Joyce Banda

Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician, educator, and activist who served as the 4th President of Malawi from 2012-2014. She previously served as the vice-president under Bingu wa Mutharika from 2009 till his death in 2012 when she succeeded him as President. A member of the People's Party, Banda has led the party since its creation in 2011. She was the first female president and the first female vice-president of Malawi. Banda was the second female African head of state after Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Born in Malemia, Banda graduated from the Columbus University and the Royal Roads University with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in arts, and from the Atlantic International University with a bachelor's degree in social science in the early 1970s. She then founded the Joyce Banda Foundation, the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network, and the Hunger Project. Banda joined politics in 1999 and was elected to the National Assembly as a member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) the party of President Bakili Muluzi.

In 2004, Banda was appointed Minister of Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Service by President Mutharika. During her time in the position, she enforced the 2006 Domestic Violence Bill, and also designed the National Platform for Action on Orphans and Vulnerable Children and the Zero Tolerance Campaign Against Child Abuse. Banda was later appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs where she switched Malawi's recognition from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China in an attempt to bring economic growth to Malawi. In 2009, Mutharika ran for re-election and selected Banda as his running mate in the general election, with their ticket winning and she thus becoming the first vice president. Banda's term as vice president was marked by growing tensions between her and Mutharika as Banda refused to endorse Mutharika's brother, Peter, as his successor to the presidency. Banda was subsequently kicked out of the DPP and she founded the People's Party, but then remained vice president according to the Constitution.