Gwandaguluwe Chakuamba

Gwandaguluwe "Gwanda" Chakuamba Phiri (4 April 1934 – 24 October 2016) was a Malawian politician who was the leader of the New Republican Party (NRP). He hailed from Nsanje, a district on the southern part of Malawi.

From the country's independence in 1964 until 1980, Chakuamba was a key figure within the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which was the sole legal political party. During the rule of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, he held many cabinet positions and was Commander of the MCP youth group Malawi Young Pioneers.

Chakuamba opposed John Tembo. In February 1980, Chakuamba was charged, on the behest of Tembo and Kadzamira, with sedition and given a 22-year prison sentence. He was released from jail in July 1993, a month after voters endorsed a return to multiparty politics in a referendum.

Upon his release, he joined the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) but soon returned to the MCP and became secretary-general of the party. In February 1994, the MCP announced that Banda was to be the party's presidential candidate in the forthcoming general election; Chakuamba was the vice-presidential candidate. In Malawi's first multiparty elections, held on 17 May 1994, Bakili Muluzi and his UDF party defeated Banda and the MCP. Banda retired from politics in August 1994 and Chakuamba succeeded to the party leadership.

In February 1999, an electoral alliance between the MCP and the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) was announced in preparation for upcoming elections that would take place in May. Gwanda Chakuamba was chosen as the coalition's presidential candidate while AFORD leader Chakufwa Chihana was selected as the vice-presidential candidate. The move created serious divisions within the MCP because Chakuamba didn't select his political rival and fellow party member John Tembo to be his running mate. Thousands of Tembo's supporters were reported to have mounted protests to demand Chakuamba's resignation.

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