Joyce Banda

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.

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), a Bachelor of Social Studies in Gender Studies from Atlantic International University (also an unaccredited distance learning institution) and a Diploma in Management of NGOs from the International Labour Organization (ILO) Centre in Turin, Italy.

Atlantic International University has been characterized as a degree mill, 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.

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).

Her success inspired her to help other women achieve financial independence and break the cycles of abuse and poverty.

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.

Muluzi appointed her as Minister for Gender and Community Services.

As minister, she fought to enact the Domestic Violence Bill, which had failed for seven years.

She designed the National Platform for Action on Orphans and Vulnerable Children and the Zero Tolerance Campaign Against Child Abuse.

In 2004, she was re-elected as a member of Muluzi's Party.

Bingu wa Mutharika became President.

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, after Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

She was also the country's first female vice-president.

Even though Banda was not a member of his party, Mutharika appointed her as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2006.

Banda moved to change Malawi's recognition of the legitimate government of China from the Republic of China (on Taiwan) to the People's Republic of China on the mainland; she claimed the switch would bring economic benefits to Malawi.

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 2010, China finished the construction of a new parliament building in Lilongwe.

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.

She is the founder and leader of the People's Party, created in 2011.

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 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.