Charles Matinga
| Charles Jameson Matinga | |
|---|---|
| President of the Nyasaland African Congress | |
|
In office January 1945 – January 1950 |
|
| Preceded by | Levi Zililo Mumba |
| Succeeded by | James Chinyama |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Malawian |
Charles Jameson Matinga MBE was a politician in Nyasaland before the colony obtained independence from the British. He was elected President-General of the Nyasaland African Congress in 1945, after the death of Levi Zililo Mumba. In 1950 he was thrown out of office. Later he formed a pro-government party. After Malawi achieved independence in 1963 he was forced into exile.
Charles Matinga had a long career in the civil service, based in Blantyre, and ran a brick-making business on the side. He was a member of the Free Church of Scotland Mission and an active member of the Blantyre Native Association. In a 1943 speech, Matinga praised the earlier missionaries who had come to the country before 1914 and worked to help Africans advance, but said that later arrivals had brought racist ideas and prejudices and had failed to promote African interests. He also strongly criticised the administration for failing to meet African demands for advancement. However, he continued to believe in working within the system to improve it rather than in rebellion against the system.
Africans had been represented in the Protectorate of Nyasaland by the Native Administration of chiefs and headmen, and by local Native Associations. The Nyasaland African Congress (NAC), formed in 1943/1944 was the first organization that attempted to work at a national level. Charles Matinga was elected first Vice-President of the Congress at the first general meeting in October 1944, with Levi Mumba being elected President-General.Charles Wesley Mlanga, editor of the Blantyre newspaper Zo-Ona, was elected Secretary General and James Dixon Phiri, a clerk in the Public Works Department, was elected assistant secretary-general. When Mumba died in January 1945, Matinga was elected to succeed him as President, with the Reverend Charles Chinula as Vice-President. Matinga surprised the government by raising the issue of land grievances, and demanding African majority representation on the Legislative Council and other administrative bodies.
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