A Warm Heart for Tourism: Malawi Celebrates Independence Day

Malawi, a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, is defined by its topography of highlands split by the Great Rift Valley and enormous Lake Malawi.

The lake’s southern end falls within Lake Malawi National Park – sheltering diverse wildlife from colorful fish to baboons – and its clear waters are popular for diving and boating. Peninsular Cape Maclear is known for its beach resorts. 

African’s Warm Heart, Malawi, is beating faster now and the legendary welcome is there for all who wish to experience the unrivalled combination of Lake, Landscape, Wildlife & Culture in one of Africa’s most beautiful and compact countries. Recently crowned as one of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel Top Countries for 2022 (a remarkable second appearance on that prestigious list in recent years) Malawi’s tourism is set to return to the upward trajectory it was on pre-pandemic.

Described as the ‘Warm Heart Of Africa’, this relatively little known gem of this diverse continent has so much to offer; wildlife, culture, adventure, scenery, and of course the third largest lake in Africa. A year-round destination, some even go as far to describe Malawi as the most attractive and complete destination in Africa!

This may seem to be an extravagant claim for such a relatively small country but the truth lies in the unique combination of attractions that Malawi has to offer

Where else will you find such rich cultural interaction and such a genuinely warm welcome in a country at peace with itself? Where else can you experience such a diverse scenic kaleidoscope in such a small area? Here you have central Africa’s highest mountain, vast high plateaux with seemingly limitless views, forests and unspoilt game parks and, the jewel in the crown, Africa’s third largest and most beautiful lake – truly an inland sea.

With thrilling safaris now rivalling its neighbours thanks to the sustainable wildlife revolution brought about by Africa Parks, it’s easy to see why Malawi is now proving so popular.

Malawi’s tourist industry is vital to the overall economy of the country and supports huge numbers of local Malawians through employment and community projects, as well as helping conserve the country’s natural riches. As it attempts to recover from the damage caused by COVID-19, and continue in its important role, the industry is doing all it can to ensure the well-being of its visitors.

Today the US Secretary of State send the following greeting to the People of Malawi.

On behalf of the United States, I extend my best wishes and congratulations to the people and the government of the Republic of Malawi on the 58th anniversary of your independence.

Today we celebrate Malawi’s proud history of democratic stability and our decades of close partnership. The United States enjoys a strong relationship with all levels of the Malawian government, private sector, and civil society. Together, we strive to build a brighter, safer, and more prosperous future for Malawians and Americans alike. We salute your efforts to strengthen democracy, encourage economic growth, and promote peace in southern Africa and beyond.

As Malawi celebrates its Independence Day, the United States is pleased to stand with our Malawian partners and friends.

Malawi’s history

56 years of independence and 62 years since its founding father, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, returned to the British colony of Nyasaland after working and studying abroad.

The country was the first member of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe) to attain independence.

The historical record shows that the country’s difficulties under Banda were evident at the very moment of Malawi’s founding. His obsequious embrace of Western powers and the presence of the Southern Rhodesian delegation at Malawi’s independence celebrations points to Banda’s penchant for coddling up to superpowers and the region’s racist white governments.

Banda, who had denounced the British decision to federate Nyasaland with Southern Rhodesia in the early 1950s, forgave all when Malawi became independent.

At a banquet with Prince Philip the day before independence he announced: “I am bitter no more. Our quarrel with the British government is over. They are our friends.” Determined to show that this was not rhetoric, Banda left the infant nation just days later to hobnob with world leaders at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ conference in London. And the colonial governor general, Glyn Jones, remained in office in Malawi for two years.   

Banda also embraced the United States, which had originally been diffident about sending a delegation to the independence celebrations. In a sign of Malawi’s relative inconsequence, the American delegation was led by Rufus Clement, a university president. This did not stop Banda from pursuing a fawning correspondence with president Lyndon Johnson and declaring his support for the Vietnam War, a conflict opposed by the non-aligned nations.

On this date today in 1964, Malawi gained independence from Britain.  

This occurred almost 80 years after the European invasion after the Berlin Conference. 

In 1961, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) gained a majority in the Legislative Council elections and Banda became Prime Minister in 1963. The Federation was dissolved in 1963, and the following year, Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi, and that is commemorated as the nation’s Independence Day, a public holiday. Under a new constitution, Malawi became a republic with Banda as its first president.

Closer to home, Winston Field, the recently deposed Rhodesian prime minister (who remained an MP in Ian Smith’s Rhodesian Front) had been a friend of Banda’s for several years. They bonded over jokes concerning Field’s son, Simon, who was shorter than the diminutive Banda. Field attended the independence celebrations but was not the only member of that government to do so. Smith dispatched his agriculture minister, Lord Angus Graham. Trends were for the isolation of the Rhodesian government and Banda’s decision to host a delegation provided Rhodesia with considerable propaganda value.

The Rhodesian authorities were also probably pleased by Banda’s support for the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu). Since Zanu’s founding the previous year, Banda had been an overt supporter of the nationalist faction that broke away from Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu), a fracture that weakened the pressure against Smith’s government.

Zapu spokesperson William Mukurati reported that Zapu had not even been invited to the Malawi independence celebrations. He added: “Even if one had come, we would not have gone where Zanu and the Smith government have also been invited.”

Zanu dispatched a delegation of more than 20 members led by the party’s secretary general, Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe enjoyed congenial relations with Banda after Zimbabwe’s independence — the Malawian leader opened the new Zanu-PF office building in Harare in 1990. But Banda’s embrace of Mugabe was not sustained throughout Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. His enthusiasm for Zanu dimmed when he reached a more overt accommodation with white supremacy.

By the end of the 1960s, Banda had clearly abandoned Zimbabwe’s mainstream nationalist movement and thrown his lot in with the small black political parties such as the National People’s Union that participated within the framework of constitutional politics.

Ongoing struggles for full and free political participation in Malawi suggest the country’s formative moment continues to shape political conduct.

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