| Country: | Malawi |
| Details of Formation: | The Youth League is the youth wing of the Malawi Congress Party. It was formed in the end of 1959 in Limbe, as part of Malawi’s struggle for independence. As it is unclear whether the group was already armed at this time. The date formed refers to the data the Youth League was first mentioned as an armed group. |
| Details of Termination: | In December 1993, the Malawian army destroyed the headquarter of the Malawi Congress Party's Youth League. It can be assumed that this event terminated the group. |
| Purpose: | The Youth League’s purpose was to intimidate and repress political opposition and civilians, as well as fight crime. They were instrumental in maintaining the political power of President Banda. |
| Organisation: | The Youth League was controlled by John Tembo, a Malawi Congress Party politician. |
| Weapons and Training: | The Youth League used fire bombs. |
| Size: | In 1986, a news source estimates the Youth League to have 20,000 members. |
| Reason for Membership: | -- |
| Treatment of Civilians: | The Youth League regularly used beatings, threats, extortion and killings against critical citizens. The killings were decided on a MPC-meeting; other actions were allegedly either unknown or ignored by President Banda. |
| Other Information: | Although the Young Pioneers (Malawi Congress Party) and the Youth League (Malawi Congress Party) were wings of the same ruling party and had similar tasks, both groups were separated. Whereas the former group acted as official paramilitary group, the latter one was primarily responsible for political repression. |
| References: | Coffey, Rosalind. 2015. “‘Does the Daily Paper rule Britannia’: British Press Coverage of a Malawi Youth League Demonstration in Blantyre, Nyasaland, in January 1960”. Journal of Southern African Studies 41 (6): 1255–1277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2015.1101819. |