Henry Masauko Blasius Chipembere - The Cabinet Crisis

The Cabinet Crisis

Shortly after independence, on 19 August 1964, Chipembere departed to Canada for a conference. Meanwhile back in Malawi, cabinet members including Orton Chirwa, Chiume, Yatuta Chisiza and others (with the notable exception of John Tembo, Minister of Finance), were growing restive under the autocratic hand of Dr Banda. They had several grievances against him, including that he had too much power (he was in charge of six different ministries, for example) and that he treated his cabinet with too little respect even in public. Matters came to a head on August 24, when they presented him with what they called the Kuchawe Manifesto (because it had been written at the Kuchawe Inn on Zomba plateau), a letter containing a list of demands. On September 7, Banda removed four of his cabinet members (Chirwa, Chiume, Bwanausi and Rose Chibambo). Three other cabinet members then resigned (Chisiza, Chokani and Msonthi). On September 8, parliament began to debate a motion of confidence in Dr Banda and his policies. Chipembere arrived back from Canada that evening. After failing to persuade Banda to postpone the remainder of the debate, Chipembere, in sympathy with his colleagues, resigned his cabinet position on September 8 and retired to the back benches. His speech on the second day of the debate failed to sway the parliament, which, moved by Banda's oratory, gave him a unanimous vote of confidence. Efforts to reinstate some of the ministers failed, and on September 26 and 27, a meeting planned by Chipembere in Blantyre was banned, ostensibly because he had not obtained police permission. There were clashes with Malawi Youth League members both in Blantyre and in Zomba. Chipembere left for Fort Johnson (now Mangochi), where popular support for him was strong.

The following week was tense throughout the country, with government employees in Zomba going on strike and senior civil servants (almost all Europeans) staying home in fear of violence. On September 30, Banda signed an order restricting Chipembere to within four miles of his home in Malindi.

On the night of February 12, 1965, Chipembere together with about 200 local supporters moved into Fort Johnston. According to Hansard (a not unbiased source, as a government organ), they attacked the police station, killing the wife and child of a policeman there, destroying phone installations, both there and at the post office, and removing guns and ammunition from the police armoury. They proceeded in the direction of the capital, Zomba, but found that at Liwonde Ferry the ferry vessel was secured on the farther side of the Shire River. A detachment of the Malawi army caught up with them at noon the next day, but all except one escaped into the bush. This ended Chipembere's attempt at a coup d'état.

In March 1965, Chipembere, through Governor General Glyn Jones, made overtures to Banda to proclaim an amnesty in exchange for his agreement to leave the country. He also approached the US ambassador to Malawi, Sam Gilstrap, asking him to arrange a university place for him in the US. On April 26, with the help of both Glyn Jones and US interests, as well as the loan of an aircraft from the British South Africa Police, and with Banda's knowledge, he was secretly moved to Zomba, thence to Salisbury (in Southern Rhodesia), London, New York and California.