Q & A

Setting political record straight

Youthful Malawian volunteers at the Lost History Foundation are unearthing censored and distorted history from the dictatorial era. During a day-long public lecture on the 1967 War in which former Internal Affairs minister Yatuta Chisiza died in combat, our Staff Writer JAMES CHAVULA caught up with Kwacha, the second-born son of the man who took up arms against founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s rule.

Setting political record straight

How do you feel being here, hearing how your father died in combat?

I feel very happy that I was able to come to be part and parcel of this seminar because not only does it touch on the 1967 War, but also it is trying to unveil the lost or distorted history, especially the 1964 Cabinet Crisis which led to the 1967 War. This is very exciting for me. I have gotten a lot of information that I did not have. I express sincere gratitude to the invitation that was extended to the Chisiza family to attend this seminar. It has been well informative, educative and we hope that they will unveil a lot of information.

How do you describe the seminar in terms of content. Is it a true reflection of your father’s struggle?

Yes, it is an accurate account of a lot of information  that I heard not only from my father,  but from a lot of people in the family and friends of my father. It reflects a lot of information that I had gathered. There is also a lot of information I was not aware of that I have been able to learn from this particular seminar.

What are some of the new insights?

The detailed information about the Cabinet Crisis. I knew about the Cabinet Crisis, but I did not know the depth of the effects of the Cabinet revolt to the country.

The Cabinet Crisis did not only just have effects on the country. It also had effects on the families. What did it mean for you growing up in exile—in a family on the run?

Just like many families that were affected by the Cabinet Crisis, we went through trauma that to date lingers in our minds. The trauma in the sense that we were coming from a place of our own and going to a place that was not our country and living in exile. So, that denied us opportunities of feeling the freeness in our own

country. So, the trauma has been there and that’s how it affected us. We were being secretly spied upon and some family members were being constantly detained simply because they were part of Yatuta’s families.

What did it take to surmount such hardships in exile?

I think the values that our father left with us and our mother, of course, gave us the strength to face many challenges that we endured. They always put in our minds and instilled in us that one day, after this hardship, we would be in a position to go back to our country and live happily—the way we lived before leaving it.

Looking back, was the fight of Yatuta and his army of 17  worth dying for?

Oh yes, it was! As we were growing up, we got to understand the justification of that fight which we totally agreed with as we kept on understanding the depth of their justification. What they were fighting for was the independence of the country. That independence, after Banda came into power, was not felt by them. The people of the country were still not liberated after independence, so they felt that was a justification that pushed them out of the country and later on came back to wage a war against Kamuzu Banda.

After the wars of Yatuta and Henry Chipembere, two of the six ministers who fled the country after the Cabinet Crisis, we also had a revolution in the early 1990s. Is Malawi free after the restoration of democracy? Is the country living up to the values that would make the two proud?

I will skip that question for personal reasons.

What are the three major lessons from the struggle of Yatuta, his brother Dunduzu and Chipembere and Chibambo?

Determination, love for their country and honesty to the people that they thought they could be in a position to serve.

Amid rising calls for government to locate Yatuta’s grave, what did it mean for you growing up knowing that your father had been killed in war and his body is still out there in an unknown grave?

It was a big task for us. The trauma that we felt—not only us as the sons of Yatuta, but the entire family of the Chisizas. Those Cabinet members left their family members back to run away to Tanzania. So, it was in two dimensions. The people that remained went through traumatic pain as well. For instance, Lwezga, the village where we come from, the entire house was destroyed, meaning that all the family members had to sleep outside. They were denied opportunities of going to school and attaining jobs.  For those of us who were fortunate to go out of the country, the trauma was also with us because we did not have a father that we relied on next to us. He had been killed.  So, growing up without a father just like any family members, missing one of our idols had a negative impact on us.

Looking forward, what is it that Malawians ought to do to ensure that what happened to the Chisizas and other colleagues does not happen again?

Yes. Sensitisations, seminars like these where people are able to understand the background of how and why such things happened in Malawi. I think that would be one of the ways that will transform our country.

Kamuzu may have distorted history to sustain his power. And today we are also seeing people misrepresenting the story of the Cabinet Crisis to protect their power. How do you feel when people play tricks with the agonies you went through?

It’s unfair. It’s unfortunate that parties could take advantage of this in a negative way. We want to condemn the use of the name of the Chisiza and 1967 battle to their benefit.

Setting political record straight

Youthful Malawian volunteers at the Lost History Foundation are unearthing censored and distorted history from the dictatorial era. During a day-long public lecture on the 1967 War in which former Internal Affairs minister Yatuta Chisiza died in combat, our Staff Writer JAMES CHAVULA caught up with Kwacha, the second-born son of the man who took up arms against founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s rule.

How do you feel being here, hearing how your father died in combat?

I feel very happy that I was able to come to be part and parcel of this seminar because not only does it touch on the 1967 War, but also it is trying to unveil the lost or distorted history, especially the 1964 Cabinet Crisis which led to the 1967 War. This is very exciting for me. I have gotten a lot of information that I did not have. I express sincere gratitude to the invitation that was extended to the Chisiza family to attend this seminar. It has been well informative, educative and we hope that they will unveil a lot of information.

How do you describe the seminar in terms of content. Is it a true reflection of your father’s struggle?

Yes, it is an accurate account of a lot of information  that I heard not only from my father,  but from a lot of people in the family and friends of my father. It reflects a lot of information that I had gathered. There is also a lot of information I was not aware of that I have been able to learn from this particular seminar.

What are some of the new insights?

The detailed information about the Cabinet Crisis. I knew about the Cabinet Crisis, but I did not know the depth of the effects of the Cabinet revolt to the country.

The Cabinet Crisis did not only just have effects on the country. It also had effects on the families. What did it mean for you growing up in exile—in a family on the run?

Just like many families that were affected by the Cabinet Crisis, we went through trauma that to date lingers in our minds. The trauma in the sense that we were coming from a place of our own and going to a place that was not our country and living in exile. So, that denied us opportunities of feeling the freeness in our own

country. So, the trauma has been there and that’s how it affected us. We were being secretly spied upon and some family members were being constantly detained simply because they were part of Yatuta’s families.

What did it take to surmount such hardships in exile?

I think the values that our father left with us and our mother, of course, gave us the strength to face many challenges that we endured. They always put in our minds and instilled in us that one day, after this hardship, we would be in a position to go back to our country and live happily—the way we lived before leaving it.

Looking back, was the fight of Yatuta and his army of 17  worth dying for?

Oh yes, it was! As we were growing up, we got to understand the justification of that fight which we totally agreed with as we kept on understanding the depth of their justification. What they were fighting for was the independence of the country. That independence, after Banda came into power, was not felt by them. The people of the country were still not liberated after independence, so they felt that was a justification that pushed them out of the country and later on came back to wage a war against Kamuzu Banda.

After the wars of Yatuta and Henry Chipembere, two of the six ministers who fled the country after the Cabinet Crisis, we also had a revolution in the early 1990s. Is Malawi free after the restoration of democracy? Is the country living up to the values that would make the two proud?

I will skip that question for personal reasons.

What are the three major lessons from the struggle of Yatuta, his brother Dunduzu and Chipembere and Chibambo?

Determination, love for their country and honesty to the people that they thought they could be in a position to serve.

Amid rising calls for government to locate Yatuta’s grave, what did it mean for you growing up knowing that your father had been killed in war and his body is still out there in an unknown grave?

It was a big task for us. The trauma that we felt—not only us as the sons of Yatuta, but the entire family of the Chisizas. Those Cabinet members left their family members back to run away to Tanzania. So, it was in two dimensions. The people that remained went through traumatic pain as well. For instance, Lwezga, the village where we come from, the entire house was destroyed, meaning that all the family members had to sleep outside. They were denied opportunities of going to school and attaining jobs.  For those of us who were fortunate to go out of the country, the trauma was also with us because we did not have a father that we relied on next to us. He had been killed.  So, growing up without a father just like any family members, missing one of our idols had a negative impact on us.

Looking forward, what is it that Malawians ought to do to ensure that what happened to the Chisizas and other colleagues does not happen again?

Yes. Sensitisations, seminars like these where people are able to understand the background of how and why such things happened in Malawi. I think that would be one of the ways that will transform our country.

Kamuzu may have distorted history to sustain his power. And today we are also seeing people misrepresenting the story of the Cabinet Crisis to protect their power. How do you feel when people play tricks with the agonies you went through?

It’s unfair. It’s unfortunate that parties could take advantage of this in a negative way. We want to condemn the use of the name of the Chisiza and 1967 battle to their benefit.

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