The Armitage Report was a report into the actions of the Nyasaland government in declaring a State of Emergency in March 1959 and actions of the police and troops in the aftermath of that declaration. It was supposed to have been a despatch prepared in Nyasaland by the Governor of that protectorate, Robert Perceval Armitage, but was in fact prepared in London by a working party that included Armitage, British government ministers and senior Colonial Office officials, in an attempt to counteract various criticisms contained in the Report of the Devlin Commission. Both reports accepted that a State of Emergency was necessary in view of the level of unrest in Nyasaland, but the Armitage Report approved of the subsequent actions of the police and troops, whereas the Devlin Report criticised their illegal use of force and stigmatised the Nyasaland government's suppression of criticism as justifying it being called a "police state". Although the Armitage Report was used by the government of the day to discredit the Devlin Report initially, and to justify its rejection of many of the Devlin Commission's findings, in the longer term the Devlin Report helped to convince the British Government that the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was not acceptable to its African majority and should be dissolved. Devlin was vindicated and approached for advice on constitutional change, but Armitage was seen as an obstacle to progress and asked to leave Nyasaland prematurely.
Unrest in Nyasaland In the 1940s and early 1950s, the most pressing problem in Nyasaland was that of African access to land. Between 1892 and 1894, about 15% of the total land area of the Nyasaland, including over 350,000 hectares of the best land in the Shire Highlands, the most densely populated part of the country, had been turned into European-owned estates.B. Pachai, (1978). Land and Politics in Malawi 1875–1975, pp. 36–7. Africans who were resident on these estates were required to pay rent, normally satisfied by undertaking agricultural work for the owner under the system known as thangata, which later developed into a form of sharecropping.B. Pachai, (1978). Land and Politics in Malawi 1875–1975, p. 84. By the 1940s, very little land on these estates, except for tea estates, was farmed directly by the estate owners: elsewhere the land was farmed by African tenants. Tensions between estate owners and tenants remained high up to the early 1950s. There were riots in some overcrowded districts in 1945 and between 1950 and 1953 related to evictions and rent increases, and riots in August 1953 led to eleven dead and seventy-two injured.R Palmer, (1986). Working Conditions and Worker Responses on the Nyasaland Tea Estates, 1930–1953, pp. 122–3, 125. The Abrahams Commission (also known the 1946 Land Commission) was appointed by the Nyasaland government to inquire into land issues in Nyasaland following these riots and disturbances. Abrahams proposed that the Nyasaland government should purchase all unused or under-used freehold land on the estates, which would be allocated to African smallholders as Native Trust Land.S Tenney and N K Humphreys, (2011). Historical Dictionary of the International Monetary Fund, pp. 10, 17–18. The programme of land acquisition accelerated after 1951, and by 1957 the government had negotiated the purchase of most of the land it had targeted for purchase.B Pachai, (1973). Land Policies in Malawi: An Examination of the Colonial Legacy, pp. 691–2 .
In the same period, the political aspirations of Nyasaland's Africans received a set-back. Agitation by the Southern Rhodesia government led to a Royal Commission (the Bledisloe Commission) on future association between Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland: its report in 1939 did not rule-out some form of future association between Southern Rhodesia and the two territories north of the Zambezi.J McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, p. 232–6. The threat of Southern Rhodesian rule channeled African political demands into the Nyasaland African Congress.R. I. Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa, pp. 101, 192. From 1946, the Nyasaland African Congress received financial and political support from Hastings Banda, then living in Britain. Post-war British governments of both main parties agreed to a federal solution for Central Africa, not the full amalgamation that the Southern Rhodesian government preferred. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was pushed through in 1953 against very strong African opposition.A C Ross, (2009). Colonialism to Cabinet Crisis: a Political History of Malawi, pp. 62, 65–6. The main African objections to the Federation were that political domination by the white minority of Southern Rhodesia would prevent greater African political participation and that control by Southern Rhodesian politicians would lead to an extension of racial discrimination and segregation.J G Pike, (1969). Malawi: A Political and Economic History, London, Pall Mall Press, pp. 114–5.
In 1957, some members of the Nyasaland African Congress invited Hastings Banda, then living in the Gold Coast to return to Nyasaland, which he did in July 1958, becoming the president of Congress. Banda was absolutely opposed to Federation, but otherwise quite moderate and far less radical that younger Congress members. In the nine months between his return and the declaration of a State of Emergency, he combined opposition to Federation with more popular causes, such as opposition to agricultural practices imposed on Africa farmers, which aimed to promote soil conservation, and also the remnants of thangata. Banda's strategy was to use these popular issues to mobilise Congress supporters into strikes, demonstrations, disobedience and protests that would disrupt the everyday operation of the colonial government.J McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, pp. 344–5, 347–49.
The Emergency and the Devlin Commission In December 1958, Banda presented Congress proposals for an African majority in the Legislative Council to the governor, Sir Robert Armitage. Armitage was not opposed to limited constitutional development, envisaging autonomy for Nyasaland with the Federation, with African majority rule deferred to some distant future date, but Alan Lennox-Boyd, the Colonial Secretary, rejected any plan for the protectorate having local autonomy and, in early January 1959, the Colonial Office made it clear that, as the protectorate would not be allowed to leave the Federation, Banda and Congress would have to be neutralised.J McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, pp. 346-8
The governor therefore rejected the Congress proposals that would inevitably lead to a demand for withdrawal from the Federation. This breakdown in talks led to Congress demands for an escalation of anti-government protests and more violent action. Action by Congress supporters became more violent and, on 21 February, and, in the days immediately following, police or troops opened fire on rioters in several places, leading to four deaths.R. I. Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa, pp. 296–7.
Armitage decided against offering any concessions to Congress, and drafted plans for mass arrests covering of almost the whole of the Congress organisation. He later claimed to have been influenced by reports of a meeting of Congress leaders (held in Banda's absence) on 25 January 1959, which approved a policy of strikes, retaliation against police violence, sabotage and defiance of the government. Reports by police informers formed the basis for the claim by the Head of Special Branch that there were plans for the indiscriminate killing of Europeans, Asians and of those Africans opposed to Congress (the so-called "murder plot").J McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, pp. 349–51. However, the Nyasaland government took no immediate action against Banda or other Congress leaders in January 1959, and continued to negotiate with them until late February. The governor also made no specific reference to the "murder plot" until after his declaration of a State of Emergency had failed to restore order quickly. However, Banda and his colleagues refused to condemn the violent actions of Congress members, which were increasingly directed against Africans who failed to support Congress.J McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, pp. 349–51, 357.
After the breakdown of talks in late February, Armitage made preparations for a State of Emergency in Nyasaland, which were approved by the Colonial Office. After consulting the Federal Prime Minister, Roy Welensky and the Southern Rhodesia Premier, Edgar Whitehead, and with the approval of the Colonial Office, over 1,000 European troops of the Rhodesia Regiment were flown into Nyasaland, the first arriving on 27 and 28 FebruaryC Baker, (1997). State of Emergency: Nyasaland 1959, p. 105, 29.C Baker, (1998). Retreat from Empire: Sir Robert Armitage in Africa and Cyprus, p. 223. On 3 March 1959 Armitage, as governor of Nyasaland, declared a State of Emergency over the whole of the protectorate and arrested Dr. Banda, the Congress president, and other members of its executive committee as well as over a hundred local party officials. The Nyasaland African Congress was banned the next day. Those arrested were detained without trial and the total number detained finally rose to over 1,300. Over 2,000 more were imprisoned for offences related to the emergency, including rioting and criminal damage. The stated aim of these measures was to allow the Nyasaland government to restore law and order after the increasing lawlessness following Dr Banda's return. However, they failed to calm the situation immediately and a significant number of Africans were killed and wounded up to 19 March.C Baker, (2007). The Mechanics of Rebuttal, p. 28. The arrests were made as part of " Operation Sunrise", so called because the State of Emergency was declared just after midnight on 3 March and arrest squads were sent out at 4.30 am. By 6 am most principal Congress leaders had been arrested and detained, by 9 pm that day 130 had been arrested. Some were released quickly, but 72 prominent detainees, including Dr Banda, were flown to Southern Rhodesia later on 3 March. Others were detained in Nyasaland. In immediate aftermath of Operation Sunrise, 21 people were killed on 3 March.C Baker, (1997). State of Emergency: Nyasaland 1959, pp. 40–2, 48.
In the debate in the House of Commons on 3 March 1959, the day that the State of Emergency was declared, Alan Lennox-Boyd, the Colonial Secretary, stated that it was clear from information received that Congress had planned the widespread murder of Europeans, Asians and moderate Africans, "... in fact, a massacre was being planned". This was the first public mention of a murder plot and, later in the same debate, the Minister of State at the Colonial Office, Julian Amery, reinforced what Lennox-Boyd had said with talk of a "... conspiracy of murder" and "a massacre ... on a Kenyan scale". It was subsequently difficult for ministers to repudiate these statements.C Baker, (1998). Retreat from Empire: Sir Robert Armitage in Africa and Cyprus, pp. 224–5. However, opposition politicians made allegations of collusion between the Federal Prime Minister, Welensky, and Armitage to arrest Congress supporters in order to preserve the Federation rather than to secure peace and order in Nyasaland. This was denied by the government despite Welensky providing the troops that made declaring the Emergency possible and the Colonial Office plan to eliminate Congress.C Baker, (1997). State of Emergency: Nyasaland 1959, p. 95.