Part 5 (1/2)

BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY (BSAC). Formed and granted a royal charter in 1889, this company was the brainchild of diamond and mines multimillionaire Cecil John Rhodes (18531902). With a ruthless and fanatical zeal, Rhodes ama.s.sed his fortune and proceeded to use that awesome wealth as a power base in Central and South Africa. Rhodes had applied for a charter for the BSAC promising Her Majesty's government that he could forestall a Portuguese presence in Malawi and could avoid quarrelsome ethnic problems while carrying out the responsibilities of government.

Shortly after the BSAC was formed, it acquired controlling stock of the African Lakes Company (ALC). In order to make good promises to protect the mission and provide law and order, Rhodes paid Sir Harry Johnston US$10,000 annually to administer the new region with the a.s.sistance of a police force recruited from India. Johnston also had the use of ALC steamers providing there was no interference with ALC trade. This was the arrangement from 1891 to 1895. By that time, Lord Salisbury, the British prime minister, wanted no further financial involvement in the Lake Malawi region.

In 1893, Rhodes's BSAC laid claim to one-fifth of Malawi's land. Nearly all of today's northern region (almost 3 million acres) was claimed as BSAC property until 1936, when it reverted to the Protectorate government. However, until 1966, the company continued to retain the mineral rights for the region.

BRUCE, ALEXANDER LOW. Husband of Agnes, the daughter of the missionary Dr. David Livingstone, Alexander Bruce was a major holder of Certificates of Claims in the s.h.i.+re Highlands, with holdings in Zomba (101,83 acres), Blantyre (27,858), and Mulanje (38,130 acres). When he died in 1893, his son Alexander Livingstone Bruce took over the owners.h.i.+p of the estates. Alexander Low Bruce was also a founder of the Imperial British East Africa Company, which in the 1880s and 1890s controlled Kenya and Uganda and had extensive economic interests in East Africa.

BUCHANAN, JOHN (18551896). Born at Muthill, Perths.h.i.+re, Scotland, Buchanan was one of the first layman recruited by the Church of Scotland to work in the s.h.i.+re Highlands. In 1880, he, Duff Macdonald, and George Fenwick were dismissed from the mission, after less than three years' service, because of the nature of civil administration they had adopted, resulting in indiscipline on the part of some missionaries. Buchanan, recruited as an agriculturalist, had actually been sent to work at a substation at Zomba, in the vicinity of the present-day Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) school, and, he remained there after he lost his job. Adjacent to the mission, especially along the Mlunguzi stream, he grew coffee, as he had done at Blantyre, and he is credited with introducing the crop into the country. On the lower side of the Mlunguzi, Buchanan grew sugarcane and, in 1885, he brought from Great Britain coffee pulping machinery and a sugar mill for his Zomba operations. Buchanan also developed major land and business interests in Blantyre, becoming one of the most influential settlers in that town.

Between 1885 and 1891, Buchanan acted as British vice consul for the Lake Malawi region, and during the British Central African administration, he was an unpaid vice consul, joining Alfred Sharpe, Cecil Maguire and others in Harry Johnston's team of administrators. As vice consul, Buchanan played a major role in the expansion and consolidation of British authority in that part of Africa.

Farther up the slope on a site commanding good views, including Mount Mulanje, he built a large and attractive two-story house that he used as a consulate, which Johnston later turned into the residency and capital of the new British Protectorate. On its grounds, Johnston was to establish an impressive botanical garden, which since the 1980s has been revived by the National Herbarium. The building, now protected under the National Monuments Act, is still much in use and is known as the Government Hostel. He died at Chinde in 1896 on his way to Scotland.

BUNDA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE. This const.i.tuent college of the University of Malawi is located 22 miles southwest of Lilongwe boma, near Bunda Hill. It opened in 1966 and specializes in agricultural and environmental sciences, animal husbandry, fisheries, and home economics and human nutrition to diploma and degree levels. See also EDUCATION.

BUTLER, RICHARD AUSTEN ”RAB,” BARRON BUTLER (19021982). Butler was minister of home affairs in Great Britain when, in March 1962, Harold Macmillan rea.s.signed him to a new cabinet position specifically dealing with Central Africa, that is, the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. After visiting the region twice that year, he concluded that Nyasaland could leave the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, thereby effectively dismantling the controversial political union.

BWa.n.a.lI, EDWARD CHITSULU (19461998). Born in Blantyre district and a holder of a diploma in public administration from the University of Malawi, Bwa.n.a.li was district commissioner of Mchinji and then of Kasupe when, in 1975, he became a member of Parliament (MP) for Blantyre North and minister of health. He also served as minister of transport and communications, as well as southern regional chairman of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1989, he was dropped from President Hastings Banda's cabinet as minister of local government and as MCP chairman. Subsequently, Bwa.n.a.li ”resigned” his parliamentary seat representing Blantyre North. In the early 1990s, he reemerged as a force in the struggle for a new democratic dispensation and, when the United Democratic Front (UDF) a.s.sumed power in 1994, he became minister of foreign affairs, then moved to the Ministry of Health and, finally, to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. Bwa.n.a.li died on 23 October 1998.

BWa.n.a.lI-MPULUMUTSI. One of the most famous healers in south-central Africa, Bwa.n.a.li was born in 1910 on the Mozambican side of the Dzalamanya range. His parents settled in Inkosi Gomani's area in Ntcheu district not long after he was born. He returned to his birthplace, got married there, and began to practice as a healer, singa'nga. While on a hunting expedition some time in 1946, he claimed that an angel visited him in his sleep, and bestowed upon him the authority to heal people. He became a healer, diviner, witch-finder and witch-cleanser, working mainly in Blantyre and Chikwawa districts. Eventually, he established himself at Nkurmadzi, near the MalawiMozambique border. One of his main disciples, Monjezi, who came to be known as Mpulumutsi (the saviour), worked primarily at Matenje in Mozambique, and helped to spread the Bwa.n.a.li-Mpulumutsi reputation and influence further, including into Zambia and Zimbabwe. Although Christian missionaries did not have a high opinion of Bwa.n.a.li, he professed to be a Christian, and his healing and cleansing ceremonies accompanied preaching about G.o.d.

BWANAUSI, AUGUSTINE (19301973). Born in Blantyre, Bwanausi was educated at Blantyre Secondary School, where he distinguished himself as a brilliant student. He went to Makerere College, Uganda, graduating with a BSc degree. He returned to Malawi, increasingly became involved in nationalist politics, while at the same time looking for a teaching job. In 1955, he completed a diploma in education at the University of Bristol and thereafter became a schoolmaster, teaching mathematics and sciences at Blantyre Secondary School. During the State of Emergency in 1959, he was arrested and detained in Southern Rhodesia. Released in 1960, he returned to teaching but continued to play a major role in party politics.

In 1961, Bwanausi was elected to Parliament as member for Blantyre and was appointed minister of internal affairs and development. Later, he became minister of works before Dr. Hastings Banda dismissed him during the Cabinet Crisis in 1964. He went into exile in Zambia, returning to the teaching profession while also becoming a prominent member of Henry Chipembere's Pan-African Democratic Party (PDP). In 1973, Bwanausi and two others were killed in a car accident on the Copper Belt while on their way to a PDP meeting in Ndola. See also BWANAUSI, HARRY WILLARD.

BWANAUSI, HARRY WILLARD. Leader of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Harry Bwanausi, brother of Augustine Bwanausi, was educated at Blantyre Secondary School, Wit.w.a.tersrand University, and the University of Natal where he qualified as a medical doctor. On his return home, he worked in the government medical service, but at the same time was quietly active in nationalist politics. One of the handful of Malawian medical pract.i.tioners at independence in 1964, he was forced into exile after the Cabinet Crisis because he sided with the rebelling ministers. He was to spend the next 29 years in Lusaka, Zambia, where, besides engaging in anti-Banda politics, he practiced medicine. He returned to Malawi just before the 1994 general elections, which he contested as leader of his party but lost. He was appointed chairman of the University of Malawi Council, a position he relinquished after just over two years.

C.

CABINET CRISIS (1964). Within two months of Malawi attaining independence status, differences between Dr. Hastings Banda and several cabinet ministers erupted into a serious and permanent break. There were important domestic and foreign issues separating the two. The ministers resented Banda's approval of the Skinner Report and wished to see it discarded. They also wanted Banda to adopt a more rapid Africanization policy in the civil service. The inst.i.tution of a monetary charge (three pence) for hospital outpatients was loudly decried as well. In foreign affairs, Banda favored a policy of coexistence with Portugal, but this was despised by those ministers who wished to support the Mozambique liberation movement and wanted to minimize the political contact with Portugal.

Submerged beneath these frontal issues was a resentment of Banda's treatment of his ministers whom he often referred to as ”his boys.” Ministers also felt that Banda trusted expatriates more than his cabinet. These grievances were stifled in favor of a united front, but Banda knew that differences existed. Apparently the ministers felt that compromise was possible with Banda, but, unfortunately, he was insensitive to their feelings. Although the ministers remained personally loyal to Banda, he concluded that loyalty and acceptance of his policies were one and the same.

At an August 1964 cabinet meeting, several ministers challenged Banda's indecision on an aid offer from the People's Republic of China. Banda felt so threatened by these unprecedented ”attacks,” as he called them, that he offered to resign but was dissuaded by the governor, Sir Glyn Jones. The next day more amicable relations prevailed as Banda seemed willing to review points at issue: the Skinner Report, hospital charges, and foreign policy. Soon Banda began believing rumors of a cabinet conspiracy, and he told the ministers that he had no more time for their grievances. The angered ministers then wanted Banda to resign but, instead, on 8 September, he dismissed three of them at an emergency cabinet meeting. Augustine Bwanausi (Housing and Development), Orton Chirwa (Justice), Kanyama Chiume (External Affairs), and Rose Chibambo (Parliamentary secretary) were accused of disloyalty and of conspiring with a foreign power, China. Three other cabinet ministers resigned in solidarity with their colleagues: Willie Chokani (Labour), Yatuta Chisiza (Home Affairs), and, upon his return from a visit to Canada, Henry Chipembere (Education).

Reconciliation seemed possible as both sides voiced hope of finding a solution to the Cabinet Crisis. Expecting to gain const.i.tuent support for their demand that they be more involved in cabinet decisions, the ex-ministers returned to their districts. In their absence, Banda appointed new ministers to the cabinet, but he kept four positions vacant, stating he expected some former ministers to return. However, ministers such as Chipembere made less than temperate speeches in their home districts. Enraged by their resoluteness and fearful of a broader plot against him, Banda expelled all the rebellious former ministers from the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) on 16 September. In spite of this move, the ministers reaffirmed their loyalty to Banda, but he decided not to make any concessions or to allow Governor Jones to mediate the crisis.

By early October, it was becoming clear to the ex-ministers that their personal lives were in danger from party operatives. Five of them left Malawi for Tanzania and Zambia and, under new security regulations adopted by Banda, Chipembere was restricted to his Malindi home. When Banda toured the central and northern regions, he found support for his actions; only in the southern region were there minor disturbances in Zomba and Fort Johnston, primarily as a show of support for Chipembere. In February 1965, this localized support resulted in a rebellion in Fort Johnston district, but it was quickly ended by Banda's security forces. A less successful revolt occurred in September 1967 and was led by Yatuta Chisiza, who with a group of supporters tried to infiltrate Malawi through Mwanza district in the southern region.

Soon after it was ruthlessly crushed, Banda pa.s.sed a series of security measures aimed at preventing a recurrence of the incident. Two years earlier, parliamentary amendments had made treason punishable by death and allowed detention without trial of those persons deemed to violate the security of Malawi. The amendments also made it possible for members of Parliament not representing the MCP to be dismissed; they further gave authority to the prime minister to appoint to ministerial positions persons outside Parliament.

As a result of the 1964 Cabinet Crisis, Banda was able to strengthen his position as head of state and as leader of the MCP more quickly than might have otherwise been the case. Another consequence was the obvious loss of talented ministers and the unlikely possibility that members of the cabinet in the future would speak out against the president or his policies. The crisis had an ideological and generational basis, but it also had its ethnic implications and long-term effects. No ministers from the central region resigned and, during the following years, the majority of people who were detained on suspicion of supporting or a.s.sociating with the former ministers tended to be from the northern and southern regions.

CAMERON, COLIN. A Scottish lawyer and sympathizer of the African cause in the fight for decolonization, he represented many African nationalists in trials following the declaration of the State of Emergency in March 1959. In August 1961, he was elected to Parliament on the higher roll and was appointed minister of works and transport. Although a firm supporter of Dr. Hastings Banda, he resigned his position as cabinet minister before the Cabinet Crisis primarily because Banda was planning to reintroduce a 1960 preventive detention act. For safety reasons, he left Malawi for Scotland, where he continued to practice law. He maintained an interest in the country, becoming an active member of the Sottish organization, Friends of Malawi.

CANADA. This founding member of the Commonwealth of Nations, to which Malawi belongs, was in the 1970s and 1980s one of the consistent providers of aid to Malawi. The numerous projects financed with Canadian a.s.sistance include the Natural Resources College and Malawi Inst.i.tute of Management (MIM), both located in Lilongwe district, and the SalimaLilongwe railroad extension. However, relations between Malawi and Canada predate the 1960s as a significant number of Catholic missionaries (priests and nuns) came from the province of Quebec. Canadian Protestant churches have also been involved actively in Malawi. In 1992, Canada, like some other governments, withdrew aid to Malawi as part of an effort to force Dr. Hastings Banda to inst.i.tute political reform. It resumed aid in 1994, and in the period 1999 to 2005, the country, through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), was to spend about US$50 million mainly on, among other projects, poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, gender issues, and water supply. Since the mid-2000s, Canada has reduced its aid to Malawi as it has to other African countries, and many CIDA financed projects have stopped. However, in 2010, Canadian nongovernmental organizations such as Engineers without Borders, Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief, Lifeline Malawi, and the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development continued to be active in Malawi.

CAPE MACLEAR. Located on the southwestern sh.o.r.es of Lake Malawi, Cape Maclear is one of the most beautiful spots on the lake. Most of the Cape Maclear area falls within the Lake Malawi National Park, created in 1980 to protect the flora and fauna in the reservation and the special marine life that is found in the bay area. With clear sands, Cape Maclear is easily the favorite destination of the majority of low-budget international backpacking visitors to Malawi who stay at the Steven's Rest House. Cape Maclear's fame dates back to 1876 when it became the site of the first Livingstonia Mission. Six years later, the mission moved to Bandawe, leaving Cape Maclear as an outstation. From 1949 to 1950, Cape Maclear was the main Malawi port for the Short Solent flying boats, which the British Overseas Airways Corporation (today called British Airways) regularly operated between Southampton, England, and the Vaal Dam near Johannesburg, South Africa.

CAPRICORN AFRICAN SOCIETY. This society emerged in Southern Rhodesia and spread to Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. It espoused multiracialism in the sense that it opposed separation of peoples on the basis of color while also advocating a cultural bar. In 1956, the society held its meeting at a lake resort in Salima; delegates came from East and South Africa, among them: Alan Paton, famous for among other books, Cry the Beloved Country; Noni Jabavu, author of Drawn in Colour, and, respectively, daughter and granddaughter of the eminent South Africans, John Tengo Jabavu and Professor D. D. T. Jabavu. Among the Nyasalanders who attended the Salima meeting was Charles Matinga, former president general of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) who by that time had become a supporter of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which the Capricorn Africa Society hoped to sell to Africans in the three territories. During the period 195863, when nationalism was at its height in Nyasaland, the term ”capricorn” became a derisive term, being equated with duplicity.

CATHOLIC BISHOPS' PASTORAL LETTER. On 8 March 1992, a pastoral letter, ”Living Our Faith,” issued by the seven Catholic bishops in Malawi, was read in all their churches. It expressed major concern about the detrimental effects on family life and social relations of, among other things, lack of human rights, poverty, fear, and hunger. Although the government and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) were very upset by this honesty, most Malawians were pleased and encouraged by the letter, marking a turning point in the postcolonial history of the country. For from that time onward, the fervor for political reform was intensified, leading to the referendum and general elections of 1993 and 1994, respectively. The Catholic prelates had issued pastoral letters before, most of which went unnoticed by the government because their messages were deemed to be innocuous. One such letter was ”How to Build a Happy Nation,” issued in March 1961, just as Malawi was approaching its first major const.i.tutional changes. In it, the bishops dwelt on churchstate relations and on the duties and rights of Christians in a nation-state and on the role of the church in helping to fulfill these rights and duties. The letter had followed a period of tension between the church and the MCP (see KATSONGA, CHESTER; THEUNISSEN, JEAN-BAPTIST).

Since 1994, the bishops have written other Lenten letters where they have again conveyed their disquiet, this time regarding the continuing poverty, hunger, disease, and violent robberies. In November 2010, the conference issued a detailed pastoral letter in which they criticized the Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika government for, among other things, making decisions of national importance without adequate consultation with the Malawian public, and disregard for the office of the vice president and its inc.u.mbent, Joyce Banda. See also BANDA, HASTINGS KAMUZU.

CATHOLIC CHURCH. See CATHOLIC BISHOPS' PASTORAL LETTER; EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF MALAWI; MISSIONS; RELIGION.

CENTRAL AFRICAN BROADCASTING SERVICES (CABS). Formed in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), in 1941 as an entertainment and educational radio station for the emerging westernized Africans in Rhodesias and Nyasaland, the CABS broadcast in English, chiNyanya, ciBemba, ciTonga, ciLozi, ciShona, and Sindebele. The station became particularly popular after 1949 when an affordable receiver, the ”saucepan radio” (shaped like a saucepan) was introduced into the region. Programs included education-related ones; local plays, thereby giving rise and exposure to African playwrights; and most popular, zimene mwatifunsa, a request program, usually in the form of greetings to friends and relations in the wider southern African region. Announcers and producers would regularly visit the three territories to record items for broadcasting on the station, and surveys of listener opinions were also regular.

It was through the CABS that most Africans received national and world news and became part of the world culture: listening to jazz and other popular music of the time. African musicians such as Alick Nkhata, Enock Evans, and the Paseli Brothers became widely known mainly because of the CABS. Among the many popular African announcers was Sylvester Masiye, who would become a member of the senior management team in the postcolonial broadcasting system in Zambia.

Until 1953, the CABS was little affected by the racial views prevalent in the colonies but, by 1954, when it was taken over by the federal government, changing its name to Federal Broadcasting Corporation, many Africans did not like the way it reported facts, which they felt were distorted and propagandistic in nature. In fact, Michael Kittermaster, the director of broadcasting, resigned in protest against the direction the service was being forced to take.

CENTRAL AFRICAN FEDERATION. See FEDERATION OF RHODESIA AND NYASALAND.

CENTRAL AFRICAN PLANTER. See NEWSPAPERS.

CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND REHABILITATION (CHRR). Established in 1995 by some exiles who had returned to Malawi following the demise of Hastings Banda's rule, the CHRR is one of the nongovernmental organizations that is concerned with human rights and good governance in Malawi. Through a variety of programs, it seeks to ensure public awareness of human rights, and, by way of advocacy and litigation, it ensures that the government and other holders of power are held accountable for their actions. Besides research and doc.u.mentation, the CHRR also has programs in rural and urban areas relating to gender, and economic empowerment and health, including HIV/AIDS. During the case of a gay couple, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, CHRR was one of the few organizations that advised the government and the public to be sensitive to the position of the two people. Ollen Mwalubunju, one of its founders, was the CHRR's first executive director and, in 2005, Undule Mwakasungula, another of its founders, succeeded him.

CERTIFICATE OF CLAIM. These were official doc.u.ments issued by the government to European settlers in Nyasaland, legally recognizing land they had bought or taken possession of. During Harry Johnston's tenure in Malawi, it was becoming increasingly obvious that land, especially in the s.h.i.+re Highlands, would be a source of major problems. As more European settlers arrived in the country and bought land from traditional rulers, it became imperative for the government to regulate the transactions and to confirm sales. Most of this land was sold on very generous terms, even though, as the government would find out later, the chiefs had no right to sell this land, of which they were mere custodians.

CHAKUAMBA, GWANDANGULUWE ”GWANDA” (1935 ). Born in Nsanje district in 1935, Chakuamba, sometimes known as Chakuamba-Phiri, was educated at Zomba Catholic Secondary School and in Southern Rhodesia. He worked as secretary for the Port Herald (now Nsanje) branch of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) in the late 1950s, was briefly detained during the State of Emergency, and, during the period leading to const.i.tutional changes, became particularly active in the Malawi Congress Party's (MCP) Youth League. In 1961, he was elected to the Legislative Council (LEGCO) as a representative for Port Herald. During the Cabinet Crisis, he remained a staunch supporter of Dr. Hastings Banda, who rewarded him with the position of minister of community and social development. In subsequent cabinet reshuffles, he was moved to the departments of Local Government, Education, Information and Tourism, Agriculture, Youth and Culture, and Southern Region. For part of the 1960s and during the 1970s, Chakuamba was commander of the Young Pioneers (see YOUTH), a position that made him one of the most powerful and feared people in the country. Not only did the Young Pioneer bases in all districts produce much food, the organization, regarded as the military wing of the MCP, had its own a.r.s.enal and intelligence gathering service that was active as the Special Branch of the police.

In February 1980, Chakuamba was expelled from the MCP for ”a gross breach of party discipline, illegal possession of firearms, uttering seditious words with the intent of raising discontent, and having copies of prohibited publications.” Placed on trial in November 1980, the former chairman of the Central Committee was found guilty and received a 22-year jail sentence.

Chakuamba was released in 1992 and he rejoined the MCP, becoming a campaigner, first for the retention of one party rule and, after the referendum in May 1993, for the return to power of the MCP. He was elected vice president of the MCP and became Banda's running mate in the 1994 presidential elections. In 1997, he became president of the party, and the position was confirmed at a party convention held in Mzuzu in January 1999 when he defeated his deputy, John Tembo. Late in 1998, it was announced that in the general elections in the following year, the MCP would form an alliance with Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), and that Chakuamba and Chakufwa Chihana of the latter party would stand as candidates for the offices of state president and vice president, respectively. Tembo disagreed with the decision but was overruled, and in April and May 1999, the Electoral Commission went to the High Court of Malawi to issue an injunction to stop the two parties from working together in this manner. As it became obvious that the judges saw no legal impediments to such party cooperation, the commission withdrew the pet.i.tion. Chakuamba garnered 45 percent of the vote, losing to Bakili Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF). He and his parties went to court again to challenge the results, arguing that the governing party had rigged the voting process in 16 districts.

Just before the 2004 general elections, Chakuamba resigned from the MCP and formed the Republican Party, which joined a coalition of six political parties under the platform of Mgwirizano, with him as the presidential candidate. Mgwirizano lost to the UDF's Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika. When the latter established the Democratic Republican Party, Chakuamba joined it and served as minister of agriculture from February to September 2005, when he was dismissed from the cabinet. He formed another party, the New Republican Party, and in the 2009, Chakuamba declared that he would support Bakili Muluzi as presidential candidate of the UDF. Later, he announced that he would soon retire from active politics.

CHANCELLOR COLLEGE. This original college of the University of Malawi opened in 1965 at the former Chichiri Secondary School in Limbe. It graduated its first students in 1969 and, four years later, it moved to its new location at Chirunga on the periphery of Zomba. With about 2,500 students, Chancellor College awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in natural and social sciences, humanities, and in education. It also has a law school and issues diplomas in education and public administration and certificates in library science.

In February 2011, the faculty at Chancellor College withdrew their teaching services in response to Inspector General of Police Peter Mukhito's interrogation of an a.s.sociate professor of political science, Blessings Chinsinga, for something he said in cla.s.s in reference to the turmoil occurring in North Africa. The college's Academic Staff a.s.sociation announced that its members would resume teaching after two conditions were met: an apology from Mukhito, and an a.s.surance from the authorities that academic freedom would be respected. Students supported the faculty and demanded that the conditions be fulfilled. Within a few days, the teaching staff and the students at the Polytechnic in Blantyre, a const.i.tuent college of the University of Malawi, also began boycotting cla.s.ses in sympathy with their counterparts in Zomba. In the following month, President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika ordered that they resume teaching immediately. The faculty defied the order and, in April, the University of Malawi Council dismissed three faculty members at Chancellor College, including Dr. Jessie Kabwila-Kapasula, the chairperson of the Chancellor College Academic Staff Union, and closed the college and the Polytechnic. The academic staff union obtained a court injunction to nullify the University Council's decisions. In May, President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika announced that he had appointed Dr. Brown Chimpamba, former vice chancellor of the University of Malawi, to head a commission of inquiry into the recent problems at the university. He also ordered the college resume cla.s.ses on 4 July but the faculty refused to teach before the resolution of the issues that had led to the impa.s.se. In the third week of August, a sit-in began at the main university offices in Zomba, and on the 27th of that month, President Bingu wa m.u.t.h.arika instructed that the college be closed until further notice.

CHANGALUME. Located 10 miles southwest of Zomba, Changalume was for a long time the site of Malawi's main limestone mine and the factory that produced most of the cement used in the country. It has now been converted into a military base, the Changalume Barracks.