Africa-Press – Malawi. The Livingstonia Mission arrived in Malawi in 1875 and settled at Cape Maclear in Mangochi. Later the Mission moved to Bandawe in Nkhata Bay.
At Bandawe in Nkhata Bay, the Livingstonia Mission recruited a lot of Tonga students who were later trained as teachers. Some of the Tonga students were Eadward Boti Manda, Uriah Chirwa, Philemon Chirwa and David Kaunda.
David Kaunda was given his name in honour of Dr David Livingstone.
Livingstonia Mission later moved from Bandawe to Khondowe. During that time the first African teachers were being sent to outposts to establish Mission stations.
The Livingstonia Mission opened Mission stations as far as Chididi in Nsanje, Chilanga in Kasungu, Lubwa in Chinsali (Zambia), Chasefu in Lundazi (Zambia) etc.
William Koyi, Mapas Ntitili, Isaac Wauchope and Shadrach Ngunana from Lovedale in South Africa were Xhosa teachers from South African who were also heavily involved in the Mission work in Malawi.
Edward Boti Manda was sent to Chilanga in Kasungu and was one of the early teachers of Hastings Banda in 1904.
David Kaunda was sent Lubwa in Zambia as a teacher and an assistant missionary in 1904.
The Livingstonia paper Vyaro na Vyaro wrote that David Kaunda returned to Malawi and married his Tumbuka wife from Henga in Rumphi.
Although David Kaunda and his wife were living among the Bemba in Zambia they decided to name their newly born son Buchizya. Buchizya was born in 1924.
Buchizya’s was later named Kenneth. Kenneth Kaunda excelled in school being a son of a missionary teacher in Zambia.
When the British established the protectorate over Nyasaland in 1891 they were reluctant to take Zambia to be part of the protectorate.
The British only wanted territories of Nyasaland as the Scottish Missionaries were based in Malawi at Livingstonia and Blantyre.
The missionaries wanted parts of Zambia to be part of the protectorate as they had Mission stations in Zambia.
Cecil John Rhodes came in and assisted. Rhodes sent money to the Nyasaland government in Zomba to invade the Eastern part of Zambia and bring it under the government of Malawi.
Sir Harry Johnstone and Alfred Sharpe with Army made of the Yao, Tonga, Lomwe and Sikh Indians invaded Zambia in 1890s and defeated chiefs Mpezeni, Chitimukulu, Mwamba etc and brought the Eastern Zambia under the government in Malawi..
From 1891 to 1896 half of Zambia was being ruled by the government in Malawi in Zomba.
From 1897 Rhodes appointed his own governor Forbes, who was administrating Eastern Zambia from Blantyre in Malawi
From 1899, Eastern Zambia had its own capital within Zambia at Fort Johnstone.
The influence of Nyasaland over North Eastern Rhodesia ended on 31st March 1911.
Growing up in Zambia Kenneth Kaunda and his joined the political struggle and was made the president of main political grouping in Zambia.
Some within the struggle were bickering that he should not lead the struggle was he was from Malawi. Some of his fellow Tonga activists like Aleke Banda were deported from Southern Rhodesia in 1959.
Zambia became independent in 1964 with Kenneth Kaunda as its first president. It was not till 1972 that Kenneth Kaunda renounced his Malawian citizenship.
Kenneth Kaunda in 1972 wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs in Malawi to renounce his Malawian citizenship.
At that time, he had already been a president in Zambia for 8 years.
It was not until 1991 that Chiluba raised the issue that Kenneth Kaunda was not a pure Zambian. That he was a Malawian.
They took the case to the court to bar Kenneth Kaunda to contest in Multi party elections.
The court found out that although Kenneth Kaunda renounced his Malawian citizenship in 1972, he did not apply for Zambian citizenship making him stateless
A deportation order was issued. Other victims were John Chinula and William Banda who were deported to Malawi.
Dr Banda had a soft spot for Kenneth Kaunda because Dr Banda knew Kaunda’s father while he was a young student at Chilanga in Kasungu. David Kaunda and Edward Manda, Kamuzu’s teacher were contemporaries.
Kenneth Kaunda visited Nkhata Bay in Malawi most of the times he came to Malawi during Dr Banda’s reign.
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