President Joyce Banda : First Female President of Malawi

President Joyce Banda : First Female President of Malawi

An entrepreneur, activist, politician and a philanthropist, Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda became president is Former President of the Republic of Malawi having ruled Malawi from 2012 -2014. She is Malawi’s first female president and Africa’s second. Voted as Africa's most powerful woman by Forbes Magazine for two years running and voted as one of the most powerful women in the world, Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda is a champion for the rights of women, children, the disabled and other marginalized groups.

Before becoming President of Malawi, Dr. Joyce Banda served as a Member of Parliament; Minister of Gender and Child Welfare; Foreign Minister and Vice President of the Republic of Malawi. While serving as Minister of Gender and Child Welfare, Dr. Joyce Banda championed the enactment of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill in 2006, which provides a legal framework and instrument for elimination and Prevention of all forms of Violence against Women and Girls.

President Dr. Joyce Banda is credited for turning round Malawi’s ailing economy which was on the verge of collapse when she became president in April 2012. She instituted a number of economic reforms which did not only bring the economy back on right truck but also saw the economy growing from 1.8% in 2012 to over 6.2 % in 2014; improved the operational in-+dustrial capacity from 35% in 2012 to 85% in July 2014; enhanced Malawi’s foreign exchange import cover from one week in 2014 to three and half months in July 2014; and also turned around Malawi’s fuel cover from 1 day in 2014 to 15 days in 2014 at any given time. In the areas of democracy, good governance and rule of law President Banda repealed a number of draconian laws that infringed on people’s civil liberties, media freedom and weakened institutions of good governance and rule of law.

Dr. Joyce Banda’s unwavering commitment to promotion women’s maternal health and reproductive rights saw her establish Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood, which spearheaded the fight against high maternal mortality and promotion of safe motherhood in Malawi. Remarkably during the two year period of her presidency, Malawi registered considerable success in the areas of maternal and child health and reproductive health in general as the country reduced maternal mortality ratio from 675 deaths per 100,000 live births to 460. The achievement is attributed to the model which President Banda introduced, which was a balanced act of both traditional and technical dimensions and approaches.

Staying fast to her humanitarian convictions, President Banda sold the multi-million dollar presidential jet and donated 30% of her salary to Malawi Council for the handicapped (MACOHA), an organization for people with disabilities during her two year of presidency.

A recipient of more than 15 international accolades including “Hunger Project Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger” shared with President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique in 1997, President Banda is a strong advocate for women and girls’ emancipation and empowerment and a prominent civil rights campaigner. She founded the Joyce Banda Foundation International, which has guided projects from empowering women, rural communities to providing orphans education. Currently the Joyce Banda Foundation International has benefitted over 1.3 million people in Malawi through various programs and interventions ranging from economic empowerment, agriculture and food security, education, water and sanitation, youth development just to mention a few. Among many other organizations, she established the National Association of Business Women, which lends women start-up cash to build small businesses, and the Young Women's Leadership Network, which mentors female students in schools.

On the international scene, President Dr. Banda was instrumental in formation of such organization is a African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE), currently running in 41 countries in Africa, Council for the Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa (CEEWA) and Americans & Africans Business Women’s Alliance (AABWA) of which she served as First President.

President Banda sits on a number international organization bodies. These include Executive Advisory Committee of UNIFEM, Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health and Scientific Advisory Board of the Programs in Global health and Social change for Harvard Medical School.

President Joyce Banda has been a panelist and motivation speaker at a number of international conferences and forums, including the International Conference on Women in Beijing, the American and African Business Women's Africa Conference in London and the Women Deliver Conference in Washington, DC.

President Joyce Banda donates blankets to elderly, orphans: Vows to continue with charity

Malawi former president Joyce Banda on Friday, August 22, 2014 visited the densely populated Nancholi Township in Blantyre where she donated blankets and other assorted items to orphans and elderly widows under the banner of the Joyce Banda Foundation International (Joyce BandaFI). Banda: I will not stop helping the needy.Banda welcomes on arrival in Nacholi, Blantyre. Ex-Malawi leader Banda donates blankets. Scores of residents in the welcomed the former Head of State with song and dance, rekindling memories when she the leader of the country popular with poverty alleviation initiatives.

When she addressed the enthusiastic crowd, Banda said she had been away (abroad) for more than a month and that it felt good to return home and meet the people.

She said her humble gesture to donate the blankets was a manifestation of how she feels about the
underprivileged, the sick and the poor.

“This is work I have done even before I became a politician; it’s in my blood. With the little resources that the Lord Almighty has blessed me with, I will continue to help marginalized and the less privileged
both through Joyce BandaFI and as an individual,” she said.

Joyce Banda, as she is fondly referred to by adorers, said no-one will take away her charity initiatives and that no-one must mistake that for politics.

Banda’s mission in life has been to assist the women and youth gain social and political empowerment through entrepreneurship and education.

She has spent the past thirty years as a development practitioner, a philanthropist and a champion for social justice and equality.

Joyce Banda has been involved several development and humanitarian work. She established the Joyce Banda Foundation in 1998 and the Foundation provides integrated rural development services to over 300,000 resource poor beneficiaries

President Joyce Banda on Oppression in Malawi

The Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture series is dedicated Anyiam Osigwe`s all-embracing study of man as a manifestation of divine intelligence; It is a scholarly examination of the integral parts of the Holistic Approach to Human Existence and Development including the interrelationship between the various parts, with a view to making them applicable in uplifting the daily life of individual and the society at large.
Joyce Hilda Banda (née Mtila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician who has been the President of Malawi since 7 April 2012. She is the founder and leader of the People's Party, created in 2011. An educator and grassroots women's rights activist, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and Vice President of Malawi from May 2009 to April 2012. Banda took office as president following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is Malawi's fourth president[4] and its first female president. Before becoming president, she served as the country's first female vice president. She was a Member of Parliament and Minister for Gender, Children's Affairs and Community Services. Before her active career in politics she was the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation, founder of the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network and the Hunger Project.
Forbes named President Banda as the 71st most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful woman in Africa

President Joyce Banda's Speech about Nelson Mandela State Funeral Tribute

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President Joyce Banda : A New Leader for Africa

PRESIDENT JOYCE BANDA GAINS SUPPORT FOR RECOUNT

FRAUDULENT ELECTION CLAIMS IN MALAWI AS PRESIDENT JOYCE BANDA GAINS SUPPORT FOR RECOUNT

LILONGWE, May 29 2014 (IPS) – When Malawi’s President Joyce Banda said that last week’s elections were fraudulent and riddled with rampant irregularities, social media went viral calling her a loser.

Banda had nullified the elections and ordered that voting be repeated within 90 days, triggering public anger and resentment. But a legal challenge from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) prevented the nullification of the results as she had no lawful basis to annul the election.

But now it appears that Banda has rallied support for a recount even from her worst critics, which include the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and various other opposition.

“MCP cannot accept these results because they are fraudulent,” MCP vice president Richard Msowoya told IPS. Malawi went to the polls on May 20 in its first tripartite elections. Banda contested the presidential seat against 11 other candidates. The MCP’s head, retired evangelical pastor Lazarus Chakwera, was one of Banda’s main challengers for the presidential seat.

“We cannot allow people to steal our vote just like that and we have evidence and agree with President Banda that the election has been rigged,” Msowoya added.

The High Court in Blantyre is expected to make a ruling on Friday, May 30, to either order the MEC to declare the winner based on the current votes or initiate a recount as demanded by Banda and some opposition parties.

In a quick interview with IPS, Banda said that she was ready to leave office if the court ruled that the MEC should rather announce the winner of the election and not initiate a recount.

“I am ready to leave, whichever way this goes. But I am happy that the people of Malawi know that I wasn’t lying when I called this election fraudulent,” she told IPS.

On Sunday, May 25, the MEC admitted it had received overwhelming complaints about the election and could not proceed with announcing the winner.

Last week’s poll had been plagued by problems from the outset, with voting materials turning up hours late and ballot papers being sent to the wrong parts of the country. Organisers had to extend voting in some urban areas for a second day and initial counting was delayed by power outages and a lack of generators at polling stations.

Voters went on the rampage in the capital Lilongwe and in the commercial city of Blantyre burning tyres and shops before the military moved in and intervened.

To date the MEC has only released 30 percent of the official vote count, which showed that the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), lead by Peter Mutharika, brother of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika, was in the lead with 42 percent of the vote. Banda followed with 23 percent.

But Msowoya pointed out that across the country there were cases of having more votes than voters. He said that in the constituency of Machinga, in southern Malawi, 184,223 people voted — this was 33,778 more than the total number of people on the voters’ roll for the area.

“In another constituency jn Dowa West were 70,845 people registered the final tally sheet shows only 1,164 voted which is very strange,” Msowoya said.

Banda’s ruling People’s Party (PP) also stated that several polling centres across the country recorded more people voting than the number of registered voters for those areas.

United Democratic Front presidential candidate Atupele Muluzi told IPS that his party had also received complaints from several centres. “In one instance, a presiding officer for a polling centre ended up signing for the results of two other centres, which is illegal,” Muluzi said.

The push for a recount of the vote has also now gained traction with several leading civil society groups.

The Malawi Council of Churches, an influential grouping of protestant churches, joined the chorus to push the elections body for a recount. The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, a leading rights NGO here, and the Association of Media Owners have also called for a recount.

“President Banda has been vindicated because she took a bold and brave move to challenge the MEC and ask for investigations into the electoral process. No one wanted to listen but now its clear that she was right,” Shyley Kondowe, one of Banda’s most trusted aides, told IPS.

However, if the MEC institutes a recount of the vote, it faces a legal challenge from the DPP.

“There is an invisible hand controlling everything because we are surprised that three political parties have formed a post-electoral alliance to fight our presidential candidate because he is in the lead,” the DPP’s lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale told IPS.

He said that the MEC and the courts had no power to extend the eight-day period outlined in the constitution for the electoral body to announce the results. The constitution, he said, can only be amended by parliament.

Whatever the outcome, Onandi Banda, a political commentator and human rights activist, believes that this is a major test for Malawi’s democracy.

“The president was after all right that the election was rigged. But how we move forward from here is what will make or break Malawi,” he told IPS.

JBs Administration Values Creation As a Key To Development

President Joyce Banda continues to spread the value addition on agricultural produce and job creation as she say it remains her government beacon in the drive to improve the country’s economy.

 The Malawi leader made said the country has to learn to improve from the available material and human resources if it is to remain on track in its economic recovery plan drive.

Besides value addition on agricultural produce and job creation, President Banda said her government is also committed to improve and promote commercialization of agriculture as one way of uplifting livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

“To eradicate poverty and hunger in this country, we need to do two basic things; empower our people with the relevant skills and improve the agriculture sector,” said the President.

Dr. Banda has severally told Malawians the importance of job creation, saying it is a major factor in the process of improving the country’s economy. Banda noted that when more people are employed, the level of poverty is minimized.

The first citizen has always emphasized that by creating jobs, government is promoting self-employment through the provision of equipment to the youth to run their own businesses.

On promoting value addition, Banda said government will open small scale factories designated for specific crops and fruits in some districts. She cited Salima, where she said government will soon establish a sugar factory.

This, said the President, will help save foreign exchange which is usually spent when buying processed goods from other countries.

Speaking to Malawi News Agency earlier on getting the youth employed, Minister of Sports and Youth Development Enoch Chihana, said over 600 Malawian youths have found jobs in the United Arab Emirates. He said more than 400 others are expected to leave for UAE any time soon.

“The Joyce Banda administration is promoting self-employment amongst the youth, we need to impart knowledge and skills for them to contribute to the development of this country,” said Chihana, adding that the UAE labour force from Malawi might reach 3000 by May this year (2014).

To enhance self employment, government has been giving out loans in form of equipment and money to youth clubs and individuals in the country. The equipment given are meant to be used for carpentry, plumbing, welding and juice making, among others.

Joyce Banda's Zeal on Women Empowerment

President Dr. Joyce Banda’s zeal on women has made her to still remain that substantial figure in the African society as she continues to fight against the poverty cycles that have lingered on women in the country even though the country has signed up to a number of international protocols aimed at increasing the participation of women in politics and socio-economic affairs.

Building on the leadership of the country’s first female Head of State, Her Excellency President Dr. Joyce Banda said that the country has an opportunity to transform the lives of women living in the villages.

“We have an opportunity to transform the country by recognizing the interconnectedness of gender equality, agriculture, security, the environment, health, and a strong youth population. For a woman living in a village in Africa, the issues of food security, the challenges posed by climate variability, population pressures, and economic challenges all meet this woman on the doorstep of her home,” She said.

“I think that it is income into the poor household that must come first. The issues that affect population growth, malnutrition, girls’ access to education, maternal health and indeed poverty are all linked to lack of incomes into households. If we have to overcome these challenges we need to promote policies and programmes that bring decent incomes into households,” President Banda noted.

Living to her vision of women empowerment President Dr Joyce Banda has always called on women in the country to engage in small scale businesses in order to uplift the economic status of their homes.

President Banda recently attended official opening of Annual General meeting for Market Women’s Activities in Development (MWAI).

Sharing her vision the President said gone is the time when women were completely relying on their husbands for all family basic needs.

“I wanted to say that women have capabilities to transform the economic status in their homes if they engage in businesses. There are success economic stories from the women. Do not leave for men only to do businesses and take care of your homes. It is possible for women to empower themselves without involving anybody Develop a spirit of coming up with a business and save the little that you realize as profit. Let businesses bring peace and build good families in your homes,” said President Joyce Banda.

The Malawi leader who is also Founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation (JBF) International said good financial muscle among women can eliminate gender based violence since women could be financially independent.

The president re-iterated her commitment to continuing assisting women and children by ensuring that their social status is improving.

“Through the Joyce Banda Foundation we have opened feeding centres for orphans, we have free secondary school education and we are providing scholarships both local and international,” she said.

Dr Banda reminded Malawians that the country’s economy is on good track as evidenced by improvement of both forex and fuel cover.

Executive Director of JBF International, Edith Arkridge said the aim of the fourth annual general meeting was for members of MWAI to share experiences and encourage one another on matters of business.

Arkridge said JBF has several programmes including training women on business issues and arranging international business education trips for Malawians.

“JBF has been sending women to foreign countries to learn how their fellow women are doing their businesses. All these are happening because president Banda has created good relationships outside there. May I urge my fellow women to love one another for the betterment of you all,” said Arkridge.

In her testimony, Lucy Amani from Kasungu said since he joined MWAI, her life has completely improved since she can now afford to pay school fees for her children and currently she is constructing a house using her money she realized from the business she has been doing for the past three years.

Joyce Banda's Government Advances Health Services Delivery

President Dr. Joyce Banda’s administration on Sunday showed an advanced commitment in improving health service delivery regardless of religious or political affiliation at Chimaliro Health Centre in Thyolo when the Health Centre was electrified after 30 years without electricity.              
Speaking at Goliati Trading Centre after visiting Chimaliro Health Centre, President Dr. Joyce Banda said it was sad that pregnant women were told to bring lamps for lighting during delivery at the health facility.

“Let me thank Senior Chief Chimaliro for informing me that the health centre has been operating without electricity. I am proud of him and he always notifies government problems faced by his subjects, I wouldn’t have known that the challenges faced by the people at the health centre if he had not come forward,” said Banda.

Dr. Joyce Banda also expressed how happy she was that the hospital was electrified and that no mother shall give birth in darkness or lamps again at the Health Centre, she then also promised to donate an ambulance to the health facility that will soon be dispatched to the hospital.

Minister of Health Catherine Gotani Hara said government will continue electrifying rural health centre’s to motivate health personnel to work in the remote areas.

“As we all have witnessed, all staff houses at the health centre have been electrified alongside the facility. Of late some health workers were reluctant to work in rural areas because of the electricity problem, but we will continue the project to assist the health workers,” said Hara.

Senior Chief Chimaliro expressed gratitude over the developments which the state president has brought to the area saying that the situation at the facility was pathetic as pregnant women used to borrow a lamp from his house which stands 10 metres away.

“I would like to thank the president for considering our facility because it was a big risk for pregnant mothers at the maternity ward to stay and be assisted in the dark,” said Chimaliro.

Chimaliro said he was grateful for various development projects like Social Cash Transfer and Mudzi Transformation Trust which, he said, has helped improve the living standards of people in his area.

President Dr. Joyce Banda visited Chimaliro Health Centre on Sunday where she later held a development rally at Goliati trading centre. The Health Centre serves 400, 000 outpatients and has a maternity ward.