1) Captain Cecil Montgomery Maguire was the Army officer in India who was seconded by the British Government to the newly established Nyasaland Protectorate in 1891 to command one of the first military units organised by the British. Leading a detachment of Indian troops, he took part in early expeditions against Yao chiefs and Arab-Swahili slavers. He was shot dead by the Yao fighters in Mangochi on 15 December 1891.
2) On 12th December 1935, Attati Mpakati (PhD) was born at Nchocholo village near Nsoni in Chiradzulo district. From 1974 to March 1983, Attati Mpakati served as a leader of an opposition political party called Socialist League of Malawi (LESOMA).
3) Prof. John David Chiphangwi (late), born on 17th December 1936 in Luchenza, emerged as one of Malawi’s most influential medical practitioners. His integrity and professional courage became widely recognised in 1978 when he exposed the deplorable conditions of the maternity ward at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre during a presidential visit, a stance that prompted government action and the eventual construction of the Gogo Chatinkha maternity wing. He later led the ambitious national project to establish Malawi’s first medical school, which opened in 1991 and transformed the country’s capacity to train its own doctors.
4) On 16th December 1937, Elliot Kamwana Chirwa a struggle icon and founder of Watch Tower Church, established a new church in Nkhata Bay called the Watchman Healing Mission. He had returned to Nyasaland in July 1937 after 20 years of banishment in Mauritius.
5) One of the Mwanza Four assassinated on 18th May 1983, was a legislator called Hon. David Chiwanga. He was born on 15th December 1942 at Namila village, Chief Kasisi in Chikwawa district.
6) It was on 13th December 1946 when floods (popularly called ‘napolo’) erupted from Zomba mountain and swept a place called Ntiya, destroying property and claiming the lives of people and livestock.
7) According to the Ghana Gazette of 7 December 1957, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s licence to practise medicine in Ghana was revoked. He had relocated to Kumasi (Ghana) from the United Kingdom in 1953.
Within five months of his return to Nyasaland, Dr Kamuzu Banda travelled back to Ghana to participate in the historic All-African Peoples Conference (8-12 December 1958) in Accra. He departed from Chileka Airport in Blantyre on 1st December 1958. After the conference, he made a stopover in Salisbury (Harare) en route to Blantyre on 13th December 1958. However, in Salisbury, he was informed that the colonial administration in Nyasaland had instructed the airline to withhold his onward flight reservation until after the weekend. This was a deliberate attempt to prevent a mass gathering at Chileka Airport to him.
9) On 3rd December 1960, Masauko Chipembere and Kanyama Chiume addressed Malawi Congress Party (MCP) supporters at a rally in Zomba. The scathing speech that Chipembere made on this day and another that he had delivered in Rumphi on 28th November 1960, landed him in trouble. The colonial government arrested him on charges of sedition on account of the two speeches. He was tried and convicted. He served his sentence at Zomba prison from 1961 until January 1963.
10) On 4th December 1960, the house belonging to Christian Democratic Party leader Chester Katsonga was set alight by a group of MCP supporters in Zomba who had earlier on been addressed by Masauko Chipembere and Kanyama Chiume.
11) As of December 1963, the cabinet in Nyasaland was composed as follows:
a. Prime Minister and Minister for Natural Resources, Social Development and Health- Dr Kamuzu Banda
b. Minister of Information- Kanyama Chiume
c. Minister of Local Government & Education- Masauko Chipembere
d. Minister of Justice & Attorney General- Orton Chirwa
e. Minister of Finance- Henry Phillips
f. Minister of Works & Housing- Augustine Bwanausi
g. Minister of Transport & Communications- Colin Cameron
h. Minister of Labour- Willy Chokani
i. Minister of Trade & Industry- John Msonthi
j. Minister of State- Mikeka Mkandawire
12) A leader of an opposition party to MCP and a parliamentary candidate for the opposition ahead of the April 1964 elections in Nyasaland, Gilbert Pondeponde, was murdered at his home in Chileka by MCP hoodlums on 24th December 1963 barely four months before the elections.
13) The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, created in 1953 (incorporating the British settler-dominated colony of Southern Rhodesia and the territories of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was officially dissolved on 31st December 1963.
14) On 21st December 1965, Yatuta Chisiza arrived in Beijing by train from Luoyang. This was during his six-month stay in China, where he underwent military training and sought both logistical and financial support from the Chinese government for his mission to overthrow Dr. Kamuzu Banda in Malawi.
15) Augustine Bwanausi a struggle icon for Malawi’s independence and a minister in Dr Kamuzu Banda’s first cabinet after independence attained on 6th July 1964, was killed in a road accident in Zambia on 30th November 1968. He was laid to rest in Lusaka during the first week of December 1968.
16) On 18th December 1971, Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre hosted the Castle Cup Final between Bata Bullets FC and Chichiri Athletic FC. Bata Bullets triumphed with an emphatic 8–1 victory. In the semi-finals, Bullets defeated UTM 4–1, while Athletic secured their place in the final with a 3–1 victory over Wanderers. Being the fourth year of the tournament, the sponsors, Rhodesian Breweries Limited, announced an increase in the prize money from MK1,200 to MK1,500.
17) On 6th December 1975, a 2-year-old baby boy called Nguluka Mhango was arrested with his grandmother Elesiya Nyausiska as a guardian. The baby boy spent two years at Zomba prison as a political detainee after being declared “a threat to state security”. He was ‘accused’ of being the son of Dr. Kamuzu Banda’s arch-enemy Kanyama Chiume.
18) Dr. Kamuzu Banda’s sister Gogo Chatinkha was laid to rest on 6th December 1979 in Kasungu. She was accorded a state funeral ceremony.
19) Orton Chirwa a struggle icon and a member of Dr Kamuzu Banda’s first cabinet after independence, his wife Vera and son Fumbani were abducted along Zambia/Malawi border on 24th December 1981 and brought to Malawi for a treason trial.
20) In Kampala on 15th December 1984, the Flames lost to Zambia in a final march of the CECAFA tournament during penalty shootouts.
21) The 13th of December 1987 remains a sad day in the history of soccer in Malawi. Mc Ewen Kumichongwe the Chairman of the Football Association of Malawi while leading a delegation of the Flames in Ethiopia, collapsed and died as the match was in progress between Flames and Zimbabwe during the CECAFA tournament. The match was abandoned, and the Flames immediately returned home while the tournament proceeded.
22) On 16th December 1989 in Nairobi, the Flames as defending champions of the CECAFA Cup lost to Uganda in a CECAFA final match during penalty shootouts after a 3-3 draw.
23) On 22nd December 1990, Lucky Dube delivered a memorable performance at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. Notably, among his crew was a lead guitarist called Chris Kandoje who hailed from Malawi.
24) In December 1991, employees at various workplaces in Blantyre received Christmas/New Year cards from anonymous sources with a message written as follows:
_Wishing you a Happy Christmas and New Year full of the joys of multiparty democracy. _
By the end of December 1991, most of the recipients had handed over the cards to their superiors who surrendered them to police as they were tantamount to be deemed as seditious materials.
25) On 14th December 1992 Chakufwa Chihana was convicted by the High Court in Blantyre on a first count of importing seditious publications contrary to Section 51(1) (d) of the Penal Code and on a second count of having seditious publications without lawful excuse contrary to S.51 (2) of the same Code. He was sentenced on the first count to a term of imprisonment of 18 months with hard labour and on the second count, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 24 months with hard labour.
26) On 2nd December 1993 a Malawi Army soldier was killed by Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP) cadres at a drinking joint in Mzuzu triggering operation Bwezani that left some state property destroyed and MYP employees with their families being displaced.
27) On 6th December 1993, Dr. Kamuzu Banda resumed his full duties as head of state which he had temporarily surrendered to the Presidential Council comprising top officials of the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) namely: Gwanda Chakuamba, JZU Tembo and Robson Chirwa. The Presidential Council was appointed by Dr Kamuzu Banda to stand in for him as he left the country in early October for Johannesburg to undergo brain surgery at Garden City Clinic.
28) On 7th December 1993, having resumed his presidential duties upon recovery from brain surgery, Dr Kamuzu Banda addressed the nation to appeal for calm in the wake of Operation Bwezani. In the same address, he announced the immediate appointment of Major General Wilfred Mponela as a Minister of Defence. This was the first time for someone other than Dr Kamuzu Banda to serve as Minister of Defence.
29) On 9th December 1993, Dr. Kamuzu Banda made changes to the command of the Malawi Army. Generals Yohane (Commander), Manyozo and Liabunya were placed on retirement with immediate effect while Generals Dimas Maulana and Manken Chigawa were appointed as Commander and Deputy Commander respectively.
30) On 13th December 1993, President Dr Kamuzu Banda assented to the repeal of some laws of repression that had been intact for decades. The repealed laws included the Decency in Dress Act and the Forfeiture Act, as well as provisions for the one-party state and life presidency of the Republic in the constitution and ‘detention without trial’ in the Preservation of Public Security Act. On the same day, President Dr Kamuzu Banda also assented to the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act which was passed by Parliament on 18th November. This Act provided for the legal framework to conduct the general elections in May 1994.
31) The Electoral Commission to preside over the May 1994 general elections was established on the 15th of December 1993 as stipulated by the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act of 1993. The Electoral Commission was chaired by Justice Anastasia Msosa. Other members were: Clement Chitingulo, John Chipeta, Charles S. Joyah, Prof. Christopher Kamlongera, Innocent Menyere, Raphael Mhone and Mundu Mwambetania.
32) Soon after coming into office in May 1994, the newly elected President of the Republic of Malawi Dr. Bakili Muluzi established a Commission chaired by Justice Mtengha to inquire on the circumstances surrounding the assassination of the Mwanza Four (Dick Matenje, Aaron Gadama, Twaibu Sangala and David Chiwanga) in May 1983. The Commission interviewed the former head of state Dr. Kamuzu Banda on 1st December 1994 from 3 pm at his Mudi residence (Blantyre) in the presence of his attorney Lovemore Munlo and his official hostess Mama C. Tamanda Kadzamira.
33) The former Prime Minister (1964-1966) and President (1966-1994) of Malawi Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda was laid to rest on 3rd December 1997 in Lilongwe. He died at Garden City Clinic in Johannesburg on 25th November 1997.
34) On 4th December 2001, following popular pressure two commissions were set up to inquire about the circumstances surrounding the death of Malawi’s reggae king Evison Matafale who was arrested on 24th November 2001 for penning down a “seditious and defamatory” letter to the then state President Dr. Bakili Muluzi. There was a presidential commission of inquiry chaired by Supreme Court Judge Leonard Unyolo. The other one was a joint commission of inquiry chaired by Mr Charles B. Malunga (Malawi Human Rights Commission). It comprised the Malawi Human Rights Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Prisons Inspectorate.
35) On 29th December 2002, for the first time a Rastafarian couple: Ras Chibvomelezi and Empress Isis Ntombi, conducted a chinkhoswe— Malawian traditional ceremony of celebration to mark the formal beginning of marriage. The event took place at the residence of Mayi Nasiyaya in the Makata area of Ndirande township in Blantyre. It was also the first occasion on which Rastafarians played a central role in planning, coordinating, and hosting a chinkhoswe, signalling an important cultural milestone for the Rastafari community in Malawi.
36) Kalonga Stambuli, an economist who once served as a high-ranking civil servant in Dr Bakili Muluzi’s government, was assassinated on 28th December 2003 at his home in Blantyre. At the time of his death, there was considerable speculation that he may have possessed sensitive or potentially “damaging information” about business activities tied to key political actors within the UDF-led government.
37) In a surprise move, on 30th December 2003, the Vice President of the Republic of Malawi, Rt. Hon. Justin Malewezi announced his resignation from the government and the ruling party (UDF) with effect from 1 January 2004. This was amidst succession battles inside the ruling party. He had served as Vice President of the Republic since 1994 following the multi-party elections held in May 1994.
38) George Kanyanya, one of the 17 founding members of an armed political formation called Ufulu Umodzi Malawi Africa (UUMA) who fought in the Mwanza ‘War’ of October 1967 and later served as a minister in President Bakili Muluzi’s first cabinet, passed away on 21st December 2004.
39) Kanyama Chiume a veteran politician, struggle icon for Malawi’s independence and minister in Dr Kamuzu Banda’s first cabinet after independence, was laid to rest in Lilongwe on 1st December 2007.
40) Mary Kaphweleza Banda passed away on 21st December 2008. She was the national spokesperson for UDF and had previously served as a minister responsible for Gender, and HIV/AIDS issues under Dr Bakili Muluzi’s administration.
41) On 3rd December 2017, a historian called Landeg Ernest White died after a short illness at his home located near Sintra in Portugal. He had spent less than three years in Malawi between his arrival in August 1969 to teach at the new university and his deportation from the country in May 1972. According to Hugh Macmillan (2018), White had an infinitely greater impact on Malawi than most short-term expatriates.
42) The country lost a talented gospel musician, George Mkandawire who died on 2nd December 2020.
43) On 8th December 2022, Prof. Owen Kalinga died in Manchester (UK) after suffering from a stroke. He was one of the first young Malawians to enrol at the University of Malawi (UNIMA) at its inauguration in 1965. He was also among the first graduates with a major in History from UNIMA in 1969. The same year (1969), along with Prof. Kings Phiri, they became the first two students from the History Department (UNIMA) to be awarded scholarships to pursue further studies abroad. Prof Owen Kalinga obtained a Master of Arts (MA) degree in History (University of Birmingham) and a PhD (University of London). After his further studies in the UK, he lectured at UNIMA for a couple of years.
44) On 16th December 2023, Walter Nyamilandu, the longest-serving President of the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), was defeated by Fleetwood Haiya in the FAM presidential elections held in Mzuzu.
45) On 24th December 2023, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers striker Christopher Kumwembe scored a stunning scissors kick goal against Nyasa Big Bullets in the Castel Challenge Cup final, equalizing the match at 1-1. The match proceeded to a penalty shootout, where Wanderers ultimately lost 4-2. A similar goal was scored by Frank Sinalo for the Flames at the same venue on 19th April 1987, during the second leg of the All-Africa Games qualifiers against Zambia. According to soccer historian Inno Chanza (2020), after Frank Sinalo, no one else had ever scored such a brilliant goal in a competitive match played at Kamuzu Stadium.
NB: Regarding Point 35: See the accompanying photograph (attached) that was taken during the event. The author of this piece is seated second from the left, while Empress Isis Ntombi is on the far right, dressed in green. The child seated on the floor is Dalitso, the son of Man Saluter from Bangwe. Dalitso is among the earliest minors known to have appeared at Rastafari gatherings in Malawi. He is now an adult and continues to trod the Rastafari path.
Compiled by Paliani Chinguwo (PhD).
Feedback: p.chinguwo@historyofmalawi.com
WhatsApp: +27 64 731 9254.
#Lost History Foundation.
