The sinking cenotaph

Jack Mapanje's and Steve Chimombo's contestation of monumentalised nationalist public memories of Malawi's President Banda

Bibliographic Data

ID3663291
AuthorsReuben Makayiko Chirambo (University of Cape Town, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume36
Issue3
Pages547-564
Publication date2010-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Dynamics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0253-3952 • E-ISSN: 1940-7874
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02533952.2010.517626
OpenAlexW2070082397
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

This article discusses Jack Mapanje’s and Steve Chimombo’s contestations of the constitution and monumentalisation of nationalist public memories of former and first president of Malawi, Dr H.K. Banda. After more than a decade since the end of his rule as life president in 1994 and his demise in 1997, the Malawi government has constituted and monumentalised memories of Banda in Malawi through a monumental mausoleum on his grave and a statue in the capital city, Lilongwe. While others have hailed these monuments as fitting tributes for the ‘founding father’ and ‘nationalist hero’ of the nation, Mapanje and Chimombo contest such public monumentalisation of Banda’s reign in Malawi in their poetry, suggesting that Banda was a dictator undeserving of such posthumous memorialisation. They also suggest that the narratives constituted in the monuments do not represent the interests of the victims of his dictatorship. This article argues that such contestations challenge the constitution of nationalist memories of postcolonial African nations through leaders who instituted totalitarian rule. Keywords: national memoriesdictatorshipMalawiBanda Notes 1. The South African post‐apartheid scenario is a good example here, where, for example, there is hardly any consensus on the attempts to keep or erase names of streets and cities that evoke different memories of the experiences of apartheid. Even songs used by African National Congress (ANC) in the struggle against apartheid have become contestable. 2. Banda’s family was given the chance to view architectural plans of the mausoleum and are reported to, for example, have objected to designs that would have allowed access to Banda’s tomb (see Liwanda Citation2006). The compromise design reflected in the constructed mausoleum has a replica tomb over the grave as can be seen in Figure 1. 3. Besides the accounts of the killings of the four politicians in Mwanza referred to below, many others who died in detention centres or disappeared under mysterious circumstances have never been investigated and documented. 4. See a detailed discussion in Chirambo Citation2005; see also Forster Citation1994. 5. Six cabinet ministers resigned from Banda’s first cabinet at independence in 1964, citing Banda’s growing dictatorship among the reasons (see Chiume Citation1992, Ross Citation1997, Baker Citation2001, Chipembere Citation2001). Chirwa formed and led the Malawi Freedom Movement (MAFREMO) in exile. In December 1981, he and his wife and child were lured to the border between Malawi and Zambia by police agents posing as members of his party within Malawi. They were abducted and taken into Malawi where Orton and his wife were tried for treason and sentenced to death. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Chirwa died in prison in 1992. 6. The notion of martyrs as only those that died fighting against colonialism is increasingly being contested in Malawi, arguing for the inclusion of those who fought and survived. They also suggest that those who died or survived the struggle against Banda and MCP’s tyranny be recognised as national martyrs (see The Daily Times 2009, p. 10, The Nation March 2009, pp. 9–24). 7. When I visited the museum in 1996, very little had been done to establish an informative museum. The cells had been swept clean and mopped, a few paraphernalia such us a cup and cooking sticks were in the kitchen, a pair of prison uniforms and a carefully folded blanket were displayed in one cell. The punishment cells still had leg irons stuck to the ground and the lone museum attendant explained how these were used. In other words, the prison structure was empty and devoid of descriptive materials that could show one the horror of the detention as it was then. There are also no records or documents detailing who passed through the detention centre or what happened there. 8. A Commission of Inquiry (1994) into the deaths commissioned by President Bakili Muluzi confirmed that the four were murdered and the alleged road accident was staged as a cover up (see also The Daily Times Citation1983, The Nation Citation1993). 9. Over 63% of voters in the national referendum in 1993 voted to introduce multiparty democracy against the one party system advocated by Banda and MCP. In 1994, Banda and MCP lost the presidential and parliamentary elections to Muluzi and UDF in what could be seen as people’s fears that Banda and MCP, if re‐elected, would reverse the gains of the national referendum victory for democracy. 10. Muluzi handpicked Bingu as presidential candidate for the UDF in the 2004 presidential and parliamentary elections after he failed to change the constitution for his own Third Term. However, Bingu left the UDF in 2005 after winning the presidency, forming his own party, DPP, while in government. 11. Bingu has even adopted some of the praise titles Banda used, such as Ngwazi (Conqueror), for himself to popularise his regime (for a detailed discussion, see Chirambo Citation2009b). 12. It is undeclared, because the government of Malawi has refused to designate it as a Heroes’ Acre, even though Banda has been buried there, away from his home village in Kasungu. 13. For a detailed discussion, see Chimombo and Chimombo (Citation1996). Banda and MCP used political songs at all their functions, which castigated their critics and opponents, creating an atmosphere that was extremely intolerant to criticism and opposition politics (Chirambo Citation2006). During the referendum campaign, the same songs were used to castigate Banda and the MCP. 14. Chipembere’s widow went on to contest a seat in the first multiparty parliamentary elections in 1994 and won her husband’s former seat in Mangochi, and Muluzi appointed her in his first cabinet in 1994. 15. Banda’s will is still being disputed in courts in Malawi between Cecilia Kadzamira and members of Banda’s family, who claim some bank accounts abroad have been changed into the names of the Kadzamira unlawfully (Weekend Nation Citation2009). 16. In April 1992, Chihana attempted to read a letter to the nation at the Kamuzu International Airport on arrival from Lusaka calling on Banda and the MCP to conduct a national referendum for the people of Malawi to choose between Banda’s one party system and multiparty democracy. He was arrested before reading the letter and charged with sedition. His gestures, however, contributed immensely to the momentum for change in the country which Banda and MCP failed to stop, hence the referendum a year later

Art · Constitution · CONTEST · Demise · Democracy · Dictatorship · HERO · Literature · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Reign · Windsor · African history and culture studies · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · South African History and Culture

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