Gwanda Chakuamba

Gwandanguluwe "Gwanda" Chimkazi Chakuamba Phiri (born April 5, 1935 in Nsanje , Nyassaland ; † October 24, 2016 in Blantyre , Malawi ) was a Malawian politician who was a minister several times and was a candidate for the presidency in 1999 and 2004.

Life

After the former colony of Nyassaland gained independence from the United Kingdom on July 6, 1964, Chakuamba was appointed Minister for Community and Social Development by the first President of the newly formed Republic of Malawi Hastings Kamuzu Banda as a member of his Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Following government reshuffles, he was Minister of Public Works and Supply between 1966 and 1967 and Minister of Local Government for a short time in 1967, before becoming Minister of Education between 1967 and 1968. After further cabinet reshuffles, he held the post of Minister for Natural Resources from 1968 to 1969 and as Minister for the Southern Region between 1969 and 1973 . He then acted as Minister for Youth and Culture from 1973 to 1980 and was most recently again Minister for the Southern Region between 1978 and 1980.

In 1980 Chakuamba was arrested for political reasons and was subsequently detained until 1993. After his release from prison in 1993 he first joined Bakili Muluzi's opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) . A few months later, however, he switched back to MCP Bandas, in whose government he was Minister of the Interior from 1993 to 1994. At the same time he became Vice President of the MCP and Banda's Running Mate for the office of Vice President in the first multi-party elections in Malawi's history on May 17, 1994. Bakili Muluzi (UDF) won with 47.15 percent of the vote. The defeated Banda (MCP) after 30 years in office received 33.44%, Chakufwa Chihana from the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) 18.89% and Kamlepo Kalua , candidate of the Malawi Democratic Party (MDP) 0.52%. However, Chakuamba became a member of the National Assembly and was opposition leader in subsequent years .

In the elections of June 15, 1999, Chakuamba was a joint presidential candidate of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD). Although he won 45.3 percent of the vote, he was defeated by the incumbent President Bakili Muluzi of the UDF, who received 52.2% of the vote. In the elections to the National Assembly that took place at the same time, the UDF received 93 of the 192 parliamentary seats, while the MCP received 66 seats and the AFORD had 29 members. He then remained chairman of the MCP and leader of the opposition.

At the beginning of 2004 a leadership crisis broke out within the MCP, which the former Treasury Secretary John Tembo was able to win. Chakuamba then resigned from the MCP in January 2004 and founded the Republican Party (RP). In the presidential elections of May 20, 2004 he was the presidential candidate of his RP, which belongs to the so-called Mgwirizano Coalition, and came in with 25.7 percent after the election winner Bingu wa Mutharika from the United Democratic Front (UDF) with 35.9 percent and John Tembo from Malawi Congress Party (MCP) took third place among the five candidates with 27.1 percent, while former Minister and candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Brown Mpinganjira only made 8.7 percent.

In February 2005, Chakuamba joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) newly founded by President Mutharika and was appointed to the government in 2005 as Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Food Security. After reshuffling the cabinet, he briefly served as Minister of Irrigation and Water Development in 2005 before breaking with President Mutharika in 2005. He then resigned as the DPP and eventually founded the New Republican Party (NRP).

Web link

• Entry in rulers.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Malawi: June 15, 1999
2. ↑ Malawi: May 20, 2004