Kamuzu and Masauko Chipembere, the letter: Mungomo series on Ngwazi, part 2

If civic order be the desired outcome of a democratic society, then the brutality and violence which has characterized Western Europe, in both politics and the religion smack of hypocrisy to the extreme. For decades, most down trodden countries which have fought for independence particularly in Africa have suffered immense abuse and exploitation so much so that the Western democratic project within and elsewhere has been met with consternation. Nyasaland, the former British colony, was never spared the birth pangs suffered by any such country aspiring to reinvent social order following violent and brutal oppression based on the perceived racial superiority of white settlers.

Our fore fathers, yes, those who fought for the freedom from oppression which we so much take for granted today took serious of decisions to risk their lives to engage in a fight akin to the biblical David and Goliath duel. They gave themselves up for our freedom. In our case, we should remember and revere them, for without their gallantry, there would have been no Cashgate…if that is the democracy we so craved! It does not help our nation to spit on their legacies for petty political correctness camouflaged in so called democratic zeal.

In our quest to create new heroes, our country is seriously suffering from collective political amnesia for which we may pay a great price, as we consistently reinvent our civic order. The Western democracies are strewn with monuments of their former heroes, whether they were once reviled or not.

As Malawi fought against imperial Britain, there were many who so suffered that for the country to just apologetically honour them with a potholed road here and there is an insult to their legacy. It is disgraceful in the least. I for one would like to see a the day all the government buildings at Capital Hill named after our liberation heroes.

I would relish to see a Yatuta Chisiza Bulding, a monument of Dunduzu Chisiza in Mzuzu City. A monument of Alekechipongwe-azungu Kadonaphani Banda or Kanyama Chiume in Nkhata- Bay.

I would relish a government building to be named after Richard Amon Katengeza at the City Center in Lilongwe, a John Gwengwe Building at Capitol Hill. A Khuma Sendeza Road in Lilongwe. A monument of Gomile Kuntumanji in Zomba, a monument for Gwanda Chakuamba in Blantyre. A Lali Lubani Building, and perhaps more urgently a monument for Masauko Chipembere in Malindi, a Chakufwa Chihana stadium. These and many more, are heroes of our freedom. We need not agree with them, but they are our heroes nonetheless. Our local government institutions should urgently begin to address this omission.

In our attempt to create new heroes, which we surely have, we should also consciously decide to build on our history. Only immature nations fail to recognize their history however unpalatable it may be.

In remembering Kamuzu Banda’s legacy, I have chosen to honour the relationship which existed between Malawi’s premier nationalist Masauko Chipembere and his “beloved father” Kamuzu.

As the British held him in Zomba Prison for agitating for freedom, Chipembere he wrote, in his own handwriting on Her Majesty’s Prison printed paper to “his father” the following letter, and here reproduced verbatim.

From: Masauko H B Chipembere

19^th December, 1962

Ngwazi Dr. H Kamuzu Banda

Ministry of Local Government, Surveys and Natural Recourses

Zomba

 

My beloved Father and Master,

I have refrained from writing letters to you all along because I know, perhaps more than most people do, how busy you are and what harm is done each time we distract your attention from matters of great import to trivialities of a purely personal character.

The purpose of this letter is, firstly to inform you that I have now come to the end of my prison sentence which was three years but has been reduced to 2 years in accordance with a prison law which grants remission of sentence for good behaviour. You will be proud to learn that the good conduct which has earned me this reduction of sentence stems directly from the impact of your wise admonition given to me and my colleagues in Gwelo Prison in 1959. In that piece of advice you enjoined that a political prisoner must not give any trouble to the prison authorities and must make no fuss of any kind, so as to demonstrate his willingness to suffer for his country; and you set an admirable example for us to imitate by keeping absolutely quiet and not complaining about this or that amenity. I have endevoured to live up to this ideal throughout my stay here. As a result, I will be released in a few weeks time, probably on 9^th February.

I long to see you – you have become more than merely my leader and are my veritable father. I very much long to be with you and once more enjoy those highly edifying discussions and lessons that we want to have with you and which made me feel, each time I left your lounge, that had increased my stock of general knowledge and acquired a broader outlook on life.

Needless to say, I intend once again to place myself at your disposal, so that if you think I can be of any usefulness to you, or to the country, you may freely assign any duties to me either in our Party or in our government.

This allusion to our government brings me to the second purpose of this letter. May I join those thousands of people in and outside Nyasaland who are sending you hearty congratulations upon your resounding victory at the recent Constitutional Conference in London.

I am usually optimistic about the outcome of any difficult task that you undertake, knowing what combination of effort and skill you always put into anything worth doing; so I had expected happy results from the Conference. But never in my fondest dreams did I imagine that you would win such sweeping changes so soon after the implementation of the 1961 Constitution.

One does not have to be an expert in the structure and operation of constitutions to be able to appreciate the significance of your singular victory at the Marlborough House Conference table. The fact that what you have obtained for us is the substance of independence although it is not so designated is there for all discerning eyes to see.

But there is something even more remarkable about this triumph. It would have been surprising enough if you had had no obstacles to contend with at the Conference. But you were fighting against innumerable odds. The forces that were arrayed against you and that were militating against the realisation of your demands were, to say the least, formidable. Seldom can a leader, in all annals of colonial peoples, have won so brilliant a victory against so many odds, so soon after another victory. It speaks volumes of your adroitness as a bargainer and adds immeasurably to the glories that have gilded your name ever since your unique political career began.

I have read with profound interest and excitement the published excerpts from the White Paper that embodies the new constitution. It is in short, a “Common Man’s” constitution. It is an instrument that permits the limitless participation of our people in their government. It is bound to bring us great benefits. By enabling our people to be active in public affairs it will unlock those virile emotions which are congenial in us but which, through no fault of our own, have lain dormant during the last seventy years and have been replaced by apathy and a phlegmatic disposition for all matters concerning public administration.

Only a few years ago were we gravely menaced with extinction. We were “in exteremis”, and many of our people begun to give up hope. They began to believe that fate had decreed that we perish and be engulfed in undefined and altogether alien nationhood. All this is now a story of the past. You have brought about radical transformation in the entire political picture in our country. Where there was despair there is now hope; where there was gloom there is joy, and where there was darkness there is light. So, borrowing from and acknowledging a heroic couplet from Alexander Pope, we can say:-

“ Nyasas and Nyasas rights lay hid in night; God said ‘ Let Banda be’ and all was light”

I am,

Your affectionate son and servant,

 

Masauko Chipembere.

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