Death and state funeral of Hastings Banda
November 1997 state funeral in Malawi / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hastings Banda, the first President of Malawi, died on 25 November 1997 in Johannesburg in the Republic of South Africa. Thousands of Malawians gathered in Lilongwe to bury the president.[1] The funeral took over four hours at the State House followed by a speech of the acting president, Bakili Muluzi. Muluzi's speech was accompanied by religious ceremonies attended by African heads of states, notably President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, with his vice-president, Joshua Nkomo, and Botswanan President Ketumile Masire. In his eulogy, Muluzi said that sorrows had surrounded the country as it had lost one of the most powerful leaders in its history. Tananga Cecilia Kadzamira, Banda's long-time companion including other relatives were the first to lay their wreaths on the president's grave.[1] Banda was given different heroic names such as the Conqueror, and the Messiah.[2][3]