JB brief background

Brief background

Joyce Hilda Banda née Mtila; born 12 April 1950, is a Malawian politician who was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. 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.

She was Malawi's fourth president and its first female president and second female head of state after Elizabeth II. Banda was the second woman to become president on the African continent. Before becoming president, she served as the country's first female vice-president.

Before becoming the President of the Republic of Malawi, she had served in various roles as a Member of Parliament, Minister of Gender and Child Welfare, and as Foreign Affairs Minister.

Before her active career in politics she is the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation International, JBFI, founder of the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network and the Hunger Project.

Forbes named President Banda as the 40th most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful woman in Africa.

In November 2016, Banda announced that she was willing to stand as a presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.

Born Hilda Ntila from Malemia a village in the old Malawi capital city, Zomba 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 reign of Malawi’s founding President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

She has a Cambridge School Certificate, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education from Columbus University, a Bachelor of Social Studies in Gender Studies from Atlantic International University and a Diploma in Management of NGOs from the International Labour Organization (ILO) Centre in Turin, Italy.

Currently, she is has a Master of Arts Degree in Leadership at Royal Roads University in Canada. She received 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 is now married to Richard Banda, retired Chief Justice of Malawi, with whom she has two children.

Between 1985 and 1997 Banda managed and established various businesses and organizations including Ndekani Garments (1985), Akajuwe Enterprises (1992), and Kalingidza Bakery (1995). Her success inspired her to help other women achieve financial independence and break the cycles of abuse and poverty.