by
(Hayden Corrales)

NATIONAL FLAG OF MALAWI:

LOCATION:

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MALAWI

            In 1884, Great Britain gained control over what is Malawi today.  When Great Britain gained control they named the country Nyasaland for its great lake, Nyasa.

            The Europeans treated the people of Nyasaland very poorly and treated them as slaves, although about half of them weren’t. They could only live on their land if they worked on English farms for one month of the year. The English also started a slave trade. English colonization hurt the people already living there, since many were enslaved.

            The indigenous people could not vote or take any role in governmental participation. The English took the land from them and made them work on it just to stay there. Many had to leave their homes for different countries just to survive.

            The country won its independence on July 6, 1964, and interestingly enough, they won by voting. What had happened was that they had a few violent outbursts after Dr. Banda, a leader in their political attack for freedom, was placed in jail. Great Britain noticed that they could not keep control if more than ¾ of the population didn’t want them to rule. So they released Dr. Banda and gave the people the right to vote. Dr. Banda led them to the first ever African political vote and they voted for independence. The Nyasaland Congress Party (NCP) was the first political organization for indigenous people. Formed in 1944, it demanded representation. Once the demand was rejected the NCP wanted full independence. Dr. Banda led the Africans to the voting booth and they were granted internal self government. The Prime Minister was Dr. Banda. On July 6 1964 they won full independence.

            The people elected Dr. Banda president for life. He did make one mistake by being friendly with their white neighbors so they overthrew him.

            There was a major food shortage in 2005 and in 2000 the senior officials sold 160,000 tons of reserved food even when signs of starvation started showing up. Out of 13 million people in the country, 34% had no food.

            If Malawi had never been colonized I think that they would have a different government system. I also think that they would have different technology along with different land names. Malawi, I believe, would also have a different language because they would have continued to speak their language and wouldn’t have heard much English which could have blended with their own.

Works Cited

Flag and map courtesy of Microsoft Clipart Gallery.

Infoplease. www.infoplease.com

Lonely Planet. www.lonelyplanet.com

Lane, Martha S. Malawi.