Kamuzu Banda’s memory and negotiation of power in Malawi

Abstract

This article explores how the competing narratives about Kamuzu Banda’s memory took place between 1964 and 2009 in Malawi, a period during which monuments and commemorative public holidays became the sites on which Kamuzu Banda’s memory was either reconstructed and inscribed or contested as national heritage and identity to yield legitimacy in a political struggle of negotiation of power. Drawing on archival and documentary sources, interviews and critical analysis of monuments, statues and public commemorations associated with Banda the article contends that although there were remarkable changes in reconstruction, re-interpretation and re/appropriation of Kamuzu Banda’s memory as national heritage, the utility, function and instrumentalisation of his memory remained the same for each government. Thus, just like in the autocratic government of Kamuzu Banda the re-interpretation of his memory during the democratic government of Bakili Muluzi and the re-inscription of his memory by his successor Bingu Wa Mutharika served the same particular political interests of legitimizing and supporting the government in power even though the rhetoric was made to sound and appear as serving the ideals of democracy in Malawi. Ultimately, the article shows that Banda’s memory became a site for the negotiation of power. The article contributes to our understanding of how public memory is mobilized by political elites to support and legitimize a government in power. It also points to the fact that meanings of heritage change with changing political situations.