The President speaks. Malawi Congress Party Convention, Blantyre, September 1969

73 Pages·1969·8.542 MB·English

by  Hastings Kamuzu Banda

GPD
DT
3236
A 54
no.5
GPD
DT
용
3236
LA54
10.5
[
GPD
DT
3236 THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS
A54
ho.5
TT PUBIS DE
A 1
Chik.Banda
1969
INDIAN UNDERSITY gif
T
NOV 2 1978 3236
ASY
4SHARY
no.s
MALAWI
CONGRESS PARTY
CONVENTION
MALAM GOVERNMENT
AJX 7557
PREPARED BY:
Blantyre • September 1969 THE DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION
O
P.O. BOX 494, BLANTYRE
B

IN
THE PRESIDENT, NGWAZI DR . KAMUZU BANDA DELIVERING HIS
OPENING ADDRESS TO THE MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY COWVENTION
AT THE KWACHA NATIONAL CULTURAL CENTRE, FL ANT YRE ON
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST. ,1969
Kwacha, Kwacha ! Freedom, Freedom: Ufulu, Ufulu!
Mtendere :
Mr. Chairman , Ministers, Your Excellencies, Women's League,
Chiefs, Youth League, distinguished guests, delegates:
Once ag in it is my pleasure to stand before you to open
this Convention for you. This is the fourth time now. The
first time was in Lilongwe in 1965 , second, it was right here in
1966, then in Mzuzu in 1967, then again in Lilongwe last year
and now back here,
Before I go much further, I would like to say this, that
I am very happy to hear that all the delegates that have come
here are being well-looked after. They have pl-ces to sleep
in, enough food to eat and even water for their bath,
Those of you who remember what happened in 1960 ; I will
not name the place , but most of you who attended the conference
in 1960, remember that things were not well -org nised at that
place , We did not want to have a repetition of thot kind of
thing. So I am very happy to herr that all the delegates are
well-looked after and no one is complaining about anything.
Now coming to the main purpose of my being here, I am,
as I have said, very happy to be here again to open the
Convention. In the past, I have only spoken twice , at the
public sessions the opening day and the closing day. This
time, there is a slight change. I will attend one or two of
the closed sessions. Therefore today, as soon as I finish
what I am going to say now which is public and for anybody
to hear --- I will sit down. The women , of course, will be
doing what they always do dancing and singing but
while they are singing, others, who are not members of the
Convention, will be leaving the Hall . After that, I will stand
again to open the closed session of the Convention. And depe
nding on circumstances, what takes place after I have left
today, tomorrow or on Wednesday,I will be back here ag in
either on Wednudey or on Thursday,as the case may be , speaking
in a closed se - sion of the Convention, not a public one which
this one is.
1
This is a public session. Delegates, guests and members
of the diplomatic corps are welcome to this one, but not to the
closed session. Only delegates can be present at the closed
session. m1

11
- 2. -
-
As for the Convention itself, I notice that this year
as last year and two years before that , the Central Executive
Committee of the Malawi Congress Party have decided that the
theme of the Convention will be "Building the Nation and the
Party". This is right and proper; the theme Building the
Nation can never be over-emphasised. It is a very, very
important theme. We can never build the nation and the
party too much, too well or even enough , Therefore , the
Central Executive Committee of the Party, in deciding that
this year as last year and two years before that the theme
of the Convention should still be "Building the Nation and
the Party" , have done the right and proper thing.
When I opened the Convention in Lilongwe last year, I
stated that building the nation and the Party means building
the nation and the Party politically, economically, corally
and spiritually. This again, can never be over-emphasised
or said too often. If the theme Puilding the Nation and
the Party is to have any meaning at all, any significance
at all or any bearing at all on the lives of the people of
this country, building the nation and the Party must mean
building the nation and the Party politically, economically,
morally and spiritually.
No people can call themselves a nation or an independent
nation, when they have no political stability in their country;
when they have no economic viability in their country; no
moral principles and do not observe the spiritual side of
their life,
This must always be remembered: political stability is
necessary for ny people to call themselves a nation . Econo
mic viability is necessary. Moral and spiritual sufficiency
is also necessary. There is no use being very, very rich
and then you have no moral principles and no spiritual consider
ation.
Thousands of years ago, a great teacher said that can
does not live by bread alone. Bread alone is not enought.
Too much money without moral and spiritual principles, is
no good, not enough ; not enough,
Politically, I think we have done relatively well .
Of
all the countries in this part of the world this part of
Africa --- I think it is right to say that we are the most
!I
stable of all.
1

- 3 -
-
This country is united, orderly and disciplined. That
is to say, the people are united, are orderly and are
disciplined.
Of all the countries in this part of Africa, we suffer
the least , if at all, from the curse of tribalism, regionalism
and sectionalismi Unlike in many other countries in this
part of Africa , tribalism plays no part in the political life
of this country. We do not think in terms of tribes in this
country; Nkhonde , Tumbuka, Ngoni, Tonga , Chewa, Yao, Lomwe
or Sena. We do not think in these terms here. Here we do
not say: " Oh , he is a Ngoni, he is a Yao, he is a Chewa., or
he is a Nkhonde , he is a Lomwe, he is a Sena. "
Not here.
We do not do things like that .
Everyone in this country knows my tribe , knows my
district and knows my region. They know to what tribe I
belong, to what district I belong, to what region I belong;
everyone knows that. But so far as I know, no one resents
me anywhere in this country because of my tribe , because of
the district from which I come or because of the region
from which I come.
What is true of me personally at the top, is also true
of all other leaders in the Party; whether Ministers, Parliame
ntary Secretaries, Members of Parliament, members of the
Women's League or members of the Youth League ,
People in one region do not resent people from another
region in their own area. Every year, during the Party
district elections, I deliberately send leaders to conduct
district elections of the Malawi Congress Party to each
region, leaders who do not come from that particular region.
For example, this year, 1969 , I sent Mr. G.E. Ndema,
from the Southern Region to conduct elections in the Northern
Region ; Mr. A.M. Nyasulu from the Northern Region to conduct
elections in the Central Region; and Mr. J.T. Kumbweza from
the Central Region to conduct elections in the Southern
Region.
With Mr. Ndema, I sent Members of Parliament and members
of the Women's League from the Southern and Central Regions
to conduct elections in the Northern Region. Similarly with
Mr. Nyasulu I sent Members ofParliament and leaders of the
Women's League from theNorthern and Southern Regions to
conduct elections in the Central Region ; and with Mr.Kumbweza