Nyasaland African Congress NAC was banned. On 3 March, Banda, along with hundreds of other Africans, was arrested in the course of "Operation Sunrise". The NAC was succeeded by the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), led from prison by Hastings Banda. The British came to accept that independence was inevitable. Hastings Banda was released in 1960 and allowed to return to prepare for elections. In 1961 the MCP overwhelmingly won the first elections held under universal suffrage, and in 1963 the country gained self governance followed by independence the next year with the new name of Malawi. Sources Nyasaland African Congress The Nyasaland African
Nyasaland colonial authorities. A growing educated African elite became increasingly vocal and politically active from the 1930s, first through associations, and after 1944, through the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC). There was a marked increase in civil agitation when Nyasaland was forced into a Federation with Southern and Northern Rhodesia in 1953. The failure of the NAC to prevent this caused its collapse. It was revived not long afterwards by a younger and more militant generation which, ultimately, invited Hastings Banda to return to the country and lead it to independence. The 1911 census was the first after the protectorate was renamed