Joyce Banda

President of Malawi from 2012 to 2014

Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician, who served as President of Malawi, from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the founder and leader of the People's Party, created in 2011. An educator and grassroots women's rights activist, she was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and the Vice President of Malawi from May 2009 to April 2012. She has served in various roles as a member of Parliament and as Minister of Gender and Child Welfare before she became the President of the Republic of Malawi. Prior to her political career, she founded the Joyce Banda Foundation, the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network and the Hunger project. Banda was Malawi's fourth president its first female president and second female head of state, after Elizabeth II. She was the second woman to become the president in the African continent, In June 2014, Forbes named President Banda as the 40th most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful woman in Africa. In October 2014, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women.

Joyce Hilda Ntila was born on 12 April 1950 in Malemia, a village in the Zomba District of Nyasaland (now Malawi). Her father was a police brass band musician. She began her career as a secretary and became a well known figure during the rule of dictator Hastings Banda. She earned a Cambridge School Certificate, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education from Columbus University (an unaccredited distance education institution), and its degrees have been widely dismissed as "fake." She also received a Master of Arts degree in Leadership from Royal Roads University in Canada. and an honorary doctorate in 2013 from Jeonju University. She married Roy Kachale, with whom she had three children. At the age 25, she was living in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1975, a growing women's movement in Kenya motivated Banda to take her three children and leave what she has described as an abusive marriage. Her marriage to Roy Kachele ended in 1981. She later married Richard Banda, retired Chief Justice of Malawi, with whom she has two children. Between 1985 and 1997 Banda managed and established various businesses and organisations including Ndekani Garments (1985), Akajuwe Enterprises (1992), and Kalingidza Bakery (1995). She is sister to Anjimile Oponyo, former CEO of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, financed by Madonna.

Joyce Banda entered politics in 1999. She won a parliamentary seat in Malawi's third democratic election as a member of President Bakili Muluzi's party, the United Democratic Front. She represented the Zomba Malosa constituency.

Banda ran as the vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the 2009 presidential election, running alongside Mutharika, the DPP presidential candidate. She served as Malawi's first female vice president. In a surprise move by the DPP, Joyce Banda and second vice president Khumbo Kachali were fired as the vice presidents of the DPP on 12 December 2010 for undefined 'anti party' activities. In attempts to ostracise her, the President continued to give roles that were previously held by her to Callista Mutharika, who was included in the cabinet in September 2011. The court blocked attempts by Mutharika to fire her as Vice President on constitutional grounds. This included attempts to seize her official government vehicle and to block her from registering her new party. On 8 September 2011, the role of Vice President was left out in a cabinet reshuffle. However, she was still the legal Vice President because the post was mandated by the constitution.

The relationship between Banda and President Bingu wa Mutharika had become increasingly tense because of Mutharika's attempts to position his own brother, Peter Mutharika, as his successor. The DPP denied that mass resignations had occurred and insisted that they were only a few.

On 5 April 2012, President Mutharika died. After his death the government failed to notify the public in a timely manner that the president had died. This led to the fear of a constitutional crisis in Malawi. Agence France Presse reported Malawi's ex President Bakili Muluzi as insisting on "constitutional order", saying the vice president must automatically take power under the constitution. "I am calling for a constitutional order, for continued peace and order. The laws of Malawi are very clear that the vice president takes over when the sitting president can no longer govern. We have to avoid a situation where there is disorder. Let us follow the constitution. We have no choice but follow the constitution. It's very important that there must be peace and calm." Malawi's security forces also wanted the constitutional order to prevail. The Malawi Law Society confirmed that under section 83(4) of the constitution of Malawi, she was the legitimate successor to the Presidency. On 7 April, Malawi's cabinet sought a court order to block Banda from becoming president. In turn, she phoned the army commander, General Henry Odillo, and asked if he would support her. He agreed and stationed troops around her house. Joyce Banda was sworn in on 7 April 2012 as President of Malawi, the first woman to hold the office. Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo presided over the ceremony which was held at the National Assembly in Lilongwe. On 10 October 2013, a few days after returning from a trip to the UN, President Joyce Banda sacked her cabinet following the Capital Hill Cashgate scandal. On 15 October, a new cabinet was appointed, and notably Finance Minister Ken Lipenga and Justice Minister Ralph Kasambara were dropped from the cabinet. In May 2014 Joyce Banda was heavily defeated in the presidential election. She failed in an attempt to nullify the election. She did not attend the swearing in of the winner, Peter Mutharika, but offered him her congratulations. She lived outside Malawi beginning in 2014. A warrant for her arrest in connection with alleged corruption during her stint as President was announced on 31 July 2017, although she remained outside the country. She denied the charges and said that she would return to face them.

During Mutharika's presidency, Malawi was left in a poor economic situation due to foreign relations under the Mutharika administration. Within the last year of Mutharika's presidency, Britain, the United States, Germany, Norway, the European Union, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank had all suspended financial aid. They had expressed concern about Mutharika's attacks on democracy domestically and his increasingly erratic policies. In March 2012, Mutharika told these foreign donors to "go to hell." He accused them of plotting to bring down his government. Part of Banda's challenge as president was to restore diplomatic ties with the aid donors. She also had the challenge of restoring diplomatic ties with Malawi's neighbours like Mozambique, and regional countries such as Botswana. Within the first week of her presidency, Banda launched a diplomatic offensive to repair Malawi's international relations. She spoke to Henry Bellingham of the United Kingdom's Foreign Office. He assured her that a new British envoy will be sent "within the shortest time possible." She spoke to the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton promised to resume discussions on the $350 million energy grant as soon as possible. Banda announced plans to speak to Baroness Ashton of the European Union's Foreign Affairs office and the Malawi's IMF Resident Representative, Ruby Randall. She and Zambian president Michael Sata had also conferred about resuming close working relations. President Banda is named by Forbes as the 40th most powerful woman in the world, the highest African name on the list. Amnesty International reported in early November 2012 that Malawi had "suspended" laws criminalising homosexuality pending a vote. On the advice of the International Monetary Fund, in May 2012 Banda devalued the Malawian kwacha, something Mutharika had refused to do. The announcement of the kwacha's devaluation by 33 per cent against the United States dollar, an attempt to attract donor funding, prompted "panic buying" in Malawian cities, the BBC News reported. Upon becoming President, Banda decided to sell her presidential jet and make a contribution of 30% of her salary to benefit the Malawi Council for the Handicapped. On 17 January 2013, thousands of Malawians protested in Blantyre against rising inflation after Banda, joined by IMF chief Christine Lagarde, defended the devaluation of the kwacha and said she would not reverse the decision.

President Banda has shown consistent commitment to maternal health and reproductive rights, specifically through her support of safe motherhood in Malawi. She showed her support through establishing the Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood. In only two years, this Initiative showed a reduction in maternal mortality ratios from 675 deaths per 100,000 live births to 460 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Banda stayed in self imposed exile in the United States as a distinguished fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and Center for Global Development for three years, prior to returning to Malawi in 2018. To date, no charges have been formally filed against Banda. Banda entered the 2019 presidential election as a candidate for the People's Party, but withdrew her candidacy two months before the election; she later endorsed opposition candidate Lazarus Chakwera. After the 2019 presidential election was annulled, she endorsed Chakwera again in the 2020 re do. Banda's son Roy Kahele Banda was named to Chakwera's cabinet as Minister of Industry.

Before becoming vice president, she was the founder and CEO of the Joyce Banda Foundation. for better Education, a charitable foundation that assists Malawian children and orphans through education. It is a complex of primary and secondary schools in the Chimwankhunda area of Blantyre. It includes an orphan care center that consists of six centres and 600 children. It also assists the surrounding villages by providing micro credit to 40 women and 10 youth groups. It provided seeds to over 10,000 farmers and has provided other donations. The foundation has constructed four clinics in four of the 200 villages it assists. The foundation also assists in rural development. It has a partnership with the Jack Brewer Foundation, a global development foundation founded by NFL star, Jack Brewer.

Banda is the founder of the National Association of Business Women in Malawi that was established in 1990. It is a registered non profit foundation in Malawi. The association aims to lift women out of poverty by strengthening their capacity and empowering them economically. This is a social network of 30,000 women, dedicated to supporting women's businesses and supporting women who want to participate in business. Its activities include business training, technical training, record keeping and management skills. Its current director is Mary Malunga.

In 2010, Banda became a member of the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, a group of sixteen sitting and former heads of state, high level policymakers and other leaders committed to advancing reproductive health for lasting development and prosperity.