??? THE continent of Africa now has a second woman holding the top leadership role in her country. ??? Joyce Banda was sworn in April 7 as the new president of the southern African nation of Malawi, two days after President Bingu wa Mutharika’s unexpected death from a heart attack April 8, under the terms of the constitution. ??? Banda, the country’s vice president since May 2009, surely never imagined that she would make it to the top of her impoverished southern African country of 16 million inhabitants, or that it would happen so soon. Expelled from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in 2010 following her condemnation of Mutharika’s adoption of his brother, Peter, as his heir apparent, she found herself out in the political cold, with her newly formed Peoples Party seemingly making little headway. ??? The peaceful transition of power is a great relief in Malawi where a political crisis seems to have been averted after the sudden death of Mutharika. ??? For many Malawians who blamed Mutharika for the current economic crisis, it is also a moment of great hope for change. ??? “We now have a female president, this to me is the greatest day because she is a mother and a mother always takes care of her children,” said Alice Pemba, a vendor in Lilongwe. ??? “She will be able to do a good job and surmount the challenges to work with the IMF and World Bank and win back the donor support which we need,” said a local businessman who gave his name only as Tiyazi. ??? Banda took the oath of office April 7 in the National Assembly in the capital, Lilongwe, as flags flew at half mast in mourning for Mutharika. ??? “I want all of us to move into the future with hope and a spirit of unity,” Banda said amid loud applause and singing. ??? She has lost no time getting down to work. One of her first decisions was to sack her predecessor’s hated chief of police, Peter Mukhito. She has also fired Mutharika’s unpopular information minister, Patricia Kaliati. ??? Banda has inherited a difficult situation. ??? Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. The country is prone to natural disasters — the extremes of drought and flooding — and is facing critical fuel shortages and rising food prices. ??? Last June Western donors, who used to give Malawi around US$800 million a year in aid, suspended all budgetary support in protest against growing human-rights abuses and the government’s failure to adhere to the IMF’s good-governance conditions for access to its loans. Matters were made worse by a slump in the price of tobacco, the country’s second-biggest source of foreign currency after aid, leading to severe shortages of petrol, certain food staples such as sugar and other imported goods. Banda, who has already promised to work to restore the rule of law and a respect for human rights, is hoping to woo donors back. ??? The country’s failing economy, and the fuel and foreign exchange shortages, saw unprecedented nationwide protests against Mutharika from July 20 to 21, 2011. Twenty-one people were killed by the police and 275 were arrested. Banda was a vocal supporter of the protests. ??? Dorothy Ngoma, a prominent civil society leader who was among those leading the protests against Mutharika, said she has faith that Banda will rescue the country from its economic crisis. ??? “She is very capable. She is so reliable. I am so sure we will see change in this country very soon,” said Ngoma. ??? Civil society leaders and some government officials also expressed their joy and support for Banda, who is also leader of the opposition People’s Party, as she addressed supporters and the media outside her home in Lilongwe hours before her inauguration. ??? “Malawi should adhere to the Constitution of the Republic in moving forward,” she said. At her swearing in ceremony she added: “this is no time for revenge; we need to move forward as a country.” ??? Banda must now turn her attention to Malawi’s failing economy. ??? To govern effectively, she will need cooperation from elected members of Mutharika’s political party, which she was expelled from after she became critical of the late president. ??? Banda, who has made history in becoming Malawi’s first female president and only the second woman to lead a country in Africa, has a track record of fighting for women’s rights. ??? Born in 1950 in the village of Malemia near Zomba, she was the eldest of five children. Her father was the leader of Malawi’s police brass band and her youngest sister, Anjimile, ran pop star Madonna’s charity Raising Malawi until it closed in December. ??? Banda married at 21 and gave birth to three children. She left her first husband in 1981, taking her three children with her, because he was abusive. ??? “Most African women are taught to endure abusive marriages. They say endurance means a good wife but most women endure abusive relationship because they are not empowered economically, they depend on their husbands,” she said. ??? Eight years later, Banda founded the National Association of Business Women, a group that lends start-up cash to small-scale traders — making her popular among Malawi’s many rural poor. ??? That work also earned her international recognition — in 1997, she was awarded, along with former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano, the U.S.-based Hunger Project’s Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger. ??? She also set up the Joyce Banda Foundation, a charity that assists Malawian children and orphans through education — she has a degree in early childhood education. ??? Banda cut her teeth in politics in 1999 when she won a parliamentary seat in the party of then-president Bakili Muluzi, who named her minister for gender and community services. Five years later, she retained her seat as a candidate for Muluzi’s party, even as Mutharika won the presidency. ??? She puts her achievements down to her happy marriage to retired Chief Justice Richard Banda with whom she has two children. ??? “My dear husband, Richard, has been the driving force behind my success and rise to whatever level I am now. My story and legacy is incomplete without his mention,” she said. ??? In 2004, Banda entered government as minister of gender, child welfare and community services. She focused, both in legislative and delivery terms, on addressing domestic violence. She then moved on to become minister of foreign affairs in 2006 and vice president in 2009. ??? In 2010, she became a member of the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, a group of 16 sitting and former heads of state, high-level policymakers and other leaders committed to advancing reproductive health for lasting development and prosperity. ??? Banda is expected to run the country until scheduled elections take place in 2014. ??? “The road to 2014 will be rough, bumpy and tough. Some will even sacrifice their own lives,” she said.(SD-Agencies) | 