Hastings Banda

His Excellency Hastings Kamuzu Banda
1st President of Malawi
In office 6 July 1966 – 24 May 1994
Preceded by	Elizabeth II as Queen of Malawi
Succeeded by	Bakili Muluzi
Prime Minister of Malawi
In office 6 July 1964 – 6 July 1966
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor‑General	Sir Glyn Smallwood Jones
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Himself as President
Personal details
Born	Akim Kamnkhwala Mtunthama Banda c. 1898 Kasungu, British Central Africa (now Kasungu, Malawi)
Died	25 November 1997(1997-11-25) (aged 98–99) Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Political party	Malawi Congress Party
Alma mater	University of Chicago Central State University Indiana University Meharry Medical College University of Edinburgh
Religion	Presbyterian (Church of Scotland)

Hastings Kamuzu Banda (c. 1898^[1][2][3] – 25 November 1997) was the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was a Dominion / Commonwealth realm).^[4] In 1966, the country became a republic and he became the first president as a result, ruling until his defeat in 1994.

After receiving much of his education in ethnography, linguistics, history, and medicine overseas, Banda returned to Nyasaland to speak against colonialism and advocate independence from the United Kingdom. He was formally appointed Prime Minister of Nyasaland, and led the country to independence in 1964.^[5]

Two years later, he proclaimed Malawi a republic with himself as the first president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one-party state under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970, the MCP made him the party's President for Life. In 1971, he became president for Life of Malawi itself. A renowned anti-communist leader in Africa, he received support from the Western Bloc during the Cold War.^[6] He generally supported women's rights, improved the country's infrastructure and barely maintained a good educational system relative to other African countries.^[7] However, he presided over one of the most repressive regimes in Africa, an era that saw political opponents regularly tortured and murdered.^[8][9][10] Human rights groups estimate that at least 6,000 people were killed, tortured and jailed without trial.^[11] As many as 18,000 people were killed during his rule, according to one estimate.^[12][13] His rule has been characterised as a "highly repressive autocracy."^[14] He received criticism for maintaining full diplomatic relations with the apartheid government in South Africa.

By 1993, amid increasing domestic and international pressure, he agreed to hold a referendum which ended the one-party system. Soon afterwards, a special assembly ended his life-term presidency and stripped him of most of his powers. Banda ran for president in the democratic elections that followed and was defeated. He died in South Africa on 25 November 1997.