Orton Chirwa
| Orton Chirwa | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Orton Edgar Ching'oli Chirwa 30 January 1919 |
| Died | 20 December 1992 (aged 73) Zomba prison, Malawi |
| Nationality | Malawian |
| Occupation | lawyer, politician |
| Known for | Minister of Justice, 1981–92 imprisonment |
| Spouse(s) | Vera Chirwa |
Orton Chirwa (30 January 1919 – 20 October 1992) was a lawyer and political leader in colonial Nyasaland and after independence became Malawi's Minister of Justice and Attorney General. After a dispute with Malawi's autocratic President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, he and his wife Vera were exiled. After being kidnapped abroad they were tried in Malawi on charges of treason and sentenced to death. Amnesty International named the couple prisoners of conscience. After spending nearly eleven years on death row in Malawi, Orton Chirwa died in prison on 20 October 1992.
The early life of Orton Edgar Ching'oli Chirwa is sparsely documented. He was educated at Fort Hare University in South Africa. In 1951 he wrote a long memorandum arguing against federation with Southern Rhodesia which was presented to Colonial Secretary James Griffiths and Commonwealth Relations Secretary Patrick Gordon-Walker during their visit to Nyasaland, in August and September 1951, to gauge Africans' sentiments on this subject. During the Lancaster House Conference convened in 1952 to discuss federation, wearing academic robes he "captivated crowds with his carefully argued attacks on the federal plan at village markets and meeting halls." He had by this time already been in correspondence for four years with Hastings Banda, who was to become the president of the country after independence. Despite widespread opposition, Nyasaland was integrated into the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953. In 1954, Chirwa joined with Charles Matinga and Andrew Mponda in forming the short-lived Nyasaland Progressive Association, dedicated to working within the new reality of the federation. During 1954 - 1956, approximately, Chirwa was an instructor at Domasi Teacher Training College, where, along with David Rubadiri and Alec Nyasulu, he reportedly was active in infusing his students with nationalist political consciousness.
In 1959 the British Colonial Government banned the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) and arrested most of the political party's leaders, including Orton Chirwa and Banda in a mass swoop known as Operation Sunrise. Orton Chirwa was detained in Khami Jail near Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia for a short time before, on August 1, 1959, being released. He became the first president of the Malawi Congress Party(MCP), a successor-party to the NAC formed on September 30, 1959. There was some opposition to this appointment, notably from Kanyama Chiume, who considered him tainted by his previous association with the Federation-tolerant Nyasaland Progressive Association. It has been suggested that the British government might have harbored hopes of Chirwa taking the leadership reins as a moderate nationalist, but it soon became clear that he was merely "keeping the seat warm" for Banda. In November 1959 when he visited Iain Macleod, the Colonial Secretary in the Conservative government under Harold Macmillan, he made clear that MCP would only negotiate independence with Banda as its head. Three days after Banda was released from Gwelo Prison on April 2, 1960, Orton Chirwa together with other NAC leaders invited him to stand for President of the MCP. Chirwa stood down and Dr. Banda took over the leadership of the Malawi Congress Party which subsequently led Malawi to independence in 1964.
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