History du Malawi

The Rift Valley is of paramount importance to paleontology. The discovery of the first human bones in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania has led to a better understanding of human evolution. Hominid fossils dating back 2.5 million years were discovered in 1993 in Malawi, near Karonga, proving the presence of hominids, and more specifically of the hominins that populated northern Malawi at the time.

Homo sapiens were present on the shores of the lake at the end of the Mesolithic period, notably at the Mwanganda site.

Arrival of Twa (Batwa) Pygmies from Central Africa. The Chongoni rock paintings are a powerful testimony to their presence in the center of the country some 2,000 years ago.

Nkope culture (between Monkey Bay and Mangochi), known for its ceramics, examples of which have been found in eastern Zambia, Mozambique and throughout southern Malawi.

Close to the Nkope culture, the Kapeni culture flourishes on the banks of the Shire.

Longwe culture in the Shire valley and in the eastern and northern foothills of the Mulanje massif. The people of this civilization were excellent potters and probably hunters and gatherers.

Mawudzu culture, mainly defined by its ceramics, which supplanted those of Longwe and Kapeni.

The kyungu (kings of the Ngonde kingdom) traded (ivory, gold...) with Swahili merchants from Mbande Hill, where their capital was established (in the north of today's Malawi).

With the arrival of the Portuguese on the Mozambique coast, the inland peoples organized themselves into various kingdoms. The most important and centralized kingdom was Maravi (from which the name Malawi derives), ruled by the Kalonga dynasty. Founded in the late ^15th century, it covered southern Malawi, part of northern Mozambique and eastern Zambia. The capital, Mankhamba, is located in central Malawi. Living from ivory trade and agriculture, the kingdom reached its apogee during the reign of Masula (1600-1650). This powerful chief sealed an alliance with the Portuguese and the kingdom expanded. It stretched from eastern Zambia to the Mozambican coast and the Indian Ocean, while embracing central and southern Malawi. After the death of Chief Masula, it gradually disappeared in favor of more fragmented kingdoms. Today, the majority of Malawi's ethnic groups lay claim to the heritage of this kingdom, which has become a "founding myth". Northern Malawi remains under the influence of the Swahili from Kilwa, who maintain the ivory trade with the coastal towns.

In 1616, the Portuguese Gaspar Boccaro was the first European to sail up the Shire to Lake Malawi. After travelling over 1,000 km between Tete and Kilwa, Boccaro crossed the Shire River and discovered a lake that resembled a sea... an obvious reference to Lake Malawi. However, some sources claim that Lusitanians set foot in Malawi as early as the ^16th century.

The most famous British explorer of the Victorian era, David Livingstone (1813-1873) set out to explore Central Africa. Between 1853 and 1856, at the head of a Scottish mission, he was the first European to cross Africa from west to east, from Luanda in Angola to the mouth of the Zambezi in Mozambique. His aim was to open up the region to trade, colonization and Christianity. In 1859, Livingstone discovered Mount Mulanje, Zomba, and travelled up the Shire to Lake Malawi. He reached Nkhotakota in 1861. Horrified by the atrocities of slavery and the cruelty of the Arab-Muslim trade, he continued northwards and discovered the massacres committed by the Ngoni. He decided to turn back, crossing villages littered with corpses. The curse fell on his expedition, which was living out its final months. Many of its members died, including Livingstone's wife, either through illness or accident. Livingstone's writings, which made the fight against slavery and the slave trade his life's struggle, enlightened English public opinion about the atrocities of slavery in this part of Africa. On his return to Britain in 1864, deeply affected by the horrors he had seen, Livingstone tried in vain to mediate between the Chewa and Jumbe chiefs to stop the slave trade. He died on May¹, 1873 in Chitambo, a small village in the northeast of present-day Zambia. That same year, in tribute to his struggle, the British obtained the closure of the slave market. After his death, Scottish missionaries returned to Malawi in 1875 to set up Christian missions. The most important were set up on Likoma Island, in Cape Maclear (Livingstonia Mission) and in 1876 the Presbyterian Mission was founded in Blantyre. In addition to conversion to Christianity and education, their role was to pacify the region and combat slavery. In 1877, the African Lakes Company was founded by the Moir brothers to supply the Presbyterian missionaries active in the region, among other more or less avowed objectives. The race for colonies and the division of Africa by the great powers turned the continent's history upside down. The arrival of the Germans in East Africa (Tanganyika) prompted the British to extend their territory into Central Africa (British Protectorate of Central Africa). Under the pretext of putting a definitive end to the slave trade still practiced by the Yao and the Sultan of Nkhotakota, British troops launched several attacks in 1891 and conquered the entire territory by the end of the ^19th century. The British presence curbed German ambitions and established "Christianity and colonization", as Livingstone had wished.

The British administer and include the Malawian territory in the British Central Africa Protectorate. They put an end to the slave trade, notably by defeating Mlozi, a feared slave trader from the Karonga region, and several Yao chiefs. Creation of the first large tea and tobacco plantations. In 1894, Robert Laws founded the Presbyterian mission of Livingstonia. In 1902, the White Fathers establish the Catholic mission of Mua.

In 1907, British Central Africa was divided into two territories, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (present-day Malawi). The latter was the least developed of all British territories in Africa, due to the lack of mineral resources and the density of the indigenous population (6 to 10 times greater than in Northern Rhodesia), which increased the scarcity of available land. Tea was the colony's main crop (around Thyolo and Mulanje). Unlike all English colonies, only 10% of the land was owned by settlers, the rest being theoretically left to the indigenous Africans, but taxed severely. Tobacco and cotton plantations were the only ones to survive this system. The majority of the population became cheap labor for the mines of Rhodesia and South Africa. 20% of the working population (especially males) worked outside Nyasaland, and 5% of them died far from their families. Protests against the colonial system began on the eve of the First World War, thanks to the activism of the Ethiopian churches (the only African country not to have been colonized), which called for an "Africa for Africans". Influenced by this idea, one of the first Malawian leaders was Pastor John Chilembwe, who opened a native mission and openly expressed his indignation at the death of several African soldiers during the Anglo-German battle of Karonga in northern Malawi in September 1914. After a raid in Blantyre against the rich planters of the upper Shire Valley, Chilembwe and his men were killed in 1915 and the mission was closed.

It wasn't until the end of the Second World War, and Ghana's independence in 1957, that ideas of pan-Africanism and freedom reached Malawi. And it was precisely in Ghana during this period that the country's first president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, lived. His career path was unique for the time: after spending time in South Africa and the United States, where he obtained a doctorate in medicine in 1937, he asked to return to his native country, but was refused the right to practice medicine because of the color of his skin. After starting his practice in London, he moved to Ghana, where he promoted his party, the Nyassaland African Congress, founded in 1943 to oppose the British occupation of his country. In 1958, with the decolonization of African countries, Banda returned to his country and called for non-violent protests. The Nyassaland African Congress, banned by the British authorities, became the Malawi Congress Party. Arrested in 1959 after the proclamation of a state of emergency, Kamuzu Banda was imprisoned following the organization of strikes and demonstrations throughout the country, which led Britain to launch a process of independence, which became effective on July 6, 1964.

After being part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between 1953 and 1963, Malawi officially gained independence following the proclamation of July 6, 1964. At the time, the country had a population of 3 million. The African National Congress (ANC), followed by the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), winner of the August 1961 elections, played a decisive role in the country's march towards independence, which accelerated during the 50s and 60s. Dr. Hastings Banda was one of the leading figures in the movement towards emancipation. He took part in talks that led to the drafting of a new constitution, negotiated in London, and then to independence, which was smoothly proclaimed on July 6, 1964. The horizontal black-red-green tricolor flag of the Nyassaland African Congress, the main force in the struggle for independence, was used as the model for the national flag. A sun is added to symbolize the advent of hope and freedom throughout Africa. Black represents the African people, red the blood of the martyrs of African freedom and green the vegetation of Malawi. In 1966, the constitutional monarchy was abolished and the Republic of Malawi, whose capital is Lilongwe and which is a member of the Commonwealth, was proclaimed.

At independence, Banda was proclaimed President of Malawi. Banda established an autocratic one-party system and banned all opposition. In November 1970, the Constitution was amended, making Banda Malawi's "President for Life". He ruled the country as a dictator. More than 250,000 people were imprisoned and several hundred murdered. Censorship, paranoia and megalomania characterized his reign from 1964 to 1994, one of the longest dictatorships in Africa. The West discreetly supported Banda because of his anti-Communist stance during the Cold War; Banda knew this and took advantage of the situation to demand substantial aid, which he obtained. In 1981, Malawi turned to the IMF and the World Bank, which advocated a structural adjustment program to pull the country out of the economic doldrums in which it was struggling. In 1994, when Banda resigned due to illness (he died in 1997 at the age of 99), Malawi found itself back where it had been at independence: one of the poorest countries in Africa. Also in 1994, Malawi held its first multi-party democratic elections, which brought to power the Muslim Bakili Muluzi, the country's second president, who had created the United Democratic Front two years earlier. Embodying the spirit of renewal, he paved the way for democracy and promulgated a new constitution. Freedom of expression became a reality and the press was free. Re-elected in 1999, his second term was marred by suspicions of corruption. Following the 2004 elections, an unknown candidate, Bingu wa Mutharika, a member of the United Democratic Front, came to power, calling on Banda's former team under the pretext of fighting corruption. In 2005, Bingu wa Mutharika created the Democratic Progressive Party following dissensions within the United Democratic Front. Former president Muluzi was arrested in 2006, while the first president, Hastings Banda, was glorified (a giant mausoleum was built in his memory in Lilongwe). The return to Banda's old values led to authoritarianism and a cult of secrecy. Democracy is once again under threat. One of the few bright spots was the country's relatively dynamic economic growth, thanks to its large tobacco production. But relations with the international community were rapidly deteriorating. The purchase of a presidential jet for 6 million euros led to a drop in British humanitarian aid. Shortages hit the country (petrol, food, etc.), and social movements broke out, repressed without mercy. International aid was completely suspended. The regime descended into terror, not hesitating to kill demonstrators. In 2009, Bingu wa Mutharika was re-elected President of the Republic.

Demonstrations against shortages, high living costs and the government's economic policy shake Malawi, sometimes degenerating into riots. The country's vice-president, Joyce Banda, founds the People's Party.

On April 6, 2012, with the country on the brink of collapse, Bingu wa Mutharika suffered a devastating heart attack. On April 7, 2012, Joyce Banda was appointed interim president of the country, the second female president of an African country after Liberia. Her priority is to restore international aid. Her first steps quickly yielded results, and the international community showed confidence in her country's reform. In 2013, however, investors were put off by the Cashgate scandal. This gigantic misappropriation of public aid funds ($30 million) for the benefit of members of the government led to a sharp drop in the number of projects committed between 2013 and 2015. The controversial presidential jet was sold and Joyce Banda, under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, decided to devalue the kwacha. Despite the corruption scandal within her government, the President brings a breath of fresh air, and the hope of better development for the country seems very real. However, she was defeated in the May 2014 presidential elections by Peter Mutharika, the brother of former president Bingu wa Mutharika, who was re-elected for a second term in May 2019.

Following his narrow victory in the presidential election, 78-year-old Peter Mutharika begins a second term at the head of the country. Only 159,000 votes separate him from Lazarus Chakwera, his main opponent.

"We consider that Peter Mutharika was not duly elected on May 21, 2019, accordingly we annul the results of the presidential election." The verdict of Malawi's Constitutional Court, which fell on Monday February 3, 2020, is scarcely believable. Nine months after the election was held and after long months of political and legal disputes, the wise men have annulled the presidential poll. At the head of the country since 2014, Peter Mutharika, who wore the colors of the Democratic Progressive Party, had been elected with 38.57% of the vote against 35.41% for Lazarus Chakwera, leader of the main opposition party, the Malawi Congress Party. Only 159,000 votes separated the two men. On a continent where electoral fraud is commonplace, the decision by the high judges to annul the election caused a stir. According to the national press, it was democracy that emerged victorious from this tug-of-war. It must be said that the opposition had contested the regularity of the election by violently demonstrating in the streets for many months. Among the frauds noted by the opponents, a high number of count sheets were erased with Tipp-Ex.