Albert Andrew Muwalo Gandale Nqumayo (1927 – 1977) was a prominent politician in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

from the 1960s until he was sacked in 1976 and was executed in 1977. He entered politics in the mid 1950s through involvement in a hospital worker's trade union and membership of the

Nyasaland African Congress The Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) was an organisation that evolved into a political party in Nyasaland during the colonial period. The NAC was suppressed in 1959, but was succeeded in 1960 by the Malawi Congress Party, which went to on decisiv ...

, where his activities led to his detention without trial during the 1959 State of Emergency in Nyasaland. After his release, he joined the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), and became locally prominent in

Ntcheu District Ntcheu is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. It borders with the country of Mozambique. The district headquarters is Ntcheu, known as BOMA in the local language, but is most commonly called Mphate. It is run by Yeneya, the village headm ...

as district MCP chairman and from 1962 as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Ntcheu South. In 1963, he became Administrative Secretary of the MCP, and he was a prominent supporter of the then-Prime Minister,

Hastings Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1898 – 25 November 1997) was the Prime Minister of Malawi, prime minister and later President of Malawi, president of Malawi from 1964 to 1994 (from 1964 to 1966, Malawi was an independent Dominion / Commonwealth realm) ...

during the

Cabinet Crisis of 1964 The cabinet crisis of 1964 in Malawi occurred in August and September 1964 shortly after independence when, after an unresolved confrontation between the Prime Minister, Hastings Banda (later Malawi's first President) and the cabinet ministers pr ...

. Muwalo was rewarded for his loyalty with the cabinet post of Minister of Information in 1964, and in 1966 he became Minister of State in the President's Office. His close contact with Banda, both as minister in Banda's office and in the MCP gave him great power and, during the first half of the 1970s he and his relative, the Head of the Police Special Branch

Focus Gwede Focus Martin Gwede was head of the special branch of the Malawi Police Force. He was from Ntcheu Malawi. He was one of the most feared policemen during the Kamuzu Banda era.Traditional Court and after a trial whose fairness was in serious doubt, were both sentenced to death. Gwede was reprieved, but Muwalo was hanged on 3 September 1977.

Early life and entry into politics

Albert Andrew Muwalo Gandale Nqumayo (or Ngumayo) was born in Ntcheu District, of Maseko Ngoni parentage on 23 June 1927, the second of seven children, all sons. After primary education at Gowa Mission in Ntcheu District, he attended the secondary school at Blantyre Mission, gaining a Junior Certificate in 1945. He worked at Zomba African Hospital, and undertook further study in evening classes at the hospital.Mr Muwalo obtained a certificate in Medical Laboratory Technology in 1954 as well as working as a medical assistant for 13 years. During the mid-1950s, his ambition was to undertake further study in Britain, but his detention in 1959 put an end to this, and he did not obtain the further education achieved by several of those who became ministers in 1961 and 1962. During his time at the hospital, he became involved in trade union activities through the Nyasaland African Medical Orderlies union, becoming its Secretary-General. He joined the Ntcheu branch of the Nyasaland African Congress and was active in demonstrating against the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

. During the State of Emergency declared in March 1959, he was detained without trial in Nyasaland, unlike the most senior Congress members, who were imprisoned in Southern Rhodesia. After his release, he joined the

Malawi Congress Party The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a politics of Malawi, political party in Malawi. It was formed as a successor party to the banned Nyasaland African Congress when the country, then known as Nyasaland, was under British rule. The MCP, under H ...

(MCP), and became active in its organisation, first in Ntcheu town and later as a party member and then Chairman of the MCP in Ntcheu District. Between 1962 and 1964, he was Chairman of Ntcheu District Council. Muwalo was Member of Parliament for Ntcheu South between 1964 and 1967, when he resigned owing to the pressures of his MCP work, although the seat was later held by his younger brother, Daniel. Albert Muwalo became Administrative Secretary of the Malawi Congress Party in April 1963, in succession to

Yatuta Chisiza Yatuta Chisiza (born 1926 – died October 1967, near Blantyre, Malawi) was a Malawi minister of home affairs who led a brief guerrilla incursion into the country in October 1967. He entered Mwanza district from Tanzania with nine others. In the ...

, and he became the party's Secretary General in 1973. He entered the cabinet as Minister of Information in 1964, and became Minister of State in the President's Office in 1966 and Minister without Portfolio in 1976.

Cabinet Crisis

Most of the ministerial appointees in 1961 and 1962 were relatively young, generally under 35 (only

Orton Chirwa Orton Chirwa (30 January 1919 – 20 October 1992) was a lawyer and political leader in colonial Nyasaland and after independence became Malawi's Minister of Justice and Attorney General. After a dispute with Malawi's autocratic President Hasti ...

was over 40), with at least secondary, and often higher, education. A disproportionate number of these came from the Northern Region, because several mission schools there taught to a high standard. The group ranking just below the ministers, which included Muwalo, consisted of local MCP bosses who were generally older than the first group and usually less well educated but with stronger local ties than them, and often came from the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

regions. After the 1964 crisis, several of them replaced the former ministers. Differences between Banda and his ministers arose after the 1963 election. From October 1963, Banda began to make slighting references to them in public speeches and accused some of them of forming a cabal against him. He dismissed one minister, took away another's responsibilities without removing him from the cabinet and reassigned portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. As well as being Prime Minister, Banda retained four ministerial portfolios, devolving the day-to-day work to parliamentary secretaries. All this diminished the power and influence of the ministers. Banda also continued diplomatic relations with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, but refused to recognise the People's Republic of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, and contemptuously rejected suggestions of forming closer ties with

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. The slow pace of

Africanization Africanization or Africanisation (lit., making something African) has been applied in various contexts, notably in geographic and personal naming and in the composition of the civil service via processes such as indigenization. Africanization ...

in the Civil Service, the freezing of Civil Service salaries and the introduction of a charge for outpatients at state hospitals were all seen as failing to pass the benefits of independence to the people. At the cabinet meeting of 26 August 1964, all the ministers present raised their concerns with Banda and presented him with a list of grievances. A number of ministers led by Yatutu Chisiza apparently wished to convert Banda's role from that of Prime Minister who expected to become an executive President, to that of a future President without executive functions, with an appointed Prime Minister as head of government. During the

, on 27 August Banda consulted Muwalo and

Aleke Banda Aleke Kadonaphani Banda (1939 – 9 April 2010) was a Malawian politician who served as a Member of Parliament, as Minister of Finance, and as Minister of Agriculture in Malawi. He was also co-founder of 'the Nation Publications Limited'. Banda� ...

as leading officials of the MCP to ensure that leading party members in all three regions of Malawi supported him, rather than supporting the ministers who opposed him. Banda advised

Glyn Smallwood Jones Sir Glyn Smallwood Jones (9 January 1908 – 10 June 1992), was a British colonial administrator in Southern Africa. He was the last governor of Nyasaland (now Malawi) from 1961 until it achieved independence in 1964. He served as the only gov ...

, the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

on 1 September of his intention to resign, which would automatically end the tenure of the other ministers. On his own reappointment he would reappoint the ministers, except for

Kanyama Chiume Kanyama Chiume (22 November 1929 – 21 November 2007), born Murray William Kanyama Chiume, was 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 possibly

John Msonthi John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Chipembere. The Governor-General advised him to seek a vote of confidence in parliament rather than resign, and on the day that this vote began Banda secured the dismissal of three cabinet ministers: three others resigned in solidarity. President Banda saw Muwalo and Aleke Banda a great deal in September 1964, and their comments and the unity of the ex-ministers led him to believe that the latter were conspiring against him. The attempts of the Governor-General to secure a compromise after the vote of confidence led to an undertaking by Banda to reinstate the ministers, except for Chiume, Chisiza and Chipembere: he wished for the appointment four new ministers, including Muwalo, possibly as Minister of Health. After the breakdown of attempts to find a compromise, because the ex-ministers insisted they should all be reinstated. Muwalo was appointed as Minister of Information in September 1964. On 28 September, members of the Youth League of the MCP supporting Banda, who had been bussed into Zomba during the previous night, tried to close Zomba market and force those civil servants that were in strike back to work. However, the more numerous civil servants, armed themselves with sticks and attacked MCP supporters and burned down the party's national headquarters and a shop owned by the local MCP chairman. During these disturbances, Muwalo was assaulted by the pro-Chipembere crowd, and another newly-appointed minister was severely beaten. By 30 September supporters of the dismissed ministers controlled Zomba, and Muwalo and every other minister that supported Banda had left the town.

Ministerial career

There are few detailed records of Muwalo's repressive activities between his appointment as a minister 1964 and his arrest in 1976, although as early as 1964, Banda urged anyone with any information on dissent to give this him or Muwalo. In this period, Muwalo exercised almost complete censorship over the Malawian media. The most important decisions of Banda's government were made orally, so the reasons for them are not documented and much of the discussion of those reasons relies on claims and allegations that cannot be verified. It is clear that Banda was ultimately responsible for the policy of the imprisonment, with or without trial, torture and occasional murder of actual or invented dissidents. However, as he grew older he acted on the information provided by the ministers and others closest to. There were several, often competing, sources of intelligence: Muwalo's associate Gwede controlled the Police Special Branch, while

John Tembo John Zenus Ungapake Tembo (born September 14, 1932
, Xinhua, May 19, 2004.) is a

Malawi Young Pioneers The Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP) were the paramilitary wing of the Malawi Congress Party. Their Commander-in-Chief was President Hastings Kamuzu Banda. They originally were supposed to function as a national youth service program with a developmen ...

. Two matters that are better documented were the campaign against

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

and the reaction to the

Chilobwe murders The Chilobwe murders were a series of murders, numbering at least thirty killings, which took place over several months starting in November 1968 in the suburbs of Blantyre, Malawi, particularly in Chilobwe. A number of rumours grew up around thes ...

. Muwalo and Gwede were closely associated with the implementation of repressive policies against political critics and even those seeking political neutrality, like Jehovah's Witnesses. After the removal of these two, the government's attitude appeared to have softened, at least for a time. Muwalo was linked to the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, that started in late 1963 before the pre-independence election, when Witnesses were beaten for failing to buy MCP cards, because their religious beliefs did not allow membership of political parties. In 1967, at the conference of the MCP, of which Muwalo was Administrative Secretary, it was agreed that Jehovah's Witnesses should be declared an "unlawful society", and it was soon declared to be such, leading to attacks in which at least five Witnesses were killed and many fled the country. The anti-Witness campaign resumed in 1972, with further killings and beating. Over 50,000 Witnesses fled to Zambia or Mozambique, although in 1973, the Zambian authorities, and in 1975 the government of newly independent Mozambique, forcibly repatriated the majority of these refugees. A fifth wave of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses began in September 1975, mainly organised by local MCP members, but authorised at the party's highest level. This involved over 5,000 arrests, with many Witnesses being sentenced to three years in prison for membership of an illegal organisation, many beatings and destruction of Witnesses' property, and at least two more killings. After Muwalo's arrest, this wave of persecution ended, and many of those imprisoned or in detention were released. Although it is clear that the initial impetus for banning the Witnesses in 1967 came from Banda, Muwalo was responsible for organising much of the subsequent anti-Witness action. Between September 1968 and March 1970, at least 31 brutal murders occurred at night and in the victims' own homes in the suburbs of Malawi's largest city,

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

. These were said to have been committed by the same person or group, and they are collectively known as the Chilobwe murders. They were often accompanied by mutilation of the victims' bodies suggestive of a belief in

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

or magic by whoever carried out the killings. Many of the victims lived in poor housing which offered little resistance to forced entry. The Government's failure to make any arrests caused panic and led to criticism of the police and government. One persistent rumour was that the Government was itself responsible for the murders, and that it had drained the victims' blood to send to South Africa. In 1969, rumours were widespread that Muwalo was responsible for the Chilobwe murders. Both Banda and Muwalo took these rumours seriously and Muwalo told the Malawi parliament that there was no truth in them; on the contrary, those who had committed the murders were agents of the ex-ministers involved in the 1964 Cabinet Crisis. At his trial, Muwalo was said to have started or spread rumours that the Chilobwe murders were ordered by the Malawi government, so the blood of the victims could be sold to South Africa. There has been speculation that the downfall of Muwalo and Focus Gwedwe was engineered by

John Tembo John Zenus Ungapake Tembo (born September 14, 1932
, Xinhua, May 19, 2004.) is a

Cecilia Kadzamira Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira, DCVO (born 25 June 1938) was the official hostess of Malawi during the reign of Hastings Banda. Whilst she and Banda were not officially married, she served as the first lady or official hostess for several years. For se ...

, as the two groups were rivals to control and succeed the ageing Banda. However, none of these rumours or speculation can be proven.

Trial and Execution

For much of the first half of the 1970s, Muwalo was able to use his post as Minister of State in the President's Office and his MCP positions to control access to Banda and manipulate the information that Banda received, particularly on the repression that Muwalo and Gwede controlled. In June 1976, the change in his ministerial post to Minister without Portfolio was seen as a demotion and, at the end of the MCP Conference in September, Banda denounced abuses of power and stated that Muwalo was no closer to him than other ministers. Muwalo was expelled from his posts of MCP Secretary General and Minister without Portfolio on 27 October 1976. The announcement gave the reason as a grave breach of discipline and stated that Muwalo would forfeit any property gained through his governmental or party posts. His expulsion occurred shortly after that of Focus Gwede, and both men were arrested, Muwalo on 27 October and Gwede on 10 November. It was suggested that these expulsions and arrests followed an investigation into the activities of Muwalo and Gwede which found the men had misused Banda's name when abusing their powers. In particular, the two men (who were related) interfered with a police investigation involving another relative. The trial of Albert Muwalo and Focus Gwede was held in the Southern Region Traditional Court in March to April 1977. Traditional Courts did not allow defence lawyers to plead for the accused, who were not given a summary of the charges against them before the trial, so could not prepare a defence. Defendants had no right to call witnesses (which was at the discretion of the judges) nor to appeal (which was at the discretion of Minister of Justice, a post held by Banda). Finally, these courts were not bound by the normal rules of evidence. The charge against Muwalo and Gwede was of attempting to assassinate President Banda and overthrow his government. Banda had defined plotting to and overthrow his government as merely speaking aloud about it, but there was little evidence that the accused had even done that. The only concrete evidence against the men was their illegal possession of firearms. However, the Traditional Court admitted as evidence three letters that denounced them for colluding with ex-ministers who fled Malawi after the Cabinet Crisis of 1964. One of the letters was anonymous, and of the two signed letters, one was disowned by the supposed signatory and the signatory of the other did not exist. Nevertheless, the court admitted all three on the basis, "... there is no smoke without fire". They also admitted recordings of two telephone conversations the defendants had about the guns, which did not discuss any plans to use them. In order to establish a motive for the alleged treason, the court considered Muwalo's possession of photographs of some of the ex-ministers and copies of books which the court deemed subversive, although only one was actually banned (this was

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

). The court held that mere possession of the photographs of people who had, "... rebelled against the Malawi government" made the owner, Muwalo, a rebel, and owning the books was enough to brand him as a communist sympathiser. There was even less evidence, however unsatisfactory, against Gwede, but both men were sentenced to death for treason. Although Muwalo and Gwede were probably guilty of many crimes, the wholly insufficient evidence produced did not prove their guilt of the crime of which they were accused. An appeal against both conviction and sentence was heard by the National Traditional Court of Appeal in August 1977, but rejected. The two men were then transferred to the condemned cells of Zomba prison to await execution. Muwalo was hanged on 3 September 1977, but Gwede received a last minute reprieve and remained in prison until 1993.A C Mkandawire (2010) Albert Muwalo Nqumayo: His life and times, his death and legacy, pp. 125, 136, 142.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muwalo, Albert History of Malawi Malawian politicians Executed Malawian people 1927 births 1977 deaths People executed by Malawi by hanging Malawian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Malawi