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African Affairs 97:91-118 (1998)
© The Royal African Society

THE MWANZA TRIAL AS A SEARCH FOR A USABLE MALAWIAN POLITICAL PAST

JAN KEES VAN DONGE

Dr Jan Kees van Donge teaches in the Department of Public Administration, Chancellor College, University of Malawi Zomba

The main thesis of this papier is that nations need memories and that there is in many contemporary African states a need to create a memory of the period between independence and the reintroduction of multipartyism. That process often takes the form of inquests into human rights abuses which can result in trials. The trial in Malawi of six people—including the former president Kamuzu Banda and his most loyal follower J.Z.U. Tembo—on the accusation of conspiring to murder four politicians in 1983 and to destroy relevant evidence is an example. This article discusses how the reactions of the present ruling party (UDF) and government and the previous ruling party (MCP) and their leadership to this trial differ. The trial is seen as a struggle about the interpretation of the past which is put in the context of the actual events in 1983 as these came out in the trial. The fundamental question which arose is whether responsibility for whatever happened in Malawi in that period can squarely be put in the hands of a trimuvirate which was in total control of what happened or whether decision making—including those concerning human rights abuses—was much more diffused throughout society. The first version of events lacks evidence to substantiate it. The result of the trial was therefore an acquittal which was held up in an appeal by the state. The second version portrays Kamuzu Banda as a leader who could be deceived by his environment, which is at variance with the way many Malawians, not exclusively MCP supporters, saw his role.


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