Margaret Thatcher Speech on Kamuzu Banda

Below is a speech that Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain gave at a luncheon held in honour of late former President of Malawi Ngwazi Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda at 10 Downing Street when the latter visited the UK in 1985. I have just discovered from the speech that the cornerstones advocated by Dr Kamuzu Banda of Unity, loyalty and discipline were actually Ancient Rome civic virtues. Still understandable when you consider that Dr Banda was a historian as well as a medical doctor. Below is the speech:-

Mr. President,

Let me first offer you a very warm welcome on behalf of the Government on this your State Visit to the United Kingdom.

I doubt that there can ever have been a State Visitor who knows our country better.

For you lived many years here, indeed, you are really one of us.

You heeded the advice of that ancient proverb:

"He that will England win Must with Scotland first begin."

You went first to Glasgow and Edinburgh to complete your studies, then won our hearts in England, where so many people in Liverpool, in North Shields and in Harlesden still remember your skill and kindness as a doctor ministering to them.

You also became an Elder of the Church of Scotland, a title so fearsome as to make ordinary mortals South of the border quake.

But even more than that, Mr. President, you are one of the most remarkable figures in Africa, a man who has done outstanding service to his people.

And it is above all for this that we welcome you back among us today.

We have followed with great admiration the achievements of your country since Independence.

Malawi is a country at peace.

I well remember how, at the time of Federation, we were concerned because Malawi had the least promising soil.

But now, thanks to your decision to concentrate on raising standards of husbandry, Malawi is not only self-sufficient in food but helps to feed its neighbours.

Malawi has no easy short cut to prosperity.

But security, stability and wise government have provided the framework under your leadership.

Self-reliance, hard work and individual enterprise have been the galvanising forces.

Malawi's achievement is a message of hope and encouragement to those unfortunate parts of the Continent now suffering so dreadfully from hunger.

It shows what can be done when agriculture is properly nurtured, when the independent farmer is encouraged whether he works a small-holding or a large estate, and when enterprise is rewarded.

The thriving state of Malawi's agriculture also reflects your own close identification, Mr. President, with the people on the land. If more countries had followed your example of concentrating on good husbandry, I believe that we should have fewer problems in Africa today.

We in Britain have been pleased to be able to contribute to your success.

Malawi is one of our closest friends.

Many Britons work in Malawi and feel as at home there as I hope the many Malawians in this country feel here.

We are the largest contributor to your development—some £150 million since independence—and your largest export market. But it has been the efforts of your people themselves in the cause of their country's development which have been crucial: and it has been your role, and one which you have performed with outstanding success, to channel the united efforts of all the people of Malawi into that work.

We agree on many international issues and I should like to take this opportunity, Mr. President, to thank you for your Government's steadfast support for us over the Argentine Invasion of the Falkland Islands.

Mr. President, I know that before you became a doctor you were an historian, with a particular interest in classical history.

You have taken into your own political philosophy the civic virtues of ancient Rome: unity, loyalty and discipline.

As an historian you have the capability to see problems in context, to understand the long term.

It is this which has led you to support dialogue even with those whose policies you—and we—oppose, as a contribution to a peaceful solution to the world's problems. That takes courage, Mr. President, a courage which we salute.

We know in you, too, a wise leader in the Commonwealth where your constructive contributions are always heard with attention and respect—and we hope that we shall have the benefit of them at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the Bahamas.

Mr. President, you are a dear and honoured friend of this country, and your Visit is a very happy moment in the relations of warm friendship between Malawi and Britain to which you have contributed so much.

I raise my glass to the health of His Excellency the Life President, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, and to the prosperity and happiness of our friends, the people of Malawi.