Uprising in Malawi

UPRISING IN MALAWI

The Church of Christ of Namiwawa, Zomba and the 1915 Nyasaland Uprising.🔥

Mary Bannister, George Hubert Hollis,   Henry and Etta Philpott; the white Missionaries arrested in 1915 in Zomba by the Nyasaland govt allegedly to have planned the 1915 Uprising with John Chilembwe.

George Hollis was Joseph Booth's friend. Soon after  the Chilembwe revolt... He and others were  arrested at Zomba. 

Their arrest and  confinement continued for 2 miserable months, ending in Hollis being deported. 

The authorities thought Hollis knew of the revolt, maybe even helped plan it, and had refused to inform them.

Monday, 15 March 1915,  Mary  Bannister wrote that George Masangano their native church elder  was sentenced to 7 years; Ronald and Jackson, 2 years...' On the Thursday, 'two more were flogged for being friends with John Chilembwe.

But George Masangano, Ronald Kaundo and Jackson Khonde were actually all sentenced to 7 years in prison at Zomba Maximum Prison.

Simon Kadewere and Burton Masangano, both native leaders of Church of Christ were sentenced to death by hanging.

Simon Kadewere fondly mentioned by John Chilembwe was a young man who was to lead the Uprising in Zomba with a headman, Kimu.

Simon Kadewere mobilised the biggest village in Zomba then,, Chirunga Village which was to attack the govt offices at night. KAR soldiers were at Karonga fighting WWI and those at the Corby barracks pledged to assist the rebels if their attacks were well coordinated. 

Chirunga Village was armed to teeth to launch an attack that night when a few drunks from the village drinking in neighbouring villages couldn't keep their mouth shut.... and revealed that after their drinks... they were rushing that very same night to join their village launch an attack on the govt.

Govt soldiers were informed and the Chirunga Village was raided before it mounted it's infamous attack. Most natives were arrested with their weapons in their hands or within arms length.

Their leader,  Simon Kadewere was immediately rounded up. Kadewere is sometimes mixed up with Kadewere of Chiradzulu.

Kadewere of Chiradzulu was a chief who opposed John Chilembwe's Uprising and was rewarded by the Nyasaland govt for his stand against the rebellion.

Chirunga Village was annihilated by the Nyasaland govt in the aftermath of the 1915 Uprising.

The remnants were scattered by Dr Banda in late 1960s inorder to build the Chancellor College which was for years to be called Chirunga.

In the pic... ladies and gents... A round of applause to the members of Church of Christ with Mary Bannister at 6 Miles Namiwawa Mission in Zomba in 1913 before the revolt.

John Brown and John Chilembwe of Malawi

John Brown was an American abolitionist. Brown advocated the use of armed insurrection to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. 

He first gained national attention when he led small groups of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of 1856.

On the night of October 16, 1859,  John Brown and his band overran an armory at Harper Ferry to steal guns and set free all slaves in USA.

Some of his men rounded up a handful of hostages, including a few slaves. Word of the raid spread, and by morning John Brown and his men were surrounded. 

U.S. marines arrived on October 17, led by Colonel Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart. 

On the morning of October 19, the soldiers overran John Brown and his followers. Ten of his men were killed, including two of his sons.

The wounded John Brown was tried by the state of Virginia for treason and murder, and he was found guilty on November 2.

The 59-year-old John Brown.. Slavery abolitionist went to the gallows on December 2, 1859 for his failed Uprising.

The American Civil War started  soon after John Brown's failed Uprising.. and the  American President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated for supporting John Brown's ideas.

Before his execution, he handed his guard a slip of paper that read, “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” 

It was a prophetic statement.

When John Chilembwe arrived at University of Virginia of Lynchburg in 1897, the main topic of study was John Brown's Uprising in Virginia.

John Chilembwe learnt alot about John Brown, Booker T Washington et al., when he was studying at University of Virginia. He started looking at himself as a liberator who was to go back to Nyasaland. 

John Chilembwe had asthma and was very poorly in America in 1899 just before he left Nyasaland. 

That day he was breathless struggling to breathe with asthma, he assured his fellow students (black Americans) I can't die here. I have to go back to Africa and liberate my brothers in Nyasaland (Shepperson, 1956).

In 1914, after WWI broke out in August, he  started preaching about John Brown in Nyasaland.

Followers of Chilembwe revealed to the colonial government that John Chilembwe  talked alot about John Brown just before the Uprising.  

Wallace Kampingo one of the leaders of the Uprising confessed at Zomba Maximum Prison that the rising was influenced by John Chilembwe's teachings of John Brown. 

The government asked Kampingo, ,,, did he know John Brown? Kampingo replied he didnt know him... he only knew about him from John Chilembwe.

John Chilembwe  replicated what John Brown did ... in 1915.

Pictures of John Brown and John Chilembwe

The 1915 Uprising  Unreported Last Battle at Pyerepyere. 

The Capture of the Last Rebel Commanders.

Wallace Kampingo had suggested to the senior commanders that.... the 24 scouts sent on a patrol might have been captured by the govt forces. Pyerepyere was maintained as their hiding location for days. 

Upon their return from their patrol to look for food Kampingo and Andrew Mkulichi found Pyerepyere camp under heavy siege. 

The camp was attacked from the back where the rebels never expected the enemy to come through. Kampingo was right .... the scouts were captured and led the govt forces to the camp.

* [The records on the Pyerepyere attack were burnt at Zomba Archive in 1919. A native messenger at the office was tasked to smoke the beehive on the side roof of the office. He unintentionally ended up setting the whole office on fire. The govt lost its records on the Uprising in this fire.]

The surprise attack on Pyerepyere camp sent the last 50 fighters in disarray. Alot were wounded in their attempt to engage the govt forces. 

Captain Stephen Mkulichi was injured and shot dead when he tried to escape with his rifle. Another rebel Nelson Nyamuliwa was KIA "killed in action". Major Wilson Zimba was injured and captured alive.

The rebels hurriedly evacuated Pyerepyere heading to the lowlands of Phalombe. Andrew Mkulichi managed to crawl through the thickets unharmed although the govt forces were shooting at his every movement in the thorny thickets which tore all his clothes. 

Those rebels who regrouped after they crossed the dambo. .. thought Andrew Mkulichi's tattered clothes were torn by bullets which narrowly missed him.... [it was the thorny thickets  that day which tore his clothes when shit hit the fan].

Major Wilson Zimba the injured Tonga commander was captured with many .... and were taken to the Boma by the govt forces. Those who were killed at Pyerepyere forest camp were left there that night. 

The following morning the govt forces came back to do a recce patrol on the Pyerepyere Forest where they confirmed the number of rebels killed the day before. The body of Steve Mkulichi was eaten by hyenas during the night they manage to recover his head only which was taken to the Boma for the DC to complete his records as Stephen Mkulichi was a well known rebel leader on the govts wanted list.

During that unplanned rebel evacuation from Pyerepyere Cpt Wallace Kampingo was grazed by an enemy bullet on the leg which cause damage to the tissues. 

While the remaining rebels escaped to Mocambique.. Kampingo laid in agony in the dambo injured. Kampingo was accompanied by a boy about 14 years old. Kampingo reveals this boy bandaged his wounded leg and remained with him as he he couldn't walk. They stayed at the same location for a big part of the day til in the afternoon when 2 other rebels took notice of them and came to their help. 

The two rebels carried Kampingo to some new safe location which was 6 miles from the nearest village and left Kampingo with boy under a  Nyuku (Fig) tree. The rebels made their way to the village to get some help but were captured. 

Kampingo and the boy spent the night under the fig tree and in the following morning Kampingo gave  the boy 2/- (2 shillings)  to buy food for both of them. The boy went away with the money towards the village but never returned.

Kampingo stayed at the Fig tree for 4 days. He survived as there was a garden and river nearby. Kampingo kept hobbling to the river to wash his wound while waiting for help to arrive. 

The leg got swollen with infection and on the 5th day a man discovered Kampingo lying in agony under the Fig tree. 

The man did not recognise Wallace Kampingo so he had to explain to the man the who story to him. According to Kampingo the man was a Nguru according to his accent. The Nguru man then disappeared from the scene toward where he came from.... he came back with with two cooked pumpkins which Kampingo ate. The man disappeared again but did not return.

After he finished eating... he gathered his strength and used a walking stick to drag himself to the next village at night. Kampingo was at the village around 2200hrs. He introduced himself to one of the villagers. The villager told him that he was Burnett Kadangwe's inlaw and offered him nsima and place to sleep.

* [Burnett Kadangwe was one of the rebels in the Uprising...whose name appeared on the 150 govt wanted list and was arrested later joined the govt as a civil servant. Ian Lance  (an English givt official) said,,, Kadangwe rose to level of Executive Officer. Lance admitted Kadangwe was a charming old man who worked as a wet nurse to assistant  DCs in Zomba and  often talked about his imprisonment for his participation in the 1915 Uprising but did not open up to talk of the Uprising. According to Lance's report ..Kadangwe died in 1965.]

The villager early in the morning carried Kampingo to a hiding place in the bush where he kept Kampingo for 3 more days.

The villager was afraid to keep Kampingo in the house. Meanwhile the villager arranged for some natives to carry Wallace Kampingo to Cholo where Kampingo's brother was staying.

The natives carried Kampingo on a machila with an arrangement that they would be payed by Kampingo's brother at Cholo.

On their way to Cholo the carriers stopped to rest at one Nguru village and the headman asked the carriers who they were carrying and where they were going.

The carriers explained their story. The headman  warned the carriers that if the whiteman find you with the man you are carrying they will kill you together with the man you are carrying.

*[ The govt 27th January notice in the Nyasaland Times stated punishment for those that helped the rebels and appeared in  Nyanja like so..... "Ndiponso amene aliyense adzabisa iwo (rebels) kapena adzathangata iwo ndi kupulumutsa iwo adzayetsedwa amodzimodzi  ndi iwo nadzalangidwa" a stern warning from the Blantyre Boma DC.]

The carriers were discouraged  and instead of carrying Kampingo to Cholo... in the middle of the night... they carried him to a nearby bush and abandoned him there. 

Wallace Kampingo stayed at this new location for 3 days surviving on the nearby garden.

While he was lying on the ground in pain an old woman discovered him and asked Kampingo what happened to his leg. The would was now in its worst form. 

The old woman brought him food but Kampingo could now not eat... the infection had now spread into his whole body and the tonsil were so swollen that he could not swallow any food. He was dying. 

The old  lady shouted for help and native men appeared and carried Kampingo who was unconscious to their village. The village headman assessing his condition recommended that Kampingo be taken to European estate planter at Midima.

The English planter at Midima disinfected and  dressed Kampingo's wound and injected him with penicillin. He also provided his own machila for the natives to carry Wallace Kampingo to Blantyre Boma. 

The  planter also wrote a letter to the DC in Blantyre which the carriers took with them... together with Kampingo on the Machila.

Kampingo was carried to Mikolongwe train station where he was put in a train to Blantyre.

At Blantyre the DC put Kampingo in Prison his wound was treated at the government Dispensary. This was towards the end of February 1915. 

Later on he was taken to Zomba Maximum Prison... and due to his  young age the govt turned him into a govt witness in the 1915 trials. His death sentence was committed to life improvement with hard labour. 

That was the end of the last Captain of the 1915 Uprising. 

His account was recorded in 1932 at Zomba Maximum Prison by a Tonga historian George Simeon Mwasi, brother to Yesaya Zerenji Mwasi of Livingstonia Mission.

Kampingo's account gives an independent report from the rebels' side... as the other side was explained by the Nyasaland Govt.

Wallace  Kampingo was released from prison in 1932 after spending 17 years in jail. Kampingo rose to be a great leader in jail and was often quoted in his letters to the outside world.... as a freedom fighter at Zomba prison by Marcus Garvey's UNIA papers of 1920s.

However... Kampingo never continued his freedom fight after he was released in 1932. He disappeared into normal life and his traces were never reported thereafter.

Records showed the remnants of the Uprising were disappointed after they were released from jail and returned home....as the natives never appreciated their efforts and how they suffered in jail.

Marcus  Garvey lamented in his writings that the likes of Kampingo were never held in high esteem after they returned to their homes ...Infact they became forgotten heroes in their homeland.

Andrack Jamali and Wallace Kampingo in in black jacket in  the picture.

The Unreported 1915 Pirimiti Uprising in Zomba

Towards 1915 John Chilembwe made friends with Kimu and Makwangwala of Zomba. 

Makwangwala was a member of Church of Christ and was also a village headman.

Kimu joined Chilembwe's church and  later succeeded to the sub - chieftainship of Kimu in Zomba, Lake Chilwa area.

This added a twist to the Uprising in Zomba. 

Makwangwala was arrested sentenced to death before he could mobilise his followers in Zomba for an attack. 

Europeans who had estates in Pirimiti area were called to seek shelter at Zomba during the Uprising. 

Meanwhile Chief Kimu mobilised his subjects to attack the deserted Estates around Pirimiti area thereafter attack Zomba.

This was reported to the government. 

Two planters A J Williams and G V Thorney-croft asked the government if they could lead an attack on Chief Kimu amd his followers at Pirimiti. 

For days, there were running battles between the government forces under Williams -Thorney-croft and Kimu with his fighters. 

Kimu had mobilised a lot of Lhomwe people who populated his area from Phalombe north. 

The fighting continued for a week with Kimu and his fighters operating from Pirimiti hill until they were defeated and Kimu was captured. Chief Kimu was brought to Zomba where he was tried.

Written evidence captured at Kimu's villages revealed Kimu was a very close associate of John Chilembwe.

Unlike Makwangwala who was shot for his role in the Chilembwe Uprising, Kimu escaped with a prison sentence.

The Nyasaland Times reported that Kimu served his prison sentence of leading the Pirimiti 1915 Uprising. 

When he was released Kimu was reinstated as a Chief. 

Chief Kimu grew into an old man, reluctant to speak of his adventures of leading the Pirimiti 1915 Uprising.

In the picture, Chilembwe supporters captured in 1915 Uprising.