Fearless Fighter by Vera Chirwa

Reading Vera Chirwa's autobiography brought to life some of the events surrounding the transition from Nyasaland to Malawi. She describes the beginnings of self rule, the hopes and the struggles of the people, and the jealousies and intrigues surrounding the key players, particularly Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, her husband, Orton Chirwa, other Malawian politicians such as Aleke Banda, Masauko Chipembere, John Tembo, Gwanda Chakuamba and so on. The main focus of her book is on the kidnapping, imprisonment, trial and death sentence of her and Orton, and the abuse and suffering they faced in prison. It describes the death in suspicious circumstances of her much loved lawyer husband, and her life as a free woman who sees her role as being one to criticise the government in order to keep them on track.

The book is simply written in a generally chronological, descriptive and matter-of-fact way, and Vera comes across as being very active - appropriate, since she is an activist. Some random quotes:

"'How can I forget you, when we suffered together?' I asked, and went out to form the League of Malawi Women."

"He thought that he was going to make fun of me, but the stupid man did not know that I was a woman activist. As a barrister you are trained to carry yourself in a very proper manner and I continued unmoved by his rudeness."

"When I came out of prison, I was encouraged more or less immediately to stand for President ... But I was weak and felt it was madness to run for President so soon after 12 years in prison. When nominations were up I deliberately left the country. ... In 2004, I thought the time was ripe."

Vera describes studying for her law exams while pregnant, and giving birth on one of the days in between her exams. The examiner has to chase her driver away from the exam hall when her newborn's crying disturbs Vera in one exam. You do get a sense of a woman who does not let things like pregnancy, birth, child rearing get in the way of fighting for the human rights of all Malawians, and women in particular. She is obviously a determined woman, a fighter, as she describes herself. Occasionally, she seems a bit too good to be true! But, overall, it was very interesting hearing about this time in Malawian history from another point of view, and from the perspective of someone who was intimately involved at the time.