US embassy cable - 05LILONGWE398

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000398 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, SOCI, MI, Political, President 
SUBJECT: THE REHABILITATION OF HASTINGS BANDA 
 
1.  SUMMARY.  President Bingu wa Mutharika's quest to 
create a political base after leaving the United 
Democratic Front has coincided with the growing nostalgia 
among Malawians for the era of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda. 
The failures of former president Muluzi's decade in power 
have directly resulted in the resurrection of Dr. Banda's 
image as an effective leader, despite his 
authoritarianism. END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  President Bingu wa Mutharika's quest to create a 
political base after leaving the United Democratic Front 
(UDF) has coincided with a growing nostalgia among 
Malawians for the Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda era, which 
preceded Bakili Muluzi's decade of high crime, rampant 
official corruption, and maladministration.  The 
President has recently renamed several public facilities 
to reflect Banda-era infrastructure development. 
Lilongwe International Airport is again known as Kamuzu 
International; Lilongwe Central Hospital is again Kamuzu 
Central Hospital; Chichiri Stadium has been changed back 
to Kamuzu Stadium.  All of these changes were well 
received by Banda's Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the 
nostalgic general public, as most Malawians fondly recall 
the Banda era when "trains ran on time", crime and 
corruption were low, and businesses flourished. 
 
3.  Mutharika has played on this public nostalgia as part 
of a bid to win over the MCP-dominated central region 
that was Dr. Banda's political stronghold.  Thus far, 
Mutharika's most important move to co-opt MCP support has 
been his decision to implement Muluzi's long unfulfilled 
promise to build a Dr. Banda memorial mausoleum.  The 
move even convinced one of Dr. Banda's grandnephews1 to 
leave the MCP for the President's new Democratic 
Progressive Party (DPP).  Another of Mutharika's tactics 
is his emphasis on food security, which is reminiscent of 
Dr. Banda's focus on agriculture. 
 
4.  Banda the Dictator, however, has not always been a 
revered figure.  After Muluzi was elected President in 
May 1994, he deliberately intensified the anti-Banda 
atmosphere that began in 1992 with the democratization 
process.  Malawi's national identity had been tightly 
intertwined with that of the country's president-for- 
life, and by taking Banda's name and image out of common 
circulation, Muluzi sent a clear message that it was time 
for the country to move forward.  Names of the vast 
majority of roads, bridges, and public facilities that 
bore Kamuzu Banda's name were changed.  Dr. Banda's face 
was removed from all paper money and most coins.  The 
suppression of Banda's image peaked in January 1995 with 
the arrests of Dr. Banda and his MCP "strongman" John 
Tembo for the 1983 murders of three cabinet members and 
an MP.  The acquittal of Dr. Banda and his co-accused 
resulted in the Muluzi administration slowing and later 
abandoning its vilification of Banda .  Thus when Dr. 
Banda died in November 1997 Muluzi didn't hesitate to 
organize a grand State Funeral.  However, the failures of 
Muluzi's decade in power have now directly resulted in 
the resurrection of Dr. Banda's image as an effective 
leader, despite his authoritarianism. 
 
5.  COMMENT.  The nostalgia for Dr. Banda is a sign that 
the general public senses a vacuum in the role of 
national leader.  Since taking office after controversial 
elections, Mutharika's challenge has been to establish 
himself and his new party as both a leader and a 
political force.  In the course of helping rehabilitate 
Dr. Banda's image, Mutharika seems to also be working to 
distinguish himself as the rightful successor to Dr. 
Banda.  Mutharika's claim that the political, social, and 
economic stability of the Banda era is back does not 
amuse the UDF protectors of Muluzi's legacy and is seen 
as an insult to the "founding father" of Malawi's 
democracy.  Mutharika as the New Banda is also viewed as 
a threat to the national leadership ambitions of the MCP, 
making President Mutharika's quest to capture the MCP 
support base unlikely to succeed. 
GILMOUR 
_______________________________ 
1Is this correct??? NO