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.[1] 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.[2] After spending nearly eleven years on death row in Malawi, Orton Chirwa died in prison on 20 October 1992.[1]

Early life

Born Orton Edgar Ching'oli Chirwa, He was called to the bar in London in 1958, becoming Nyasaland's first black barrister. He was an advocate and law lecturer in Tanzania from 1964–81.[1]

Political life

In 1959 the British Colonial Government banned the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) and arrested most of the political party's leaders, including Banda. Orton Chirwa created a new political movement called the Malawi Congress Party(MCP) and became its first president. When Banda was released from Gwelu Prison in 1960, Orton Chirwa together with other NAC leaders invited Banda to stand for President of the MCP.[1] Chirwa stood down as president and Dr. Banda took over the leadership of the Malawi Congress Party which subsequently led Malawi to independence in 1964.[1]

Orton Chirwa was named Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, (a position slightly short of Minister) in Dr. Banda's interim administration which took office in 1962.[3] In the run-up to the 1964 National Assembly elections, he was active in promoting the use of "traditional courts" as an alternative to the existing judiciary, a controversial move in that these courts were subject to significant political influence, and was heavily criticised by the Chief Justice for this and by the Governor, Glyn Jones, for failing to investigate and prosecute hundreds of cases of politically motivated intimidation, in the form of assaults, murders, arson and crop destruction, as well as cases of intimation against Jehovah's Witnesses.[4] He became independent Malawi's Minister of Justice and Attorney General in 1964,[1] but resigned after a short time along with other ministers in the Cabinet Crisis of 1964. Attempting a reconciliation with Banda in the aftermath, he was badly beaten up by Banda's bodyguard after a meeting with Banda at Government House.[5] Vera Chirwa and Orton Chirwa went into hiding and were declared enemies of the state before leaving secretly for Tanzania on 22 October 1964.[1]

Exile and capture

Forced by Banda's authoritarian policies to leave Malawi, the Chirwas settled in Tanzania where Orton taught and practised law. He formed a new political party, the Malawi Freedom Movement, which appears to have had little active support inside Malawi, a one-party state with Banda its president for life. During a visit to Zambia with their youngest son, Fumabani, the Chirwas were kidnapped and arrested on Christmas Eve 1981 in eastern Zambia by Malawi security forces and taken back to Malawi on charges of high treason, although it was alleged they were trying to enter Malawi.[1]

Trial

Ironically, the Chirwas were tried by a "traditional" court of the kind whose introduction Orton himself had championed in 1962. Both lawyers, they conducted their own defence as traditional courts did not allow defence lawyers in a trial lasting two months in front of judges appointed by Dr. Banda. This case demonstrated the deficiencies in the system. At the end of their appeal in 1983, the minority of the appellate judges that had legal training opposed the guilty verdict, but it was over-ruled by the majority composed of traditional chiefs.[6]

At their trial, the Chirwas claimed that they had been abducted from Zambia in December 1981. This, and the charge that they had conspired to overthrow the government outside Malawi, should have meant that the traditional courts had no jurisdiction. The case could still have been heard in Malawi’s High Court, but that court required proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The treason case heard against the Chirwas by the Southern Region Traditional Court in 1983 was based on handwritten documents said to have been found on them when arrested, and a police officer’s “expert” testimony that they were indeed in Orton Chirwa’s handwriting. An unsigned statement said to have been made by Orton Chirwa, but repudiated by him, and a transcript said to have been made of a taped interview he had given were also admitted as evidence. The Chirwas were not allowed to call witnesses from outside Malawi and were both sentenced to death and taken to the central prison in Zomba.[7]

On the Chirwas' appeal to the National Traditional Court of Appeal, the refusal of the lower court to allow defence witnesses, its admission of the unsigned statement and its acceptance of a police officer as an expert witness were all criticised, and minority of the judges did not accept that creating unpublished handwritten documents amounted to treason. However the appeal court came to the startling conclusion that, even if the Traditional courts had no jurisdiction in law, they had a traditional right to try the Chirwas, and that (despite the deficiencies in the lower court’s handling of the case), their decision was correct and should stand. The death sentences were commuted, but Orton Chirwa later died in prison. Vera Chirwa was released from prison in 1993 after over 11 years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement.[8]

Imprisonment and death

In Zomba Prison Orton Chirwa was held in solitary confinement and not allowed any outside contact. For eight years he was not even permitted to see his wife Vera who was being held in the same prison.[1] In 1990 Amnesty International launched an investigation into their fate and named the couple prisoners of conscience.[2] In autumn 1992, when a delegation of British legal experts was allowed to visit Orton and Vera at the prison, the Chirwas were able to meet again for the first time in 8 years. According to the British lawyers, at the time of the meeting he was partially deaf and blind due to untreated cataracts.[1] Orton died in his cell 3 weeks later at the age of 73.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Richard Carver (22 October 1992). "Obituary: Orton Chirwa". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "UA 329/92Death in custody of prisoner of conscience/ fear of physical safety/fear of harassement". Amnesty International. 22 October 1992. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Sir Glyn Jones, A Proconsul in Africa, by Colin Baker, published by I. B. Tauris, London, 2000
  4. ↑ Sir Glyn Jones, A Proconsul in Africa, by Colin Baker, published by I. B. Tauris, London, 2000, p.185 et seq
  5. ↑ Sir Glyn Jones, A Proconsul in Africa, by Colin Baker, published by I. B. Tauris, London, 2000, page 241-2
  6. ↑ R Carver, (1990). Where Silence Rules: The Suppression of Dissent in Malawi, Human Rights Watch, p. 32. ISBN 978- 0-92969-273-9
  7. ↑ R Carver, (1990). Where Silence Rules: The Suppression of Dissent in Malawi, pp. 37–8.
  8. ↑ R Carver, (1990). Where Silence Rules: The Suppression of Dissent in Malawi, pp. 39–41.

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