Thursday 19 May 2016

Today in African History; 19th May













On this day in 1994, Malawi’s first President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda since independence from Britain in 1964 conceded defeat to Bakili Muluzi in the country’s first multi-party election. 

 Having spent 30 years at the helm as Africa’s longest ruling dictator, Kamuzu conceded defeat and congratulated the incoming president wholeheartedly and expressed hope that he would usher Malawi into a new era. Banda died in a hospital in South Africa in 1997, at the age of 101 and despite the controversy which surrounded his rule, he was given a state funeral. 

 Also on this day in 1901, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (81), first president of the ZAR, died in Potchefstroom. Marthinus Wessel Pretorius was the first president of the South African Republic, and also compiled the constitution of the Republic.

 After the death of his father, the famous Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius in 1853, he was appointed as the Commandant-General of the ZAR (South African Republic) and moved from his farm Kalkheuwel, near Broederstroom, to the city of Potchefstroom. He was the last Head of State of Potchefstroom between 1853 and 1856.

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