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20 Kwacha 1988, Malawi

in Krause book Number: 22b
Years of issue: 01.04.1988
Edition: 1 355 783
Signatures: Governor: Mr. S. Chimwemwe Hara (in office 1986 - 1988)
Serie: 1976 - 1984 Issue
Specimen of: 01.07.1983
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 168 x 98
Printer: TDLR (Thomas de la Rue & Company), London

* All pictures marked magnify are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

20 Kwacha 1988

Description

Watermark:

watermark

Black rooster - the logo of Hastings Kamuzu Banda's "Malawi Congress Party" (MCP).

The name kwacha derives from the chewa and Bemba word for "dawn", while tambala translates as "rooster" in Nyanja. The tambala was so named because a rooster announces "dawn".

Avers:

20 Kwacha 1988

Hastings Kamuzu Banda

The engraving on banknote is based, presumably, on this photo. The photo made in July 1960, in London, United Kingdom.

In July 1960, he joined Dr. Banda, Orton Chirwa, Aleke Banda and other prominent Africans at the Nyasaland Constitutional Conference in London. It was here that British Government decided that Nyasaland (Malawi) should become self-governing by early 1963, and that Banda, should become Prime Minister. In 1961, Chiume was elected MP for Rumphi and was made Minister of Education.

Hastings Kamuzu Banda (c. March or April 1898 - 25 November 1997) was the leader of Malawi from 1961 to 1994 (for the first three years of his rule, until it achieved independence in 1964, Malawi was the British protectorate of Nyasaland). After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country (then British Nyasaland) to speak against colonialism and advocate for independence. In 1963, he was formally appointed prime minister of Nyasaland and led the country to independence as Malawi a year later. Two years later, he proclaimed Malawi a republic with himself as president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one-party state under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970, the MCP made him the party's President for Life. In 1971, he became President for Life of Malawi itself.

As a leader of the pro-Western bloc in Africa, he received support from the West during the Cold War. He generally supported women's rights, improved the country's infrastructure, and maintained a good educational system relative to other African countries, but he also presided over one of the most repressive regimes in Africa. His government regularly tortured and murdered political opponents. Human rights groups estimate that at least 6,000 people were killed, tortured and jailed without trial. According to at least one estimate, as many as 18,000 people were killed during his rule. He also faced scorn for maintaining full diplomatic relations with apartheid-era South Africa.

By 1993, he was facing international pressure and widespread protest. A referendum ended his one-party state, and a special assembly ended his life-term presidency and stripped him of most of his powers. Banda ran for president in the democratic elections which followed and was defeated.

He died in South Africa in 1997. His legacy remains controversial, with some hailing him as a national and African hero, while others denounce him as a tyrant and as a corrupt leader.

Nyasa

Centered is the view of Lake Nyasa with the lake boat (Dugout) with three fishermen on it. On the background is the mountain range and getting up, at dawn, sun.

Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the ninth largest lake in the world and the third largest and second deepest lake in Africa. It is home to more species of fish than any other lake, including about 1000 species of cichlids. The Mozambique portion of the lake was officially declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique on June 10, 2011, and in Malawi a portion of the lake is included in the Lake Malawi National Park. Lake Malawi is a meromictic lake; permanent stratification and the toxic-anoxic boundary are maintained by moderately small chemical and thermal gradients.

The Portuguese trader Candido José da Costa Cardoso was the first European to visit the lake in 1846. David Livingstone reached the lake in 1859, and named it "Lake Nyasa". "Nyasa" in language of Yao people means "Lake".

boats

A dugout or dugout canoe is a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. Monoxylon (μονόξυλον) (pl: monoxyla) is Greek - mono- (single) + ξύλον xylon (tree) - and is mostly used in classic Greek texts. In Germany they are called einbaum ("one tree" in English). Some, but not all, pirogues are also constructed in this manner.

The well-watered tropical rainforest and woodland regions of sub-Saharan Africa provide both the waterways and the trees for dugout canoes, which are commonplace from the Limpopo River basin in the south through East and Central Africa and across to West Africa. African Teak is the timber favoured for their construction, though this comprises a number of different species, and is in short supply in some areas. Dugouts are paddled across deep lakes and rivers or punted through channels in swamps (makoro) or in shallow areas, and are used for transport, fishing and hunting, including, in the past, the very dangerous hunting of hippopotamus. Dugouts are called pirogues in Francophone areas of Africa.

palm tree

Centered, above, is the branch of African oil palm.

The Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (1763) is native to tropical Africa (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire), where it grows at the margins of the pluvial forests and along the courses of water.

The name of the genus comes from the Greek “élaion”= oil, the name of the species refers to one of its countries of origin.

The most used common names are: “palma da olio” (Italian); “African oil palm”, “macaw fat”, “oil palm”, “palm kernel oil” (English); “palmier à huile”, “palmier à huile d’Afrique” (French); Afrikanische Ölpalme”, “Ölpalme” (German); “corojo de Guinea”, “palmera de aceite” (Spanish); “caiaué”, “dendezeiro”, “palmeira dendém”, “palmeira andim” (Portuguese); “mchikichi”, “miwesi”, “mjen- ga” (Swahili).

It shows a solitary trunk tall up to 20 metres and with a diameter of about 40 cm, with the foliar bases persisting for long time on the younger part. The crown, thick and impressive, is formed by pinnate leaves, curved on the terminal part, four metres long, which persist for long time; the pinnulae, of a glossy green colour, are long up to about 70 cm and are inserted with various angles on the rachis; the petiole, thickly fibrous on the base, is provided with short triangular thorns on the margins.

Monoecious plant, it develops separate, but on the same plant, male and female inflorescences between the leaves, compact and long up to about 30 cm. The fructification is abundant and continuous all over the year; the fruits are ovoid, long about 4 cm, usually of a blackish colour, and orange-red at the base. It reproduces by seed, which germinates in 6-8 months, if opportunely previously treated and and with bottom heat.

The cultivation of this plant for the oil production, has had during the very last years a remarkable increase, such as to overcome any other vegetable source. This is due to the copious and uninterrupted fructification and the high percentage of oil present in the pulp (up to the 65%) and in the endosperm (up to the 50%). The refined oil palm and its by-products are widely utilized not only in the alimentary field and in the making of products for the personal hygiene (soaps, cleansing agents, etc.), but also in countless and varied industrial products. Finally, it is already utilized, and a further increase is expected, as fuel (biodiesel).

The plant has also a moderate utilization as ornament, limited to the tropical and warm-humid subtropical climate, as they do not bear temperatures even if just close to 0 °C. (Dr. Giuseppe MAZZA)

Denominations in numerals are in all corners. In words centered, above.

Revers:

20 Kwacha 1988

Kamuzu International Airport

On the banknote, the liner BAC 1-11, on the runway, at the Kamuzu International Airport, in the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe.

Kamuzu International Airport (IATA: LLW, ICAO: FWKI) is an international airport serving Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. It is also known as Lilongwe International Airport.

The airport was built in 1977 by the Nello L. Teer Company, taking over most airliner operations from Old Lilongwe Airport (FWLE) some 6 km. west of the city center. Owned by Airport Developments Limited.

The airport resides at an elevation of 4,035 feet (1,230 m.) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 14/32 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,540 by 45 meters (11,614 ft. × 148 ft.).

7Q-YKK 7Q-YKK Kamuzu International Airport

On the banknote one of the two airliners of the company "Air Malawi" - BAC 1-11, the onboard number 7Q-YKK or 7Q-YKF.

7Q-YKF - in the company since February 23, 1972. Written off in June 1991. Sold as 5N-SKS.

7Q-YKK - in the company since October 30, 1980. Written off in June 1991. Sold as 5N-USE.

The fact is that on stamps, that have a similar design with a picture on a bank note, the onboard number 7Q-YKF is clearly visible, but there is no "Air Malawi" emblem on the tail of the liner.

On 7Q-YKK the emblem on the tail of the aircraft is presented.

Therefore, it is very difficult to say exactly what kind of aircraft, from these two, is shown on the banknote.

The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111 or BAC 1-11, is a British short-range jet airliner used during the 1960s and 1970s. It was the second short-haul jet airliner to enter service, following the French Sud Aviation Caravelle. The aircraft was also produced under licence in Romania during the 1980s as the Rombac One-Eleven.

The One-Eleven was conceived by Hunting Aircraft and developed by the British Aircraft Corporation when Hunting merged into BAC along with other British aircraft manufacturers in 1960. The One-Eleven was intended to replace the turboprop Vickers Viscount on short-range routes. The One-Eleven entered the market ahead of rivals such as the Douglas DC-9-10, which gave it a temporary edge on the market.

The aircraft proved popular with domestic airlines and various international operators. Over half of the One-Eleven's sales at launch were to the US. The One-Eleven was one of the most successful British airliner designs, and served until a widespread retirement in the 1990s, which was partly due to introduction of aircraft noise restrictions in many European nations. As of 2013, two examples remain in service as testbeds for Northrop-Grumman.

An unsung fact amongst BAC 1-11 enthusiasts is that Air Malawi operated the BAC 1-11 for just over 21 years, certainly the longest continuous such operator in Africa. Although neither the largest nor indeed the last such African BAC 1-11 operator, the aircraft helped to establish Air Malawi as a significant regional operator at the time along with a number of notable firsts, including its record breaking service to the Seychelles. The airline introduced jet service to its network in November 1970 through the lease of Zambia Airways’ BAC 1-11 207AJ 9J-RCH, registered in Malawi as 7Q-YKE. Replacement of its own 1-11s subsequently by a new Boeing 737-300 in 1991 concluded 21 charismatic years of BAC 1-11 service.

Air Malawi remained with its single BAC 1-11 7Q-YKF through to 1980 when it acquired a second aircraft, c/n 235 BAC 1-11 524FF the former D-AMAT from Hapag Lloyd in Germany and re-registered 7Q-YKK. In between times the airline had leased in two British Caledonian aircraft for short periods. The first was G-AXJM, a series 501EX operated for 3 weeks towards the close of 1977 and registered 7Q-YKI and was required during 7Q-YKF’s D check. The second British Caledonian example was G-AZMF, a Series 530FX, registered 7Q-YKJ and operated from October 1979 to April 1980. The acquisition of 7Q-YKK however reflected growing regional opportunities for the airline and also the withdrawal of its VC-10 7Q-YKH from service, being viewed as uneconomic. The VC-10 was ferried to Bournemouth/Hurn for storage although the storage costs were deemed too expensive and so she was ferried back to Blantyre in 1981 and ultimately scrapped there in the 1990s.

Air Malawi continued to operate with its two BAC 1-11s through to the 1990s by which time the aircraft were deemed to be becoming too uneconomical to operate while their age made them increasingly unreliable. Following an extensive evaluation exercise, the airline acquired a new Boeing 737-300 directly from the manufacturer, the aircraft arriving in 1991. To all intents and purposes Air Malawi’s BAC 1-11 operations came to an end with the arrival of the Boeing 737, marking 21 years continuous and relatively reliable and trouble free service. (Air Malawi’s 21 years of BAC 1-11 operations by Arthur Stevens)

Denominations in numerals are in all corners.

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