 While in England, he began correspondence with Hastings Banda, later the first President of Malawi.He was, it is thought, first commended to Banda in a letter (dated 6 July 1957) from Henry Chipembere, who described him as a young man he would like for his 'extreme views' and as 'a self-made intellectual of no university attainments who surprised all with his mental powers'.He met Banda in person in London in June of that year, when, together with Chipembere and Chief Kutanja, they met with the Colonial Secretary, Lennox-Boyd, to discuss a new constitution for Nyasaland (one which had already been roundly rejected by Nyasaland's governor, Robert Armitage).