Missionary imperialism: Livingstone & his legacy

During debates in Nyasaland's legislative council in the run up to independence the nationalist politician, Henry Masauko Chipembere, used to delight his supporters and scandalise his opponents by describing David Livingstone as a ‘tourist’. In certain respects, Chipembere's comment was sound. Livingstone, despite his vehement claims to the contrary, was not the first European to ‘discover’ Lakes Malawi and Chilwa; nor did he travel over previously unknown territory: almost wherever he went, he was guided by local Africans who escorted him along well used tracks, employed in both regional and international trade. Yet if Livingstone's claims as a pioneer explorer are open to challenge, his importance for the history of Malawi cannot be denied. It was through his initiative that Britain's involvement with the Malawi regions began. Moreover, much that we know today concerning the Shire Valley and Highlands in the 1850s and 60s derives from the observations that he and his companions made, although it was not until the publication of several of their journals a century later that the full value of their work was revealed.

Livingstone's strategy for the development of Africa dates from the return of the missionary-explorer to Britain in December 1856, following the completion of his epic trans-continental journey to Luanda on the west coast and from there to Quelimane on the east. His central message, the need to introduce Christianity and civilisation through commerce, had a long pedigree going back to the beginning of the British missionary movement in the 1780s.