Colin Cameron (born 24 August 1933) is a Scottish lawyer and politician who served as a Minister and MP in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

in the early 1960s.

Biography

Born in

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Cameron attended Uddingston Grammar School and went on to gain a Bachelor of Law from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1957.Colin Cameron Collection of Nyasaland / Malawi Government Documents
Archives Hub Cameron moved to

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...

after seeing an advert in the

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

for a lawyer in Blantyre for a salary much higher than the one he had been offered in Glasgow, which would allow him to get married. His application for immigration to the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...

was approved and he and his new wife, Alison, arrived on honeymoon on 6 July 1957. Once in Nyasaland, he travelled widely within the country and became sympathetic to the independence movement. He represented several nationalists in their trials following their arrests during the

State of Emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

in March 1959.Owen J. M. Kalinga (2012) ''Historical Dictionary of Malawi'', Rowman & Littlefield, p73 He was also a member of the Church of Central African Presbyterian, which he joined in 1959. In 1960 his employment contract expired and he returned to

. However,

Hastings Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda ( – 25 November 1997) was a Malawian politician and statesman who served as the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister of Malawi, Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was ...

invited him back to Nyasaland in 1961 to run in the

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

that year. Although Banda initially asked Cameron to run in the

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

constituency against Michael Hill Blackwood, Cameron requested that he be given a seat with a realistic change of winning, and was instead nominated in the Soche constituency, where he ran as a pro-

Malawi Congress Party The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a political party in Malawi. It was formed as a successor party to the banned Nyasaland African Congress when the country, then known as Nyasaland, was under British rule. The MCP, under Hastings Banda, pre ...

independent. Cameron succeeded in winning one of the eight seats on the higher roll (largely reserved for European and Asian voters), and was appointed Minister of Works and Transport, later becoming Minister of Transport and Communications. In the 1964 elections Cameron was re-elected, the only European to be elected as an MCP candidate.Billy Kay (2011) ''The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora'', Random House Following the elections, he was appointed Minister of Works, and was the only European member of the first post-independence cabinet. However, on 29 July 1964 Cameron resigned from the cabinet, the first of several resignations and dismissals that led to the

Cabinet Crisis A cabinet crisis, government crisis or political crisis refers to a situation where an incumbent government is unable to form or function, is toppled through an uprising, or collapses. Political crises may correspond with, cause or be caused by a ...

. His resignation was a protest against Banda seeking to reintroduce

preventative detention Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non- punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts. Preventive detention sometimes involves the detention of a convicted criminal who has served their sente ...

, which he had previously criticised the British authorities for using. Banda offered Cameron's portfolio to Peter Moxon, but Moxon refused to take as he also opposed the detention measures. In late August Cameron was contacted by Minister of Labour Willie Chokani, who told him that Banda had resigned and Cameron was included in the new government to be sworn in the following day. However, as he was about to travel to Zomba, Cameron heard on the radio that Banda would not be resigning. Cameron subsequently returned to legal practice, and represented former Minister of Education

Henry Masauko Blasius Chipembere Henry Masauko Blasius Chipembere (5 August 1930 – 24 September 1975) was a Malawian nationalist politician who played a significant role in bringing independence from colonial rule to his native country, formerly known as Nyasaland. From an e ...

in a high court case against Banda. However, this resulted in him having to leave Malawi in November 1964 for his own safety, and he returned to Scotland to continue working as a lawyer,Baker, p355 establishing his own practice in Irvine. After multi-party politics was reintroduced to Malawi in the 1990s, Cameron was invited to become the Honorary Consul of Malawi in Scotland by new President

Bakili Muluzi Elson Bakili Muluzi (born 17 March 1943) is a Malawian politician who was President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Malawi's president. He al ...

. In 2017 he was invited by the President to celebrate the anniversary of Malawi's independence exactly 60 years after he had arrived. He was the only surviving member of Malawi's first cabinet.

References

External links

Malawi: Journey to Independence with Colin Cameron
Scotland Malawi Partnership {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Colin 1933 births People from Lanark People educated at Uddingston Grammar School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Government ministers of Malawi Members of the National Assembly (Malawi) Scottish people of the British Empire Scottish politicians 20th-century Scottish lawyers 20th-century Malawian lawyers Malawi Congress Party politicians Living people