Part 8 (1/2)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

F.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FLORENCE BAY. See CHITIMBA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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