second term. In the early 2000s, he left active politics.

FAMINE. Famines, some severe others less serious, occur in Malawi at regular intervals for various reasons, including prolonged droughts, poor management of droughts, excessive rain, shortage of good cultivable land, and misuse of land. The greatest famine in Malawi occurred in 194950; however, there were other major famines in the 20th century, such as in 1903 and 1922 when many people from Mozambique were forced to migrate to the s.h.i.+re Highlands. Notable famines also took place in the 1790s, 1830s, 1860s, and 1890s.

FEDERAL REVIEW CONFERENCE. Called to review the future of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, it took place in London between 5 and 16 December 1960. The three leading African nationalists, Joshua Nkomo (Southern Rhodesia), Kenneth Kaunda (Northern Rhodesia), and Hastings Banda (Nyasaland), attended reluctantly and, on 12 December, walked out. In the end, the conference achieved little of significance, except to prove to the British government that, with the wide gap between African and European views on the Federation, the arrangement had no realistic future.

FEDERATION OF RHODESIA AND NYASALAND. From 1953 to 1963, Nyasaland was a reluctant member of an a.s.sociation that included Northern Rhodesia (presently Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Although the governmental machinery for Federation was not established until the 1950s, the movement to create such an a.s.sociation originated decades earlier. During World War I, the British South Africa Company (BSAC) had suggested an amalgamation, but European settlers were not enthusiastic about it. However, white settlers began to feel that their way of life was threatened when, through the Devons.h.i.+re Paper of 1923 and the Pa.s.sfield Memorandum of 1930, the Colonial Office declared its policy of trustees.h.i.+p and paramountcy of African interest. In 1935, the government heads of the three territories met to consider a possible union in matters of trade and tariffs, education, and defense. In the following year, a second meeting continued the agitation for union.

At this point, the British government a.s.signed the Bledisloe Commission with the task of determining the feasibility of closer cooperation in all three territories. The Bledisloe Report of 1939 did not recommend immediate amalgamation; rather, it suggested the possibility of it in future. During the three-month tour, the commissioners were left with no doubt about the vehement opposition of Nyasalanders to any a.s.sociation. Leaders of African Welfare a.s.sociations, village chiefs, and even Scottish missionaries unanimously rejected schemes of amalgamation. Upon returning to England, the commissioners also received a memo from Dr. Hastings K. Banda indicating his opposition.

The outbreak of World War II stifled amalgamation talks as priorities were placed on the war effort. A council formed in 1941 that allowed the three territorial administrations to consult one another on nonpolitical matters, but as its functions were expanded in 1944, the advocates of amalgamation exploited the council. When the postwar Labour Party in Great Britain opposed an amalgamation of the Rhodesias, Stewart Gore-Browne, a settler member of the Northern Rhodesia Legislative Council (LEGCO), suggested a federation among the three territories that ostensibly would preserve African rights. Other white settlers, including Roy Welensky and G.o.dfrey Huggins, supported the concept. At the latter's initiation, a small group of settlers met in February 1949 at Victoria Falls where they agreed to try to create a Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Welensky openly admitted that he expected the plan would rid Northern Rhodesia of the colonial office. As for the Southern Rhodesia delegates, their expectations were linked to Northern Rhodesia's copper, and the Nyasaland settlers hoped for an improved economic situation.

In May 1949, Banda and Harry Nk.u.mbula, then a rising African nationalist in Northern Rhodesia, wrote a memorandum detailing opposition to this federation plan. The BandaNk.u.mbula memo warned that Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia could expect to be dominated by Southern Rhodesia with its detested segregationist policies and its antipathy toward the African populace. The memo concluded that the partners.h.i.+p concept advanced by federation supporters was just a facade and therefore it should be rejected. Africans relaxed momentarily when Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech-Jones (Labour Party) indicated that there would be no move toward federation at that time and no abrogation of responsibilities.

In late 1950 and early 1951, events changed in favor of the pro-federationists. James Griffiths (Conservative Party), who succeeded Creech-Jones as colonial secretary, agreed to reinvestigate the federation issue. When Griffiths toured the Protectorate, he became aware of the intense African opposition to any closer a.s.sociation. Responding to this resistance, Griffiths insisted that Africans be represented, for the first time, at a federation conference in September 1951. Nyasaland delegates-Edward K. Gondwe, Clement k.u.mbikano, Chief Mwase Kasungu, Ellerton Mposa, and Alexander Muwamba-refused to consider federation. The conference ended abruptly to provide time for the British general elections to be held. The conservatives were returned to power and, immediately, the new colonial secretary, Oliver Lyttelton, announced that his government favored federation and that Africans would have to accept it.

Both in Nyasaland and in Great Britain, the government was reminded of its earlier promises not to transfer its obligations to the African populace. In Nyasaland, ordinary people, village chiefs, Scottish missionaries, and the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) registered their oppositions and reminded the British government of promises made earlier. In England, Banda, in a series of speeches, pleaded against any move toward federation. Dubbed as agitators by the advocates of federation, Africans and their supporters were ignored and further concessions were made to the followers of Huggins and Welensky. Banda suggested the NAC begin a campaign of civil disobedience, but some Congress members found the move too radical and a split in the NAC ensued. Federation forces advanced at this critical time when Congress lacked unity. When the Nyasaland LEGCO voted on federation in April 1953, its African members, Muwamba and Mposa, walked out in protest. Further pet.i.tions and noncooperation did not alter the course of events, and the Central African Federation officially commenced on 1 August 1953.

The operation of the Federation held few surprises for the African population that had so vehemently opposed its creation. The new federal government spent more money on Europeans than on Africans. The impact of taxation weighed significantly upon Africans, as cheap cigarettes and clothes of the type purchased more by Africans than whites were taxed more heavily. Most of the Federation capital available for investment was used in Southern Rhodesia (e.g., on Kariba Dam). Disparities existed in educational facilities and in hospital services (eight beds per thousand for Europeans, one bed per thousand for Malawians). Politically, no partners.h.i.+p existed. The color bar was discriminatory and African attempts to reach administrative levels in the civil service had dismal results: only nine candidates in all of the Federation in as many years. Representation in the Federal a.s.sembly was a near sham. From a total of 35 seats, Africans were permitted only 6 seats, that is, 2 representatives from each territory. Nyasaland's a.s.sembly representatives were Wellington Manoah Chirwa and Clement k.u.mbikano. When the federal Const.i.tution was revised, Africans obtained 12 of the 59 Federal a.s.sembly seats.

Events leading to independence took an abrupt turn after the overwhelming victory achieved by the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the August 1961 elections. The MCP had won all of the lower roll and one-quarter of the upper roll seats in LEGCO. The governor, Glyn Jones, soon granted 10 seats on the Executive Council to the MCP. In November 1961, Welensky was informed that Nyasaland would be permitted to secede from the Federation and, in December, the British government formally announced that Nyasaland would be allowed to withdraw. In the two-year apprentices.h.i.+p (196163), Banda and his ministers made reforms and industriously planned for the future. As minister of natural resources, Banda was in a position to negate the abusive and abhorred agricultural practices conducted by the Protectorate government; and Dunduzu Chisiza, parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, outlined a five-year economic development scheme. Not only did the new African ministers wish to govern, but Glyn Jones encouraged their initiative and allowed them decisions that officially were in the governor's province. In February 1963, Banda was sworn in as prime minister, Orton Chirwa as minister of justice, Henry Chipembere as minister of local government, and Augustine Bwanausi as minister of housing.

The Federation was dissolved quietly at the end of that year, and the following July Nyasaland was set for independence. In April 1964, general elections allowing the enlargement of LEGCO were held in which all 50 MCP candidates won on the general roll and three Europeans were elected on a special roll. The following month Banda made known the ministers he had selected for the independence cabinet: Yatuta Chisiza (Home Affairs, Local Government), John Msonthi (Transport), Bwanausi (Housing), Chipembere (Education), Kanyama Chiume (External Affairs), and John Tembo (Finance). In addition to prime minister, Banda kept the following portfolios for himself: Health, Natural Resources, Social Development, Trade and Industry. On 6 July 1964, Malawi became free of colonial rule, and two years later was declared a Republic.

FIDDES, GEORGE STEVENSON (18791952). This leading Limbe-based European entrepreneur was born in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, in 1879, studied engineering at Herriot Watt College in Scotland, and, in 1903, went to Nyasaland as an employee of the British Central Africa Company (BCAC), where he worked as an a.s.sistant manager, plantation manager, and for 29 years as joint general manager. In 1932, he became an independent businessman, milling, making soap and shoes, and tanning. Besides these, he had a butchery in Limbe and was involved in the tobacco and tung industries. He is said to have introduced tractors for agricultural purposes and used them at his Namitembo estate in Thyolo district. An active member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Nyasaland Tobacco a.s.sociation, Fiddes was at one time a Limbe town councillor and was a founding member of the Limbe Country Club and the Blantyre Sports Club. He died in March 1952. His son, a graduate of Edinburgh University, held senior posts in the Ministry of Education and, in the early 1970s, was the first executive secretary of the Malawi Education Certificate Examination Board.

FIs.h.i.+NG. Malawi is able to cover all its domestic requirements of freshwater fish and is now exporting in increasing quant.i.ties. Although fish are exported to neighboring Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, most are consumed locally. Fish provide three-quarters of Malawi's annual protein intake. The four main fis.h.i.+ng waters are Lake Chilwa, Lake Malawi, Lake Malombe, and the s.h.i.+re River. Commercially, five varieties are important: catfish, chambo (tilapia), usipa, chisawasawa, and utaka; however, over 225 different fish species exist in Lake Malawi alone. More than 20,000 people are directly involved in fis.h.i.+ng with thousands more working indirectly in the industry. Many of these people have been trained at Mpwepwe Fisheries Training School in Mangochi, a project largely financed by the British government. Other projects include taxonomy research, the freshwater prawn hatchery at Domasi, and fish farming extension services. The government's Fisheries Department has also introduced trawling techniques in Lake Malawi and has established fis.h.i.+ng centers supplied with refrigeration and processing machinery.

When exchange problems occurred in the 1980s, export earnings declined, forcing 25 percent of the smaller fishermen out of business. Great Britain and the European Union (EU) provided monies to reverse this trend. In its budget, the Malawi government allocated more money to fisheries to make loans available for equipment, boat building, and fisheries research.

The ability to earn a living from fis.h.i.+ng in a situation of economic instability has led to an increase of fishermen (30,000) in Malawi waters and, in turn, has greatly contributed to overfis.h.i.+ng, thereby threatening the ecology for fish. Fishermen who could not afford big boats continued to use traditional dugout canoes, which forced them to concentrate on the shallower waters, the main breeding areas for fish. Fishermen resisted attempts of conservation officials who tried to stop the practice. As the catch of the popular varieties declined with overfis.h.i.+ng, fishermen turned to the less popular species, even when they were not fully developed. They also began to use nets with small meshes so that they could maximize their catches, which many times included the immature of the larger favored species. The more than 700 species of cichlids specific to Lake Malawi have also been increasingly adversely affected.

The following statistics demonstrate some of the effects of overfis.h.i.+ng: in 1987, the commercial catch was 88,586 tons, of which 101 tons were exported; in 1991, 63,000 tons were caught and only 3 tons were exported; in the following year, the catch was 69,500 tons, all of which were consumed locally; and in 1999, the catch was 44,849 tons, which continued to decrease in the first years of the 21st century. Similarly, in the 1980s, Lake Malombe's annual yield was 5,000 tons, and in 1991 it was 500 tons. Lake Chilwa produces 17,000 tons a year. The Malawi Government's State of Environmental Report (SOER), submitted to Parliament in 2002, shows how fish const.i.tutes 70 percent of the animal protein in rural and urban communities and that, while in the 1970s the average annual fish intake per person averaged 14 kilograms, it had dropped to 6 kilograms per person at the beginning of the 21st century. According to the SOER, the fis.h.i.+ng industry normally makes up 4 percent of the gross national product.

Another problem affecting the biodiversity of Lake Malawi is the amount of alluvium that is carried into the lake every year as a result of soil erosion along the course of the rivers that feed the lake. As the sediment is deposited into the lake, it conceals all the food nutrients, thus disturbing the natural growth of the fish. The rivers also take into the lake toxic forms of fish food, which further affects the healthy development of the fish. In response to these numerous problems, the Department of Fisheries, with the aid of agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), adopted a new approach to the problem. Through the Partic.i.p.atory Fisheries Management Programme (PFMP), fis.h.i.+ng communities are now involved in enforcing policy through elected natural resources committees, which are a.s.sisted by officials of the Environmental Affairs committee, the emphasis being on comanagement between government and fis.h.i.+ng communities.

The Malawi government has embarked on a Fish Restoration Strategic Plan, which consists of, among other things, breeding Malawi's most popular specie, chambo (Oreochromis karongae), away from the lake before they are freed into it. In addition, the government has prohibited high-yielding fis.h.i.+ng equipment use in the lake during the sp.a.w.ning period of October to December, a provision that is part of the PFMP. Since 2003, the Fisheries Department has implemented a breeding program for external markets. Also, since Malawi shares the lake with Tanzania and Mozambique, the over-fis.h.i.+ng problem is being tackled at a regional level. With the a.s.sistance of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), FAO, Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), experts from the three countries are coordinating their efforts to solve the problems of over-fis.h.i.+ng in Africa's third largest lake.

Fish farming has also been expanding since the 1980s, and the Department of Fisheries is providing extension services to smallholders, exploring ways to reduce fish losses and conducting fish pond research. There are nearly 300 fish farmers, and although most are in the south, they can be found in all regions of the country. The four varieties of tilapia form 93 percent of the cultured species, and according to estimates, 200 tons of fish were produced in 1995; by 2002, this had increased to 800 tons. By 2005, aquaculture accounted for 2 percent of fish produced in Malawi. The Innovative Fish Farmers' Network (IFFN), a registered trust, advocates the interests of fish farmers, helps them in obtaining loans, and coordinates extension and research work. The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (2001) contains guidelines through which this type of farming operates and should develop. See also ECONOMY.

FLAG. The Malawi flag, adopted at independence in 1964, is a tricolor black, green, and red. A red rising sun is superimposed over the black horizontal stripe, reflecting the emergent nation; the sun also represents the dawn of freedom and hope for Malawians, and the black depicts the peoples of Africa. A stripe of green represents the evergreen nature of Malawi, and the red stripe, the blood of martyrs of African freedom. The black is on top, the red in the middle, and the green at the bottom. On 29 July 2010, President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika's government introduced a modified national flag. A full sun replaced the rising one, its center lying on the black, which is now in the middle, and the green at the bottom. The government argued that the alterations reflected the fact that Malawi had developed and changed much since 1964. Civil society, including some churches, strongly opposed the changes, arguing that inadequate consultation had taken place before deciding on a matter of such national importance. It also pointed out that since Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world, still very dependent on foreign aid, there is no justification for the new flag. The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) also strongly opposed the change, and the United Democratic Front (UDF) Party went as far as challenging the government's decision in court.

FLORENCE BAY. See CHITIMBA.

FOOT, DINGLE MACKINTOSH, QC, KCMG (19051978). Distinguished British lawyer and politician from a famous political family, Dingle Foot was legal advisor to Dr. Hastings Banda during the State of Emergency (195960). Foot was on the team that defended Flax Katoba Musopole, accused of sedition, among other charges.

FOOTBALL. Football (soccer) is the most popular entertainment sport in Malawi and is played in every district, area, and village. The Football a.s.sociation of Malawi (FAM) governs football in the country, and all leagues have to be affiliated to it and abide by its rules. It is a member of the Federation Internationale de Football a.s.sociation (FIFA) and the Confederation of African Football a.s.sociations (CAFA) and, through them, takes part in contests leading to the World Cup Football compet.i.tions, the African Nations Cup, and the African Clubs Champions.h.i.+p Cup. In 1984, Malawi reached the final 16 of the Africans Nations Compet.i.tion, and in the previous 10 years had twice won the East and Central Africa champions.h.i.+p. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the national team did not distinguish itself as well as it did in the 1970s and 1980s. It failed to qualify for major international tournaments, but clubs such as the Blantyre-based Wanderers, Bata Bullets, MDC United, ADMARC Tigers, and Lilongwe-based Silver Strikers fared better.

The appointment in May 2008 of Kinnah Phiri, a star of the 1970s and early 1980s, as coach of the Flames, as the national team is called, improved the confidence and style of play so much so that for the first time in over 20 years Malawi qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in which 16 African countries competed in Angola in January and February 2010. Although eliminated in the early stages of the contest, many expert observers were impressed by the performance and resilience of the team. According to FIFA's 2010 rankings, Malawi was number 82 in the world, up from 138 in 20078.

FOOTMAN, CHARLES WORTHINGTON FOWDEN (19051996). From 1947 to 1951, Footman was financial secretary to the government of Nyasaland and, from 1951 to 1960, he was chief secretary, effectively the deputy governor of the colony. He held the latter position at a crucial time for the future of the colony. As chief secretary, he was in charge of security matters and, like Sir Robert Armitage, he was much a.s.sociated with the State of Emergency in 1959 and the detention in prison of hundreds of nationalist politicians. In 1960, Footman was transferred to Tanganyika, where he became chairman of the public service commission. Later, he worked in the Commonwealth Relations Office and the Ministry of Overseas Development.

FOREIGN AID. Since independence in 1964, Malawi has been the recipient of a substantial amount of aid, particularly from the Great Britain. The new nation needed external support to maintain the government on a daily basis; British direct grants not only filled the budget deficits, but also supported the new rural development programs.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Malawi gained a good reputation among foreign donors because it maintained political stability and was guided by fiscally conservative policies. It used loans successfully and honestly, a trait that appealed to many donors and, as British aid changed to grants from soft loans, the World Bank supported the country with additional aid.

In general, during this period, aid had beneficial results in Malawi as it did not inhibit efforts at self-reliance. With the exception of South Africa, almost all of its donors have provided aid on easy terms. Aid has originated from noncommunist nations, mostly Great Britain, Canada, j.a.pan, West Germany, Denmark, United States, Israel, Taiwan, South Africa, and the World Bank group. South African loans, on relatively harder terms, financed the Nacala railway extension and the new capital at Lilongwe. Canada has also aided railway development and the renovation of existing lines and Taiwan has sponsored rice growing projects, whereas the fisheries industries have benefited from Danish, Israeli, and j.a.panese aid. German aid has financed highway building, and American aid has been used for roads, education, and community development.

Military aid primarily has come from the British in the form of materiels as well as financial aid. The Royal Engineers a.s.sisted in road building on the Chitipa side of the Nyika plateau, and in Mangochi district, an area Dr. Hastings Banda's government considered troublesome because of local dissidents and the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO) guerrillas. Additional equipment has also been acquired from Australia, Belgium, and South Africa. France and Germany have trained pilots and supplied equipment to the air wing of the Malawi army. Some military aid has also come from the United States.

The United Nations development projects planned at the end of the decade totaled over US$43 million and ranged from policy planning, tobacco research, forestry and fisheries training, development of rural housing, commercial and secretarial training, business advisory services, training engineers, trade promotion, primary teacher education and curriculum development, and vocational training and rehabilitation.

In 199193, foreign aid to Malawi was reduced sharply because donors tied it to political reform; the exception was for a.s.sistance for humanitarian purposes. Aid resumed in 1993 after President Hastings Banda permitted free elections to take place for the first time in nearly 30 years. Even before this pressure was exerted on the Banda government, some changes had occurred in the donors.h.i.+p. Germany and Canada, among Malawi's top donors in the 1970s and 1980s, had by the early 1990s greatly reduced their a.s.sistance. Bilateral aid from countries such as Great Britain, the United States, and j.a.pan continued, but there was a significant s.h.i.+ft to multilateral aid through organizations such as the European Union (EU) and the World Bank. Nongovernmental organizations also increased their economic activities through the numerous microeconomic organizations, which they began to promote, especially in the rural parts of the country. This resumption of foreign aid following the elections of 1994 resulted in some growth in the Malawi economy. However, during the second term of President Bakili Muluzi, many Western donors withdrew aid or reduced it significantly because of suspicions of mismanagement. Aid, bilateral and multilateral, resumed when President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika's government began to demonstrate accountability and seriousness in meeting the country's development goals. Among the countries that have increased economic cooperation with Malawi is India, which has a number of agriculture-related agreements with Malawi, as well as the People's Republic of China (PRC), which took over many of the projects run by Taiwan.

Between 2004 and 2007, 90 percent of the development aid to Malawi came from Great Britain, the World Bank, the EU, Norway, the United States, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations. The remaining 10 percent came from countries such as j.a.pan, the Netherlands, West Germany, Denmark, and Taiwan (since 2007 replaced by the People's Republic of China). Of the donors, the British government, through the Department for International Development (DFID), accounts for 27 percent the total amount followed by the World Bank, the EU, Norway, and the United States. Some 38 percent of British a.s.sistance is in the form of project support, and the rest goes to budget and sectoral support. Of all the major donors, only the Unites States gives all its aid specifically for projects; similarly, the United States, unlike most others, does not use the Malawi procurement arrangements. Also, many donors allocate a significant portion of their a.s.sistance to social programs rather than to economic ones, which the Malawi government tends to emphasize as a means of attaining its development goals as stated in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS).

Although there was concern from donors about indications of a lack of fiscal discipline and corruption in the public service, the government of Malawi's a.s.sumed an increase in foreign aid by over 36 percent in the fiscal years 20089 and 200910, and it hoped that as long as its economic policies received the approval of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, all its usual external financial funders would continue to support its development agenda.

Donor aid to Malawi was expected to be adversely affected as a result of the government's decision in April 2011 to expel the British high commissioner because of a report he sent to his superiors in London deploring the political intolerance of President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika and his threats to civil society organizations. In reaction, the British Foreign Office announced that it was immediately undertaking a review of its bilateral relations with Malawi, including cutting aid to the southern African country. See also FOREIGN POLICY.

FOREIGN POLICY. Throughout Dr. Hastings K. Banda's period as head of state, Malawi's foreign policy was pro-Western and anti-Eastern bloc. From late 1964, when Dr. Banda took over control of external affairs, Malawi had few contacts with nations other than those in Western Europe, the United States, and several Asian states. At the United Nations (UN), which it joined at independence, Malawi almost always voted with the West. Besides the United Nations and its specialized agencies, Malawi was also a member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the British Commonwealth of Nations. During Banda's time, the country enjoyed a respected status at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Three principles governed Malawi's foreign policy according to Dr. Banda: no interference in the affairs of other nations; each individual country is to be judged on its own merits; welcome any country that was willing to aid Malawi. In fact, Banda maintained a strong anticommunist stance, and foreign aid was accepted only from Western sources. As head of state of a landlocked and poor nation, Banda chose to place Malawi's economic welfare above political considerations and, at independence in 1964, he elected not merely to establish a coexistence accord with white-ruled regimes in South Africa, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and the then Portuguese-controlled Mozambique. Instead, Malawi's president actively cultivated friendly relations with Lisbon and insisted that it was out of economic necessity that Malawi pursue this course of action. Respecting the military might of South Africa and the limited chance that his or any other African state could defeat apartheid forcibly, Banda established diplomatic relations with Pretoria in September 1967.

Whereas another nation might have reasoned that a policy of neutrality was best when there were powerful neighbors, Banda's considerations included the hope that he could make Malawi the "bridge" between black and white rule in Africa. He argued that in adopting a position of open dialogue with South Africa he was not implying any support for apartheid, the repressive South African rule, a situation he had experienced firsthand as a young man. Banda expected to bring about political changes, which he could not conceive as occurring by brute force or economic sanctions. He consistently maintained his opposition to apartheid, and his speeches that publicly criticized the South African government had the same theme: antiapartheid, anticommunist, and pro-West.

A s.h.i.+ft in Malawi's foreign stance took place in 1985 when it recognized Romania and Albania; three years earlier North Korea had received diplomatic recognition. Despite these overtures to the east, the policy had no real impact on the parties concerned. Malawi remained strongly pro-West and refused to allow any communist nation to have an emba.s.sy in Malawi. Although the recognition of these two Eastern European countries probably made Malawi feel more important, it was in fact merely window dressing.

Banda's att.i.tude toward white-ruled southern Africa was not well received at the OAU, which expected all members to actively support the liberation movements in overthrowing colonialism. In fact, as a general rule, Banda was not supportive of OAU policies and specifically disdained embargoes or violence as a solution to the southern African problem. This stance did not ingratiate him with many African leaders, and it tended to place Malawi in an isolated position within the continent. In spite of this, however, in 1980, Malawi was a founding member of the Southern Africa Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) and the Preferential Trade Area (PTA), both of which did not originally include South Africa.

Post-Banda foreign policy remained friendly to the West. President Bakili Muluzi continued to maintain diplomatic relations with countries such as Great Britain, the United States, France, j.a.pan, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway, most of which also provided financial and technical aid to Malawi. They also remained committed to global organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, and the UN and its agencies. Western-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including those in the general field of human rights, have become progressively active in Malawi. Also, unlike Hastings Banda, President Bakili Muluzi, a Muslim, established close relations with Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Libya. Under Muluzi, Malawi also became an active partic.i.p.ant in African affairs, fully embracing the OAU (in 2002 renamed the African Union), and even contributing to an African peacekeeping force. Since 1994, contingents of the Malawi army have served as part of the UN observer forces in Rwanda, the Congo, and Eastern Europe. Muluzi attended all meetings of SADCC, now renamed the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and served terms as chairman of both organizations.

Although President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika's government has not been as close to Islamic countries as its predecessor, there has not been a significant change in foreign policy. Malawi has been supportive of international organizations such as the Commonwealth and the UN system, continues to host many NGOs from various parts of the world, and has maintained diplomatic ties with most of the countries that Bakili Muluzi's government did. As a former secretary general of COMESA, he has partic.i.p.ated fully in regional organizations such as SADC, and in February 2010, he was elected as chairman of the African Union, indicating his government's commitment to the ideals of the organization. A radical departure from policy occurred in 2007 when Malawi established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, thereby cutting the 41-year-old tie with Taiwan. Also in 2007, the government consolidated relations with India by building an emba.s.sy in New Delhi.

In April 2011, the Malawi government expelled the British high commissioner because, according to a leaked report, he had recently informed the British Foreign Office that President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika had become less tolerant of criticism to the point of threatening civil society. The British government reacted by asking the Malawi envoy to leave and announced that it would reexamine its relations with Malawi, especially its aid to the country. In May, it canceled new aid to Malawi and revoked the special visa status granted to the president and vice president of Malawi and to other senior government officials. See also ECONOMY.

FORESTRY. Malawi has considerable forestry potential, but demand for wood has reduced the land cla.s.sified as forest, most of it in protected hill tops and watersheds. In 1975, 47 percent of the country was designated as forest, and, in 1994, such land area totaled about 3.6 million hectares, representing 38 percent of the total land area. These forests had 97 percent and 3 percent indigenous and planted trees, respectively. Demand for fuel for cooking (i.e., charcoal in the urban areas and firewood in rural areas) continues to be a threat to Malawi's forests. Similarly, the use of wood to build sheds for tobacco and extension of agricultural land remains a threat to forests. The reduction of the civil service as part of the expenditure reduction in the 1990s has also affected forests as many of the personnel who guarded them against bush fires and against human predators have been laid off. At the beginning of 2000, there was ample evidence of unprecedented deforestation in many parts of rural Malawi. In that year, forests comprised only 28 percent of the land area, and of this, 21 percent and 7 percent were forest reserves and customary land, respectively.

The National Forestry Policy of 1996, the Forestry Act of 1997, and the supplement to the Forestry Policy of 2003 provide the guidelines for the growth and management of the forests and their products in Malawi. The Forest Department is charged with executing the policy. Previous policies focused on protecting the forests, whereas the 1996 policy emphasizes the involvement of communities in which these forests are located. Similarly, the 1997 Forest Act, unlike that of 1942, which tended to confine itself to controling forest resources, operates within the larger framework of poverty reduction, bettering the socioeconomic well-being of Malawians. Local communities are encouraged to conserve forests and to help police preserve them. Now individuals must obtain licenses to be involved in production and transportation of wood products. These efforts are critical in a nation where timber provides approximately 90 percent of the country's energy. Although pulpwood is confined to the Viphya plateau, timber production is also active in Dedza, Zomba, Mulanje, Dzalanyama, and Blantyre, and in 2008, all these major centers accounted for 83,520 cubic meters of wood worth MK91 billion.

When economic constraints prohibited the use of the softwood from Viphya plantation as feedstock for paper production, the government established a plywood sawmill (Viply). Softwood wastes from the government plantation were applied as feedstock for a charcoal production project. It was the largest of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa with a capacity of 9,500 tons per year. More significantly, it was a feasible alternative to coal and other fuel wood for household cooking and tobacco curing. In the heavily populated southern region, where, in the past, resources have been taxed by the influx of refugees from Mozambique, stands of wood have been replaced by crops of maize needed to feed the expanded population. Reforestation programs are in place, particularly legislation to protect indigenous trees. Shortages in newsprint in the mid-1980s and, in the early 1990s, in packaging materials, led the Malawi government once more to request that Viphya Pulpwood Corporation (VIPCOR) investigate the establishment of a pulp mill at Liwonde. That too fell through. In 1999, as part of the privatization program, the government dissolved VIPCOR and sold Viply to TS Rai Ltd. of Kenya, which renamed it Raiply Malawi Ltd. By 2008, Raiply was producing 30,000 cubic meters of processed timber annually and was exporting half of it to Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Individual entrepreneurs also engaged in wood production, especially in the Viphya area. See also ECONOMY; ENVIRONMENT; TRADE; VIPHYA PULPWOOD SCHEME.

FORT HARE UNIVERSITY. Located in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa, and founded by Presbyterians in 1916 to provide tertiary education to black people, Fort Hare University would be the alma mater of many future leaders of southern Africa, including Henry Chipembere, Orton Chirwa, Wellington Manoa Chirwa, and the former South African president Nelson Mandela.

FORT HILL. See CHITIPA.

FORT JAMESON. Now called Chipata, this Zambian town near the border with Malawi developed close to the seat of Inkosi Mpezeni, one of the sons of Zw.a.n.gendaba. In pre-Ngoni times, this was part of the heartland of the Chewa kingdom of Undi, which was part of the Maravi confederacy. Today both the Chewa and the Ngoni live in the area, and the dominant language is ciNyanja, which is basically the same as chiChewa. The British defeated the Mpezeni Ngoni in 1898, and, in the following year, Robert Codrington of the Northern Rhodesia administration moved there from Zomba, turning it into a regional headquarters of the British South African Company (BSAC). Today, Chipata is the headquarters of the eastern province of Zambia.

FORT JOHNSTON. Named after Sir Harry Johnston and, after independence, renamed Mangochi, this district headquarters, located at the southern tip of Lake Malawi very near the point where the s.h.i.+re River flows out of the lake, was a British fort in the late 1880s and in the 1890s at the height of the establishment of Pax Britannica in the area. Fort Johnston became a defensive and an offensive post against the Yao chiefs Mponda, Makandanji, Makanjila, and Jalasi, all of whom strongly resisted the new British authority. Part of the memorabilia relating to the period of British pacification is currently displayed at the Mangochi museum at the boma.

FORT LISTER. Renamed Phalombe and located in the valley northwest of Mulanje Mountain, this was a British post in the fight with Yao chiefs, especially Chik.u.mbu.

FORT MAGUIRE. See MAGUIRE, CECIL.

FORT MANGOCHE. Located in the mountainous area west of Mangochi (Fort Johnston) boma, this was a British fort (in the 1890s and early 1900s) used to extend their authority in the mainly Yao-dominated area in the border region with Mozambique.

FORT MANNING. Renamed Mchinji and located in Chewa/Ngoni country, the fort was built in 1898 during campaigns against the Mpezeni Ngoni. In January 1898, Captain William Manning of the King's African Rifles (KAR) launched his attacks on Mpezeni from this fort, and it was here that the defeated Mpezeni was held prisoner for a year; about 12,000 cattle from Mpezeni's area were also taken to Fort Manning. In recent years, the fertile lands in this district have become major tobacco and maize growing areas, and the large estate owners included Dr. Hastings K. Banda and several of his ministers. Groundnuts are also grown in the district. The district headquarters is also the Malawi railhead for a railway line extending from Lilongwe to the MalawiZambia border.

FORT MLANGENI. Located on the MalawiMozambique border, between Ntcheu boma and Lizulu, this was a British post in the campaigns against the Gomani Ngoni (see GOMANI I). Later, Fort Mlangeni became a major recruiting center of the Wit.w.a.tersrand Native Labour a.s.sociation (WENELA). Later still, it became a training center for the Young Pioneers and the Police Mobile Force.

FRASER, DONALD (18701933). Born in 1870, he came to Nyasaland in 1897, joining senior colleague Rev. Walter Elmslie at the Livingstonia Mission at Ekwendeni. Later, with his wife, Agnes Robson, he was stationed at Loudon. With Fraser's arrival came a more sympathetic att.i.tude toward some African customs. He attempted to reform the more puritanical church restrictions on dancing, polygamy, and beer drinking; instead, he emphasized the writing of Ngoni hymns and the similarity of existing Ngoni and Tumbuka religious beliefs with Christianity. Among the books he wrote are Winning a Primitive People (1914), African Idylls (1923), Autobiography of an African (1925), and The New Africa (1927). He left Malawi in 1925 and died in 1933 but was buried at Loudon Mission, Mzimba, next to where the body of Rev. Jonathan Chirwa lies. See also LAWS, ROBERT.

FRELIMO. See MOZAMBIQUE.

FRENCH, MARGARET MERENE. This British woman became Hastings Banda's friend, lover, and companion during his stay in London and Ghana. The two met in northeast England when Margaret's husband was serving in World War II; she became his landlady, and when Banda moved to London and bought his own house, she, her son, and her husband joined him. Later her husband left and successfully filed for divorce, citing Banda as the corespondent. When Banda left for Ghana in 1953, she went with him, leaving her son with his father. However, when he decided to return to Malawi in 1958, she remained in Ghana and eventually went back to London; at first, contact between them was minimal and soon terminated completely. Mrs. French died in 1976.

G.

GADAMA, AARON ELLIOT (19341983). Born in 1934 near Kasungu, Gadama went to local primary schools before proceeding to St. John's Bosco Teacher's College, Lilongwe, where in 1959 he received the primary schoolteacher's certificate. While teaching at a number of schools in the central region, he studied by correspondence to upgrade his basic education. He became headmaster of Kasungu Primary School but continued to further his education. The mid-1960s were busy years for Gadama: he was awarded a British government bursary to study education for a year at Morray House, Edinburgh; he spent some time in Australia studying education; and he received a certificate in modern mathematics from Nairobi.

An articulate, intelligent, and entertaining person, he became a member of Parliament for Kasungu in 1971. Gandama was quickly promoted by Dr. Hastings Banda to minister of community development. In the mid-1970s, he was appointed minister without portfolio before moving on to become minister for the central region. In the latter capacity, he was also chairman of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the central region. In May 1983, Gadama was one of the four cabinet ministers and members of Parliament who died in a car "accident" in Mwanza district. A commission of inquiry established in the post-Banda period found that the police killed the ministers on orders from the top, and it is no longer a matter of speculation that he may have been involved in a power struggle involving the issue of succession to the aging Banda. See also MWANZA ACCIDENT AND TRIALS.

GLOSSOP, REV. ARTHUR GEORGE BARNARD. Arthur Glossop was a missionary of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) and a firm believer in British imperialism. In 1893, he was posted to Likoma Island and for 50 years continued to work in the Lake Malawi area. As the high Anglican archdeacon in the UMCA, Glossop was the sole cleric representative on the commission of inquiry on the Chilembwe uprising. In the Report of the Commissioners (1916), Glossop's bias against small independent missions was apparent; he believed Africans needed discipline, not the kind of individualism seen in Chilembwe and his followers.

GOMANI I, INKOSI CHITAMTHUMBA (?1896). In September 1891, Gomani succeeded his father, Chikuse, as the leader of the Maseko Ngoni. Within a few years, a civil war commenced between his followers and those of his cousin, Kachindamoto, grandson of Chidyawonga. With the a.s.sistance of the Yao chief, Mponda, Gomani forced Kachindamoto to the lakesh.o.r.e area where he established a base at Mthakataka, a famous railway station and Christian mission center. In November 1894, the two warring leaders reconciled at a meeting on Dedza Mountain.

Peace attracted many foreigners to the area, and they included missionaries, hunters, businessmen, and colonial administrators, a development that concerned some of Gomani's followers who became convinced that their ruler had lost his grip on the domain. To prove the contrary, Gomani sent his security forces to the area between the Kirk ranges and Liwonde to punish villages that had offended his administration. Convinced that this was a challenge to it, and seeing this as a chance to humiliate an African ruler considered to be recalcitrant, the colonial government sent soldiers to remind Gomani that he was answerable to it. Defiant, he reminded the government party led by Captain F. T. Stewart and Acting Consul Greville that he and his people would never submit to the British. When Kachere, a bodyguard, tried to prevent Gomani's arrest, he was beheaded; on 27 October 1896, Gomani was taken away by the army and, midway between Dombole and Chiole, he was killed and buried. His subjects found his body and reburied it about five miles north of present-day Ntcheu district headquarters; the grave has become a major symbol for all the Maseko Ngoni. See also GOMANI II, INKOSI ZINTONGA PHILIP MASEKO.

GOMANI II, INKOSI ZINTONGA PHILIP MASEKO (18941954). A descendant of Mputa and Chikuse, paramount chief of the Maseko Ngoni of Ntcheu district from 1921 to 1953, one of the few traditional rulers to stand firm against the establishment of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and a founding member the Chiefs Council, Zintonga Gomani was born in 1894 at Chipiri on the Mozambique side of Malawi. After mastering the basic elements of reading and writing, Zintonga Gomani went to the Henry Henderson Inst.i.tute (HHI), Blantyre. He was baptized at Ntcheu in 1921, the year he succeeded his father, Chitamthumba Gomani, as chief. Under the District Native Ordinance of 1933, Zintonga, now using his Christian name, Philip, became officially recognized as paramount chief of Ntcheu district. In 1934, he was among the first chiefs to attend a course for traditional rulers at Jeanes Training College, Domasi. Ten years later, he was appointed to the Provincial Council and to the African Protectorate Council, a position that gave him the opportunity to meet and know other chiefs and leading Nyasalanders outside his district.

Totally opposed to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Chief Gomani would become part of the delegation of Nyasaland chiefs who went to London to oppose its inst.i.tution. However, because of poor health, his son Willard Gomani went instead. When the Federation was imposed in 1953, Gomani began to pursue peaceful resistance by ignoring official agricultural and conservation regulations, many of which were highly unpopular in the colony, and by encouraging people to follow suit. In reaction, the government suspended and then withdrew its recognition of his chiefly authority. On 14 May, the governor, Geoffrey Colby, decreed that he leave the district. He refused, and the police, led by Deputy Commissioner Geoffrey Morton, tried to force Gomani out of the district but failed because the thousands of people gathered at the chief's Lizulu headquarters made it impossible. The chief then hid near Villa Coutinho, on the Mozambican side of the border, where he was arrested by the Portuguese authorities who handed him over to the Nyasaland police. In June, the case against him was due to start in the Zomba magistrate court, but the chief could not appear as he was ill and was taken to the Seventh-Day Adventist Hospital in Malamulo. The government did not allow him to return to Ntcheu district again. In the meantime, the events at Lizulu increased tension in the district and detachments of security forces from Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, and Tanganyika were sent to the area to reduce the political temperature.

The arrest and treatment of Gomani and his advisors were followed by major disquiet throughout the colony. African nationalists and others unhappy with agricultural regulations and with the establishment of the Federation felt they were under government a.s.sault. Questions concerning the Gomani affairs were also raised in the British Parliament. On 12 May 1954, Gomani died at Malamulo and was buried at Lizulu two days later. His funeral was attended by thousands of people, including leading nationalist politicians such as James Sangala, Charles Chinula, and James Chinyama. See also SCOTT, MICHAEL.

GOMANI III, INKOSI WILLARD MASEKO (19152006). Born in Lizulu in Ntcheu district, son of Inkosi Zintonga Philip, Gomani II, Willard went to Seventh-Day Adventist schools, and during World War II was a signaler in the King's African Rifles. Upon demobilization in 1943, he joined government service as a clerk and, by the time he became acting chief in 1952, he had risen to the rank of head clerk, the highest position an African could attain in the colonial civil service. Like his recently deposed father, Inkosi Willard was strongly against the imposition of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and, in 195253, he was part of a delegation of six chiefs that went to London to oppose its inst.i.tution. Unimpressed by this, the colonial government not only refused to accept Willard as the successor to his father when the latter died in May 1954, but he was also imprisoned for seven months for helping his father defy government orders to leave the district and for resisting capture in May 1953. When he was released, still only acting chief, he continued his support for African nationalist causes to the extent that during the State of Emergency in 1959, he was again detained for eight months.

In 1961, Inkosi Gomani stood as Malawi Congress Party (MCP) candidate for Ntcheu and was duly elected to Parliament, which he left four years later to devote his attention to his traditional role as leader of the Ngoni in the NtcheuDedza area. Willard Gomani died in 2006, and two years later, his son, Kanjedza Alex Gomani, succeed him and a.s.sumed the t.i.tle, Gomani IV. He pa.s.sed away in September the following year, and the new Maseko Ngoni ruler became Willard Alex Gomani, son of Kanjedza Alex, but because he was under age, his aunt, Mary Malinki, was appointed regent.

GOMBERA, THOMAS. The first African detective in the Nyasaland police, and the first African to attain the rank of police inspector, Gombera was born in 1896 in Southern Rhodesia. From 1912 to the beginning of World War I, he served in the British South African Police Force and, for four years, saw war service in East Africa as part of the Rhodesia Native Regiment. Upon demobilization in 1919, he went to Nyasaland to join the police force that was being formed. In 1920, he became one of the first recruits of Major Francis Stephens, the first police commissioner with whom he had served in Rhodesia and East Africa. From January 1921 to his retirement in 1961, Gombera was in the Criminal Investigation Division of the police. A recipient of five police medals, including the Colonial Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1947, he was promoted to the rank of inspector in the police force in February 1959.

GONDWE, CHILONGOZI. In 1907, this former government policeman became the Chikulamayembe, the traditional ruler of the Tumbuka-speaking peoples in Rumphi district. The position had disappeared in the 1870s after the M'mbelwa Ngoni ransacked the area, conquered the people, and turned it into part of their new territory. Backed by Church of Scotland missionaries such as Rev. Thomas Cullen Young, Tumbuka speakers a.s.sociated with the Chikulamayembe dynasty campaigned hard for the revival of the office of the Chikulamayembe. It was duly reinst.i.tuted in 1907.

GONDWE, DOROTHY TIJEPANI (19242010). Political activist and one of the leading members of the League of Malawi Women of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Gondwe was born at Mpoda Village in north Karonga on 24 March 1924. She attended schools in Nyasaland and Tanganyika, married, and, after early widowhood, returned to Nyasaland in the 1950s. Within a short time, she joined the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) and became an activist in Karonga. In 1958, she was elected joint-organizing secretary for the district. She also became a prominent member of the Women's League to the extent that she even attended the secret bush meeting in February 1959 called by the NAC's leaders.h.i.+p to plan a program of action. In the period leading to the declaration of the State of Emergency on 3 March 1959, Gondwe and Flax K. Musopole worked day and night to inform people that should Dr. Hastings K. Banda be arrested they should take up arms against the government. As people were detained, they crossed the Songwe into Tanganyika where they were arrested in August and taken back to Malawi. Gondwe was imprisoned for nearly a year.

In the mid-1960s, Gondwe went to England to study community and social work and, upon her return in 1969, she worked for the government. However, within two years, she had fallen out of favor with the authorities and was dismissed from her job. She returned to Karonga to farm and was not fully reinstated into the Malawi Congress Party until 1992, when she was appointed to its National Executive Committee, in the hope that she could sway opinion toward retention of the status quo. Gondwe campaigned against political reform and, in 1994, worked tirelessly for the retention the MCP government. Although still a member of the MCP, she virtually retired from active politics in the early 2000s.

GONDWE, EDWARD KAYIWONANGA (19061993). One of the most senior and respected civil servants in colonial Malawi, Edward Gondwe was born at Enukweni in Mzimba district. He attended the local Presbyterian mission school and Ekwendeni Primary School before proceeding to the Overtoun Inst.i.tution at Khondowe where he completed his primary teacher's certificate. He taught at several schools, including Ekwendeni, where he became headmaster. He was also active in the church, holding the position of church elder. As part of a program to improve the quality of primary education, the colonial government in Nyasaland identified some of the best indigenous teachers and educational administrators to become school inspectors and, when required, tutors at the Domasi Training Center. Gondwe was such a candidate and, in 1948, was among the first Nyasaland teachers to attend an 18-month course at the Inst.i.tute of Education, University of London. Upon his return, he was appointed inspector of schools, mainly for Rumphi, Karonga, and parts of Mzimba districts. In 1958, he became education officer, the highest position occupied by an African without a university degree. One of the most respected civil servants in Malawi, Gondwe retired from government service in the mid-1960s.

Throughout his working life, Edward Gondwe played other significant roles in public life. In 1938, he presented evidence to the Bledisloe Commission, and in the 1940s he was one of the first members of the Northern Provincial Council. In 1949