James Frederick Sangala

James Frederick Sangala
James Frederick Sangala
President of the Nyasaland African Congress
In office January 1954 – January 1957
Preceded by	James Ralph Nthinda Chinyama
Succeeded by	Thamar Dillon Thomas Banda
Personal details
Born	c. 1900
Nationality	Malawian

James Frederick Sangala was a founding member of the Nyasaland African Congress during the period of British colonial rule. Sangala was given the nickname "Pyagusi", which means "one who perseveres".

Sangala was born in a village in the highlands of what is now southern Malawi, near the Domasi Presbyterian Mission, around 1900, a few years after the British had established the British Central Africa Protectorate. He completed Standard VI (American 8th grade, approximately) at school in Blantyre in about 1921 and for at least the next five years taught at Domasi. Thereafter, until around 1930, he earned between 30/- (shillings) and 75/- a month working for a succession of businessmen as clerk, book-keeper and capitao (foreman). From 1930 until around 1942 he held clerical positions assisting successive Provincial and District Commissioners in the colonial administration. In 1942, he became an interpreter at the High Court. He then retired to earn his living with a brick-making business.

In the 1930s, Sangala became a leader of the Native Association movement in Nyasaland, encouraging the formation of local representative groups. In 1943 he was a founder and the acting secretary of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC), which sought to give a unified voice to the local associations and to press for greater rights for Africans. From 1954 to 1956 he was president of the Congress, but was persuaded to resign to make way for more radical members who were seeking full independence. Despite his moderate stand, Sangala was arrested for his activities more than once in the 1950s. Renamed the Malawi Congress Party, the NAC was to win all the seats in the 1961 Nyasaland elections, and to lead the country to self-governance in 1963 and full independence as the state of Malawi in 1964.

James Frederick Sangala was born around 1900 at Naisi, near the town of Zomba in the highlands of what is now southern Malawi. Zomba was the residence of the colonial governor and the administrative center of the British Central Africa Protectorate, renamed Nyasaland in 1907. Sangala was a Mang'anja. His mother was a herbalist who specialized in treatment of trichomonas. Sangala was educated at Zomba Mission primary school and then at Blantyre Mission substation at Domasi. He qualified as a teacher in 1923 and taught primary school until 1927.