James Ralph Nthinda Chinyama

James Ralph Nthinda Chinyama
President of the Nyasaland African Congress
In office August 1950 – December 1953
Preceded by	Charles Matinga
Succeeded by	James Frederick Sangala
Personal details
Nationality	Malawian

James Ralph Nthinda Chinyama was a leading member of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) during the period of British colonial rule in Nyasaland, which became the independent state of Malawi in 1964.

Chinyama was the son of Filipo Chinyama, who had been executed for leading the Ntcheu arm of the 1915 uprising led by John Chilembwe. He became an independent tobacco grower and businessman in the Lilongwe District of the Central Province. In 1927, Chinyama helped George Simeon Mwase to found the Central Province Native Association. By 1933, Chinyama was leader of the Native Association of Lilongwe, which had been formed to represent the views of the indigenous people of the area to the colonial administration. In 1950, Chinyama was President of the African Farmers Association, which represented the interests of the most prosperous farm owners.

The Nyasaland African Congress, an umbrella organization for Native Associations launched in 1943, had been struggling due to a dispute with the President, Charles Matinga. In January 1950, Matinga was expelled due to suspected misuse of funds. Chinyama was elected President of the NAC at a meeting in Mzimba in August 1950. James Frederick Sangala was elected Vice-President. Chinyama's election marked a turning point in the composition of the Congress, with prosperous farmers and small businessmen taking the place of the civil servants, clergy and teachers who until then had led the movement. After the meeting, Chinyama organized a tour of the Central and Southern provinces to publicize the Congress.

At a conference at Lancaster House in London in April 1952, the newly elected Conservative government together with Godfrey Huggins (prime minister of Southern Rhodesia) and Roy Welensky (future prime minister) as well as representatives of African interests (though it was boycotted by Nyasaland Africans), concluded by publishing a draft constitution for a federation combining Nyasaland with Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia in a so-called Central African Federation. Chinyama and other Africans were invited to attend, but when they realised the foregone conclusion of the conference they agreed to do so only as observers.

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