1. Chakufwa Chihana was a Malawian human rights activist, pro-democracy advocate, trade unionist and later, politician.
20 Facts About Chakufwa Chihana
1. 2.
Chakufwa Chihana held the post of Second Vice President in Malawi, under President Bakili Muluzi.
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Chakufwa Chihana is often called the 'father of Malawian democracy'.
4.
Chakufwa Chihana served as leader of Malawi's first underground political movement, which urged President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who had ruled for three decades, to call for a referendum on political pluralism.
5.
Chakufwa Chihana was awarded the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1992.
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Chakufwa Chihana's father died when he was young and he was raised by his mother, an activist for local women.
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Chakufwa Chihana was active in campaigns involving Malawi Railways and the Imperial Tobacco Group.
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Chakufwa Chihana studied at Oslo and Dubrovnik universities and received a master's in politics at Bradford University.
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Chakufwa Chihana worked as a lecturer at the University of Botswana.
10.
Chakufwa Chihana joined the anti-colonial Malawi Congress party that was spearheading opposition to the and to British rule in Nyasaland.
11.
Chakufwa Chihana escaped secretly into Kenya, through help from a Roman Catholic Priest.
12.
Chakufwa Chihana continued to criticize Kamuzu Banda in Kenya while working as an adviser to the Kenya Federation of Labour.
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Chakufwa Chihana was a dissident during the rule of President Hastings Banda and consequently spent much of the 1970s and 1980s either in detention or in exile.
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Chakufwa Chihana was released in 1977 but continued to protest against one-party rule.
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Chakufwa Chihana continued to work with trade unions in southern Africa; in 1985, he became the co-founder and secretary general of the southern African trade union coordinating council.
16.
Chakufwa Chihana was the founder and leader of the political movement Alliance for Democracy which became a political party once it became legal to establish political parties in Malawi.
17.
Chakufwa Chihana served as Vice President of Malawi under President Bakili Muluzi from 1994 to 1996 and again from 2003 to 2004.
18.
Chakufwa Chihana entered into a damaging feud with the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian, warning them to stay out of politics.
19.
Chakufwa Chihana died after a brain tumor operation in Johannesburg, South Africa on 12 June 2006 at the age of 67.
20.
Chakufwa Chihana is survived by his wife Christina Chihana, son Enoch Chihana, and two daughters, Nina and Tawonga.