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Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Malawi: Political Parties and Trades Unions Material

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0101 PP.MW

Held at: Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Title: Malawi: Political Parties and Trades Unions Material

Date(s): 1961-

Level of description: Collection (Fonds)

Extent: 1 box

Name of creator(s): Institute of Commonwealth Studies

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Malawi, formerly Nyasaland, became independent in 1964 under the government of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) led by Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Banda was to rule the country for the next thirty years, presiding over the transition to republic status in 1966 and appointing himself president for life in 1971. Violent protests against the governing party in 1992 following a severe drought led to a referendum the following year which paved the way for the end of one-party rule, and Banda lost the 1994 election to Bakili Muluzi.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Constitutions, addresses, manifestos, conference reports, newsletters, letters and miscellaneous election materials from 1961 onwards, issued by the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the National Council for Labour (Malawi) and the Panafrican Democratic Party of Malawi. The majority of the materials held here originate from the MCP and comprise constitutions, party resolutions and speeches outlining and defending Banda's policies of encouraging foreign investment, engagement with the apartheid regime in South Africa and limiting internal dissent. Materials from one of the new parties that emerged during the 1990s, the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), are also held in this collection.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: Mostly English, some Chichewa, a dialect of Nyanja.

System of arrangement:

Alphabetically by organisation, and then in rough chronological order.

Conditions governing access:

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Archival history:

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Archivist's note: Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies.