March 3 killings: Nkhata Bay chiefs furious at govt’s inertia

Chiefs in Nkhata Bay have expressed shock at government’s failure to engage Britain to pay compensation for 1959 killings, saying the setback mirrors how ‘our leaders’ neglect the interests of the people who put them in power.
Senior chiefs Timbiri and Nkumbira were reacting to United Kingdom’s (UK) High Commissioner to Malawi Michael Nevin’s recent indications that the two governments have had no talks over rising calls for the former colonial masters to make up for the massacre of 31 Malawians at Nkhata Bay Jetty by federal soldiers during the March 3 state of emergency.

The traditional leaders quashed Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Kondwani Nakhumwa’s request for concerned parties to use “appropriate channels” because government cannot trace any record to confirm the bereaved families’ belated demands for monetary settlement from Britain.
They termed the response ironic after they have taken up the matter with all presidents—Bakili Muluzi, Bingu wa Mutharika and Joyce Banda—since the fall of Kamuzu’s one-party rule in 1994.
On Martyrs’ Day last week, affected families escalated the matter to the incumbent Peter Mutharika when Timbiri presented a petition to Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe, who was the guest of honour during the commemoration.
In an interview on Monday, Timbiri stated: “It is sad that those in power don’t seem to know or care about their people’s problems, but they need to ask themselves: Whose power are they representing? Are they not in power because of the independence the martyrs were massacred for?
“It is not strange for people that claim to be in power on behalf of citizens to disregard us. It shows they do not care about the concerns of those who put them in power and the killings of the martyrs who died for the freedom they are enjoying. Maybe the courts will help us.”
Last week, Nkhata Bay Central legislator, lawyer Ralph Mhone, pledged to help the complainants engage Britain diplomatically and to seek redress from the High Court of London to ensure they get reparations from Britain, which paid out nearly £20 million (around K14 billion) to Kenyans affected by the torture of nationalists during the Mau Mau uprisings in 1959.
Nkumbira said it is time the wheels of justice started turning because this is an old case—spanning 56 years since the bloodletting that paved the country’s struggle for self-rule when federal forces from Zimbabwe opened gunfire on the natives who rushed to the harbour to protest the arrest of Kamuzu and other Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) nationalists.
“I am disappointed,” said Nkumbira. “We have been crying for compensation for over 20 years. We raised the issue with former president Muluzi through lawyer Phillip Banda. When he denied us audience, we made mention of the matter at various meetings with his successor Bingu and he did not grant us audience until his death in April 2012. Just last year, we took up the matter with Joyce Banda when she visited Nkhata Bay [on February 21].”
Leader of opposition in Parliament and MCP president Dr Lazarus Chakwera backed the calls for compensation last week.
When presented with London’s reply, Chakwera said: “I have no comment at this stage.”
Law professor Edge Kanyongolo said he supports the moves to get the UK government to pay for the atrocities in the struggle against colonialism, but cited poor record keeping, death of witnesses and time lapses among the potential setbacks that may impede the case.
“I think we should carefully study what happened in Kenya for their claims to succeed,” said Kanyongolo, who works for the University of Malawi’s law school at Chancellor Collage, Zomba