Regional/Cultural Day
Martyrs' Day
The anniversary of the 1959 State of Emergency, when the British colonial authorities arrested the leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress and declared a state of emergency. The crackdown led to the deaths of at least 51 Malawians : some estimates say many more : and the day is observed with ceremonies at the Martyrs' Memorial in Blantyre. The names of the martyrs are read aloud: Yatuta Chisiza, who was shot; Dunduzu Chisiza, who died in a suspicious car crash; and dozens of others whose names are inscribed on the monument. The day is a reminder that independence was won with blood, and that the British Empire was not a benign force in Nyasaland : it was a prison that Malawians had to break out of.
