Today is almost passing as any other day but sixteen years ago, on a date like this one, the nation woke up to sombre news.

The death of the first republican president, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was announced.

Banda who became president in 1964 upon the getting of independence led for 31 years. He first came in as a democrat but long before people knew it, he had metamorphosed into a dictator and an autocrat making himself the life president and his party, Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the only legal party.

However, despite his shortfalls, Banda left a legacy of a nation that was secure both from robbers and in terms of food availability. He also made various developmental projects among them the M1 road, the country’s central hospitals in all the three regions and the moving of the Capital city from Zomba to Lilongwe.

Today, it marks sixteen years since his death. May his soul rest in eternal peace.