Kanyama Chiume
Encyclopedia
Kanyama Chiume was born Murray William Kanyama Chiume, in Nkhata Bay District
, Nyasaland
where he became a leading nationalist
in the struggle for Malawi
’s independence in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also one of the leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress
and served as the Minister of Education and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the 1960s before fleeing the country after the 1964 Cabinet Crisis.
, to join him in debating against white colonial teachers and administrators on political subjects. According to Chiume in his autobiography (the strict veracity of which has sometimes been questioned), they were so successful in this debate that the school threatened him with expulsion. Nyerere later became the first leader of independent Tanzania.
In 1949, Chiume went to Makerere College
in Kampala, Uganda, the premier university in East Africa, and in 1951 he was admitted into Makerere College’s Medicine School. He later changed his major to Education, after discovering that he “could not stand human dissection”, specializing in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Among his contemporaries at Makerere were people who would in later life become some of Africa’s most accomplished scholars and public officials, including B. Ogot, Kenya’s celebrated historian and Chancellor of Moi University in Eldoret, and the current Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki. He was president of the Makerere College Political Society, while Mwai Kibaki was a committee member. Later he was joined at Makerere by other Nyasas, Vincent Gondwe, David Rubadiri (former Vice Chancellor of the University of Malawi), and Augustine Bwanausi (former Malawi cabinet minister). Chiume was also chairperson of the Makerere College Education Society. Chiume and other students formed a Nyasaland Students Association at Makerere, an association that helped the Nyasaland African Congress by doing research, and by also linking up with fellow Nyasas at Fort Hare College, where Henry Masauko Chipembere, a lifelong friend and political colleague of Chiume’s, went for his own university education. Another future leader of Nyasa nationalism, Dunduzu Chisiza
, was also active in the Nyasaland Students Association at this time.
After graduating from college Chiume taught at Alliance Secondary School in Dodoma, Tanganyika. He resigned after the white headmaster insinuated that the presence of a pre-adolescent girl in Chiume’s house might create immoral temptations. Chiume was extremely offended by the remark, which further gave him resolve to fight for the dignity of Africans. “I had made up my mind there and then to plunge myself into politics and to help remove the obstacles that lay before Africans who wished to have human dignity. I was determined to try and play my part, however small, to free Mother Africa” (from his autobiography). He then went to study law, on a scholarship, at Ramjas College in Delhi, India. Upon being approached by the Nyasaland African Congress to stand in the country’s first general election in 1956, Chiume accepted, and decided not to further pursue his interest in law.
, the official record of the Council's proceedings, became a bestseller among Nyasa Africans.
Along with Chipembere and the Chisiza brothers (Dunduzu and Yatuta), Chiume became a driving force in organizing popular support in the mid to late 1950s for Hastings Banda
and in persuading Banda to return to Nyasaland in order to lead the country to independence. He was given a senior post in the Congress at the Nkhata Bay conference in August 1958 when it adopted Dr Banda as its unquestioned leader.
In March 1959, Chiume avoided arrest while he was in London
during "Operation Sunrise" when the local colonial government rounded up and interned
members of the Nyasaland African Congress during the state of emergency. In July 1960 he joined Banda, Orton Chirwa, Aleke Banda and other prominent Africans at the Nyasaland Constitutional Conference in London. It was here that British Government decided that Nyasaland (Malawi) should become self-governing by early 1963, and that Banda, should become prime minister. Chiume was made Minister of Education in 1962 and went on to become Foreign Minister in the first government formed after Malawi's official independence in July 1964.
during a conference for the Organisation of African Unity. He was subsequently driven out of the (now renamed) Malawi Congress Party and exiled to Tanzania
from 1964 to 1994.
While in exile, Chiume became active with Tanzania's "The Nationalist," "Daily News and Sunday News," and "Uhuru" newspapers. He also became and author and publisher of numerous books. He returned to Malawi in 1994 after internal and international pressure on Dr. Banda. After his return Chiume briefly served as Chairman of Malawi National Library Service and the Malawi Book Service. He retired from active politics and eventually moved to New York to live with family before his death on November 21, 2007.
The remains of the veteran politician arrived back in Lilongwe, Malawi on November 29, 2007.
President of Malawi, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika was there to welcome the one time leading nationalist and former senior member of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC). Full military honours were awarded to Chiume.
Nkhata Bay District
Nkhata Bay is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The capital is Nkhata Bay. The district covers an area of 4,071 km.² and has a population of 164,761.Nkhata Bay District houses the charity group in Mwaya....
, Nyasaland
Nyasaland
Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....
where he became a leading nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
in the struggle for Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
’s independence in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also one of the leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress
Malawi Congress Party
The Malawi Congress Party is a political party in Malawi.It was the successor to the Nyasaland African Congress , which was banned in 1959.The MCP was founded by Hastings Banda and other NAC leaders in 1960....
and served as the Minister of Education and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the 1960s before fleeing the country after the 1964 Cabinet Crisis.
Early life and education
Chiume described his given name, Kanyama, as meaning “another piece of meat for you,” a wry joke by parents who had grown wearily accustomed to death in their family. Chiume’s younger brother died at two months, and Chiume’s own mother died the following day, aged 37. After the funeral, Chiume went with his uncle to his native Tanganyika (now Tanzania). He attended schools in Dar es Salaam in the mid-1940s, at a time when this coastal city was a hotbed of African nationalist political activity. In his last year at Tabora Upper School he became Secretary of the Debating Society, polishing rhetorical skills which would later be much admired when he entered politics in Nyasaland (now Malawi). At Tabora Upper School he reportedly invited an alumnus, Julius NyerereJulius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
, to join him in debating against white colonial teachers and administrators on political subjects. According to Chiume in his autobiography (the strict veracity of which has sometimes been questioned), they were so successful in this debate that the school threatened him with expulsion. Nyerere later became the first leader of independent Tanzania.
In 1949, Chiume went to Makerere College
Makerere University
Makerere University , Uganda's largest and second-oldest higher institution of learning, , was first established as a technical school in 1922. In 1963 it became the University of East Africa, offering courses leading to general degrees from the University of London...
in Kampala, Uganda, the premier university in East Africa, and in 1951 he was admitted into Makerere College’s Medicine School. He later changed his major to Education, after discovering that he “could not stand human dissection”, specializing in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Among his contemporaries at Makerere were people who would in later life become some of Africa’s most accomplished scholars and public officials, including B. Ogot, Kenya’s celebrated historian and Chancellor of Moi University in Eldoret, and the current Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki. He was president of the Makerere College Political Society, while Mwai Kibaki was a committee member. Later he was joined at Makerere by other Nyasas, Vincent Gondwe, David Rubadiri (former Vice Chancellor of the University of Malawi), and Augustine Bwanausi (former Malawi cabinet minister). Chiume was also chairperson of the Makerere College Education Society. Chiume and other students formed a Nyasaland Students Association at Makerere, an association that helped the Nyasaland African Congress by doing research, and by also linking up with fellow Nyasas at Fort Hare College, where Henry Masauko Chipembere, a lifelong friend and political colleague of Chiume’s, went for his own university education. Another future leader of Nyasa nationalism, Dunduzu Chisiza
Dunduzu Chisiza
Dunduzu Kaluli Chisiza was an early agitator for independence in Central Africa.-Early life:He was born in Florence Bay in the Karonga district of Nyasaland on August 8, 1930, the youngest and eleventh child of Kaluli Chisiza, a group village headman and farmer...
, was also active in the Nyasaland Students Association at this time.
After graduating from college Chiume taught at Alliance Secondary School in Dodoma, Tanganyika. He resigned after the white headmaster insinuated that the presence of a pre-adolescent girl in Chiume’s house might create immoral temptations. Chiume was extremely offended by the remark, which further gave him resolve to fight for the dignity of Africans. “I had made up my mind there and then to plunge myself into politics and to help remove the obstacles that lay before Africans who wished to have human dignity. I was determined to try and play my part, however small, to free Mother Africa” (from his autobiography). He then went to study law, on a scholarship, at Ramjas College in Delhi, India. Upon being approached by the Nyasaland African Congress to stand in the country’s first general election in 1956, Chiume accepted, and decided not to further pursue his interest in law.
Malawi Independence
In 1955, Nyasaland adopted a new constitution designed to give more representation to Africans, and in the elections which followed Chiume, along with Henry Chipembere, became one of five African representatives in the Legislative Council. He and Chipembere electrified the native population with their vigorous speeches and combative questions in the legislature, which had until then been a somewhat sedate body. As a result, HansardHansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...
, the official record of the Council's proceedings, became a bestseller among Nyasa Africans.
Along with Chipembere and the Chisiza brothers (Dunduzu and Yatuta), Chiume became a driving force in organizing popular support in the mid to late 1950s for Hastings Banda
Hastings Banda
Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country to speak against colonialism and advocate for independence...
and in persuading Banda to return to Nyasaland in order to lead the country to independence. He was given a senior post in the Congress at the Nkhata Bay conference in August 1958 when it adopted Dr Banda as its unquestioned leader.
In March 1959, Chiume avoided arrest while he was in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during "Operation Sunrise" when the local colonial government rounded up and interned
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
members of the Nyasaland African Congress during the state of emergency. In July 1960 he joined Banda, Orton Chirwa, Aleke Banda and other prominent Africans at the Nyasaland Constitutional Conference in London. It was here that British Government decided that Nyasaland (Malawi) should become self-governing by early 1963, and that Banda, should become prime minister. Chiume was made Minister of Education in 1962 and went on to become Foreign Minister in the first government formed after Malawi's official independence in July 1964.
Tanzania exile
Chiume was a key leader in the 1964 Malawi Cabinet Crisis. He was labeled the leader of the crisis and an enemy of Banda after displeasing Banda with a speech in CairoCairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
during a conference for the Organisation of African Unity. He was subsequently driven out of the (now renamed) Malawi Congress Party and exiled to Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
from 1964 to 1994.
While in exile, Chiume became active with Tanzania's "The Nationalist," "Daily News and Sunday News," and "Uhuru" newspapers. He also became and author and publisher of numerous books. He returned to Malawi in 1994 after internal and international pressure on Dr. Banda. After his return Chiume briefly served as Chairman of Malawi National Library Service and the Malawi Book Service. He retired from active politics and eventually moved to New York to live with family before his death on November 21, 2007.
Death
Kanyama Chiume retired from active politics and eventually moved to New York to live with his family until his death on November 21, 2007. He died after complaining of depression.The remains of the veteran politician arrived back in Lilongwe, Malawi on November 29, 2007.
President of Malawi, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika was there to welcome the one time leading nationalist and former senior member of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC). Full military honours were awarded to Chiume.