The Lake Chilwa region has always been identified with rice production and, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the colonial government unsuccessfully tried to turn it into a major rice-growing area. Another goal of the DANIDA is to increase the productive capacity of this potential rice-producing wetland. For ornithologists and bird watchers, the area is said to have more than 161 species of birds. It is expected that the project will improve the quality of the environment of the area to the benefit of its communities and of its fauna. One of the main islands of the lake is Chisi, which is home to many fishermen.
LAKE CHIUTA. Located on the MalawiMozambique border, it is an area inhabited mostly by Yao speakers.
LAKE MALAWI. Also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Malawi is Africa"s third largest lake, and it forms the southern part of the Great African Rift Valley. It is 363 miles long, 10 to 50 miles wide, covers 11,430 square miles, lies at 1,500 miles above sea level, and is as deep as 2,310 feet in its northern section, especially the portion between the Livingstone Mountains of Tanzania and the Nyika and Viphya Highlands on the Malawi side. A freshwater lake, it is fed by rivers such as the Songwe, the North and South Rukuru, the Luweya, Dw.a.n.gwa Bua, and Linthipe. Through the Shire River it drains into the Zambezi and, eventually, into the Indian Ocean. Because of the ready supply of water, the fertile soils around it, and the many species of fish, the lake has for time immemorial attracted people to its sh.o.r.es. Parts of its littoral have the largest concentration of population in Malawi, and they include the Karonga plains, Usisya, and southern Nkhata Bay district, and Nkhotakota. The lake has two main islands, Likoma and Chizumulu, which since the late 19th century have been centers for the Universities" Mission to Central Africa (UMCA).
Malawi shares the lake with Mozambique and Tanzania, where it is still called Lake Nyasa, the name that Dr. David Livingstone gave to it in 1859, itself a misnomer because nyasa is the Mang"anja word for lake. Long before the arrival of Europeans, the lake was an important transport avenue, providing the princ.i.p.al link between the various parts of the region. It is not surprising that bomas were established on the sh.o.r.es of the lake, and they include Fort Johnston (Mangochi), Nkhotakota, Chinthechi (later, Nkhata Bay), and Karonga. Lake transport continues to play a major role in the economic life of Malawi. See also FISHING; TOURISM; TRANSPORTATION.
LANCASTER HOUSE CONFERENCE. See BANDA, HASTINGS KAMUZU; ELECTIONS.
LANGUAGES AND LANGUAGE POLICY. Although during colonial rule English was the official language of communication, expatriate government officers in provincial and district administration had to learn ciNyanja (basically the same as chiChewa) and pa.s.s a required examination. CiNyanja was taught in schools, and government papers, such as Msimbi, had ciNyanja sections; it was also one of the princ.i.p.al broadcast languages in the period before, and during, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. CiTumbuka was taught in schools in the northern province.
The situation did not change until 1968 when ciNyanja was officially declared Malawi"s national language. CiTumbuka ceased to be taught in schools in the north and was no longer featured in the print and broadcast media. English continued to be the official language. After the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) government was defeated in 1994, the United Democratic Front (UDF) government greatly modified the language policy. While the status of English remained unchanged, ciNyanja lost its position as the national language in that others, including ciYao, ciLomwe, ciTumbuka, ciSena, and ciTonga, began to be broadcast on the radio; they had already been used in the opposition papers from 1992 to 1994. CiNyanja continues to be taught in schools and is one of the subjects at the Malawi School Certificate (MCE) or O level. The Democratic Progressive Party government of Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika has maintained the policy of its immediate predecessor. See also ETHNIC GROUPS.
LAST CHURCH OF G.o.d AND HIS CHRIST. See MSUMBA, JORDAN; NGEMELA, ISAWANI BEN.
LAUDERDALE ESTATE. Located near Mulanje Mountain, this was the first estate to seriously grow tea in Malawi. In 1891, the African Lakes Company (ALC), owners of the estate, employed Henry Brown to open Lauderdale as a coffee-growing venture. Having been recruited from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where tea was gradually replacing coffee, years later, Brown started to experiment with tea planting, initially using bushes from the Blantyre Mission gardens. Within a few years, the ThyoloMulanje area was established as the main tea-producing region of Malawi. Later, Henry Brown opened his own Thornwood Tea Estate, not far from Lauderdale.
LAW SOCIETY OF MALAWI. This organization regulates the standards, ethics, and practices of the legal profession in Malawi. As a professional body, it can also initiate debate on legislation emanating from the National a.s.sembly. In the early 1990s, it played a major role in advocating for political reform and in pressing for a return to respect of human rights; the society was represented on the Public Affairs Committee (PAC). In the postHastings Banda era, the Law Society has continued to guard against any infringements of human rights.
LAWRENCE, ISAAC "ISA" MACDONALD. Founding treasurer general of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) and, with James Sangala and Levi Mumba, leaders in the new organization, Lawrence was responsible for changing the name from Nyasaland African Council to Nyasaland African Congress. A widely read man, through publications such as Clements Kadalie"s Worker"s Herald and Marcus Garvey"s Negro World, he had for some time followed the progress of black organizations in Africa and America. In the 1920s, the colonial government had taken him to court for possessing this type of literature, which it deemed dangerous and illegal.
LAWS, ROBERT (18511934). Born on 28 May 1851, this founding member of the Livingstonia Mission party that arrived in the Lake Malawi area in 1875 qualified as a medical doctor at Aberdeen University and was ordained a minister of the Free Church of Scotland after attending the United Presbyterian College in Edinburgh. The Rev. Dr. Robert Laws served in Nyasaland for over 52 years and exercised considerable influence on the socioeconomic, cultural, educational, and political lives in the British colony. Although, initially, Dr. James Stewart of Lovedale (see LOVEDALE MISSIONARY INSt.i.tUTE) was the official leader of the Livingstonia Mission, in practice, Laws was the effective head from the beginning, overseeing its work from the Cape Maclear base, supervising its relocation to Bandawe in 1881 and, in 1894, moving its headquarters to its permanent site at Khondowe. At the latter place, he established the Overtoun Inst.i.tution, for a long time one of the best educational centers in colonial Africa. Laws envisioned the inst.i.tution playing a major role in the socioeconomic development of the region through the training of teachers, clergy, and government clerks, as well as apprentices in technical skills. At one stage he even seriously entertained the idea of a university at Livingstonia.
His belief that training in European skills was a prerequisite to African development drew opposition, including that from Donald Fraser, who feared the destruction of village life. Fraser also objected to the education of a few, preferring a ma.s.s education approach. By the 1920s, others were questioning the relation of fine industrial training to the village way of life. Despite the strict rules affecting their lives at Overtoun, many Malawian apprentices were trained and employed by Europeans in Malawi, other parts of southern Africa, and nearby Tanzania and Zambia. Although Laws"s Overtoun Inst.i.tution had been criticized as an object to promote the colonial (not African) economy, the inst.i.tution was responsible for producing many articulate and politically adept graduates who became leaders in local African Welfare a.s.sociations and, later, the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC). Laws was supportive of these groups, believing that an outlet for political expression was necessary. Many former students of the inst.i.tution, including Clements Kadalie and Tomo Nyirenda, had distinguished careers outside Nyasaland.
In the 1880s and 1890s, Laws encouraged the Moir brothers to expand their African Lakes Company (Mandala) stores in an effort to promote legitimate trade to compete with the growing influence of the Swahili-Arab traders in the Lake Malawi area. Early colonial governors such as Sir Alfred Sharpe respected and valued the missionary"s judgment and counsel. In 1912, Laws was appointed a member of the Legislative Council (LEGCO), and it was he who requested an inquiry into the origins of the Chilembwe uprising in 1915, in part because Livingstonia and other missions were under attack for educating Africans and presumably inciting them to protest European rule.
Laws wrote several school primers in local languages and was instrumental in translating the New Testament into ciTumbuka. He also published a mission magazine, AURORA and, later, wrote his memoirs, Reminiscences of Livingstonia (1934). Laws and his wife, Margaret Gray, left Malawi in 1927; he died in August 1934.
LEAGUE OF MALAWI WOMEN. This wing of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was initiated by Dr. Hastings K. Banda and organized by Rose Chibambo in 1958. At the same time, Banda organized the Youth League (see YOUTH). Both wings acted as a political vanguard to the Malawi Congress Party and remained zealous supporters of Banda for most of his presidency. Banda listened to the league, and, in noncontroversial matters, the league had an influence on the life of the president. The league enjoyed a monopoly on the sale and distribution of a millet brew, with the monies going to the Women"s League for its projects and charities. The Women"s League was encouraged to maintain the strength of the MCP by urging people to renew their party membership cards. Appeals were made to league members to attend party meetings, to enroll in home craft and literacy cla.s.ses, and to practice traditional dances in their local areas.
Referred to as his mb.u.mba (female members of his family), these women had to buy special Women"s League uniforms and perform at every official appearance of the president. Their compositions always praised him, describing him as their guardian and as Malawi"s savior. Modern houses were constructed for senior party mb.u.mba, especially those single and widowed women, as a reward for their loyalty and diligence, and their utility bills were paid for them by Press Corporation. The league had branches in every town and district and had chairwomen appointed to oversee the many social activities and charitable functions engaged in by the membership. The league reached every rural part of Malawi; women farmers who may not have seen or known an extension service officer knew the league chairwoman in their villages. Women who for some reason did not want to attend MCP functions or did not have the money to buy the party"s uniform were often subjected to unpleasantness.
Since the fall of the MCP government, the Women"s League has become an insignificant wing of the party. Many members, remembering the manner in which they were forced to attend MCP functions, have deserted the party for new ones such as the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD).
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL (LEGCO). In 1907, the Legislative Council was created as the consultative and legislative body in Nyasaland. Generally, the power to initiate legislation lay with the governor, who also appointed the members. LEGCO members included the governor, three ex-officio members of the Executive Council (the chief secretary, attorney general, treasurer), and three (six in 1911) nongovernment members nominated by the governor. The unofficial members consisted of European planters, traders, and missionaries. It was the missionary members of LEGCO who acted as the representatives, not of African persons, but of African interests. Many missionaries accepted their role with sincerity and spoke out against thangata, hut taxes, labor migration, and the sale of African land.
Until 1949, no Africans (or Asians) had direct representation in LEGCO, despite the fact that African Welfare a.s.sociations and the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) had made such a request. Earlier in 194445, the government established the mainly African Provincial Councils, dominated by traditional authorities. From the three councils, 20 people were chosen to form a Protectorate Council. The Protectorate Council was allowed (1949) to submit the names of five Africans to the governor who would choose two (three from 1953) to become LEGCO members. In 1949, E. A. Muwamba and J. Ellerton Mposa were the African representatives and P. Dayaram was the Asian representative. Europeans had appointed their first women to LEGCO just prior to that: Mary Tunstall Sharpe (daughter-in-law of Sir Alfred Sharpe) in 1946 and Marjorie Barron in 1947.
During the Federation (195363), Europeans in LEGCO gained the right of direct election, thus eliminating the nominating process by the governor. In the 1955 Const.i.tution, a common roll for Europeans and Asians and a separate roll for Africans were created. At the same time, the unofficial membership of LEGCO was increased to include five Africans (to be elected by Provincial Councils) and six Europeans. Following this, the NAC won all five African seats, and the members were Henry Chipembere, Murray Kanyama Chiume, Dunstan Chijozi, James Chinyama, and Nophas Kwenje. By 1960, there were seven African members in LEGCO, of whom three were elected and four were nominated by the Protectorate Council. In the 1961 elections, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) won all 20 lower-roll seats and two of the eight upper-roll seats in LEGCO. Two years later, LEGCO was renamed the Legislative a.s.sembly and reconst.i.tuted to include 53 members, 50 elected from a general roll and three from a special roll.
LEMANI, FINLY DUMBO (?2005). Finly Lemani was a minister in the United Democratic Front (UDF)led government formed after the 1999 elections, previously a minister of state in the office of the president, and in 1994 minister of energy. Born and raised in Zomba district, Lemani spent part of the 1960s in prison because of his a.s.sociation with Henry Chipembere and other cabinet ministers who had rebelled against Dr. Hastings Banda"s policies and style of rule. After his release, he worked in Blantyre and became famous nationally as a first-rate football organizer and club manager. In the late 1980s, he became a pastor, and when the agitation for political reform surfaced in 1992, Lemani became a founding member of the UDF. In 1994, he was elected to the National a.s.sembly and served as, among other capacities, minister of energy. In the 1999 elections, Lemani was returned as member for Zomba Thondwe, retained his position as UDF"s director of campaigns, and was appointed as special advisor to President Bakili Muluzi. In November 2000, he became minister of state for presidential affairs. He died while still in office.
LENGWE NATIONAL PARK. Covering about 50 square miles and located in Chikwawa district in the area south of the Mwanza River and west of the Shire, Lengwe was declared a game reserve in 1928. In 1963, the government"s Forestry Department a.s.sumed responsibility for wildlife conservation, and, as a result, 20 miles of connecting roads were constructed and a rest house was built on the site.
LEPROSY RELIEF a.s.sOCIATION (LEPRA). In 1963, the British Leprosy Relief a.s.sociation established the Malawi Leprosy Control Project at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre. Through its expatriate and locally trained staff and through the use of modern medicine and methods, LEPRA aimed at treating large numbers of leprosy suffers, and, in the process, it hoped to eradicate the disease from the country. Initially, the project covered an area of 2,000 square miles with a population of about 1 million people, with 10,000 to 12,000 leprosy patients. The LEPRA"s innovative method was to use mobile treatment units located in Blantyre, Zomba, and Mulanje to visit treatment centers in the rural areas. This way, patients remained near their homes; it also reduced the cost of treatment. Later the area of the project extended to other parts of the country. In 1978, the LEPRA in conjunction with the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the World Health Organization TDR (Tropical Disease Research) Programme began an intensive study of the epidemiology of leprosy, using Karonga district as a starting point. From 1986, trials for a multidrug therapy of Dapsone, Lamprene (clofazimine), and rifampicin commenced in the area of the Karonga Prevention Study and would last 8 to 15 years, and a trial for a vaccine was also planned. By the mid-1990s, leprosy had been much reduced, exceeding expectations, but new cases of the disease continue to be reported. From 2000 onward, the Wellcome Trust funded the study, and the project"s work now included an a.s.sessment of antiretroviral therapies (ARTs) on patients with HIV.
The LEPRA Health in Action continues to a.s.sist the Malawi National Leprosy and Skin program in, among other aspects, training community health workers, especially in parts of the country where leprosy is particularly prevalent.
LEVER BROTHERS. See UNILEVER SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA.
LIFE AND WORK. This influential publication was started by Rev. David Clement Scott, and it was the official magazine of the Blantyre Mission used by the missionaries to oppose government policies, especially those concerning land and labor. It was not popular with the European settler and business communities. Nevertheless, they and the government paid attention to its opinions.
LIKAYA-MBEWE, SMART. An entertainer whose acting name, Kapalepale, is synonymous with popular culture in Malawi during the period 196692. Kapalepale was also the t.i.tle of a 30-minute chiChewa play aired on Radio Malawi of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) every Sat.u.r.day evening. Until the late 1970s, the play centered on issues concerning everyday life, the type most people easily identified with: feuds between neighbors in an urban context; a person from a remote village mesmerized by life in a city he or she is visiting for the first time; an adulterous village headman. It was the most popular program on the radio, making the main character, Kapalepale (Likaya-Mbewe), a household name. His rise from a simple messenger at MBC to a national personality enhanced his reputation, as, for many, he became a role model. However, from the early 1980s to the 1990s, the play became influenced by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) politics, and it came to be identified with the ruling party"s propaganda.
LIKULEZI. This is the location of a major Catholic center in the southern region and of two seminaries. It is the home of the Oblates of the Holy Family, a Malawian order of brothers; it is also the mission station where nuns of the Diocesan Society of African Sisters are trained. In 1969, it became the site of the Catechetical Training College directed by Father Matthew Scoffeleers, and the curriculum included pastoral anthropology, Malawian culture, and Africanization.
LIKUNI. Likuni, in the heartland of Chewa country, became one of the main Catholic missions of the White Fathers in 1903. A few miles southwest of Lilongwe city, it is now a major Catholic educational center, boasting a girls" and a boys" secondary school, a printing establishment, and a big hospital.
LILONGWE. At an elevation of 3,445 feet, Lilongwe, capital of Malawi since 1975, is located in the heartland of Chewa country. It became the site of a boma in 1902, after the local chief, Njewa, requested its establishment. At the time, the area was called Bwaila, and the new boma was named after the nearby river, Lilongwe. In 1904, it became the district headquarters and, within two years, the first Asian traders arrived at the boma, the African Lakes Company (Mandala) having already established its presence there. The importance of Lilongwe increased in 1909 when a trunk road was constructed connecting it with Fort Manning in the west and with Fort Jameson in Northern Rhodesia. The connection with Dedza had been built four years earlier. In 1910, the area was separated into Dedza district and Lilongwe district. At that time, Lilongwe town boasted a boma, a growing population of Africans, Asians, and Europeans, a Mandala store, a post office, and a White Father"s mission at nearby Likuni. Even at this early date, Lilongwe was the junction of the major northsouth and eastwest roads.
Although local tobacco had been grown in Lilongwe district, its commercial growth was encouraged only after World War I, which resulted in the Imperial Tobacco Company opening a factory there in 1930. Major European planters such as A. F. Barron and R. W. Wallace established large plantations in the area; Lilongwe also became a major area of operations for the Native Tobacco Board (NTB) and, later, for other tobacco organizations. The city has the largest tobacco auction floors in the country.
In 1964, Dr. Hastings K. Banda announced his Gwelo Plan No. 2, and it included the construction of the lakesh.o.r.e road, the establishment of the University of Malawi, and the relocation of the capital from Zomba to Lilongwe. When the British government refused to fund the new capital, the Malawi government turned to the South African government for loans. In 1968, the Capital City Development Corporation was established to carry out the building of the capital city, which was officially inaugurated in 1975. There are many commercial businesses in Blantyre that now have branches in Lilongwe. In keeping with the expansion of the city as the national capital, the new Lilongwe International Airport opened in 1983, and work on a new state house was completed in the early 1990s.
President Bakili Muluzi did not use the state house for its original purpose, leaving part of the building as the home of the National a.s.sembly. However, in the Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika era, the state house has come to be used as the residence of the president. A new National a.s.sembly building is under construction in the capital. Lilongwe is also the site of educational inst.i.tutions, such as the Kamuzu College of Nursing and the Malawi Inst.i.tute of Management (MIMS), the Bible College, and the future University of Science and Technology. Lilongwe"s population had risen from 99,000 in 1977 to about 900,000 in 2009.
LIMBE. Located nearly five miles east of Blantyre, Limbe developed primarily as an important terminus of the railway into Nyasaland. Limbe also became the headquarters of the Imperial Tobacco Company (ITC), which depended heavily on rail transportation, and which, like the rail company itself, became a major employer of local labor. By 1905, Limbe had grown enough to be declared a town, governed by a mayor and a town council. Limbe also came to be a.s.sociated with Asian business, as many people from the Indian subcontinent settled there. In 1956, Limbe and Blantyre joined under one mayor and, in 1959, the Amalgamated Council was transformed into the munic.i.p.ality of Blantyre and Limbe.
It is in Limbe that the road to Zomba begins, pa.s.sing through some of the main tobacco-producing areas in the country. Limbe is also on the route to Thyolo and Mulanje districts, the princ.i.p.al tea-growing regions of Malawi. To the immediate southeast of the town is the Mzedi Catholic Mission, home to St. Patrick Secondary School, and slightly farther southwest is Nguludi Mission, one of the early Catholic missions and, since the mid-1990s, the location of the Catholic University of Malawi. Limbe boasts other educational inst.i.tutions: Soche Secondary School and Our Lady of Wisdom Secondary School, situated next to the Limbe Catholic Cathedral. Limbe is the headquarters of the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC), seat of the local branch of Lever Brothers (see UNILEVER SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA), the site of the Chiperone blanket factory, and home of numerous light industries. The central sorting post office is also located in Limbe, as is the Shire Highlands Hotel, one of the oldest hospitality establishments in the country.
LIPENGA, KEN (1952 ). An author and cabinet minister in the post-1999 United Democratic Front (UDF) government, Lipenga graduated from the University of Malawi before going to the University of Leeds (MA), in the United Kingdom, and the University of New Brunswick, in Canada, where he was awarded a PhD in English literature. He taught at the University of Malawi until 1986 when he was appointed as editor-in-chief of the Blantyre Newspapers Ltd., a position he lost in December 1992 as the period of the agitation for political reform started. He worked briefly as a correspondent for Radio Netherlands International and for Reuters. In 1993, he became founding editor-in-chief of the Nation Newspapers.
Two years later, Lipenga was appointed special a.s.sistant to President Bakili Muluzi. Thereafter, he became an activist in the UDF party and, after the 1994 elections, he became Muluzi"s political advisor and speech writer. In 1997, he contested successfully for National a.s.sembly as a member for a Phalombe const.i.tuency and was appointed deputy minister of foreign affairs. In 1999, he was returned to the National a.s.sembly and promoted to minister of education and culture. In a cabinet reshuffle in November of the following year, he became minister of tourism and public works. He was also to serve as minister of labor and vocational training (20068), and minister of economic planning and development (20089). In the general elections of 2008, he retained his Phalombe seat but was not included in the new cabinet. In August 2010, he became minister of tourism, wildlife, and culture, and, in September the following year, he was appointed as minister of finance and development planning.
LITERATURE. In addition to the rich tradition of oral family and clan histories and accounts of the migration of groups such as the Maravi, the Chikulamayembe, Ngoni, and Kyungu, Malawi has a modern literary tradition. In the colonial period, this tradition was nurtured by missionary organizations, almost all of which had printing presses. Individual missionaries took interest in the writers and encouraged them to publish their ma.n.u.scripts. Rev. Charles Stuart encouraged Yesaya Mloyeni Chibambo to publish his Makani gha baNgoni, J. P. Brewer and Rev T. Cullen Young did the same for Samuel Josiah Ntara, as did J. L. Pretorius with Yesaya Mwasi. Among other early authors are Steven k.u.makanga, Nzeru a Kale (1932) and E. W. Chafulumira, Kazitape (1950), Kantini (1954), and Mfumu Watsopano (1962).
Since the 1960s, there has developed a strong tradition of writers in English. Despite the censorship in President Hastings Banda"s time, the Writers Workshop at Chancellor College of the University of Malawi has contributed immensely by encouraging prospective writers to realize their ambitions. Some members of this group began to publish their literary anthologies and, in 1977, nine plays written for the National Theatre of Malawi were published. Among the writers of this group are Steve Chimombo, Christopher Kamlongera, Ken Lipenga, Blaze Machila, Jack Mapanje, Felix Mnthali Lupenga Mpande, Anthony Nazombe, James Ng"ombe, Patrick O"Malley, and Paul Zeleza, all of whom are household names in literary circles of Malawi. In its own way, the Writers Corner program featured regularly in the program lineup of the highly politicized Radio Malawi of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), and in this way, it played a notable role in encouraging the ambitions of writers.
Many Malawian authors have published overseas in series such as Heinemann"s African Writers Series, and a similar series from Longman. However, local publishing houses, including Popular Publications in their Malawian Writers Series, have been the main publishers of Malawian literature in English. During the rule of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), writers had to be careful about the content of their stories and about the language they used. The Censorship Board had to approve ma.n.u.scripts before publication, and an author who ignored the requirement could be imprisoned.
Among some of the Malawian writers in English are Legson Kayira, I Will Try (1965), Looming Shadow (1967), Jingala (1969) and Civil Servant (1971); Aubrey Kachingwe, No Easy Task (1966); David Rubadiri, No Bride Price (1967); Steve Chimombo, The Wrath of Napolo (2002); and Jack Mapanje, The Beasts of Nalunga (2007). See also KAYIRA, LEGSON.
LIVINGSTONE, DR. DAVID (18131873). One of the most famous British missionaries and travelers of the 19th century, Livingstone was born at Blantyre, near Glasgow, Scotland. As a boy he led a difficult life, including working in the coal mines of Scotland, but, as he grew, his ambition was to become a missionary in China. However, after qualifying as a medical doctor in 1840, he changed his mind, joined the London Missionary Society, and left for southern Africa to work with Rev. Robert Moffat, his future father-in-law, who was then stationed in Griqualand. Besides missionary work, Livingstone traveled extensively, culminating in the 1856 journey that took him from Angola to Mozambique on the east coast of Africa.
After he published Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa in 1857, he commenced his Zambezi expedition (185863). This brought Livingstone up the Shire River and into southern and central Malawi. With Livingstone"s retinue in the 1850s were several Kololo from the upper Zambezi area who subsequently stayed in the Lower Shire region and established themselves as chiefs there. In 1859, he made three journeys, one to Chikwawa and another to Lake Chilwa, during which he observed firsthand the ravages of the slave trade. His third trip brought him to the sh.o.r.es of Lake Malawi. In 1861, Livingstone made another lake trip visiting Nkhotakota and Bandawe. That same year he also helped the Universities" Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) settle in at their ill-fated Magomero mission site. During Livingstone"s visit to the Lake Malawi region in 1863, he and his party traveled along the lakesh.o.r.e and west to Kasungu. The travel pattern set by Livingstone would be followed by succeeding European travelers: from the Zambezi River, north and up the Shire to the Murchison Cataracts, overland to Matope, and a return to the Shire until reaching Lake Malawi. Only the rail system, which was built in the 20th century, changed this earlier pattern.
In 1866, Livingstone returned to Malawi, traveling from Tanganyika along the east coast of Lake Malawi, turning south to Lake Malombe, and then west into the Dedza Highlands. On this, as on earlier journeys, he fought tirelessly against the slave trade. He did, however, show considerable tolerance and often had friendly relations with the Swahili-Arab traders. He died at Ilala in the Chitambo area of modern Zambia in 1873, and his African servants, led by Susi and Chuma, whom he had earlier recruited in the Shire Highlands, carried his body to Zanzibar from where it was transported to Great Britain. There, his death aroused much interest in missionary work, resulting in the establishment of the Livingstonia Mission in 1874. The African Lakes Company (ALC) was also a response to Livingstone"s call for Christianity, commerce, and Western civilization in Africa. Blantyre, Malawi"s largest commercial city, is named after Livingstone"s birthplace. See also MISSIONS.
LIVINGSTONE, WILLIAM JERVIS. This distant relative of Dr. David Livingstone, and manager of the 169,000 acre A. L. Bruce Estates at Magomero was, on the night of 23 January 1915, beheaded by his workers, most of whom were followers of John Chilembwe. Born on the island of Lismore, in western Scotland, Livingstone was recruited in 1894 by A. L. Bruce initially to grow coffee at the estate. He failed with coffee, as did many other Europeans in the Shire Highlands, but Livingstone showed that the area could produce cotton profitably. However, as the commission of inquiry into the Chilembwe uprising would show, William J. Livingstone was a particularly harsh manager who abused the thangata system in the extreme. He ignored the laws regulating the employment of labor. Laborers were forced to work for tax for two months and for tenancy for another two to three months; the working hours were long and the wages very poor. Livingstone would evict tenants without notice, causing much hardship to families, and he burned John Chilembwe"s churches built on his estate.
LIVINGSTONIA MISSION. See EDUCATION; MISSIONS.
LIVULEZI. Located in a valley in northeast Ntcheu district in a region under the influence of the Maseko Ngoni, this was the first mission station (1887) of the Livingstonia Mission. At the time, the area was primarily a Chewa area, but it was already recognizing the authority of the Ngoni chief, Chikusi, and for the Scottish missionaries, a foothold in this area was an important step toward establishing their presence in Maseko Ngoni country.
LIWONDE. Named after the Yao chief, Liwonde, and located at the point where the ZombaLilongwe Road crosses the Shire River, Liwonde is a small but thriving commercial center. It is also known for its fishing industry and the barrage on the Shire. Increasingly, however, it has become famous for the Liwonde National Park, which opened in the mid-1970s, and which is known for its rare species of flora and the game that live there.
LIZULU. Located near the BlantyreLilongwe Road, halfway between Dedza and Ntcheu, this is the traditional headquarters of the Maseko Ngoni and the seat of the Gomani authority.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Malawi is divided administratively into four regions-northern, central, eastern, and southern-and, during the Hastings K. Banda government"s one-party system, each was headed by a cabinet minister. The regions are further divided into districts, each headed by a district commissioner (DC), who is a civil servant and is answerable to the president in Lilongwe. Local government is carried out in 26 districts. In addition to the district a.s.semblies (formerly district councils), there are city and town a.s.semblies (formerly councils), all of which are supervised by the minister of local government. Although councils are elected and act as vehicles for development at the local level, the national government is able to exert control over them by its budget approval and the allocation of national monies for regional needs.
As part of the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the local government system has been strengthened by, among other measures, granting it more financial autonomy. Although DCs retain their position as the representatives of the central government, the district administrative system also has been reorganized.
LOMWE. This ethnic group inhabits mostly Mulanje, Phalombe, Thyolo, Blantyre, Chiradzulu, and parts of Zomba district. For a number of reasons, including drought, famine, and the hardship of living under Portuguese authority, the Lomwe emigrated from southern Mozambique at various stages between the 1880s and the 1920s. Many of them became victims of thangata, and a significant number joined John Chilembwe"s Providence Industrial Mission and supported his uprising. Many Lomwe also joined the police and the army. In late 2008, that is, in the period leading up to the 2009 presidential elections, some Lomwe started the Mulhako wa Alhomwe, an a.s.sociation that not only organized support for President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika, a Lomwe, but also worked to preserve and promote Lomwe culture and language.
LONDON & BLANTYRE SUPPLY COMPANY. See KANDODO.
LONGWE, REV. AARON (?1997). Human rights activist, vocal advocate of political reform, and member of the Public Affairs Committee (PAC), Aaron Longwe was trained as a pastor in Malawi and worked in the synod of Livingstonia. He studied further in Scotland and, on his return, became one of a new generation of politically aware church ministers and, later, helped to establish the Foundation for Justice and Peace through which he promoted human rights. Several times in 1992, Longwe was arrested and released, and, when the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) was formed, he became one of its spokesmen. Later, he left the party because of disagreements with its leadership.
LONGWE, BAGEYA. A female witch finder from Mphongo in Lundazi district, Northern Rhodesia, Bageya Longwe, whose fame spread to the Nyasaland side of the border, was particularly active during World War II. Hundreds of people in the two colonies went to her with their ailments, and she was also invited away from her home to cure the sick and detect sorcerers. In 194243, she cured nyaGama, the inkosikazi ya Makhosikazi (princ.i.p.al wife) of M"mbelwa II, after she had returned from a Western hospital still ill. The result was that more people flocked to Longwe, and M"mbelwa gave an unofficial green light to her presence in his area. Disturbed by her popularity, the district commissioner (DC) at Mzimba summoned M"mbelwa and accused him of aiding disorder and unlawful activities. In the magistrates court, the paramount chief, advised by Charles Chinula, successfully argued that, even though some thought that Bageya was not a genuine witch finder, he was convinced that she was a legitimate healer. M"mbelwa was acquitted but Bageya was sent to Zomba Central Prison for one year.
LONGWE, JANET. Nkhata Bay district chairman of the League of Malawi Women from 1961 to 1968, Longwe attended primary school in the district and worked as a medical attendant for some time before becoming a full-time Malawi Congress Party (MCP) activist. In 1968, she became a member of Parliament for Nkhata Bay South, but left the National a.s.sembly a few years later.
LONRHO. Short for London and Rhodesia, Lonrho was established by Roland "Tiny" Rowland, an English businessman of Polish origins, who, although based in England, had earlier worked in Southern Rhodesia. Lonrho grew into a major commercial empire with interests in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Africa. In Malawi, Lonrho became involved in engineering, car dealerships, and agrobusiness, mainly in sugar production at Nchalo in the Lower Shire and at Dw.a.n.gwa in Nkhotakota. Rowland became particularly close to Dr. Hastings Banda, with a direct line to the president, and this made him and his companies particularly powerful in Malawi. In the early 1990s, Lonrho began to withdraw from Malawi and sold its sugar interests to a South African firm based in Durban.
LOUDON MISSION. Located at Embangweni, near the seat of Inkosi Mzukuzuku, the mission was established in 1902 with the aid of 1,000 donated by the widow of Dr. Loudon of Hamilton, a friend of David Livingstone. This became one of the two major Ngoni-based Church of Scotland missions in Ngoniland, and the mission, headed in its formative years by the liberal Donald Fraser, produced distinguished Malawians, such as Charles Chinula and Lazalo Mkhosi Jere. The station has a hospital and had a teachers college, which, in the early 1980s, was converted into the Robert Laws Secondary School.
LOVEDALE MISSIONARY INSt.i.tUTE. Later known as the Lovedale College, and usually referred to simply as Lovedale, this major educational center in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, was established by the Free Church of Scotland in the 19th century. Dr. James Stewart, the first head of the Livingstonia Mission in the 1870s, was the princ.i.p.al of Lovedale during the last quarter of the 19th century. Livingstonia was partly modeled on Lovedale, and in the 1880s and 1890s some of the students who had distinguished themselves at Livingstonia and even at Blantyre were sent for further training at Lovedale. In the early 1900s, Lovedale was headed by James Henderson, formerly of the Overtoun Inst.i.tute at Khondowe.
LUBANI, LALI (?1966). This prominent Blantyre businessman and politician was, from the 1940s to his death in July 1966, a strong supporter of the nationalist cause. With little Western education, Lubani worked for the Central Africa Transport Company (CATCO) as a driver and mechanic, and, in 1946, he and his friend Lawrence Makata and others in the employ of transport firms formed the Nyasaland African Drivers a.s.sociation. By 1960, the organization, which later became the Transport and Allied Workers Union, was one the largest and most influential a.s.sociations of workers in Nyasaland. In 1948, he resigned to become a full-time businessman, mainly as a transporter and brick maker. Always generous with his money, Lubani, a devout Muslim, used some of his profits to establish a school where children of African Muslims could receive Islamic and Western education. He also gave, regularly, financial a.s.sistance to Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) leaders to ease administrative and transport problems. In 1960, he became one of the most respected members of the National Executive Committee of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP); he also held important positions in local and national Islamic organizations.
LUBWA. Located in Bemba country on the western sh.o.r.es of Lake Bangweulu, northern Zambia, this was the site of the Livingstonia Mission station initially headed by David Julizya Kaunda, father of Kenneth Kaunda, first president of Zambia. Kenneth Kaunda was born and brought up at Lubwa.
LUCHENZA. Located in the center of the tea-growing area, Luchenza sits on the border of Thyolo and Mulanje districts, and has an important railway station and commercial center. In August 1953, it was the scene of a conflict between Basil Tennent, a planter, and African employees and a local chief. The underlying cause of the problem lay in longstanding land issues, but the incident reached national importance partly because it coincided with the introduction of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and unpopular agricultural and conservation measures. Luchenza is also widely known as the home of the Luchenza Flying Club, which was established in 1933.
LUGARD, FREDERICK DENHAM (18581945). One of the major empire builders in the 19th and 20th centuries, Lugard"s initial serious contact with Africa was the Lake Malawi area, which he visited in 1887 while on sick leave from his Norfolk Regiment based at Gibraltar. While on a brief stop in Mozambique, Lt. H. E. O"Neill, the British consul there, convinced him to go to the Lake Malawi area to help fight the Swahili-Arabs at Karonga. Although two years later, Captain Lugard left the region without subduing Mlozi bin Kazbadema, the Swahili-Arab leader, the British army officer had begun to develop an interest in the subject of British imperial expansion in Africa. He left military service and devoted the next 50 years to imperial issues, establishing himself as the foremost theorist in British colonial policy. He would serve in Hong Kong and in other parts of Africa, including Uganda and Nigeria, the structure of which he created. Lord Lugard died in 1942, after becoming a baron. Among the books he wrote are The Rise of Our East African Empire (Vols. I & II, 1893), Political Memorandum (1906), and the Dual Mandate (1929).
LUNDU. Dynasty of Mang"anja chiefs located in the Lower Shire, tracing their origins to the original Kalonga, the founder of the Maravi state. Like other dynasties a.s.sociated with the expansion of the Maravi in the 16th century, Lundu belonged to the Phiri matriclan. Much a.s.sociated with the M"bona religious order, the original Lundu headquarters were at Mbewe-ya-Mitengo, from where, in an attempt to control the ivory trade, they expanded southward toward the Zambezi River and westward to the Lolo and Makua regions.
LUNGU, MORDECAI MALANI (19301993). Born near Euthini, Mzimba district, Lungu graduated from Domasi Teacher"s College, became a member of Parliament for Mzimba North in 1966, and, three years later, was a.s.signed to the Ministry of Education. In July 1977, he was appointed regional minister for the north and, in the early 1980s, he was appointed speaker of Parliament, a position he held until his death. A loyal party man, he resisted change to multiparty democracy and became an active spokesman for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) during 199193, as the country moved toward the first free elections in over 30 years.
LUNGUZI, MACWILLIAMS (?1997). Born in Dedza district, where he also went to school before attending the police training school, after regular duties he joined the Special Branch (security), and for some time was attached to Malawi emba.s.sies abroad. He had a meteoric rise in the police force and, in 1990, he was promoted to inspector general. He remained in that position until the United Democratic Party (UDF) formed a new government in July 1994. Lunguzi, who had already been identified with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), now became a full-time official of the party and was considered an effective organizer. He died in a car accident on the KasunguLilongwe road.
M.
MABILABO. The southernmost Ngoni chiefdom under the M"mbelwa and his area, bordering with Kasungu district, is also known as Mabilabo. The area is now the site of the Kanyika mine where large deposits of uranium have been confirmed.
MACDONALD, REV. DUFF. After serving as minister of the Pultenytown parish near Caithness, Scotland, since 1852, Duff Macdonald arrived in the Shire Highlands in July 1878 to a.s.sume the headship of the Church of Scotland Mission, which Henry Henderson had established at Blantyre two years earlier. Under him, the mission became involved in the civil administration of the mission station, leading to abuses, such as the burning of villages and corporal punishment. The mission did not have a large budget and had to depend on lay missionaries, such as George Fenwick, who were unfit for missionary work. In 1881, Macdonald and other missionaries, including Fenwick and John Buchanan, were dismissed from mission service after a Foreign Mission Committee inquiry showed that the Blantyre Mission had been badly managed. In the year of his dismissal, Duff Macdonald published Africana, a two-volume work dealing with the early history of the mission and with the customs of the African peoples among whom he had worked.
MACDONALD, SIR MALCOLM JOHN (19011981). Son of Ramsay Macdonald, British prime minister in the early 1930s, Malcolm Macdonald was a Labour Party member of Parliament and in the 1930s became secretary of state for the colonies. He accepted that decolonization was inevitable and opposed the amalgamation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland because he feared it would not be in the best interests of Africans. In the early 1960s, Macdonald became the governor of, and high commissioner, to Kenya.
MACHEL, SAMORA MOISES (19331986). First president of Mozambique, Samora Machel was born in the Gaza region and attended Catholic schools before training as a nurse. In 1963, he went into exile in Tanzania where he became an active member of the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO), gradually rising up its ranks until 1970 when he became head of the liberation movement. In June 1975, he became president of the newly decolonized Mozambique, but, by the end of the 1970s, his country was at war with Resistencia Nacional Mocambicana (RENAMO), the antigovernment guerrilla movement, which was at first supported by Rhodesia and, later, by South Africa. Machel accused Dr. Hastings Banda"s government of giving logistic a.s.sistance to RENAMO and threatened to bomb important installations in Malawi. On October 1986, Machel died when his plane crashed into the Libombo Mountains, on the South African side of the Mozambique border.
MACHINGA. Formerly known as Kasupe, this district was once a division of Zomba district. Machinga boma, the district headquarters, is the most scenic, being located on the southern slope of the Zomba range of mountains facing the Rift Valley where the Shire River flows southward. Machinga boma was originally established as a post to guard against the Yao chiefs Kawinga and Liwonde.
MACKENZIE, BISHOP CHARLES FREDERICK (18251862). Bishop Mackenzie, head of the first Universities" Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) party, was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, where he also taught for a brief period. In 1852, he was ordained in the Church of England, after which he worked as a minister in the Cambridge area. Two years later, he became an archdeacon of Natal, South Africa. His return to England in 1859 coincided with efforts to a.s.semble the first UMCA mission party. The UMCA was a response to David Livingstone"s famous speech at Cambridge University in December 1857, appealing to the British to follow up on his work in Africa. The universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, and Dublin set up a joint mission, which became the UMCA. Mackenzie was appointed its head and, in 1860, the party set off for Africa via Cape Town where, on New Year"s Day 1861, Mackenzie was consecrated bishop "To the tribes dwelling in the neighborhood of Lake Nyasa and the River Shire." From Kongone the Pioneer carrying the UMCA group traveled up the Zambezi River and then the Shire until they reached a group of Mang"anja villages under Chief Mankhokwe who ruled the area as far north as Lake Chilwa. As the chief would only allow them a brief stay in his area, they moved on to the more friendly Chibisa"s country farther north, and then finally to Magomero, which they reached on 19 July, and made it their headquarters.
Magomero was then at the center at the slave trade in which the Mang"anja were the main subjects of Yao raiders. Mackenzie saw it as his duty to intervene whenever occasion called. Soon Magomero became a home for refugees escaping from the slavers, and Mackenzie and his colleagues even engaged in battles with the Yao who viewed the mission as interfering in their business. In January 1862, Mackenzie accompanied his colleague, Henry Burrup, to the Lower Shire where they would meet the latter"s sister. By the time they got to the mouth of the Luo, both were ill with diarrhea and malaria, which they could not treat, having lost their medicine chest on the way. Mackenzie died there on 31 January and was buried at Chiromo on the left bank of the Shire River. Three weeks later, Burrup died at Magomero. Mackenzie"s body was later exhumed and transferred to the Blantyre church named after him.
On 25 April, the remaining UMCA party left Magomero for Chibisa"s area and, when William Tozer arrived in June the following year to take over as the new bishop, the mission moved farther south to Mount Morambala. The new site was no better than Magomero and, in 1864, the UMCA moved to Zanzibar where it trained most of the Africans who would take part in the renewed mission efforts in the Lake Malawi region 20 years later. See also AMBALI, AUGUSTINE; EDUCATION; KILEKWA, PETRO.
MACLEOD, IAIN NORMAN (19131970). M. H. Macmillan"s secretary of state for the colonies from early 1959 to October 1961, Macleod ordered the release of Dr. Hastings Banda from prison in Gwelo (Gweru), Southern Rhodesia, and met him in Zomba on 1 April 1960. He then arranged for the Lancaster House Const.i.tutional talks, set the timetable for the first general elections in 1961, and replaced Sir Robert Armitage as governor with Sir Glyn Jones, thereby creating a more friendly atmosphere for political change in the colony.
MACMILLAN, MAURICE HAROLD (18941986). British prime minister from January 1957 to October 1963, he appointed Iain Macleod as colonial secretary, appointed the Devlin Commission and the Monckton Commission and, in his famous 1960 "winds of change" speech during his visit to South Africa, advised the South African government to accept the inevitability of change. In February of that year, he stopped briefly in Nyasaland and, while attending a luncheon at the Ryalls Hotel, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) protestors reacted to police action, leading to a minor scuffle, which in turn led to the Southworth Commission of Inquiry. In 1963, Macmillan retired from active politics, and in 1984 he became the first Earl of Stockton.
MAFINGA MOUNTAINS. Lying in a northsouth direction, this range of mountains forms part of the border between northeastern Zambia and Malawi and is an important source of water for many people in northern Malawi, especially those in Chitipa district.
MAGOMERO. Located in north Chiradzulu district, Magomero features prominently in the history of 19th- and 20th-century Malawi as the site of the first Universities" Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) mission, as the home of the A. L. Bruce Estates, and, from the 1960s to the early 1990s, as the location of the Nasawa Young Pioneer training base. See also CHILEMBWE, JOHN; MACKENZIE, CHARLES.
MAGUIRE, CECIL. Brother of Rochfort Maguire, Cecil Rhodes" private secretary, Captain Maguire was the first commander of the military force that Harry Johnston established in 1891. The force consisted of 71 Indian soldiers, over half of whom were Sikhs, a few Zanzibar citizens, and, later, some local people. Maguire became central to Johnston"s plans of establishing the Pax Britannica in the Lake Malawi region and, in December 1891, he was killed in action against the Yao chief, Makanjila. The British built a fort in the area, named it after him, and used it as a staging post to subdue Makanjila and Makandanji in 1894.
MAIZE. Maize remains the staple food crop in Malawi as well as the princ.i.p.al crop of the smallholder sector. Hybrid varieties are grown mainly for sale to the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) and other markets, but increases in fertilizer prices tend to reduce the acreage devoted to high-yielding maize types. Export was relatively easy and profitable in 1983 and 1984 when drought visited a number of neighboring countries; maize exports peaked in 1984 but, in the next year, affected by excessively heavy rains, production was 3 percent below the 1984 record crop. A hot spell affecting the 1987 maize harvest forced the government to import a quant.i.ty of the grain, not an easy decision considering the nation"s campaign for food self-sufficiency. To meet the widespread shortages, especially in Nkhata Bay, Chikwawa, and Nsanje districts, the government began a free food distribution program in late 1987.
Weather problems (drought, heat, dry spells, flooding) continued to plague the nation"s main staple. In 1990, maize production had again fallen and the severe shortage had to be met with government distribution of tons of relief maize. The Nsanje district was without sufficient food, although the government denied its people were starving. In addition to the vagaries of nature, maize production is hampered by the fact that 60 percent of Malawi"s smallholders have insufficient land on which to grow maize. They have to survive by wage employment and depend on the market for their food. Additionally, 80 percent of all smallholders have no access to credit and only a quarter have access to or use fertilizer. With ma.s.sive devaluations of the Malawi kwacha in the 1990s, the price of fertilizer has increased, making it more difficult to purchase.
In the 1990s, there were two droughts that adversely affected the production of maize, forcing the government to import from South Africa and Zimbabwe. In 199899 and 19992000, maize production was good. However, in the 20002001 season, parts of the country experienced floods, which had an impact on harvests, the shortfall amounting to 237,000 metric tons. Although some Malawian families experienced a food shortage in 2005, generally maize production has been consistently good since 2004 when the government embarked on the Agricultural Inputs Subsidy Programme (AISP) through which coupons were given to smallholder farmers to buy fertilizers and maize seed at reduced prices. In the 20056 season, 1.1 million tons were produced, of which 4,000 tons were exported to Zimbabwe, and in the 20078 season, the harvest was the best in 10 years. The improvement continued in the 20089 season. The year 200910 witnessed erratic rains, and it was feared that this would result in poor harvests. See also AGRICULTURE; ECONOMY.
MAJERE-HENGA. See MHANGO, KAMBONDOMA.
MAKAMO, NG"ONOMO (?1907). A zansi-Ngoni of Thonga origins, Ng"onomo was the most powerful induna (counselor) of the M"mbelwas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ng"onomo was a key policy formulator and, after the M"mbelwa, the most dominant person in Ngoni country. Generally considered an uncompromising hawk, he was the mastermind of continued raids into the Nyika-Karonga area and eastward into the Luangwa region, long after the Ngoni had ceased their warlike tendencies. Ng"onomo was suspicious of Western influence, strongly resisted British authority, and was prepared to send Ngoni warriors to a.s.sist other Africans, including Mpezeni and Mwase Kasungu, in staving off European rule. Missionaries found him difficult to deal with, and on several occasions he warned them not to interfere with the Ngoni way of life, which he was determined to protect.
MAKANDANJI. This was one of the Yao chiefs who strongly resisted British rule in the 19th century. In 1894, he and Zarafi went to the a.s.sistance of Makanjila, but the British, led by Captain Edwards and fighting from nearby Fort Manguire, defeated them.
MAKANJILA. Mountainous area in northeastern Mangochi district, named after its Yao ruling family. Of the Masaninga section of the Yao, the Makanjila of the 1880s and 1890s mobilized his people and strongly resisted the extension of British authority in the region. In turn, he and several other chiefs became subjects of British punitive expeditions, and it was during one such action in 1991 that Makanjila"s men killed Captain Cecil Maguire, the British commander. In 1894, Makanjila was defeated and his subjects were forced to accept British rule.
MAKATA. Of the Mangoche section of the Yao, this chief and his people settled in the Blantyre area in the 1860s.
MAKATA, LAWRENCE (?1962). This very successful Blantyre-based Yao businessman, was a political activist and member of the central executive of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). For most of the 1940s, Makata was a driver and mechanic in the employ of Hall"s Garage, and he and his friend Lali Lubani founded the Nyasaland African Motor Transport Workers Union (NAMTWU), one of the first labor union organizations for Africans in Nyasaland. In 1948, he left Hall"s and became an independent businessman, making bricks and becoming a leading transporter. He maintained close links with nationalist politicians and regularly supported the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) financially, and was a political detainee during the State of Emergency in 1959. Makata died in a car accident.
MAKHUMULA, JAMES LEANERD (19322005). One of Malawi"s most successful businessmen, Makhumula was born and raised in Zomba district and worked for the government as a mechanic and motor vehicle examiner before retiring from the civil service in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, he started the Yanu Yanu Bus Company, which was the first nationally operated transportation business owned by a Malawian. In the 1990s, he became active in the political reform movement, was a founding member of the United Democratic Front (UDF), and in 1994 was elected to Parliament and appointed to the cabinet. In 1999, he was reelected to the National a.s.sembly as a member for the Zomba Nsondole const.i.tuency. This time he did not become a government minister but remained national treasurer of the UDF and an influential member of the central executive of the party. He fell out of favor of the leadership of the party.
MAKHUMULA-NKHOMA, PEARSON (19331998). Former minister for the southern region, Makhumula-Nkhoma was born in Zomba district and educated at the Henry Henderson Inst.i.tute and Zomba Catholic School. He qualified as a teacher at Domasi Teacher"s College and later attended Bristol University for one year. As a teacher-education officer he taught in the south, served as an educational attache at the Malawi Emba.s.sy in Washington, D.C., and, in 1971, entered the National a.s.sembly as a member of Parliament for Zomba. In the following year, President Hastings Banda appointed him minister of local government. In 1977, he became minister for the southern region but, in the early 1980s, he fell out of favor with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), losing his positions in the party and government. He became a director of the Yanu Yanu Bus Company, one of the most successful indigenous enterprises in Malawi.
MAKWAKWA, HENRY. Born in Makwakawa village, Inkosi Mpherembe"s area, Mzimba district, Henry Makwakwa went to the Overtoun Inst.i.tution where in the 1940s he was ordained as a minister in the Livingstonia synod. During World War II, he served as a chaplain and, upon demobilization, he served in several areas of the northern province before being posted to Kalambwe Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in Nkhata Bay district. A politically active minister, his church received wide publicity in 1958 when, while Dr. Hastings Banda was on his introductory tour of the country, and prior to his formal takeover of the presidency of the Nyasaland African Congress at the organization"s convention at Nkhata Bay, Makwakwa invited him to preach on Sunday. This was the first such occasion for Banda since his return, and he and Makwakwa agreed that the sermon should focus on the story of the prodigal son as narrated in the Bible and in Luke 15:1132. As Banda explained it, the significance of the sermon was that he had lived outside the country for over 40 years, and that humility, courage, and honesty were important guidelines as he embarked on the leadership that would lead the country to decolonization.
On 3 March 1959, Makwakwa was arrested at Ekwendeni where he was on a political engagement, and the security forces sent him to detention at Kanjedza camp in Limbe. After the general elections in 1961, he was appointed as one of the government public relations officers for the northern province, and when the position was abolished in 1968, he retired to his village in Mpherembe.
MAKWINJA, ABITI DOROTHY. Chair of the League of Malawi Women in Zomba district from the early 1970s to the early 1980s when she died. With Mrs. Tsamwa of Blantyre and Hilda Manjamkhosi of Lilongwe, Makwinja was one of the most powerful women in Malawi. Like the two others, she had direct access to President Hastings Banda, who valued her views, and took action accordingly. Abiti Makwinja was a recipient of housing built for some Women Leaguers at the direction of Banda.
MAKWINJA, ALEXANDER. Early Seventh-Day Baptist Church convert and student of Joseph Booth, Makwinja was a Yao born near Blantyre. He met Booth in the 1890s and, in 1909, was one of the first students at a school Booth had established at Park Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa. When he returned to Nyasaland in 1910, he became a member of the Watch Tower movement and an a.s.sociate of Eliot Musokwa Kamwana Chirwa. He headed the Watch Tower office at Shiloh near Blantyre. In 1915, he was arrested on suspicion of being an a.s.sociate of John Chilembwe. In 1925, he began to preach again but the Seventh-Day Baptists in the United States rejected his attempts to work with them, and by the time they changed their mind in the 1940s, he had decided to work independently of external support.
MALAMULO. Located in Thyolo district, this is the home of the first and largest station of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Malawi. Established in 1902 as the Plainfield Industrial Mission, Malamulo became the major center for Seventh-Day believers, training African teachers, religious leaders, and hospital workers. It is from here that the local church workers left to establish outstations such as Matandani and Mwanza in the south and Mombera, Luwazi, and Chambo in the northern province. In all these rural areas, schools and health clinics were opened. Malamulo has a large hospital, which remains one of the best-equipped health facilities in the country. See also HEALTH SERVICES.
MALAWI. Etymologically meaning "fire flames," the term has been a.s.sociated in history with the southwestern lake region. Malawi or Maravi also has an ethnic designation referring to peoples who inhabited an area north of the Zambezi River and south