[2] By 1933, Chinyama was leader of the Native Association of Lilongwe, which had been formed to represent the views of the indigenous people of the area to the colonial administration.
[4] The Nyasaland African Congress, an umbrella organization for Native Associations launched in 1943, had been struggling due to a dispute with the president, Charles Matinga.
Chinyama's election marked a turning point in the composition of the Congress, with prosperous farmers and small businessmen taking the place of the civil servants, clergy and teachers who until then had led the movement.
It was deeply unpopular with NAC members, who saw it as a betrayal of the compact under which the Colonial Office would place the interests of Africans first in Nyasaland.
Chinyama, called at the end of August to Zomba and reminded by Governor Sir Geoffrey Colby of the fate which had befallen his father after the Chilembwe rising of 1915, held back .