John Dustan Msonthi was a Malawian politician. He served as a Cabinet Minister and translator during the government of Kamuzu Banda.

Life

Msonthi was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

son of an Anglican clergyman, Reverend Canon Msonthi.Tengatenga, James. "Church, state, and society in Malawi: an analysis of Anglican ecclesiology". Kachere Series. Zomba, Malawi 2006 p 131 He went to Zomba Catholic Secondary School and he was one of the first two students to gain a Catholic Overseas Certificate. He was able to attend

St. Xavier's College, Kolkata St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic, autonomous college in Kolkata, India. It is run by the Calcutta Province of the Society of Jesus. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1860 and named after St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit saint of the 16t ...

in India with the support of the Catholic Church. However when he returned the church could not cope with an African graduate and at one point special housing had to be built to avoid "a crisis". He left the church because he did not see the

Anglican church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

as consistent with his politics.Tengatenga, James. "Church, state, and society in Malawi: an analysis of Anglican ecclesiology". Kachere Series. Zomba, Malawi 2006 p 120-121 His brother, Boniface Msonthi, was an activist in the National African Congress, and a government Minister in the 1960s and 1970s.

Political life

Translator

He worked for

Kamuzu 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 from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was a Dominion/Commonwealth r ...

, the Minister of Transport and Communication. Banda could not speak

Chichewa Chewa ( ; also known as Nyanja ) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for languages, so the language is often called or Chinyanja. In Malawi, the name wa ...

and needed a translator. Kamuzu's message was relayed by his interpreter, John Msonthi. From 1958 until the 1970s he deciphered English into Chichewa using expressions, proverbs and metaphors that mesmerized Malawians. These messages were vital in the Malawian fight for Independence. Msonthi was later replaced by John Tembo.

Minister

During the cabinet crisis of 1964, Msonthi, along with

Yatuta Chisiza Yatuta Chisiza (born 1926 – died October 1967, near Blantyre, Malawi) was a Malawi minister of home affairs who led a brief guerrilla incursion into the country in October 1967. He is considered one of the most important figures in pre and pos ...

and

Willie Chokani Willie Chokani, who was born in Malawi, then called Nyasaland, in 1930, and had a variety of careers; as a teacher, a politician and a diplomat. He has also spent time in prison and was exiled from Malawi for almost 30 years after a confrontation wi ...

, resigned from Banda's cabinet to protest his dismissal of

Kanyama Chiume Kanyama Chiume (22 November 1929 – 21 November 2007), born Murray William Kanyama Chiume, was a leading nationalist in the struggle for Malawi's independence in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also one of the leaders of the Nyasaland African Congre ...

Orton Chirwa Orton Chirwa (30 January 1919 – 20 October 1992) was a lawyer and political leader in colonial Nyasaland and after independence became Malawi's Ministry of Justice (Malawi), Minister of Justice and Attorney General. After a dispute with Malaw ...

, and Augustine Bwanausi. Msonthi withdrew his resignation a few hours later. Banda reinstated Msonthi as Minister of Transport and Communication. While he was Minister, a bill was passed that established the powers of the Censorship Board. It allowed the board to dispose of undesirable publications without challenge. It was claimed that its passage would allow Malawi standards and interests of morality, decency and public order to prevail in entertainment and publications. It was opposed by Michael Blackwood, a spokesman for European settler interests.
Msonthi noted that, "It is our duty, as a government, to make sure that people who take any films in this country for show or their private use, do so in accordance with the decency and morality of this country. We must make sure that what they photograph is the right thing." The bill was passed with three readings and within three days. The Censorship Board was run by Tobias Banda.

Death

Msonthi was later killed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Msonthi, John 20th-century Malawian politicians Year of death missing Place of birth missing Year of birth missing