Malawi President Concedes Defeat

BLANTYRE, Malawi —  Africa’s longest-ruling dictator, H. Kamuzu Banda, conceded defeat Thursday in Malawi’s first democratic election after voters turned their backs on 30 years of single-party rule.

In a shaky voice, the aged, ill and eccentric Banda admitted that results showed his former ally, Bakili Muluzi, was the clear winner.

The announcement ends Banda’s three decades of often-terrorizing rule over the landlocked African nation. Banda took power at independence from Britain in 1964 and declared himself president for life in 1971. He banned political opposition, detained those who challenged him and allegedly tortured them.